Jesus’ death is earth-shattering, literally and figuratively. In the OT, earthquakes are associated with the revelation of Yahweh’s glory (cf. Psalm 77:18) and His coming as the divine warrior to rescue His people. But in Matthew, the earth quakes at Jesus’ death. It quakes . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION Orthodoxy claims that Jesus of Nazareth is God the Son in human flesh, but the test case of orthodox Christology has always been the crucifixion of Jesus. Especially here, we confront the mystery of the incarnation, for God the Son died on the cross just as surely as He was born, . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1976 CBQ article, Donald Senior points to correspondences between Matthew’s account of the death of Jesus and the dry bones scene of Ezekiel 37: “There are several apparent contacts between the description in Ezekiel and the text of Matthew: (1) reference to an earthquake . . . . Continue Reading »
The Jews mock Jesus as if He were an impotent, ruined temple. They should have known better. When Solomon built the temple, he prayed that Yahweh would hear prayers directed toward that place. Even when Israel went into exile, Solomon hoped, Yahweh would still hear the prayers of the . . . . Continue Reading »
The crowds, Jewish leaders, and robbers all join in a Satanic temptation” “If you are the Son of God.” Jesus is Adam at the tree,a tree that has become a means of execution rather than a source of fruit. The temptation of the Christ is the same as the temptation of the . . . . Continue Reading »
John Paul Heil ( The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: A Narrative-Critical Reading of Matthew 26-28 ) offers a close and illuminating reading of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. Pilate’s first question is about Jesus’ kingship, a question that Jesus answers with somewhat puzzling . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus first uses lestes , “brigand,” when He’s in the temple in Matthew 21:31. When the high priest’s guard comes to arrest Him, He asks why they are armed as if to arrest a lestes (26:55). On the cross, the brigands are back, and Jesus is in the midst of them. . . . . Continue Reading »
Matthew gives a great deal attention to Jesus’ garments in his account of Jesus’ death. Clothing is stripped three times - first his normal clothes are stripped by the soldiers, then the scarlet robe is stripped, and then his normal clothes are stripped yet again, as the soldiers . . . . Continue Reading »
Gulgoleth is the Hebrew word for “skull.” In the OT, the word is used several times in contexts where people are being counted “skull by skull” (Exodus 16:16; 38:26; Numbers 1:2, 18, 20, 22; 3:47). More interesting for interpreting Matthew are several occurrences of . . . . Continue Reading »
The Cyrenian who bears Jesus cross of course shares a name with the leading disciple, Peter, who we last see in the gospel denying Jesus (26:75). That a Simon bears the cross is perhaps a hint of the hope that we have for Peter’s restoration, which John describes in detail. Peter is . . . . Continue Reading »
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