Matthew 27:45-66 Part 2

The Central Idea of the Text is that Jesus was crucified for our sins, voluntarily gave up His life, and was buried in a tomb.  There were supernatural signs before and after the cross.  Before the death of Christ, there was a great darkness that covered the land and everyone saw it (Matt. 27:45).  After Jesus died, the temple veil was torn, the earth shook, the rocks split (Matt. 27:51), and graves were opened and the dead came to life and entered the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:52-53).  Jesus gave up His life and simply “yielded up His spirit” (Matt. 27:50).  He had prophesied this to the disciples before His death (John 10:17-18).  After His death, Joseph of Arimathea obtained the body of Jesus and placed it in his personal tomb (Matt. 27:57-60; cf. Isa. 53:9).  Some of the women who followed Jesus during His ministry watched the crucifixion from a distance and were the first to arrive at His grave (Matt. 27:55-56, 61).  Some of the religious leaders who had Jesus crucified feared His disciples would steal the body and claim He’d been raised from the dead (Matt. 27:62-63), so they tried to control matters by requesting Pilate secure the tomb of Jesus for several days (Matt. 27:64-66).