As we come closer to Holy Week, I like to take the Gospel stories of the passion of Jesus and reflect on them. Matthew wrote his Gospel to a Jewish audience. In doing so, he used many references to Jewish custom and the Jewish scriptures. What follows is not my own writing, but a compilation of scripture. I have taken Matthew’s account of the Passion and added some of the Old Testament scriptures that pointed forward to the suffering Messiah, passages that were fulfilled in Christ. This is not all inclusive by any means. The normal font is from the Gospel of Matthew, the italic font is the Old Testament scripture that pointed forward in time to Christ.
Mt Chapter 27:27 and following…
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him.
28 They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him.
29 Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
30 They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head.
31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.
7 The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame. (Isa 50:6-7 NAB)
32 As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross.
33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull),
34 they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink.
19 Come and ransom my life; because of my enemies redeem me.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace; before you stand all my foes.
21 Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak; I looked for compassion, but there was none, for comforters, but found none.
22 Instead they put gall in my food; for my thirst they gave me vinegar. (Psa 69:19-22 NAB)
35 After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots;
36 then they sat down and kept watch over him there.
37 And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
38 Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.
39 Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads
40 and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, (and) come down from the cross!”
41 Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said,
42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
12 Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.
14 To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us,
15 Because his life is not like other men’s, and different are his ways.
16 He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.
17 Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.
18 For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
19 With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”
(Wis 2:12-20 NAB)
43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'”
44 The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way.
45 From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.
On that day, says the Lord GOD, I will make the sun set at midday and cover the earth with darkness in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentations. I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth and make every head bald. I will make them mourn as for an only son, and bring their day to a bitter end. (Amo 8:9-10 NAB)
46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish?
3 My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief.
4 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the glory of Israel.
5 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted and you rescued them.
6 To you they cried out and they escaped; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
7 But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
8 All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me:
9 “You relied on the LORD– let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you.”
10 Yet you drew me forth from the womb, made me safe at my mother’s breast.
11 Upon you I was thrust from the womb; since birth you are my God.
12 Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
13 Many bulls surround me; fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me.
14 They open their mouths against me, lions that rend and roar.
15 Like water my life drains away; all my bones grow soft. My heart has become like wax, it melts away within me.
16 As dry as a potsherd is my throat; my tongue sticks to my palate; you lay me in the dust of death.
17 Many dogs surround me; a pack of evildoers closes in on me. So wasted are my hands and feet
18 that I can count all my bones. They stare at me and gloat;
19 they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.
20 But you, LORD, do not stay far off; my strength, come quickly to help me.
21 Deliver me from the sword, my forlorn life from the teeth of the dog.
22 Save me from the lion’s mouth, my poor life from the horns of wild bulls.
23 Then I will proclaim your name to the assembly; in the community I will praise you:
24 “You who fear the LORD, give praise! All descendants of Jacob, give honor; show reverence, all descendants of Israel!
25 For God has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch, Did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.
26 I will offer praise in the great assembly; my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.
27 The poor will eat their fill; those who seek the LORD will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever!”
28 All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before you.
29 For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations.
30 All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage.
31 And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you.
32 The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. (Psa 22:2-32 NAB)
47 Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink.
49 But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit.
51 And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.
1 “You shall have a veil woven of violet, purple and scarlet yarn, and of fine linen twined, with cherubim embroidered on it.
32 It is to be hung on four gold-plated columns of acacia wood, which shall have hooks of gold and shall rest on four silver pedestals.
33 Hang the veil from clasps. The ark of the commandments you shall bring inside, behind this veil which divides the holy place from the holy of holies.
34 Set the propitiatory on the ark of the commandments in the holy of holies.
35 “Outside the veil you shall place the table and the lampstand, the latter on the south side of the Dwelling, opposite the table, which is to be put on the north side.
36 For the entrance of the tent make a variegated curtain of violet, purple and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined. (Exo 26:31-36 NAB)
The earth quaked, rocks were split,
52 tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53 And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.
“At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book.
2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.
3 But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, And those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever. (Dan 12:1-3 NAB)
54 The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mat 27:27-54 NAB)
