Introduction
Jesus clearly stated that His generation was wicked (Matt. 16:4). He said the leaders of Israel were full of wickedness (Matt. 22:18; Luke 11:39). Paul, in reference to unbelieving Christ-rejectors, said they are filled with all wickedness (Rom. 1:29). The heart of man is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). When given over to his own devices, man will perpetrate crimes beyond imagination.
A. The Expression of the World’s Wickedness
The wickedness of man is no more clearly seen than in the execution of Jesus Christ. Nothing could prove more conclusively the pervasive corruption of human nature. That seems to be Matthew’s particular concern in writing his gospel. As we go through Matthew’s record of the crucifixion, we see unrelenting evil.
Commentator David Thomas wrote, “For six thousand years wickedness had been growing. It had wrought deeds of impiety and crime that had rung the ages with agony, and often roused the justice of the universe to roll her fiery thunderbolts of retribution through the world. But now it had grown to full maturity; it stands around the cross in such gigantic proportions as had never been seen before; it works an enormity before which the mightiest of its past exploits dwindle into insignificance and pale into dimness. It crucifies the Lord of life and glory” (The Gospel of Matthew; A Homiletical Commentary [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1979], p. 536).
B. The Extent of Christ’s Sufferings
Wicked men were not content just to execute Jesus Christ; they had to torment Him in the process. Such is the cruelty of the human heart when fully exposed.
We should not be shocked at the sorrow our Savior bore. He was a man of sorrows (Isa. 53:3). His sufferings were great. They were too great even for us to comprehend fully. We could say He suffered more sorrow than any man who ever lived. According to Isaiah 53:4, He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. So in bearing sin, Jesus bore the collective grief and sorrow of every person who ever lived. He also experienced sorrow at being alienated and separated from His Father for a time as He bore the sins of the world. Jesus suffered more than all men put together have ever suffered.
The prophet Isaiah said the Messiah was acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). He experienced little else. Grief was His constant companion. He wept on several occasions, but never does Scripture indicate that He laughed. Many Christians centuries ago used to beg God to give them mercy for the unknown sufferings they might have caused Jesus Christ. They realized they could not even conceive of all the suffering He endured.
How Did Christ Suffer?
1. He suffered from temptation
Hebrews 4:15 says He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 2:18 says, “He himself hath suffered being tempted.” Jesus was constantly assaulted by temptation. His temptation was real even though He never sinned.
2. He suffered from self-denial
Jesus refused to have what we assume to be the normal comforts of life. He deprived Himself. As Henry Barraclough said in his hymn “Ivory Palaces,” our Lord went “out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe.” Paul said Christ “thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death” (Phil. 2:6-8). He was born in a stable. He had no personal possessions. He experienced hunger, thirst, weariness, and the absence of all worldly comforts.
3. He suffered from rejection
Jesus was hated, despised, mocked, maligned, reviled, rebuked, blasphemed, reproached, and falsely accused. All that reached a furious culmination in the events around His cross.
4. He suffered from sin
Although He was sinless, Jesus bore all the sins of all the world on the cross. Paul said Jesus actually became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He suffered from the weight of sin. And because of His omniscience, He no doubt suffered in anticipation of His suffering.
5. He suffered from Satan
Satan plagued Jesus from the time of His birth, having tried to eliminate Him by Herod’s decree. He continued his assault on Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with three great waves of temptation in an attempt to dissuade Him from going to the cross. Satan threw all the fury that hell could break loose on Jesus’ head, yet he could only bruise His heel (Gen. 3:15). Yet that still caused Jesus tremendous suffering. Satan even used His beloved Peter to tempt Him. Jesus had to say, “Get thee behind me, Satan” (Matt. 16:23). In one final assault, the devil entered Judas and used him to betray Christ.
6. He suffered from the wrath of God
When Jesus became sin on the cross, God poured out on Him all of heaven’s fury against all the sin on earth.
Matthew 27:27-44 shows us Christ’s suffering at the hands of wicked men. Matthew’s objective was to emphasize the rejection of the King. And that rejection mounted until it reached its climax in the crucifixion. To help us see the wickedness of the scene, I want to draw your attention to four different groups: the ignorant wicked, the knowing wicked, the fickle wicked, and the religious wicked. Every person in the world who does not come to faith in Jesus Christ fits into one of those groups. They were all present at the cross, and they are still around today.
I. THE IGNORANT WICKED–The Callous Soldiers (vv. 27-37)
A. The Mockery of Jesus (vv. 27-30)
The Return of the King
As the Roman soldiers mocked Christ’s sovereignty, little did they know He was a King who one day would wear a different blood-spattered robe. Revelation 19:13 shows Jesus Christ coming out of heaven in glory wearing a robe of majesty. However, this robe will be spotted with the blood of His enemies and not with His own blood. One day Jesus will also wear a royal crown (Gk., diadema) far different from a crown of thorns (Gk., stephanos). In fact, Revelation 19:12 says He will wear many crowns. Jesus alone will be King. Some day He will wield a scepter, but it will not be a reed. According to Revelation 19:15, Jesus will rule with a rod of iron, with which He will bring instant judgment on an unbelieving world. There will be no one to mock Jesus then. Psalm 2:4 says, “He who sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
