Laws of Holiness and Justice

191 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Speak unto all the assembly of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Holy shall ye be, for I Jehovah your God am holy. 3 Ye shall reverence every man his mother, and his father, and my sabbaths shall ye keep: I am Jehovah your God. 4 Ye shall not turn unto idols, and ye shall not make to yourselves molten gods: I am Jehovah your God. 5 And if ye sacrifice a sacrifice of peace-offering to Jehovah, ye shall sacrifice it for your acceptance. 6 On the day when ye sacrifice it shall it be eaten, and on the morrow; and that which remaineth until the third day shall be burned with fire. 7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is an unclean thing: it shall not be accepted. 8 And he that eateth it shall bear his iniquity; for he hath profaned the hallowed thing of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples. 9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, and the gleaning of thy harvest thou shalt not gather. 10 And thy vineyard shalt thou not glean, neither shalt thou gather what hath been left of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Jehovah your God.

11 Ye shall not steal, and ye shall not deal falsely, and ye shall not lie one to another. 12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah. 13 Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of the hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14 Thou shalt not revile a deaf person, and thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before a blind one; but thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah. 15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the lowly, nor honour the person of the great; in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16 Thou shalt not go about as a talebearer among thy people; thou shalt not stand up against the life of thy neighbour: I am Jehovah. 17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; thou shalt earnestly rebuke thy neighbour, lest thou bear sin on account of him. 18 Thou shalt not avenge thyself, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am Jehovah.

19 My statutes shall ye observe. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with another sort; thou shalt not sow thy field with seed of two sorts; and a garment woven of two materials shall not come upon thee. 20 And if a man lie with a woman for copulation, and she is a bondwoman betrothed to a husband, but not at all ransomed, nor hath freedom been given to her, there shall be a chastisement: they shall not be put to death, for she was not free. 21 And he shall bring his trespass-offering to Jehovah, unto the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a trespass-offering. 22 And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass-offering before Jehovah for his sin which he hath done; and the sin which he hath done shall be forgiven him. 23 And when ye come into the land and plant all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count its fruit as uncircumcised, three years shall it be uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of; 24 and in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy for praise to Jehovah; 25 and in the fifth year shall ye eat the fruit thereof, that it may increase unto you the produce thereof: I am Jehovah your God. 26 Ye shall eat nothing with the blood.—Ye shall not practise enchantment, nor use auguries. 27 —Ye shall not shave the corners of your head round, neither shalt thou mutilate the corners of thy beard. 28 And cuttings for a dead person shall ye not make in your flesh, nor put any tattoo writing upon you: I am Jehovah. 29 —Do not profane thy daughter, to give her up to whoredom; lest the land practise whoredom, and the land become full of infamy.

30 —My sabbaths shall ye keep, and my sanctuary shall ye reverence: I am Jehovah. 31 —Turn not unto necromancers and unto soothsayers; seek not after them to make yourselves unclean: I am Jehovah your God. 32 Before the hoary head thou shalt rise up, and shalt honour the face of an old man; and thou shalt fear thy God: I am Jehovah. 33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not molest him. 34 As one born among you shall the stranger who sojourneth with you be unto you; and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God. 35 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measure of length, in weight, and in measure of capacity: 36 just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have: I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them: I am Jehovah.

The Penalties for Acts of Immorality

201 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Thou shalt say also to the children of Israel, Every one of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech, shall certainly be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, so as to make my sanctuary unclean, and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, that they kill him not, 5 then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. 6 —And the soul that turneth unto necromancers and unto soothsayers, to go a whoring after them, I will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Hallow yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Jehovah your God. 8 And ye shall observe my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who hallow you. 9 Whatever man revileth his father and his mother shall certainly be put to death: he hath reviled his father and his mother; his blood is upon him.

10 And a man that committeth adultery with a man's wife, who committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife,—the adulterer and the adulteress shall certainly be put to death. 11 And a man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall certainly be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood is upon them. 13 And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is infamy: they shall burn him and them with fire, that there be no infamy among you. 15 And if a man lie with a beast for copulation, he shall certainly be put to death; and ye shall kill the beast. 16 And if a woman approach unto any beast to gender therewith, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them. 17 And if a man take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness, that is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off before the eyes of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity. 18 And if a man shall lie with a woman in her infirmity, and uncover her nakedness, her flux doth he lay bare, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people. 19 And the nakedness of thy mother's sister, and of thy father's sister shalt thou not uncover; for he hath laid naked his near relation: they shall bear their iniquity. 20 And if a man lie with his aunt, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: their sin shall they bear: they shall die childless. 21 And if a man take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness: they shall be childless.

22 And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them, that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein vomit you not out. 23 And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for all these things have they done, and they became an abomination to me. 24 And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples. 25 And ye shall make a separation between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean, and ye shall not make yourselves an abomination by beast, or by fowl, or by anything that creepeth on the ground which I have separated for you, declaring [it] as unclean. 26 And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine. 27 And if there be a man or a woman in whom is a spirit of Python or of divination, they shall certainly be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood is upon them.

51 And lo, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to the bottom, and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were rent, 52 and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints fallen asleep arose, 53 and going out of the tombs after his arising, entered into the holy city and appeared unto many. 54 But the centurion, and they who were with him on guard over Jesus, seeing the earthquake and the things that took place, feared greatly, saying, Truly this [man] was Son of God. 55 And there were there many women beholding from afar off, who had followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him, 56 among whom was Mary of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

The Burial of Jesus

57 Now when even was come there came a rich man of Arimathaea, his name Joseph, who also himself was a disciple to Jesus. 58 He, going to Pilate, begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up. 59 And Joseph having got the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn in the rock; and having rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, went away. 61 But Mary of Magdala was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the sepulchre.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 Now on the morrow, which is after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together to Pilate, 63 saying, Sir, we have called to mind that that deceiver said when he was still alive, After three days I arise. 64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be secured until the third day, lest his disciples should come and steal him away, and say to the people, He is risen from the dead; and the last error shall be worse than the first. 65 And Pilate said to them, Ye have a watch: go, secure it as well as ye know how. 66 And they went and secured the sepulchre, having sealed the stone, with the watch [besides].

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Matthew 27:51-66

Commentary on Matthew 27:51-56

(Read Matthew 27:51-56)

The rending of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. When we duly consider Christ's death, our hard and rocky hearts should be rent; the heart, and not the garments. That heart is harder than a rock that will not yield, that will not melt, where Jesus Christ is plainly set forth crucified. The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept, arose. To whom they appeared, in what manner, and how they disappeared, we are not told; and we must not desire to be wise above what is written. The dreadful appearances of God in his providence, sometimes work strangely for the conviction and awakening of sinners. This was expressed in the terror that fell upon the centurion and the Roman soldiers. We may reflect with comfort on the abundant testimonies given to the character of Jesus; and, seeking to give no just cause of offence, we may leave it to the Lord to clear our characters, if we live to Him. Let us, with an eye of faith, behold Christ and him crucified, and be affected with that great love wherewith he loved us. But his friends could give no more than a look; they beheld him, but could not help him. Never were the horrid nature and effects of sin so tremendously displayed, as on that day when the beloved Son of the Father hung upon the cross, suffering for sin, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Let us yield ourselves willingly to his service.

Commentary on Matthew 27:57-61

(Read Matthew 27:57-61)

In the burial of Christ was nothing of pomp or solemnity. As Christ had not a house of his own, wherein to lay his head, while he lived, so he had not a grave of his own, wherein to lay his body, when he was dead. Our Lord Jesus, who had no sin of his own, had no grave of his own. The Jews designed that he should have made his grave with the wicked, should have been buried with the thieves with whom he was crucified, but God overruled it, so that he should make it with the rich in his death, Isaiah 53:9. And although to the eye of man the beholding a funeral may cause terror, yet if we remember how Christ by his burial has changed the nature of the grave to believers, it should make us rejoice. And we are ever to imitate Christ's burial in being continually occupied in the spiritual burial of our sins.

Commentary on Matthew 27:62-66

(Read Matthew 27:62-66)

On the Jewish sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees, when they should have been at their devotions, were dealing with Pilate about securing the sepulchre. This was permitted that there might be certain proof of our Lord's resurrection. Pilate told them that they might secure the sepulchre as carefully as they could. They sealed the stone, and set a guard, and were satisfied that all needful care was taken. But to guard the sepulchre against the poor weak disciples was folly, because needless; while to think to guard it against the power of God, was folly, because fruitless, and to no purpose; yet they thought they dealt wisely. But the Lord took the wise in their own craftiness. Thus shall all the rage and the plans of Christ's enemies be made to promote his glory.