An Extraordinary Ordinary Execution Pt 1 | Matthew 27:32-44

Scripture

• Matthew 27:32–44

About this sermon

Introduction: God accomplishes extraordinary things through ordinary means. This is the wonder of God’s providence. When we talk about the providence of God, we are talking about God’s sovereign activity through what seems ordinary to us, bringing about His purposes — a work that is greater than the simple sum of those ordinary means. God uses ordinary means to accomplish what could never be explained, merely, by those ordinary means. John Piper — “The word providence … means “to supply what is needed”; “to give sustenance or support.” So in reference to God, the noun providence has come to mean “the act of purposefully providing for, or sustaining and governing, the world.” When God works a miracle, it represents an interruption of what we would call natural processes. It is something SUPERNATURAL breaking into the world of NATURAL MEANS. This is why miracles were SIGNS for Christ and His apostles. They don’t represent what is normal. But when God does His work through ordinary means, it is no less a demonstration of His power. God’s sovereignty over EVERY detail of what we consider our ordinary lives — directing all those ordinary events to accomplish EXACTLY what He purposed from all eternity — is JUST AS AMAZING AS ANY MIRACLE. BUT BECAUSE IT IS AMAZING WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN ORDINARY WAYS, PEOPLE OFTEN MISS IT. God is doing amazing things all around the unregenerate person, but the unregenerate person is blind to that work, and even what he CAN see that something amazing has happened he refuses to ascribe to God. In fact, the lost man is even willing to ascribe it to impersonal forces — luck, chance. When we look at the crucifixion, we see the wonder of God’s amazing providence. We see God’s sovereignty on display in a way that is extraordinary in the midst of so much that was ordinary. This morning, we look at our Lord’s crucifixion, the wonder of God’s love for us, and we will consider three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. In fact, I think one interesting aspect of this section is that Matthew is telling us of events that were fulfillments of Scripture, and yet he never mentions that they were fulfillments of Scripture. He just tells us what happened. Do we RECOGNIZE that God was at work fulfilling Scripture? So, three examples of the extraordinary work of God through what would have seemed ordinary. I. AN EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY IMPOSITION (vs.32) A criminal who was to be crucified would carry his cross to the place of execution. John tells us that Jesus started out carrying His cross. ESV John 19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. But the fact that the Roman soldiers assigned to Christ’s crucifixion felt the need to compel someone to carry His cross, says that our Lord reached a state in which He was not able. Due to the enormity of the load that He was under — the physical suffering, met together with the emotional and spiritual burden that He carried — He was not able to carry that cross to the place where He would be crucified. So, as they make their way outside the gate of the city, and make their way to the place of crucifixion, they find a man whom they compelled to carry the cross. CRUCIFIXION HAD BECOME COMMONPLACE IN ROMAN SOCIETY. It was not unusual for people to be crucified. From about the 6th century BC to the time of Jesus, crucifixion had been practiced by the Persians, Seleucids, Carthaginians, and then the Romans. And the Romans had taken it a step further than the cultures that taught them the practice. South African Medical Journal (2003) — “Originating in Mesopotamia and Persia, crucifixion was perfected by the Romans, who saw it as a most shameful mode of death, with Cicero once exclaiming that it was inappropriate for a Roman even to be confronted with the word ‘cross’… The Romans perfected crucifixion for 500 years until it was abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century AD. Crucifixion in Roman times was applied mostly to slaves, disgraced soldiers, Christians and foreigners — only very rarely to Roman citizens. … Under Roman occupation crucifixion became commonplace in Palestine, Varus crucifying 2 000 Jews in 4 BC and Josephus reporting on mass crucifixions during the Jewish War.” John MacArthur — “It is estimated that by the time of Christ the Romans had crucified some 30,000 men in Israel alone, primarily for insurrection. The crucifixion of only three men outside Jerusalem was therefore virtually insignificant in the eyes of Rome.” ROMAN SOLDIERS COMPELLING BEHAVIOR WAS ALSO COMMONPLACE. Our Lord used such a thing to teach against retaliation. ESV Matthew 5:41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Who could do that? Who could force you to go one mile (carrying something)? A Roman soldier could do that.