Matthew 27:45-28:10

Liam Goligher took a break from his series "The Gospel According to Isaiah" this Easter Sunday. In his sermon titled "After the Passion" he exposited the above passage in Matthew that describes Jesus' death and resurrection.

Liam explains that the story of this text flows through three scenes culminating in the women's encounter with Jesus when he met them, said greetings, and they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. It's been 2000 years since Jesus died on the Roman cross, and his followers have domesticated the story to some degree. The image of the cross no longer strikes terror in people as it used to because we don't kill people that way today. It's not the normal means of execution, wheras people in the ancient world couldn't avoid it. The cross was there outside towns and villages as a constant reminder that the Romans did terrible things to people who broke their laws.

The real violence of the Roman beatings was far more severe than even what Mel Gibson portrayed in The Passion of Christ

• As Jesus was dying
• Of Jesus's death
• After Jesus' death