Key Truth: Jesus suffered the incomprehensible humiliation of the cross for the joy of our salvation that was set before Him.  

What are you willing to endure to save someone else?

Jesus Crucified and Dead: The Cost for Our Redemption

Matthew 27:32-54

“The kingship of Christ must be affirmed, even in his cross; it is as the King of the Jews that he must be crucified and die. In the mocking words of men, God maintains the truth. And it is not in spite of the cross that he is King. Far rather it is because of the cross. For it is through the cross that he has made his people his own and that he rules over them; it is through the cross that he has made satisfaction for his own.”
Herman Ridderbos, Matthew’s Witness to Jesus Christ: The King and the Kingdom

Do you appreciate the depths of Christ’s suffering on the cross for you? Do you appreciate the heights of the atonement purchased by His crucifixion for you?

Jesus Buried, Part 1: The Risk of the Faithful

Matthew 27:55-61

“This fact is full of comfort and encouragement. It shews us that there are some quiet souls on earth, who know the Lord, and the Lord knows them, and yet they are little known by the church. It shews us that there are diversities of gifts among Christ’s people. There are some who glorify Christ passively, and some who glorify Him actively. There are some whose vocation it is to build the Church, and fill a public place, and there are some who only come forward, like Joseph, in times of special need. But each and all are led by one Spirit, and each and all glorify God in their several ways.”

J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Vol. 1: Matthew — Mark

Who are some of the faithful people who have ensured in God’s sovereignty that you would hear the Gospel (i.e. family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, strangers, etc.)? What are some ways that you are being faithful to ensure that others will hear the Gospel?

Jesus Buried, Part 2: The Distrust of the Faithless

Matthew 27:62-66 

“Behold, both a seal, a stone, and a watch, and they were not able to hold Him.”

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel According to St. Matthew

What part(s) of the story of the person and work of Jesus Christ do you struggle to trust? What are you doing to invest in a deeper understanding of what you struggle to trust?

Matthew 27:32-66 teaches us that:
-Christ suffered what we could not bear to suffer in order to redeem us
-God sovereignly ensures through His faithful people that the Gospel will go forth
-the distrust of the faithless cannot prevent the power of the resurrection

Communion:

Benediction:

1 Corinthians 15:50-57