Explore the Bible: May 31

Our Savior • Matthew 27:27-31,45-54

By Joe McKeever

Ladies and gentlemen, our salvation is finished! We have a Savior. It’s time to rejoice. 

In the moment or so before our Lord Jesus took His last breath on the cross, He called out, “It is finished!”  

“Father, it’s over. I’m done here!” He would soon be home. How good is that?

Jesus had done what He came to do.

So, let’s pause for a bit and consider the price He paid for our salvation. 

Back when I was in college, my coal miner father had a near-fatal heart attack. Thankfully, the Lord brought him through and he lived another forty years. At the time, as he was being examined, the doctors asked, “Mr. McKeever, when did you break your back?” Dad couldn’t think of a time. “Oh yes,” the medical man insisted. “And it didn’t heal correctly either.” They showed him the x-rays. Dad then remembered the time around 1950 when he was working double shifts inside the coal mines of West Virginia, trying to provide for his wife and six children. “I had an injury,” he said, “but I didn’t have time to be laid up. So I just kept working.”

 Seeing the price someone paid for us forces us to pause and consider what we were given, and the sacrifices made for us.

In our text for this lesson, consider the DIMENSIONS of our Savior’s sacrifice — the depth, the breadth, and the height. (Think of Ephesians 3:18 “….[that you] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth…” NASB) 

THE DEPTH. Consider how our Lord suffered for us.  

  1. Luke 22:44. As Jesus prayed in the garden that night, He sweat drops of blood. Our Lord was in great agony.
  2. Matthew 27:46. Jesus prays, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (NASB)  While these words introduce Psalm 22 — an amazing picture of the mind of Jesus while on the cross —Jesus is not just quoting scripture but voicing His pain and loneliness.

THE BREADTH. Consider the reactions to our Lord’s death from a wide variety of people 

  1. The governor’s soldiers taunted Him (27:27-31).
  2. Other soldiers were gambling for His robe (27:35).
  3. The robbers being crucified alongside our Lord taunted Him (27:38, 44).
  4. The pedestrians got into the act (27:39-40).
  5. The chief priests, scribes and elders mocked Him (27:41-43).
  6. The faithful women stood near, grieving, hurting, helpless (27:55-56).
  7. The centurions observing all the events of the day concluded: “This was the Son of God!” (27:54)

THE HEIGHT. While earth crucified Heaven’s Prince, the powers of Heaven were active.

  1. Darkness settled upon the earth (27:45). Three hours is much too long to have been a solar eclipse.  Scripture gives no explanation for this celestial night. Heaven seemed, for a time, to be turning its back on God’s Son.  
  2. The temple’s veil was torn in two, from the top to the bottom, as though Heaven took hold and ripped it (27:51). Separating God’s people from the Most Holy Place where the high priest entered only annually, God put it out of business. Heaven’s Lord was messaging earth, “The door is open! Come on in! Whosoever will may enter!!” No more waiting.
  3. An earthquake shook the region. Rocks were split (27:51). Even the earth was protesting the death of its Creator. 
  4. The tombs were opened (27:52). We have no explanation for this and no Scripture writer attempted to expound on it. “After His resurrection, many of the saints who had died in Christ came out of the tombs and were seen walking around in Jerusalem” (my paraphrase).  

Who can measure the depth, breadth, and height of God’s love and Jesus’ gift to humanity? 

I’m fascinated by two statements of our Lord while on the cross. After crying out “My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” a little later, He called out, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” Think of that. 

The Dowdle family — three generations of them — had taken their RV to the state park. Grandmother Bettye Jean told me what happened.  

Inside the camper, little John had misbehaved in some way and Grandma Bettye Jean spanked him. He primped up to cry and headed for the door. “I’m going to go tell my Mama!” he said through his tears. As he reached the door, he turned around and said, “But I’ll be right back!”  

I love that little story because it depicts both sentiments, the agony and the trust, the same two qualities on display as our Lord dies on the cross. 

McKeever is a member of First Baptist Church, Jackson.