Jesus’ Death and Burial—Matt. 27:45-66

0:00Hello and good morning. I'm Pastor Gillespie from St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church in school Sherman Center random like Wisconsin. It's good to have you with us here for the congregation at prayer A guide for date of meditation and prayer around God's word. It is Thursday March 19th, 2026 and our catechesis will finish up but wrap up the passion according to St. Matthew with his death and burial. This is the usually appointed reading for well a little bit of good Friday and of course Holy Saturday morning. Although I don't think yeah we didn't I'm not planning to have a Holy Saturday morning service this year but we do have the great vigil of Easter on Saturday evening so you can join us for that. Let's see if you missed last evening I just managed to get to the sermon posted on the various platforms we had cleaned out the entire church anything that was sitting on the carpet we picked

1:00up off the carpet put on pews and other also where the carpet's being cleaned today for the first time in a long time outside of living memory since the carpet was put in in 2000 and what year two yet I have to look at the at the cornerstone and so in that time of course carpet needs cleaning. So we're getting that done we needed to paint first which we did last summer coming up on Easter thought it would be appropriate to have it clean but the reason I bring it up obviously thanks to everyone who helped get everything put away last night but also the computer that had the audio we had shut down and unplugged before it uploaded the audio to the to the webs for me to edit and post for you so it is there now I plugged it in this morning it immediately uploaded and then made it available to you on the various platforms right and hopefully it'll be helpful for you

2:03to meditate upon the opening of the eyes of the blind man and the way that Jesus gives us a new heart and gives him a heart by way of his word and sign. Okay I think that's good for now let's begin. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit oh man I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead I believe in the Holy Spirit the Holy Christian Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

3:05Amen. All right let's pray our song together song for 142 with my voice I cry out to the Lord with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord I pour out my complaint before him I tell my trouble before him when my spirit faints within me you know my way and the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me look to the right and see there is none who takes notice of me no refuge remains to me no one cares for my soul I cry to you oh Lord I say you are my refuge my portion in the land of the living attend to my cry for I'm brought very low deliver me from my persecutors for they are too strong for me bring me out of prison that I may give thanks to your name the righteous will surround me and you will deal bound to fully with me glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and will be forever

4:06Amen all right and let's pray our wisdom for the week the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his way before his works of old I have been established from everlasting from the beginning before there was ever an earth when there were no depths I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were settled before the hills I was brought forth while as yet he had made no not made the earth or the fields or the primal dust of the world when he prepared the heavens I was there when he drew a deep circle on the face of the deep when he established the mountains above when he strengthened the fountains of the deep when he assigned to the sea its limits so that the waters would not transgress his command when he marked out the foundations of the earth then I was beside him as a master craftsman and I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him rejoicing in his inhabited world and my delight was with the sons of men now therefore listen to me my children for blessed are those who keep

5:09my ways here instruction and be wise and do not disdain it blessed is the man who listens to me watching daily at my gates waiting at the posts of my doors for whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord but he who sends against me wrongs his own soul all those who hate me love death and what I'm going to take this last bit off I don't think we're going to get to it this week all right so again we have this confession of the pre-existent son of God we talked about that yesterday and the Aryan heresy we have his work being described namely the work of creating the master master craftsman you see in verse 24 25 an emphasis on Christ eternal generation from the father by using the analogy of a birth but a timeless birth from eternity before time and before creation I was brought forth right proverbs 22 to 26 fits with other scripture passages that

6:12refer to the father and the son and to the son as begotten by the father there's all sorts of those Psalm 2 2 Samuel 7 Psalm 89 1 Chronicles 22 Matthew 3 Matthew 11 Matthew 28 John 1 John 10 Acts 13 Hebrews 1 Hebrews 5 all right so what we say in the creed as much scriptural testimony the language in these verses carefully avoids any hint that wisdom is a creative being a creature instead divine wisdom is co-existent with God like the father God the son is eternal pre-existent from eternity past and lives forevermore therefore verses 22 to the 26 is part of the biblical basis for the church's confession of Christ is in the nice and create I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ the only begotten of the son of God begotten of his father before all worlds God of God light of light very God of very God begotten and made being of one substance with the father and also the Athanasian creative firms that God the son is uncreated and eternal it confesses the son is neither made nor created but begotten of the father alone the mis-translation of verse

7:2022 the Lord created me that was RSV and RSV or even the Lord brought me forth as the first of his works NIV implies that wisdom was created even if there was even if it was the first of God's creations for those who denied the wisdom that wisdom is Christ which we've talked about many times this does not appear at first blush to pose a problem for Christology however that position fails to account for the biblical parallels that apply language and theology of verses 22 to 31 to Christ himself as we talked about yesterday the view that the that are reading here depicts wisdom as the pre incarnate Christ and as the agent of creation is the view that is most consistent with the rest of scripture other Old Testament passages speak of God the son is eternal his origins are from eternity past for example uh micro five and he will reign forever more Isaiah nine and he shall reign forever yeah um Psalms 2 it's alms 110 the New Testament clearly identifies Jesus Christ

8:21as the eternal son of God and as the wisdom of God as we talked about Paul clearly identifies Christ in this way in 1 Corinthians 1 18 to 31 furthermore in stating that Christ is the power of God in the wisdom of God Paul plainly shows that he has proverbs 8 in mind also jub 12 perhaps yet first Corinthians is not the only epistle in which Paul refers to Christ as God's wisdom in his epistle to the Colossians he states that his struggle as an apostle of Christ is to provide knowledge of the mystery of God which is Christ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that's Colossians 2 Paul evidently has in mind again proverbs 8 in addition Paul is not the only one in the New Testament appoint to Christ as wisdom a Matthew 12 42 and it's parallel in Luke 11 31 Jesus himself declares that the queen of Shiba will judge this generation of his contemporaries because she came to hear Solomon's wisdom but most of his hearers did not perceive that the one greater than Solomon was there among him the reference to the one greater than Solomon

9:22is intended to point to the fullness of divine wisdom in Christ himself who is far greater than Solomon and the wisdom he was given wisdom in proverbs 1 through 9 especially chapter 8 here is by Solomon's own admission greater older and loftier than he Jesus has more to say for example in Luke 1149 he's able to speak for divine wisdom the wisdom of God said I will send them prophets and apostles and they will kill some of them and persecute others the speaking wisdom of God is Jesus himself the incarnate word of God revelation 1913 since Jesus also said therefore I am sending prophets wise men and scribes some of them you will kill and crucify and others you will flag in your synagogues and persecute from city to city Matthew 23 as a final example Jesus once again identified himself as wisdom when he was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton wisdom is justified by her children remember Matthew 11 Luke 7 all right perhaps we'll talk about the master craftsman part tomorrow that would be good right all right let's say our verse together

10:29Lord I have loved the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells Psalm 26 8 catechism 10 commandments come in once one through three you shall have no other gods you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy and then table of duties what here is other pastors the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel 1 Corinthians 9 14 anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor do not be deceived God cannot be mocked a man reaps what he so's Galatians 6 6 through 7 and finally the elders of the affair who direct the are worthy of double honor especially those whose work is preaching and teaching for the scriptures say do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain and the worker deserves his wages 1 Timothy 5 17 through 18 right so as I said we have our

11:39catechesis here for we're going to finish out Matthew's passion and this is Matthew 27 45 to 66 all right give me one moment here all right I think that's good how about that I was getting a little quiet wasn't I okay hopefully that's pretty good now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice Ellie Ellie Lamick Savakhtani it is my god my god why have you forsaken me some of the some of those who stood there when they heard that said this man is calling for Elijah immediately one of them ran and took a sponge filled it with sour wine and put it on a read it and offered it to him to drink the rest said let him alone let us see if Elijah will come and save him and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit then behold the

12:47time veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many so in the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that had happened they feared greatly saying truly this was the Son of God and many women who followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him were looking on from afar among whom were Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Joseph and the mother of Zebede's sons now an evening had come there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus this man went to pilot and asked for the body of Jesus then pilot commanded the body to be given to him when Joseph had taken the body he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb which he

13:48had hewn out of the rock and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed and Mary Magdalene was there and the other Mary sitting opposite the tomb on the next day which followed the day of preparation the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to pilot saying sir we remember while he was still alive how the deceiver said after three days I will rise therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day last his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people he has risen from the dead so the last deception will be worse than the first pilot said to them you have a guard go your way make it as secure as you know how so they went and made the tomb secure sealing the stone and setting the guard can't quite get it all on the screen but that's okay we'll do our best here all right so as we do we'll do some questions and answers

14:48so when did darkness come upon the land it says they're from the sixth hour until the ninth hour all right the sixth hour in Matthew's reckoning is noon is noon I think it only John's gospel has a different time schedule I mean not a different time it's still noon to three but does it according to the Roman reckoning it's noon because it's roughly six hours from from daybreak right what did Jesus cry out at the ninth hour it's a three L.A. L.A. L. L.A. Lamaxavikthani it's the air maic my god my god why have you forsaken me you'll recognize those words we pray them every monday thursday during the stripping of the altar that's Psalm 22 and the context of the psalm is important we've said this many a time but it's worth reiterating that when he does a brief quote here when the evangelist gives us just one line of the psalm he wants you to take into account the whole psalm I think and the rest of the context is regarding Jesus calling out in the confidence of faith that his father would rescue him from his

15:54enemies who surrounded him right so it's not quite a rhetorical question but it has that it the psalm has the answer why have you forsaken me you have not and you will ask you may you may have but you will rescue me what did the people think Jesus was saying verse 49 right they thought he was calling for Elijah all right so what they do well it's 47 as well right they took a sour or a sponge filled it with sour wine and put it on a reading give it to him to drink so it's a little different than the gall in the vinegar from yesterday but same idea here vinegar on a sponge and then the others say let's see if Elijah will come and save him right so he could he's calling out for Elijah now let's see if Elijah is going to save him all right what did Jesus do after that final act cries out with a loud voice yields up his spirit Matthew records for us an interesting note here that the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom significant because now Jesus has opened the way to the father through the temple of his body through the

17:00temple of his body right we talked about three days he will raise it again other signs the rocks beings split the earth being quaked and graves being opened with the bodies of the saints who are who had fallen asleep being raised Matthew phenomenally gives us here a picture of the resurrection of the last day happening even at the death of Jesus what happened after Jesus rose well it's not just imaginary they went into the holy city and appeared to many then we have that remarkable confession of the centurion right where was that yeah right there in 54 truly this was the son of God a Roman soldier a Gentile he uses past ends still is the son of God but that's okay who do we have watching from afar just a brief note here John will give us a fuller account Mary Magdalene Mary the mother of James and Joseph's and the mother of Zebede's sons that's a that's a key isn't it we talked about this not that long ago I preached on it actually on a Wednesday

18:03right where she asks that her son said it Jesus right and left hand when he entered into his kingdom now the cross she understands the the folly of those words right as she witnesses rovers on his right and is left as he's labeled king of the Jews all right um who comes to Jesus at the evening we have a rich man a verimathia named Joseph and also who is a disciple of Jesus and Joseph went to pilot ask for the body of Jesus of course now what a Joseph does with the body this is something that we ought to probably discuss more often is how we handle the body of those who die after death we treat it with the same respect that we would treat a newborn infant right the infant is born the infant is is wrapped it's the infant is brought near to its mother right maybe skin to skin now is more common that's good and then but kept warm

19:07and safe and secure same idea here we treat the grave as kind of a foreign place but it it's a resting place and so he takes down Christ body from the cross wraps it in a clean linen cloth lays it in a new tomb he went out of rock and rolls the large stone against the door before departing and this is all witnessed by Mary Magdalene and the other Mary who sat opposite the tomb this will come back in the resurrection accounts of course right they know where to go they know where Jesus was laid uh Matthew records for us 62 what day did this happen all this happened on the day of preparation the next day is the day of the Passover um it's the Sabbath Passover and Jesus will rest in the tomb right he they are preparing his body um maybe not like the Passover sacrifice but in similar way why did the chief priests and Pharisees come to pilot their conscience is brick ah Jesus said he would rise in three days we better prevent that from

20:09happening who else had problems remembering Jesus words about their resurrection the 11 so the Pharisees remember Jesus words about the third day but the disciples forget notice what the Pharisees call Jesus the deceiver right satanic again they have it all inverted don't they so they want the tomb to be made secure in an armed guard until the third day the disciples might come and steal the body and create this whole fraudulent scheme so what did they do when pilot granted their wish use your own guard of course let make it as secure as you know how seal it post the guard do what you need to do i mean again he's already washed his hands of this whole affair he really doesn't want anything to do with it um even as they make a case that there could be ongoing fraud all right so Jesus trusted that his father would save him from the power of death itself he did not try to save himself but relied on the god of Elijah to show who is really god

21:13it was the testimony of his father that would reveal Jesus as the true son by Jesus' faithfulness the veil of the temple was torn so that we may enter the most holy place in the presence of the father through the veil of Christ's flesh see Hebrews 10 he drank the bitter wine of his father's anger that we might receive the sweet wine of salvation in the blessed supper the power of the grave is so shattered so that the bodies of the saints are released from its power by the resurrection of Christ it is revealed that his saints shall come forth from the grave and enter into the heavenly Jerusalem add Jesus's death the Gentile centurion confessed that God had come in the flesh while the Jews denied it though the Jews so carefully listened to Jesus' words and remembered them they did not believe that he was the son of God on the other hand the disciples heard but did not remember or believe his words about his resurrection from the dead we are called to hear these words of Christ's death remember them and cling to them in faith as our only salvation okay speaking of

22:17the eternal visions here Daniel 9 a significant vision and light of both Christ's incarnation his divinity and his salvation of you now while I was speaking praying and confessing my sin in the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God and yes while I was speaking in prayer the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning being caused to fly swiftly reached me about the time of the evening offering and he informed me and talked with me and said oh Daniel I have now come forth to give you skill to understand at the beginning of your supplications the command went out and I have come to tell you for you are greatly loved therefore consider the matter and understand the vision 70 weeks are determined for your people and your holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of sins to make reconciliation for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy now therefore and understand know therefore and understand

23:20that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the prince there shall be seven weeks and sixty two weeks the street shall be built again and the wall even in trouble sometimes and after sixty two weeks Messiah shall be cut off but not for himself and the people of the prince who has to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary the end of it shall be with a flood until the end of the war desolations are determined then he shall confirm a covenant with me for many a week or for one week with many for one week there we go but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abomination shall one shall be one who makes desolate even until the consummation which is determined is poured out on the desolate all right so clearly Daniel is hearing from the angel Gabriel called here the man a well a picture of of Christ suffering and death of his ministry of his incarnation of his death his resurrection it's all right here well it actually if you keep going

24:25you'll get the resurrection but being cut off but not for his own sake bring bringing to an end the iniquities sealing up vision and prophecy the completion of all things right as Jesus himself will say from the cross it is finished it is finished all right beautiful all right let's sing our hymn for god so love the world so that he gave start right at the top so

25:28the world so that he gave As only some thought was to say, That all who would in Him may leave, Should have everlasting life received. Christ Jesus is the crown of faith, Who was made for chance of her death, All that her trust in Him alone, Are built on this chief cornerstone. God would not have the center die,

26:33Is on where saving Christ is high, The spirit and the world declares, Are we in Christ or heaven's heaven? We do have a commemoration today, Looking for my tablet, And I'm not confident I know what I did with it. Maybe I took it home last night. I'm not sure. And in all of her clean up, Well, we'll find it soon enough. Let's do it with the phone then. Brief meditation on this day, Which is St. Joseph's day, I believe. Yes, St. Joseph, guardian of Jesus. This will be from Euryneus of Lyon.

27:34When Joseph became aware that Mary was with child, And was thinking of putting her away privately, The angel said to him, While he was asleep, Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, For her conception is from the Holy Spirit. For she will deliver a son, And you will call him Jesus, For he will save his people from their sins. So Joseph was convinced beyond all doubt, And he took Mary and joyfully observed, Or obeyed everything in regard to all the rest of the education of Christ. Undertaking a journey into Egypt and back again, And then went away to Nazareth. Those who do not know the scriptures, Know the promise of God, Nor the dispensation of Christ, Call him the father of the child. For this reason too, The Lord himself read at Capernum, The prophecies of Isaiah. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me. He has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor And to heal the broken hearted, To preach deliverance to the captives, And to give sight to the blind. Thus, he showed, Jesus showed, That he, that it was he himself, Who had been foretold by Isaiah the prophet,

28:34And he said to them today, This scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Joseph was convinced beyond all doubt. So we understand him as the faithful guardian, Earthly father of Jesus, adopted father. And the last we hear of him, Of course, is with 12-year-old Jesus in the temple. Joseph has been associated with caring parenthood, As well as with skilled craftsmanship. All right. Oh, I always say a prayer and thanks for Joseph, huh? Give me a moment here. Almighty God, from the house of your servant David, You raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate son, And the husband of his mother Mary. Grant us grace to follow the example of this faithful workman In heating your counsel and obeying your commands. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever. Amen. We pray today for the church and her pastors,

29:35For missionaries, teachers, deaconesses, Musicians, and other servants of Christ in his church. For the fruitful and salutary use of the blessed sacrament Of the Lord's body and blood. We pray today for Malaya, celebrating her birthday. We pray for all the households of our church, Especially that of Dick and Jean, Len, Ruth, Eric, and Carrie, My family and that of Dennis. Our Catechumans, Esther, Patrick, Alexander, and Sovereign. All those who are ill receiving treatment are recovering, Especially Joe, Len, Ron, Sheila, Brad, Vicki, Todd, And Scarlett, Jim, Debbie, Dan, and Jim, Jim, Dick, and Pauline. Pray for our homebound, Dan, Sophie, Ruth, Joan, Paul, Dolores, and Ruth. Pray for the missions of mercy work of the church, Especially that of Camp Louisimo. Pray for all those who are sick, Or recovering, especially from surgery, norm, and dasha. We pray for the family of friends of Joyce, Of Jim and Dan who all grieve their death. For all this, let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy.

30:36Our Father, who art in heaven, Howl would be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven, Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, And the power, and the glory, forever, and ever, Amen. I thank you, my Heavenly Father, Through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, That you have kept me this night from all harm and danger. And I pray that you would forgive me all my sins, Where I have done wrong, And graciously keep me this night. For into your hands, I commend myself, My body and soul, and all things, Let your holy angel be with me, That the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Let us bless the Lord. Thanks be to God. The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, And the love of God, And the communion of the Holy Spirit, Be with you all.

31:36Amen. That's our congregation of prayer for today. Thursday, March 19th, 2026. It's good to have you with us as always. Yeah, if you missed last evening, You can go listen or watch, And to the sermon, Did something a little bit different there, Emulated the style of one of my teachers, That would be Dr. Norman Nagel, With his terse and brief kind of, Well, approach to speaking. So you might have found it a little, A little bit startling, but hopefully it's helpful. All right. And God be with you today, and always, And always, and keep you safe and secure, As He Himself has done everything needed for you And for your salvation. But be with you all, And we'll see you again in the morning. We welcome you to join us for divine service, On Sundays and Wednesdays.

32:36We offer Bible class and catechesis for youth, And any interested adults. If this podcast is of benefit to you, Please consider supporting the work of our congregation, By going to SJRL.org, SJRL.org, And clicking the donate link. Join us to receive the Lord's Word and His gifts.