Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Part V

Verses 18-20: So He approached them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything that I have told you to do.”

It is interesting to note that Matthew uses the Greek word proserchoma which means “to approach, draw near to, visit,” to describe how the Lord Jesus approached them. In other words, they went to the place in Galilee He had indicated, and after gathering there waiting, He showed up. What a beautiful illustration that is for those who desire to follow His will. The words that Jesus then spoke to them echo what His heavenly Father had said to Him, Who then inspired by the Psalmist to record: “Let me tell you about the Lord’s agreement: He said to me, ‘Today I have become your father, and you are my son. If you ask, I will give you the nations. Everyone on earth will be yours. You will rule over them with great power. You will scatter your enemies like broken pieces of pottery!‘”¹ And Daniel received a revelation similar to the one the disciples now experienced: “The one who looked like a human being was given authority, glory, and complete ruling power. People from every nation and language group will serve Him. His rule will last forever. His kingdom will continue forever. It will never be destroyed.”²

Some Bible scholars believe that Jesus was more or less quoting Daniel here. But not all skeptics accept the anointing proclaimed by Jesus. As one polemic Jewish writer proposed, if He were truly God, and the earth was His, and the fullness thereof,³ then why did He have to leave and go away? If He were God, did He lie to the scribe when He said He had no place to lay His head?⁴ How could He now claim to have all dominion in heaven and on earth?⁵ What this critical writer does not take into consideration is that the Messiah was made human so that we might be made divine.⁶

It would also be shortsighted if any Bible scholar insisted that what Jesus meant here was that at baptism the actual name of the Father, and that of the Son, and that of the Holy Spirit be enunciated in order to make the baptism valid. First of all, God has no name other than the one He gave to Moses: “I AM that I AM.” Furthermore, Jesus was speaking to His Jewish followers who understood the consequences of going out to win the people of Israel to the Messiah and the repercussions if they dared to speak HaShem – The Name. Even the term “God” is not His name, it only designates Him as the Highest Being in the universe, and in most Jewish documents is spelled, “G-d”.

Also, we know now that the name “Jesus,” is the Anglicization of the Hebrew word, “Yeshua.” That was His earthly name. But as the Son of God, the closest name we can come up with is: “Emmanuel” or “Alpha and Omega,” “Messiah,” etc., and the ones found in Isaiah.⁷ But these are titles and characteristics. And as far as the Holy Spirit is concerned, the only other term used for Him that might qualify as a name is “Comforter.”⁸ So it is clear that what our Lord meant by saying in the name, was “by the authority of.” After all, it was the Father who called us, the Son who paid our ransom, and the Holy Spirit that led us to the strait and narrow gate of salvation. So all three should be acknowledged as making it possible for us to become the children of God.

We must remember, at this point the disciples were thinking only of converting their fellow Jews into believing that Jesus of Nazareth was the true Messiah, the Son of the Living God. So our Lord’s message echoes that of the Psalmist, “May those in faraway countries remember the Lord and come back to Him. May those in distant lands worship Him, because the Lord is the King. He rules all nations.”⁹ And this commission by Jesus would make it possible for His disciples to be energized and sing this Psalm of Praise: “The Lord showed the nations His power to save. He showed them His goodness. He has kept His promise of love and loyalty to the people of Israel. People everywhere have seen our God’s power to save. Everyone on earth, shout with joy to the Lord.”¹⁰

And no doubt, the words of Isaiah now made more sense to them than ever before, “And now He says, “You are very important servants to me. You must bring back to me the tribes of Jacob. You must bring back the people of Israel who are still alive. But I have something else for you to do that is even more important: I will make you a light for the other nations. You will show people all over the world the way to be saved.”¹¹ This was all to be done with the authority and cooperation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.¹²

Some have misunderstood and others misinterpreted this ordinance at baptism. The term “name” is a synonym for authority, and in this case it points to what one theologian calls: “…the authority of these three divine persons, who all appeared, and testified their approval of the administration of this ordinance, at the baptism of Christ: and as they are to be trained in it, so the persons baptized not only profess faith in each divine person, but are devoted to their service, and worship, and are laid under obligation to obedience to them, Hence a confirmation of the doctrine of the Trinity, there are three persons, but one name, but one God, into which believers are baptized; and a proof of the true deity both of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and that Christ, as the Son of God, is God; since baptism is administered equally in the name of all three, as a religious ordinance, a part of divine instituted worship, which would never be in the name of a creature. This is the first, and indeed the only, place in which the Trinity of persons is expressed in this order, and in the selfsame words.”¹³

It may also help to look at the Jewish understanding of this commission in the Hebrew: “Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim,¹⁴ immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh¹⁵.”¹⁶ As one Jewish writer explains it from the Jewish perspective: “Christianity has tended to regard this phrase as a ‘baptismal formula’ to be pronounced when someone is baptized. This understanding leads to such questions as: What is this ‘name’ of the Father, Son, and Spirit? Is it Yahweh?¹⁷ or something else? Must all three ‘persons of the Godhead’ be mentioned for a baptism to be valid? So far as I am concerned, these questions miss the point. First of all, Greek ‘eis’ generally means ‘into’ rather than ‘in.’ Secondly, although ‘name’ is the literal meaning of Greek ‘onoma’, ‘immersing into a name’ describes no possible literal act. My rendering (in bold letters above) expresses what I believe to be the intended meaning, since in the Bible ‘name’ stands for the reality behind the name. While ‘in the name of’ can mean ‘on the authority of,’ that seems weak here; more is meant than identifying who authorizes immersion. It is possible that the Greek for ‘into the name’ renders Hebrew ‘lashem’, ‘for the sake of, with reference to’.”¹⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Part III

Experts in the Greek language tell us a slight change in the lettering occurred in this saying of Jesus sometime during the copying of the original manuscript, but when those changes are corrected, John’s account of what Jesus said will read the same as Matthew’s. However, that is not necessary since what John says falls harmoniously in context with the situation. As soon as Mary recognized the man in the garden as the Jesus she followed for so many years, she ran to Him and bowed down at His feet. In verse 17 we see the disciples doing the same thing. However, Jesus had a mission for her to accomplish. So in kindness, He said to her, “Stop kneeling there holding on to my feet, get up and go tell the others what I’ve just told you.” So it was not a rebuke, it was a request.

How illustrative this is of believers who come to Jesus in times of worship, or run to Him in moments of fear, to bow down and pray at His feet. While this is fine, it is not an end in itself; Jesus wants us to go and do what He has commanded us to do. In my younger days, it was not unusual to see believers go to the altar for prayer at the end of the service and tarry there for a long time, sometimes for hours. That’s when my youthful brain wondered it they were doing this to impress God or impress the other saints looking on. I can almost hear our Savior calling to them, “Get up! Go tell others what I’ve already done for you instead of hanging around here asking Me for more! I’m with you! I’ll go with you. I’ll give you all you need to complete the work I’ve given you!”

Verses 11-15: The women then went to tell the disciples. In the meantime, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb had already gone into the city. They went directly to the leading priests and told them everything that happened. Then the priests met with the older Jewish leaders and made up a story. They paid the soldiers a lot of money and said to them, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were sleeping. If the governor hears about this, we will talk to him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers kept the money and obeyed the priests. And that story is still being spread among the Jews even today.

Apparently, the women knew where the other followers of Jesus were hiding. So they headed straight toward the location. At the same time, another group was headed for the place where the leading priests were normally found on the first day of the week. The Persian Version puts it this way, “…moreover, the rulers and governors, who watched the sepulcher, coming to themselves, returned to the city with a pale and frightened countenance.” However, most other translations follow the Greek text as rendered above.

When these soldiers arrived, the leading priests totally ignored what the Psalmist cautioned them to do, “So, kings and rulers, be smart and learn this lesson. Serve the Lord with fear and trembling. Show that you are loyal to His Son or the Lord will be angry and destroy you. He is almost angry enough to do that now, but those who go to Him for protection will be blessed.”¹ But these chief priests took another route. They wanted to cover up their failure and blunder of trying to get rid of this Messiah.

It is interesting that the scribe who translated Matthew’s Hebrew notes into Greek shows that this attempt to mislead and misinterpret what happened was still being rumored during the days in which this translation took place. Scholars believe that it was around 70 AD or later. But thousands of years later we still hear it being repeated.

During the Middle Ages, the Jews became so concerned at the growth of Christianity and the elevation of Jesus to the Trinity, that they decided to publish a polemic chronicle as the true story of Jesus rising from the dead.² In their telling of what happened at Jesus resurrection, they give the following account: “Now about the middle of the night His disciples came and sat down by the grave under the brook. Judas, seeing this, took away the body and hid it in his garden under a brook. Diverting the water elsewhere, he buried the body in the channel and then brought the water back. On the morrow, when the disciples came again and sat down to weep, Judas said to them, ‘Why do you weep? Look and see if the buried man is there.’ And when they looked and found He was not there, the miserable crowd cried out, ‘He is not in the grave but has ascended to heaven.’ For He foretold this Himself when alive, and as if concerning Himself the saying was interpreted, ‘But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me’ Selah.’”³ According to one early Christian apologist, this story about the disciples stealing the body was purposely spread by the Jews throughout the world in order to discredit the Christian’s claim that He was risen.⁴

They go on to say: “After these things, the strife between the Nazarenes and the Jews grew so great that it caused a division between them, and if a Nazarene met a Jew he would kill him. The trouble increased more and more for 30 years, when the Nazarenes, having increased to thousands and myriads, prohibited the Israelites from coming to the greater festivals in Jerusalem. Then there was great distress among the Israelites, like what it was in the day the golden calf was forged so that no one knew what to do. The debilitating faith increased, and there came forth 12 men like bad offspring of foul ravens, who wandered through the twelve kingdoms and spread false doctrines among mankind. Some of the Israelites followed them, and these being of high authority, strengthened the Yeshuitic faith; and because they gave themselves out to be apostles of Him who was hanged, the great body of the Israelites followed them.”⁵

Verses 16-17: The eleven followers of Jesus went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus told them to go. On the mountain, the followers saw Jesus. They bowed before Him. But some of the followers did not believe that it was really Jesus.

Matthew now bypasses the stories of our Lord’s appearances to the women, the two men on the road to Emmaus, and the disciples in the upper room, as told by Luke and John, and records that tell when Jesus meets them up in Galilee just as He told the women to tell them. Most scholars believe that the mountain where Jesus told them to go was the one He visited often and where His transfiguration took place which is near the city of Capernaum. It appears that Jesus may have told them the exact spot where He would meet them.⁶

I like this commentary I found: “Christ made an appointment to meet His disciples in Galilee, and that appointment He kept. He kept it in spite of: (1) His sleeping disciples, (2) His betrayal, (3) their forsaking Him, (4) His death, (5) His burial, (6) Peter’s denial, (7) the big lie, and (8) the unbelief of many. The only persons who did not meet Christ on that mount in Galilee are those who did not go there to keep their appointment. In like manner, now Christ keeps His appointments with His disciples, in spite of similar lapses on their part; and what are those appointments? They are: (1) to meet Him in baptism, (2) at the Lord’s table, (3) in the trials of life, (4) in death, and (5) in the rapture, (6) and in the judgment to come. Only those who will not obey Him shall miss the joy of meeting the Lord in those appointments; but in the case of the judgment, all shall keep that appointment, whether they desire to do so or not.”⁷ Our Lord wanted to meet His followers to give them a message that would ring out through the ages.

Chrysostom adds his commentary: “This seems to me to be the last appearance in Galilee when He sent them out to baptize. And if ‘some doubted,’ herein again admire the Evangelists’ truthfulness. Even up to the last day, they were determined not to conceal even their own shortcomings. Nevertheless, even these are assured by what they see.”⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Part II

There is an interesting story in another Jewish document where Rabbis are discussing whether or not the resurrection can be proven by reading the Torah, that is, the five books of Moses. The Sadducees say there will be no resurrection, but the Pharisees and others say there will be. On one occasion, these Rabbis had a conversation with Queen Cleopatra. If this is the Cleopatra of Anthony, then this conversation took place in Alexandria, Egypt, where a large Jewish enclave flourished. However, most Jewish scholars believe it was the corruption of the Aramaic name of the Patriarch of the Samaritans.

In either case, the Patriarch asked Rabbi Meir: “I know that the dead will revive, for it is written, ‘And the righteous will blossom forth out of Jerusalem like the grass of the earth.’¹ But when they arise, will they arise nude or dressed in garments?’ — He replied, ‘You may deduce by an a fortiori² argument the answer from a grain of wheat: if a grain of wheat, which is buried naked, sprouts in many robes, how much more so the righteous, who are buried in their raiment!’”³ In other words, think of a person’s body much like a dead seed that is buried in the ground and sprouts up to produce a living plant from that seed.

But that’s not all, the narrative goes on. On another occasion, we read: “An emperor said to Rabban Gamaliel: ‘You maintain that the dead will revive, but they turn to dust, so can dust come to life?’ Thereupon the emperor’s daughter said to the Rabbi: ‘Let me answer him: In our town there are two potters; one fashions his products from water,¹ and the other from clay: who is the more praiseworthy?’ ‘He who fashions them from water,’ he replied. ‘If God can fashion man from water, surely He can do so from clay!’”²

Also, Jewish historian Josephus made it clear that, with the exception of the Sadducees, this was the prevailing view of all Jews. He wrote:

This is the discourse concerning Hades, wherein the souls of all men are confined until a proper season, which God has determined, when He will make a resurrection of all men from the dead, not procuring a transmigration of souls from one body to another, but raising again those very bodies, which you Greeks, seeing as dissolved, do not believe [their resurrection]. But learn not to disbelieve it; for while you believe that the soul is created, and yet is made immortal by God, according to the doctrine of Plato, and this in time, be not incredulous; but believe that God is able, when He has raised to life that body which was made as a compound of the same elements, to make it immortal; for it must never be said of God, that He is able to do some things and unable to do others. We have therefore believed that the body will be raised again; for although it be dissolved, it does not perish; for the earth receives its remains, and preserves them; and while they are like seed and are mixed among the more fruitful soil, they flourish, and what is sown is indeed sown bare grain, but at the mighty sound of God the Creator, it will sprout up, and be raised in a clothed and glorious condition, though not before it has been dissolved, and mixed [with the earth]. So that we have not rashly believed the resurrection of the body; for although it be dissolved for a time on account of the original transgression, it exists still, and is cast into the earth as into a potter’s furnace, in order to be formed again, not in order to rise again such as it was before, but in a state of purity, and so as never to be destroyed any more. And to every body shall its own soul be restored. And when it has clothed itself with that body, it will not be subject to misery, but, being itself pure, it will continue with its pure body, and rejoice with it, with which it having walked righteously now in this world, and never having had it as a snare, it will receive it again with great gladness. But as for the unjust, they will receive their bodies not changed, not freed from diseases or distemper, nor made glorious, but with the same diseases wherein they died; and such as they were in their unbelief, the same shall they be when they shall be faithfully judged.⁶

This discourse sounds very familiar to what was written by one of the early church scholars in the third century.¹ Therefore, being raised by God from the dead was not foreign to the Jews, even as their own literature states: “Those who fear the Lord shall rise to everlasting life, and their life is in the light of the Lord and shall never end.”² It’s clear from this, that the women who saw Jesus entombed already believed in being resurrected with a new body, but did not expect to see Jesus exit the tomb that way on this day.

And now Matthew moves on to the angels who were involved. Angels have always been classified as messengers or carrier’s of communication, but not the originators of the same. This angel is no exception. He carried a message sent from someone higher than himself. Could it have been the Son of God who left this message with the angel before His own planned departure to Galilee? The likelihood is more for, than against. But to make sure that they did not question the veracity of the message or the messenger, the angel reminds them of another subject matter Jesus had given them, and that was His assurance that He would be raised from the dead.

Then the angel, by authority of Jesus, invited them to see the empty tomb for themselves. Even though we have no specific evidence that the same angel who spoke to Daniel in his vision is the same as the one speaking to the women here, his words sound very similar. We read in Daniel, “Then the man in the vision started talking again. He said, ‘Daniel, do not be afraid. From the very first day you decided to get wisdom and to be humble in front of God, He has been listening to your prayers. I came to you because you have been praying.”⁹

It would not surprise me if these women had been praying all night and all day, asking God to make the words spoken to them by their Master that He would rise from death in three days, come to pass. But the message the angel gave them sparked, even more, excitement and urgency. The angel did not tell them to take their time, but to carry this message back to the disciples as soon as possible. And Matthew tells us they lost no time in getting underway to carry out the mission given them. But they were in for an even bigger surprise.

Verses 8-10: So the women turned to leave the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. As they started to hurry off to tell His followers what had happened, suddenly, Jesus was standing there in front of them. He said, “Hello!” The women ran to Him, and bowing down before Him they held on to His feet. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my followers to go to Galilee. They are to meet me there.”

There is little doubt that when we see Jesus for the first time, our reaction will be similar to that of the women here. Sometimes English words that convey several meanings tend to cloud the text from what the original language implies. To most English speaking believers, especially those in America, when we use the word “worship” it is connotative of what we do during our services in church. But what the word “worship” used here implies in the original Greek, means to fall down on one’s knees in front of a holy person, grab their hand and apply it to the forehead or put one’s forehead on their feet.

This helps explain why the women took hold of Jesus feet. Even so, our Lord is worthy of all praise and honor and glory and majesty, even falling down before Him on our knees in worship. This verse has caused some confusion because of the rendering Christ’s words from Aramaic, especially by John.¹⁰ Using the New International Version we see that Matthew has written, “Do not be afraid”; but John records Jesus as saying: “Do not hold on to me!” One seems to be a greeting of peace, the other appears to be a request for patience.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Part I

Verse 1: The day after the Sabbath was the first day of the week. That day at dawn Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary were going to visit the tomb.

It is important to know that Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon and that the Sabbath began at 6 PM that same day. Visiting the grave or doing any work such as bringing spices would have been against Sabbath Day laws. So the women waited until the Sabbath was over at 6 PM Saturday evening. But by this time, it would have been too late to go out to where Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb was located, deposit the spices and perfumes, and then get back to town before dark. So they waited until early the first day of the week which was Sunday. While the Sabbath (Saturday) held a very holy and special place in the Jewish calendar, at that time Sunday was not revered as highly. We find a very interesting story that is tied to Sunday for those who decided to fast that day.

In the main Jewish study guide for the law, there is a section that deals with certain people who fast that are called “ma’amadot.” It says, “On Sunday [they read]: ‘In the beginning’,¹ and ‘Let there be an expanse.’”² They list Sunday as the first day of the week. It goes on to say: “Maʿamadot, (Hebrew: ‘pillars,’ or ‘posts’), were 24 groups of Jewish laymen that witnessed, by turns of one week each, the daily sacrifice in the Second Temple of Jerusalem as representatives of the common people. Gradually, maʿamadot were organized in areas outside Jerusalem, so that the people could hold special services in their villages while their representatives were present in the Temple. Some scholars view these village maʿamadot as the first step toward regular synagogue worship.”³ Little did they know that on this particular Sunday when they stood to read, “In the beginning…” they were speaking symbolically about a new beginning of a new covenant between God and mankind. And when they read, “Let there be an expanse,” it signified the divide between the Jews and Christians in the family of God.

Also, some people believe that the stone covering the entrance to the tomb was rolled away to allow Jesus to exit, but later facts prompt us to conclude that this was not necessary. After He died He was no longer restricted to the physical realm. So, the stone may have been rolled away so that those who came later to attest to His resurrection were able to enter the tomb to verify that it was empty; to find His burial cloth and know it was His way of saying that He left of His own accord.

Verses 2-4: Earlier, an angel of the Lord had suddenly come from the sky, and there was a huge earthquake. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on top of the stone. The angel was shining as bright as lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the angel. They began to shake with fear and fainted and as they fell to the ground.

We could say, the angels rolled the stone away to let Joseph of Arimathea know he could have his tomb back. Matthew tells us that the Roman soldiers stationed there were awestruck when only one angel appeared. The Psalmist clearly stated, “You make the winds your messengers and flames of fire your servants.”⁴ One Jewish compiler of Rabbinical sayings adds: “And how is their fire nourished? By the flame-like splendor of God’s presence, for it is written: ‘In the light of the King’s countenance is life⁵.”⁶ What a wonderful message for believers today who are considered to be God’s messengers. The flame in our souls and in our message can only be maintained by God’s continuous presence in our lives through the Holy Spirit.

Daniel saw a similar celestial being. He wrote: “His body was like a smooth, shiny stone. His face was bright like lightning. His eyes were like flames of fire. His arms and feet were shiny like polished brass. His voice was loud like a crowd of people.”⁷ I don’t find it surprising that they all fainted and fell to the ground helpless. We read where Rabbi Judah ben Il’ai had a practice that on the eve of the Sabbath, they filled a basin with hot water and brought it to him, and he washed his face, hands, and feet, then he wrapped himself and sat in fringed linen robes. It was said by those who saw him, “…and was like an angel of the Lord of Hosts.”⁸

And further on, the Rabbis talk about ministering angels with this comment: They are “…distinguished in dress, being robed in white and turbaned.”⁹ So what Matthew was describing could not be scoffed at even by the Jewish leaders, lest they offend their revered brethren. After Daniel told about seeing the angel in his vision, he says, “I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision. The men with me didn’t see the vision, but they were still afraid. They were so afraid that they ran away and hid.”¹⁰ We find that later on a skeptic and opponent of this New Way, named Saul of Tarsus, would have a similar experience. So the reaction of the soldiers certainly was no surprise to those who knew about such appearances in the past.

Verses 5-7: When the women arrived and saw the angel sitting on the stone, the angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, the one who was crucified on the cross. But He is not here. He has risen from death, as He said He would. Come take a look at the place where His body was laying. Then go quickly and tell His followers, ‘Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee and will be there before you. You will see Him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I’ve given you the message.”

It was now the third day after Jesus died on the cross. There may have been more than one reason why these women came on Sunday, other than it was the first day after the Sabbath, which allowed them to walk the distance from where they were staying to the tomb. One of the earliest copies of the Jewish Verbal Law states clearly: “For the first three days after death, the soul flutters over the body, thinking that it will return to it. When it sees that the appearance of the corpse deteriorates, it leaves the body and goes its way.”¹¹ It is also noteworthy, that the women came at dawn. Not only does this represent the beginning of a day, but in the context of prophecy, it would be the dawn of a new era. This is what Daniel saw in his vision.¹²

In other words, since our Lord said He would rise the third day, could it be that these women knew this would be the day on which He had His last chance to fulfill His prophecy? So they came to see it happen? If so, their anticipation was rewarded immediately. But why so early in the morning? We may have a clue from what the Rabbis’ said that was part of their Verbal Law. They implied: “Evidence of the identify of a corpse may be given only during the first three days after death.”¹³ To put it another way, had they come later on in the week, they may not have been able to identify Jesus in order to anoint His body as they had planned to do. And one more thing to think about, could that angel who rolled the stone away and gave the message to the women that Jesus had risen and told her to tell His followers, have been Jesus Himself?

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899), a jurist and staunch Republican, wrote an essay in 1884 in which he outlines the traits and virtues of President Abraham Lincoln. In his essay, Ingersoll says: “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power.”

He goes on to say, “It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except upon the side of mercy.”

Kamri Michael, from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, had this to say: “Someone with any sort of power is more likely to act like themselves, than someone without power… Someone without power could easily fake their true character to fit in or avoid being judged. People often act differently than who they really are to please society. People who have more power have a better opportunity to judge someone than people without power… Different forms of power can be what kind of job they have, where they live, and how much money they have. Some people feel as if power can make or break a person. I, on the other hand, feel that a true person’s character is what counts, not the power they have. Unfortunately, people don’t always act themselves until they get that power.”

For me, when I examine the passion of Christ, especially during His betrayal, beating, mocking, trial, and crucifixion, and realize He had the power to call 12 legions of angels to His defense, but He took it all without striking back either verbally or physically, that shows me His real character by the way He used His power. What a great example He is to all those today in power. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

RESOLUTION FOR 2017

As I sat in a hotel dining area I saw a young woman trying to eat while wrestling with her fidgety one-year-old son. I felt sympathy for her but was in no position to help. Minutes later, I watched as a young man with spiked hair and sunglasses walk past her but showed no signs of knowing her. He got his food, came back and sat down at a table against the wall near her. It wasn’t until the little boy was getting out of hand that she turned to him and he responded. After he helped her get the little tot under control, he returned to his table and sat down to finish eating. The look on his face was one of, “I’m upset and I’m not talking to you,” while the look on her face was “I wish you’d get over your little pet peeve and act like a caring man, husband, and father.”

While sitting there eating my breakfast, I couldn’t help but start thinking about their interaction with each other, and the little lad. The man was clearly signaling that it was a bother and that his responses were only out of obligation. The lady was obviously trying to hold out and not give in to the same attitude and hardheadedness but was loosing her patience. By the time they left the dining area, the man hurried off, reluctantly carrying his son while the woman scurried behind him with a look of sadness on her face.

Whatever may have caused this rift in their relationship, it appeared to me that the man was guilty of what I call “Problem Personification.” Regardless of what she may have said or done that put him in this sour mood, he personified it and made her the object of his scorn. He wanted her to get the message that she had made him mad and now she was going to pay for it. Let’s say, she did start it. There are certainly other ways both could have handled it.

Let’s take a look. If a man opens the refrigerator door too quickly and something his wife put in the door falls out and breaks on the floor, Problem Personification will cause the wife to focus on the man and say something like, “Why can’t you be more careful?” “When will you learn how to open the refrigerator door properly?” Suddenly, the man finds himself trying to defend his honor, dignity, and dexterity instead of concentrating on how to clean up the spill.

Likewise, imagine the wife is driving and trying to negotiate a difficult turn into a tight parking spot and runs the wheels up against the curb and scars the tires and rims. Problem Personification will cause the husband to holler out, “Can’t you see where you are going?” “Now you’ve ruined our chrome wheels and I don’t have the money to get them fixed!” When will you learn how to drive?” Here again, he personifies the incident and makes her the target of his disrespect. In addition to trying to cope with the error she just made, now she’s forced to apologize while defending her abilities and judgment.

Such illustrations are endless, but the faux pas in each case is quite evident. Instead of dealing with the issue at hand, emotions and accusations are often directed at the individual instead of reacting to the incident itself. In the case of the refrigerator moment, the wife’s response could have been to ask her husband if he was okay and then discuss how things can be put in the refrigerator more securely. Once that is accomplished and she invites him to help her clean up the mess, then she can politely tell him that she also learned the same thing when she too jerked open the refrigerator door instead of pulling it gently. He already feels bad enough for what occurred, but now she’s helped him to channel his emotions into a positive remedy instead of defending himself angrily.

As far as the car wheel incident is concerned, the husband has the option of quickly assisting his wife in getting the car into a parking spot without further damage to the wheels by making sure she can back up without hitting the car behind them, and then offer some pointers on where to aim the car so she can negotiate the turn successfully. Sure, she feels bad about scratching the rims, but he can let her know that he’s done the same thing once or twice and that rims can be fixed. He can also advise her on how he navigates through into tight spaces and assures her that she can do it too. Once she knows her man understands, she will not blame herself and feel inferior because of any bully accusations.

So, consider this resolution for 2017: The next time your spouse does or says something that sparks the flame of anger in your emotions, quickly say to yourself, “I will not personify the problem!” The resolution here lies with me, not with them. I am strong enough to deal with this properly.” Then focus on any damage done and discuss how it can be fixed by working together. Then when you think of what started it all, work on how you can handle it in a more agreeable way. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

We began this chapter reading about the terrible end to one of Jesus’ disciples. He was the one who orchestrated the betrayal of his Lord with a greeting kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane after the Master had spent a long time in prayer. Perhaps hoping that this might pressure Jesus into taking action as the Messiah would take under such conditions. But he watched instead as his Teacher was sentenced to death, had His hands tied, and was being lead away to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.

Sadly, Matthew reports that Judas Iscariot was so grieved that his plan did not work out, he rushed to the Temple, threw the 30 pieces of silver he had accepted for identifying his Lord on the floor, and then went out and hanged himself. In what may be seen as a sympathetic gesture, the chief priests decided to use the money Judas returned and buy a field where foreigners who died in Jerusalem, and the unclaimed bodies of poor people could be buried.

The trial that took place before Pilate was a mockery of justice. The chief priests who brought the charges of blasphemy against Jesus knew they were making this claim based on scant evidence. Pilate heard all the charges and saw immediately that this Teacher from Galilee was being set up by His opponents. Yet the whole affair became politicized when the chief priests claimed that Jesus had political ambitions because He did not dispute their claim that He was being proclaimed King of the Jews. Pilate knew that his superiors in Rome would not take it lightly if such a rebel rouser was not neutralized. So in the case of the most sinister act of irony, Pilate offered to free a seditionist he already had in jail, one who was accused of theft and murder, for this man who was better known for His healing powers and raising the dead. The chief priests urged the crowd to take the offer to free Barabbas and send Jesus to the place of execution, which they did.

But before Jesus was taken out to be hung on a cross, the Roman soldiers decided to play a game of mockery. First He was whipped, spit on, and beaten with a stick so severely that it left Him weak, bloodied, and disfigured. Then they dressed Him in borrowed clothes to look like a king, then pressed a crown made of thorns on His head so that the thorns pierced his scalp causing blood to run down over His face. Then they took off the pretend outfit of a king and forced Jesus to carry the cross, upon which He would be hung, out of the city to the place of execution. But Jesus was too weak to pull the cross on His shoulder, so the Roman soldiers drafted a man out of the crowd from Africa who was visiting Jerusalem to do the job for them because they didn’t want to carry this instrument of torture and shame.

Once they arrived at a place called Golgotha, meaning, “place of skulls,” because so many who were hung there still had their skulls laying around on the ground, they offered Jesus a drink that would lessen His pain, before they continued their acts of disdain and mockery. But Jesus refused to die without feeling all the agony He came suffer for the sinners of the world. So they stripped Him of His outer garments, nailed Him to the cross, then raised it up so that the King of the Jews would die between two thieves as further insult to His dignity.

As Jesus hung there in pain, the crowd below, along with the thieves, began to mock Him because above His head the soldiers had nailed a plaque that read: “The Man Claims to be the King of the Jews.” Others who came out to see this crucifixion yelled insults at Him that included such things as, “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and build it again in three days, so let’s see you save yourself by coming down from that cross if you are the Son of God as you claimed to be.” The crowd of mockers standing around laughed at such a suggestion. They said jokingly, “He claimed to save others but now He can’t even save Himself.” Others joined saying laughingly, “He’s supposed to be the King of the Jews, so let’s see Him free Himself from this cross and we will become His followers. He boldly said He trusted in God as His Father, so why isn’t God rescuing Him if He is His Son?

But Jesus just gripped the nails even harder as His body racked with pain and agony. Finally, as He began to breathe His last breath, He cried out to His Father, “Why have you left me here like this?” When some of those in crowd heard this desperate cry for help, one of them ran and got a sponge, dipped it in pain-killing vinegar so they could offer it to Jesus, but others said, “Leave Him alone, He’s crying out to Elijah so let’s see if Elijah comes and saves Him.” Then our Lord took His last breath, cried out one last time by saying, “Father, receive my spirit,” then slumped and died.

It was then that those standing around the cross realized how dark the skies had become in the middle of the day. Suddenly the ground began to shake and tremble. Sealed tombs nearby began to open, and over at the Temple, the curtain that divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was ripped from top to bottom.  The head Roman guard standing near the cross looked up and exclaimed, “He is the Son of God after all.” Matthew tells us that the mother of Jesus, along with some other women who had helped in His ministry, were watching, no doubt sobbing for the man they believed to be the Messiah, the Savior of the world, now hanging dead on the cross.

The Jews had a custom that said people who die during the day must be entombed before sunset, but the Romans had no such traditions. They were willing to let Him hang there until someone claimed His body. Matthew tells us that a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph went to Pilate and asked permission to remove Jesus’ body from the cross and place it in one of the tombs he owned. Permission was granted. So Joseph made sure that the body was washed, wrapped in clean linen, then put a cloth over Jesus badly beaten face, and placed in a tomb he had recently purchased, and then had a large stone placed in front of the entrance. The women who had witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross, were there watching as Jesus was entombed, not doubt thinking how sad that this kind and gentle man from Galilee had to die this way.

But the chief priests were not through yet because they remembered well that Jesus claimed His heavenly Father would raise Him from the dead in three days. They believed that His disciples would try to make that happen by stealing the body and then go around claiming that their Messiah was alive. So they asked Pilate to put guards at this tomb so that if any of Jesus’ disciples tried such an act of deception they would be prevented from doing so. Pilate agreed. So a guard detail went to Joseph’s tomb, sealed the rock that blocked the entrance, and established their posts to guard the tomb against it being vandalized. What they didn’t know was that they were about to be joined by a heavenly visitor who would roll that stone away so the world could see that Jesus was no longer there, He was not dead, He was alive, alive forevermore!

To all of my precious readers, we will begin Chapter Twenty-Six next year. I admire and appreciate your dedication to God’s Word and pray that your desire to know more about God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit will motive you to gain this knowledge by studying His Word. God bless you, and let’s start this New Year of 2017 by continuing our journey through the Holy Scriptures.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Part XIX

Verses 62b-64: The next day, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember that while that impostor was still alive He said, ‘I will rise from death in three days.’ So give the order for the tomb to be guarded well for three days. His followers might come and try to steal the body. Then they could tell everyone that He has risen from death. That lie will be even worse than what they said about Him before.”

Early church scholar Chrysostom writes: “But note carefully the disciples’ love of truth. They do not conceal from their reader what was said by their enemies. They call Jesus an impostor. Note the contrast between the savagery of the authorities and the simple and truthful disposition of the disciples. Not even at His death did the authorities surrender their anger. But is it worthwhile to inquire concerning that point also where He said, ‘After three days I rise again’? His detractors clearly understood this saying. Even if they did not grasp the metaphor of Jonah, they remembered this.”¹

Verses 65-66: Pilate said, “Take some soldiers and go guard the tomb the best way you know how.” So they all went to the tomb and made it safe from thieves. They did this by sealing the stone in the tomb’s entrance and putting soldiers there to guard it.

I’m sure after Joseph, Nicodemus, and the women left, the Jewish leaders did not expect what happened next. For all their excuses and alibis for having Pilate send guards to the tomb, it would have never crossed their minds to request such action if they too did not fear that He might rise from the dead just as He proclaimed He would. Certainly, the words in a Messianic psalm do apply here, “But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them. The Lord makes fun of them. He speaks to them sternly, and it fills them with fear.”²

Their hatred was so bitter that they could not help but call Jesus an “impostor.” It is a word that was used in Greek literature for a wandering vagabond that goes around pretending to be something he is not. The Rabbis explain their meaning of such an individual as: “One who incites [individuals to idolatry, and referred to as a meisit (also mesit)] is a layman [as opposed to a prophet], who incites an individual. [The Mishnah here expresses the view of Rabbi Shimon who argues with the Sages, maintaining that one who incites a city is hung, rather than stoned].”³

Also in the text, we find that a meisit is described as someone who persuades others to respect and revere him. In such cases, a meisit is not only an impostor but also a deceiver. But the Psalmist saw a light in the darkness when it came to such actions by one’s enemies, “Even human anger can bring you honor when you use it to punish your enemies.”⁴ And Solomon also had a word for them that they should have heeded, “There is no one wise enough to make a plan that can succeed if the Lord is against it.”⁵ The deception that the Pharisees tried to fabricate and the thing they attempted to prevent, became the reality upon which our eternal hope is based.

Likewise, if those who criticize and denounce the idea of a rapture taking place would try and prevent the second coming of Christ, they would be just as unsuccessful as these Pharisees. And just as He arose, He is returning, no matter what the skeptics say or try to do. But Pilate was no doubt growing tired of their constant bickering and requests, so he authorized the stationing of guards around the entrance of the tomb. Not only were they to guard against the disciples from coming and stealing the body so they could trumpet that He had risen, but they were ordered to seal the stone.

This echoes what happened to Daniel when he was put in the lions’ den in Babylon, “A big rock was brought and put over the opening of the lions’ den. Then the king used his ring and put his seal on the rock. He also used the rings of his officials and put their seals on the rock. This showed that no one could move that rock and bring Daniel out of the lion’s den.”⁶ We can also add that the Jewish Fathers made this comment that perhaps one of His own disciples may have repeated: “Daniel, that greatly beloved man, was engaged in acts of loving-kindness [all his days. For it is said of him, Your God whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.⁷”⁸

In summary, these religious cynics saw Christ’s claim to be the Messiah, and the King of the Jews, a great error which had led many astray. His crucifixion had for the time being canceled His claim as Messiah and King, thus scattering His followers. These skeptics knew that a similar claim of being the Messiah had been made by many others who came before Jesus, but there was no record of their ever being resurrected. So if Jesus was an impostor like the rest, why worry about Him rising from the dead? His miracles were, in some part, also performed by magicians of that day, as well as the prophets of old; yet they were accepted and believed to be real because they never claimed to be the Son of God.

They also knew that for someone to claim that they would be resurrected from the grave, its fulfillment would be a feat hard to accomplish, but if successful it would impossible to deny. They realized that the resurrection of Christ would be the only chance for His cause to survive. Not only would it impress His image in people’s hearts as the triumphant One, but they would then be labeled as defeated doubters. In recent times there has been an uptick in efforts to disprove the death of Christ on the cross and debunk His resurrection, to the point that some are suggesting that He really didn’t die on Calvary but went into a coma and that the coolness of the grave brought Him back to consciousness.

There are even now archaeological undertakings to find His grave so that His bones can be retrieved. Never mind that He was pierced in the side so blood and water could run out, allowing Him to bleed to death in order to provide the blood necessary for sins to be blotted out. Also, we have no record that after His grave was discovered empty, that Peter, James, and John returned to the grave on a regular basis to show their respect, or that Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ mother came once a year to put flowers near the opening of His tomb in memory of His death and burial.

So why then, if His death is a myth and His resurrection a fairy tale do His critics fear these truths? Why do they spend so much time trying to explain them away? That’s because they fear an even greater threat to their campaign of doubt and suspicion. Jesus promised that He would rise from the grave, and He did! He also promised that after He went away He would come again, and He will! That is what they fear, His return to resurrect all those who died with faith in His coming and transform those alive who wait for His appearing. They know, that if this does take place as He promised and as His followers believe it will, they will be proven to be the faithless fools they really are. Had He not died, He would not have been buried; had He not been buried He would not have risen from the grave: had He not been raised from the grave He would not ascended into heaven; had He not have ascended into heaven to prepare a place for us to follow Him, He would not be coming back.

Early church theologian Origen has this to say: “What do you say, chief priest? Do you really think that Christ said to His men ‘after three days I will rise again⁹ and then secretly commanded them to steal His body during the night and to tell everyone that He had risen from the dead after three days?¹⁰ Yet it is manifestly incredible that after giving such great moral instruction to all peoples and after demonstrating such great power throughout all of Judea, He would then turn and deceive His disciples. Even they would find fault with their Commander and therefore refuse to do His bidding, most especially in view of the danger which would have threatened them from the people if they had confessed the man just crucified to be both their Teacher and the Messiah. But if it is hardly believable for Him to have said such a thing to His disciples, see if it is not more logical to believe that just as He performed great miracles and predicted that His gospel would be preached ‘to the ends of the earth,’¹¹ that His disciples ‘would stand before rulers and kings¹² and that ‘Jerusalem would be destroyed by an army,’¹³ so also did He predict His resurrection when He said ‘destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’ Indeed, it was for that reason that the chief priests and Pharisees said to Pilate, ‘That impostor said, while He was still alive, “after three days I will rise again.”’¹⁴”¹⁵

All of these things are part of our faith and hope that is kept alive by the fact that Christ still lives today and is changing thousands of lives. His blood is still cleansing; His power is still healing; His words are still changing men and women whom society, medicine, science, and psychology cannot redeem. But the greatest proof of all is not far hence, His triumphant return in clouds of glory.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Part XVIII

Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would be laid in a tomb among those who are rich.¹ Also, in a small Jewish tractate we are told: “…a new grave may be measured, and sold, and divided; an old one may not be measured, nor sold, nor divided.”² Rabbis also tell us that more than one tomb may be chiseled out of the same rock, but it all depends on the size and condition of the rock. They say that each burial chamber within the tomb must be four cubits in length [about 6 feet], seven [handbreadths] in height [about 3 feet], and six handbreadths in width [about 30 inches].³

As far as sealing the tomb with a boulder is concerned, we also find this in Jewish writings: “If a beam was used instead of a stone to seal the tomb, either upright or on its side, only that part is unclean that lies opposite the opening.”⁴ Therefore, Joseph had a choice and he chose a large rock. Rabbis give us a little more information on the use of the stone by saying: “The stone that seals a grave and its buttressing stone convey uncleanness by contact and by overshadowing but not by carrying. What is the buttressing stone? That against which the stone leans that seals the grave. But a stone that serves as a buttress to the buttressing stone is clean.”⁵

So we can see, that neither the disciples nor the leading Jews could have removed this stone without being declared unclean. There is an interesting story in Jewish lore that tells of what happened at Adam’s funeral after he had been entombed. It reads: “And God called and said, ‘Adam, Adam.’ And the body answered from the earth and said: ‘Here am I, LORD.’ And God said to him: ‘I told you (that of) earth you are and to earth, you will return. Again, I promised the Resurrection to you; I will raise you up in the Resurrection with every man who is of your seed.’ After these words, God made a seal and sealed the tomb, that no one might do anything to him for six days until his rib was restored to him. Then the Lord and His angels went back to their place.”⁶

Maybe that’s why God sent an angel to do the job of moving the stone from the tomb opening where Jesus’ body was laying. And believe me, once the angels touched that stone, it became clean. But rolling the stone in front of the cave entrance served another purpose besides sealing the tomb. In one Jewish document, we find what may be a veiled reference to Jesus where it says: “Abaye retorted: ‘Would you compare those who are slain by a Gentile Government to those who are executed by the Beth din? The former, since their death is not in accordance with Jewish law, obtain forgiveness, but the latter whose death is justly merited, are not [thereby] forgiven. This can also be proved from what we learned: ‘THEY DID NOT BURY HIM IN HIS ANCESTRAL TOMB.’⁷ It goes on to say, ‘THEY OBSERVED NO MOURNING RITES BUT GRIEVED FOR HIM FOR GRIEF IS BORNE ONLY IN THE HEART.’⁸ It then adds, ‘Ashi said: “When do the mourning rites commence? From the closing of the grave with the gravestone.”’”⁹ In the footnotes, there is a comment on sealing a grave by “rolling” a stone in front of the entrance. The commentator says this is what the Hebrew means, “…because it can be rolled away.”¹⁰

Another great Rabbi mentions the same practice, “From what point is a person obligated to mourn? When the grave is sealed. But until the corpse has been entombed, a mourner is not bound by any of the prohibitions incumbent on a mourner. For this reason, King David washed and anointed himself when his son died, before he was entombed.”¹¹ It is also significant to notice that according to the way Matthew’s notes were translated from Hebrew into Greek, it suggests the Joseph rolled the stone in front of the tomb. However, the Aramaic Version of this verse reads, “And they rolled a large boulder and they placed it at the entrance of the tomb and they departed.”¹²

This clearly intimates that Joseph did not do this himself because the stone was too heavy. We should also note that Joseph and Nicodemus were very devout Jewish scholars, and although they recognized Jesus as the Messiah, they still wanted to be observant to all the Jewish customs and traditions. So, how could they be doing such manual labor on the eve of the most sacred festival in Judaism, the Passover? A Rabbi explains: “We may take care of all the needs of a corpse during Chol Ha Mo’ed.¹³ We may cut its hair, wash its shrouds, and make a coffin for it. If there are no boards available, we may bring beams and cut boards from them in a discreet manner inside a building. If the coffin is intended for an important person, it may be made in the marketplace.”¹⁴

So they were safe as far as the verbal law was concerned. But they did not do this in secret or solitude, Matthew tells us that two women who were followers of Jesus were watching the whole thing. But they were more than just curious onlookers. They wanted to make sure they knew where the Savior’s body was being laid. They fully intended to prepare spices and ointments to anoint His body. They had not yet begun to grieve, but as soon as the stone was placed in front of the opening, that was the sign for them to begin their mourning, that is, they wrapped the body with cloth around and around, as was the custom of the Jews. Also, it was normal to bury the body of a common person in inexpensive shrouds made of flax.¹⁵

Verse 62a: That day was the day called Preparation day.

We learn that this was the day before the Sabbath spent in “preparation” for the holy Sabbath of the Passover week. The Jews were scrupulous about allowing no work such as this on the Sabbath, so it was necessary for the two friends to finish the burial necessities to the extent they could before the sun went down. Thus, just as the Lord rested one day after finishing the work of His creation week, so He would also rest another full day after finishing His redemption work of Passover week.

Jewish writers also tell us there is a lot that goes on during this week. We find the following written by Ari Goldman, a former New York Times reporter. He says: “One prepares for the Sabbath all week. In Hebrew the days of the week do not have names; they are all a launch pad for Shabbat. Sunday is the first day, Monday the second, and so on until Friday, which is both the sixth day and ‘the eve of Shabbat.’ In anticipation of the Friday night meal, observant Jews tend to eat lighter meals during the daytime on Friday. There is also much to do. In fact, the more observant you are of the details of Shabbat, the more you have to prepare before it arrives. The late eminent scholar Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik used to say that the true mark of a pious Jew is not that he or she is ashomer Shabbat (a Sabbath observer) but is shomer erev Shabbat (one who properly prepares on the eve of the Sabbath). By traditional Jewish law, one cannot shop on the Sabbath, so marketing is usually done during the day on Friday. Cooking is prohibited on the Sabbath, so that must be done in advance, too. Foods prepared beforehand can be kept warm on a hot plate or on the stove, a condition that has led to a preference for certain hearty dishes like a meat-bean-and-potato stew called cholent.”¹⁶

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Part XVII

The last Mary, in Matthew’s list, was the mother of Zebedee’s children – James and John. In Mark’s Gospel, she is identified as also being called Salome.¹ In any case, they were three brave women willing to do what the other disciples were afraid to do. At the time Matthew wrote this Gospel, there were those among the Jewish opponents who found every occasion to discredit and dismiss the followers of this Jesus of Nazareth. To put this in perspective, Jesus was surreptitiously identified by the Jews as ben Stada, or son of Stada, who was not Joseph. It was an attempt to paint Jesus as an illegitimate child. For instance, in the Jewish writings we find where Ben Stada (the Jewish code name for Jesus of Nazareth) is accused of “bringing witchcraft out of Egypt by means of scratches [in the form of charms] upon His flesh.”² These “scratches” have been interpreted by scholars as “incisions,” and are references to the nail scars in His hands and scratch in His side as proof that He was the One hung on the cross and rose from the dead.³

Then, somehow things got mixed up with Mary Magdalene the hairdresser being confused with Mary mother of Jesus. Mary Magdalene, out of whom Christ had cast out seven devils, and who, having received much from Him, revered Him so much that she showed it by her zealous and constant service to Him. As mentioned before, she was an inhabitant of the town called Magdala. This was a normal way of referring to such denizens from there because we also read about a called Rabbi Isaac of “Magdala.”⁴ In addition, we find her referred to in Jewish writings as: “Miriam, the women’s hairdresser.”⁵ This, scholars tell us: “Supposed by Tosefta⁶ to be the Mother of Jesus in the earlier uncensored editions. [Her description megaddela (hairdresser) is connected by some [people] with the name of Mary Magdalene whose name was confused with that of Mary, the mother of Jesus.”⁷

The other women were Mary the mother of James and Jose (short for Joseph). Some scholars believe this to be a reference to the mother of Jesus and two of His brothers. Then Mary the mother of James and John, known as the sons of Zebedee. Only John, the disciple that our Lord felt the closest to, was there at the crucifixion. All the others had fled. What a pitiful sight for Jesus to look down from the cross and only see a handful of supporters. But He knew it would all be straightened out in a few days when He would appear to them alive and victorious.

Verses 57-61: That evening a wealthy man named Joseph came to Jerusalem. He was a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea. He went to Pilate and asked to be given Jesus’ body. Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give Jesus’ body to him. Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a new linen cloth. He laid Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had dug into the wall of rock. Then he closed the tomb by rolling a very large stone to cover the entrance. After he did this, he went away. Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary were sitting near the tomb.

Some Bible scholars identify the town of Arimathea with the town of Ramah mentioned by Samuel.⁸ The Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome identify it with Ramathaim-Zophim in the hill-country of Ephraim,⁹ which is Ramah the birthplace and burial-place of Samuel.¹⁰ and places it near Timnah on the territorial borders of Judah and Daniel. Scottish Professor, George Adam Smith, thinks it may be the modern-day Beit Rima, a village on a raised plateau 2 miles North of Timnah.¹¹ Yet others incline to identify it as Ramallah, 8 miles North of Jerusalem and 3 miles from Bethel.

Joseph was not your average citizen, he was a highly thought of member of the Jewish Sanhedrin and apparent friend of Nicodemus who was also a member of the Sanhedrin. Some believe that Joseph’s real name was Joseph ben Gorion and that he was the brother of Nicodemus ben Gorion.¹² While this is a possibility, as far as the Scriptures are concerned it is pure speculation. What is striking here is that both were secret disciples of Jesus coming out openly and asking for the privilege of taking care of His body, while His publicly identified disciples were secretly hiding in order to avoid repercussions for their association with Him.

Beside their reverence for the Son of God, it is quite possible that they were also driven by the Jewish verbal tradition concerning the prohibition of leaving a victim hanging overnight, as we see in their writings: “And if God is so grieved over the blood of the wicked that is shed, how much more so over the blood of the righteous! [Referring back to the prohibition of leaving one hanging overnight] not only of this one [a criminal,] did they [the Sages] say it, but anyone who leaves his deceased [unburied] overnight transgresses this prohibition.”¹³

Joseph and Nicodemus brought along all the burial materials they needed, and I’m sure they selected what was right and proper. One Jewish scholar gives us some insight into the burial process: “These are the customs observed by the Jewish people with regard to corpses and burial. We close the eyes of the deceased. If one’s mouth hangs open, we tie the jaw close. After washing the corpse, we stuff the orifices so they are closed, anoint it with different fragrances, cut its hair, and dress it in shrouds of white linen which are not expensive. Our Sages followed the custom of using a cloak worth a silver coin, so as not to embarrass a person who lacks resources. We cover the faces of the deceased so as not to embarrass the poor whose faces turned black because of hunger. It is forbidden to bury the dead, even a high official among the Jewish people, in silk shrouds or clothes embroidered with gold, for this is an expression of haughtiness, the destruction of useful property, and the emulation of gentile practices. We carry the dead on our shoulders to the cemetery.”¹⁴

From this description of the burial materials in which that which covers the body is separate from that which covers the head, the Shroud of Turin is thereby brought into serious doubt as being the authentic burial clothes of Jesus, since the face is present in the cloth along with the whole body. In addition, we read in the Scriptures where it says that when John reached the tomb, he stooped and looked inside and saw the linen cloth lying there. Then it says, “Simon Peter arrived and went on inside. He also noticed the cloth lying there, while the swath that had covered Jesus’ head was rolled up in a bundle and was lying at the side.”¹⁵

It is also important to notice that Matthew states that the body of Jesus was “laid” in a new tomb purchased by Joseph, that was dug out of a rock. So often those in the Western culture imagine any burial to be in a grave dug into the ground. In fact, the word “buried” is never used in the New Testament for the interment of Christ. Even one of our most famous Easter hymns erroneously says, “Up from the grave He arose.” In a song the Holy Spirit inspired me to write years ago, I rendered the wording this way, “All was still, on resurrection morning, when our Savior stepped triumphant from the tomb.”