Turn back to Matthew 27. We've been in this chapter, been
in Matthew for a long time. We've been in this chapter for
quite a while. But we can never spend too much
time in the Word of God, and we can certainly not spend too
much time in this place where our Lord is crucified. This truly is holy ground. It's holy ground. And we ought
to walk through it slowly. Walk through it very slowly.
You know, it started back in chapter 26 when our Lord went to the garden of
Gethsemane And there he said, my soul is
exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. And I believe what he's
saying is my soul is so sorrowful that if something doesn't happen
here, if I do not get help from on high, I'm going to die right
here. We saw when we looked at this,
his agony was so great that he sweat. great drops of blood,
not little drops, not a little bit of blood, a sweat great drops
of blood. When he was made to be sin, the agony of that, the torment
of that is indescribable. It's indescribable. You remember
when the angel said to Mary, that holy thing, That shall be
born of thee, that holy thing shall be called the Son of the
Highest. Scripture teaches us He knew no sin. Not a speck of
sin at all, ever. He never had a thought of sin.
I can't imagine this. I can't imagine it. Never had
a thought of sin, an act of sin, a sinful word. He knew no sin. He never had an attitude, ever. When he was reviled, what would
you do? What would I do? When he was
reviled, he reviled not. And this is the one being made
sin. This is the one in great agony
over this. sweating great drops of blood
over this. And then after that, the soldiers
come and they take him to the judgment hall and they have a
mock trial. They find false witnesses. They
could not find any fault in him. They couldn't even find anything. I mean, nothing. to come up with
to accuse him of. He was so pure. He was so holy. But they got false witnesses,
and they made some accusations. And after that, they began to
mock him as a king. They took his robe
off. He had that one robe that he
wore all the time. He didn't have a closet of clothes.
He didn't need it. His didn't wear out. That one seamless robe he
wore, he wore every day, all the time. Now, I know somebody's
going to naturally think, well, it's going to get a little smelly.
He had no odor. I'm telling you, he had no odor
because he knew no sin. That body was perfect. It was
pure. It was holy. It didn't need wash. Maybe it needed wash from the
dirt that might get on it. And the women took care of that.
They'd wash his clothes. They'd wash that robe. But he knew no sin and he had
none of the impurities that we have. You know, we have to take
a bath to cover up body odor all the time. He didn't have
it. He didn't have it because he
knew no sin. There was no sin in him. That's
where all this comes from. That's where all this smell comes
from. It comes from sin. It comes from
a body of sin. We are trapped in a world of
sin and a body of sin. But he knew no sin. But they
took that robe off from him and they put a purple robe on him. And they mocked him as a king,
put a thorn of crowns on his head and drove it down on his
head with a reed and just mocked him, mocked his power, mocked
his person. And they took a whip. After that,
they took that robe off him and took a whip and just whipped
him and whipped him and whipped him. And after that, they took
him to Calvary. Took Him there and crucified
Him. And you know what our hope is? A crucified Lord. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's our hope. And we never get past that. Never
get past that. He's all the hope we have. Christ
and Him crucified. But after they did that, they
nailed Him to the cross. And you know that the sun didn't
shine for three hours. It was not an eclipse. It was
not an eclipse. The sun didn't shine. God blocked
it out for three hours. And the earth did quake, and
it says the rocks did rant. And that centurion saw, him and
some of those other soldiers that were there, they saw what
happened. And it said, they feared greatly. And the last time I
preached on this chapter, this is what, this is where we left
off. And that's the interior said, truly, truly, this was
the son of God. This was not an ordinary man
hanging here. This is the son of God. This is God in human flesh. This
is who this man is. He's God. If He's not God, He can't do
anything for us. He can not do anything for us if He is not
the living, almighty Creator. He's God. He's God. Truly, this was the Son of God. And then in verse 55, it says,
And many women were there. And most of the time, and I've
always in preaching from this chapter, just pass these things
by. But there is not a wasted word
or a wasted sentence in the Word of God. Not a wasted word or
a sentence in the Word of God. And it says, And many women were
there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee,
ministering Oh, I tell you, what a picture. What a picture these
women are of the church and her submission to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our submission as the church
to Him. These women right here. The Lord
saved many women. Many women. Don't think, and
I thought of this as I began to look at this, don't think
for a second not for a second, that God favors men over women. He does not. He does not. Just because he
has established the authority as the husband being the head
of the wife and the head of the home does not mean that he favors
that man over that woman, that he favored Adam over Eve. In Christ, what are we? One. In the Lord Jesus Christ,
we are one. But God has ordained in our relationships
an order of authority. He has the man as the head of
the house, the head of the wife, for this reason. It is a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ being the head of the church. His bride. His bride. You know, the scripture
tells us that the woman is what? The weaker vessel. You know why
it says that? You know why it teaches us that? Because we are the weaker vessel. Christ is the head. Christ is
the strong one. He is our strength. Is he not
our strength? Are we not the weaker vessel?
That's exactly why we have that statement. That's why we have
it like it is. It is a picture of Christ and
the church. And if we keep it in that order,
what a blessing. What a blessing. Now, it says
they stood beholding, watching. This is their Lord. This is their husband. This is
the love of their life. They are beholding afar off.
Now, no doubt, part of it is because of the gruesomeness of
the scene. His visage was so marred more
than any man. We can't even You know, the pictures
that they, these ungodly pictures they put out, you would not want a picture
of what he looked like on that cross hanging up. His visage, his appearance was
so marred more than any man. Unrecognizable. Unrecognizable. And then another reason why they
stood afar off, beholding, they knew their place. Does that
offend anybody? We all have our place. God has established our place. And there is nothing more beautiful
than when a person, man or woman, know their place and then be
about their father's business. When you're about your father's
business in your place, that was their husband hanging on
that cross. That's their Lord. That's their
master hanging on that cross. And out of respect and duty, They knew their place. They knew
it. But I tell you what they were
waiting on, to minister to Him. They were waiting for that opportunity,
that time to do what they needed to do. Whatever it was. Whatever
it was, they did not feel it beneath them to do it for their
Master. Is anything beneath us in the
service of God? Absolutely not. If David said
he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell
in the tents of the wicked, just be a doorkeeper, what a privilege
that would be if God would allow me just to be a doorkeeper. I tell you this, we read in the
Word of God where the disciples scattered. Judas betrayed Him. Peter denied him, and all of
them scattered, but you never read of a woman doing that. You
never read of any of the women who followed him, scattering,
leaving, and getting out of there, or denying him. You don't read
it. It says, they followed him. Boy, I just wish I could get
that across. I wish I could preach this as
it ought to be preached. They followed Him. I'm sure. And that many women,
now when the scripture says many, it means many. Out of those many
women, there were mothers, wives. They had responsibilities. But they followed Him. Those
responsibilities did not keep them from following Him. Any
responsibility that keeps us from following Him, let it go. Let it go. They followed Him. They left the comfort of their
home, they left the protection of their home, and they followed
Him. And then listen, they ministered
unto Him. These women, these many women.
You know, we read where the Lord fed 5,000, and it says men that
had women and children. Usually, usually, you know, I've
traveled a lot over the last, well, number of years there,
15, 20 years. I've traveled a lot. Most of
the time, the congregations I've preached to, there was more women
than there were men, almost always. Almost always. But they ministered,
listen, they ministered unto him. When he was thirsty, they
filled his cup. They filled his cup. And they were glad to do so.
When he was hungry, they fed him. They fed him. When he needed
a place to sleep, they opened their homes. They opened their
homes. They made it comfortable for
him. And it was not a burden. It was not a burden. Turn over
to Luke chapter 8. Starting in verse 1. Luke chapter
8. And it came to pass afterward
that he went throughout every city and village preaching and
showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve
were with him. And certain women, which had
been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, remember this, because
one of them is Mary Magdalene. Mary called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils, and Joanna, the wife of Cusa, Herod's steward,
and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of
their substance. Of their substance. They took
care of him. Now, you don't read much of that. You just pass over
that, don't you? Most of the time when we read
those things, we just kind of glance over that. But the Lord saved these women.
These are women born of God. And look, they served Him in
the capacity that He called them in. And were glad to do it. Glad to do it. It's beautiful. It's beautiful to see people
doing what God has called them to do and what God has made them
to be. I hate seeing a man trying to
act like a woman and a woman trying to act like a man. There's
nothing more out of sorts than that. Nothing. They were truly, truly Helpmates
to him. Helpmates to him. And you know
how we serve the Lord now as his bride? We do it by serving
one another. Do it by serving as much as you
have done it to the least of these, my brethren, you've done
it unto me. That's how we do it. We minister
to him by ministering to his flock. Taking care of them. And there was a real union between
Christ and those women. And they followed Him. Because He's their husband. He's
our husband. We are, the church is the bride
of Christ. There was a real, real living
union between Christ and those women. They followed Him as their
head. They followed Him as their master.
They followed Him as a wife follows her husband. Now I know we live
in a day when this is just not popular. This is not popular
in our day. But you know what? The Word of
God never has been. The Word of God has never been popular
in any day. Any day. But it never changes. The teaching
of this book, the instructions here, never ever change. It's the same always. And in that day, seven women
shall take hold of one man. Seven women, many women, many women shall take hold of
one man, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own
barrel. Only let us have this. Let us
be called by your name. Let us have your name. When I
married Vicki, she took my name. She took my last name. She's
called now by my name. Only let us be called by thy
name to take away what? Our reproach. Oh, my, my. And these women were examples
of His grace. First of all, all of them were His. All of them
were His. All needed him. They all needed
him. They needed his mercy, his grace,
his power, just as we need him. We need him also. They were all
chosen by him. I have no trouble with that.
I chose my wife. Nobody forced me to marry her. The bride of the Lord Jesus Christ
was chosen by Him. Chosen by Him. They all followed Him wherever
He went. In every city, many women followed
Him and ministered unto Him. And all of them, listen, all
of them were equally loved by Him. All of them. Every one of
them. I want you to notice here the power of His grace. I want you to notice what a difference
it makes. In verse 56, it says, let me
read verse 55 with you. And many women were there beholding
afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto
him, taking care of his needs, among which was Mary Magdalene,
that one I read to you over in Luke. Chapter 8, Out of whom
went seven devils, this woman was a harlot. And Mary the mother
of James and Joseph and the mother of Zebedee's children. Now listen,
here is Mary Magdalene, a notorious woman, a harlot, one whom the
Lord cast out seven devils. Here is another Mary. She was a godly woman from her
youth. She was just a young maid. Probably
just in her teens when the angel visited her. She was a chaste
virgin. She was a devout woman. Then you had this other woman,
other Mary, three Marys. She's the mother of Zebedee's
children. James and John called the sons
of thunder. Now what in the world would make
a chaste, godly woman from her youth become bosom buddies with
a whore. The grace of God. That's it. The power of God. The grace of
God. Christ. Christ. All those many women had the
same love for this one man, the God-man. And they were not jealous
of each other. You couldn't do that now. I mean,
we couldn't do that, you know, in this flesh. And it's not proper
for us to do that. But in the spiritual realm, Christ has many women, which make up the church, which
makes up one bride. They all love Him, and He loves
them all equally the same. And it's His love and His grace
that truly enables a harlot and this godly woman
from her youth to become bosom buddies. I mean, best of friends. Only grace can do that. Only
grace can break down all these barriers that we have and make
us one. Only grace can do that. But here's
the reality of it. They were all sinners equally. They may not have sinned outwardly
equally, but inwardly, by nature, we are all spiritually dead and
depraved, every last one of us, equally. The only thing that
kept Mary, the virgin, from being Mary, the Magdalene harlot, is
the grace of God and the power of God. The sovereign constraint
of God kept one from doing what the other did. That's the difference. That's the difference. And I
guarantee you that Mary, whom we call the Virgin Mary, never
felt herself be one ounce above Mary Magdalene. Not at all. Or Mary Magdalene
would never have felt comfortable in her company. The fact that
they felt comfortable with each other tells me. You know, the
greatest leveler, other than a grave, is grace. It's the grace of God. They were all equally sinful
by nature. They all had the same husband. They all had the same faith.
They all had the same hope. And they all had the same love
for Him. I want you to notice Who was at the tomb that very next
day? Look down here in verse 61. It wasn't the disciples. No, they were still scattered.
They were still afraid. They were afraid. They weren't
going to show up. They were not going to show up
at this tomb. Who shows up? In verse 61, and
there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over against
the sepulcher. That's who showed up. Yeah, although those disciples
were still scared, but not, oh, not these, not Mary Magdalene
out of whom went seven devils and the other Mary. If you'll notice, look up in
chapter 28, in the end of the Sabbath, As it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, who came again? This harlot. This harlot showed up at his
grave. This one whom the Lord cast out seven devils and that
other Mary. To see the sepulcher. Their love
to him was so great that it just It drew them to where he was
in spite of all danger. In spite of it. They were the first ones there.
And they were the first ones to go tell the news. Who was
the first to go tell the news? Mary Magdalene and the other
Mary. The angel appeared to. Now, let's close. And let me
read to you out of Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter
five, we start reading in verse Let me see if I'm in the right
place here. First, let me see. Okay, yeah, verse 17. Let's start
with verse 17. Wherefore, be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk
with wine, wearing his excess, but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to
another." This is how we serve Christ. This is it. Submitting ourselves one to another
in the fear of God. Wives, now listen. Here it is. If the Lord gives
us grace, To do this, it works. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. The submission that a wife shows
to her husband is a direct reflection of her submission to the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is a direct reflection of
her submission to Him. And I'm telling you this, it's
not hard to submit to someone you love. It's not hard. For the husband is the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is
the Savior of the body, the church. Therefore, as the church is subject
under Christ, this is why we have this whole picture, this
is why we have this whole establishment of authority, husband and wife,
head, This is why we have it. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives lead to their own husbands in
everything. Everything. Now, husbands, love
your wives. You see, it's not one-sided here.
It's not one-sided. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it." Sacrificially
he gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present
it to himself a glorious church, a glorious bride, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. So want men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourishes and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church." As we take care of our bodies, we nourish it,
we take care of it, that's the way the Lord takes care of His
church. That's the way He nourishes and He cherishes and He takes
care of us, His body. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. We are true members. For this call shall a man leave
his father and mother, that quit running back home, that quit
looking to home for help and this and that, but they become
one. They become one. They shall be
joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. That's
the way we are in Christ. We're one. We are one. Oh, he says this is a great mystery. The world now, especially in
this country, it looks at marriages as not a... I was watching on a program not too
long ago, they called it starter marriages. The first one, when
it breaks up, they call them now starter marriages. But Paul says here, this is a
great mystery. It's a great mystery. The world
can't understand it or they wouldn't make so much light of it. It's
a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the
wives see that she reverence her husband." Many women were there. They represent
the church. They represent the church. You
know why Solomon was allowed to have so many wives? Because he represent Christ and
all those women represent this one church, the church of the
living God, which is made up of many, yet one.