TEXT [Commentary]

L. The Crucifixion of Jesus (27:27-44; cf. Mark 15:16-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17-27)

27 Some of the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters[*] and called out the entire regiment. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. 31 When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

32 Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,[*] and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.

35 After they had nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.[*] 36 Then they sat around and kept guard as he hung there. 37 A sign was fastened above Jesus’ head, announcing the charge against him. It read: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two revolutionaries[*] were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

39 The people passing by shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. 40 “Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross!”

41 The leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders also mocked Jesus. 42 “He saved others,” they scoffed, “but he can’t save himself! So he is the King of Israel, is he? Let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him! 43 He trusted God, so let God rescue him now if he wants him! For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way.

NOTES

27:27 Events now lead relentlessly to the cross (cf. Mark 15:16-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17-27), with 27:27-37 describing the actions of the soldiers.

took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. Before the execution detail took Jesus to Golgotha (27:31-32), they first mocked him before the entire regiment. NLT renders the word “praetorium” (see NLT mg) as the soldiers’ headquarters, but more likely it is the governor’s residence (BDAG 859). This was either at Herod’s palace (just south of the present Jaffa Gate on the west side of the old city) or at the Antonia fortress bordering the northwest corner of the Temple enclosure. A “regiment” of soldiers was a cohort, one tenth of a legion or 600 men (speira, BDAG 936). The mockery of the Roman soldiers in Pilate’s palace fulfills Jesus’ prophecy in 20:19 (cf. Ps 22:8; Isa 50:6). This mockery recalls that of the religious leaders (26:67-68) and anticipates worse taunting to come (27:39-44).

27:28-30 scarlet robe. This robe, the crown of thorns, and the stick (Ps 2:9; 110:2; Jer 48:17) were all intended as a cruel parody of royal trappings. The Romans’ derision is probably fueled by the fact that Jesus was purported to be the king of the despised Jews, a conquered people under Roman dominion.

they knelt before him in mockery. Ironically, some day these soldiers will join all humanity, not just the Jews, in rendering obeisance to the conquering Son of Man (Dan 7:13ff; Phil 2:9-11). Those of the regiment who were assigned to the burial detail will soon have reason to rethink their mockery of Jesus (27:54).

27:31 they led him away to be crucified. After this horrible charade, Jesus was led away to be crucified. Davies and Allison (1997:597) show that 27:27-31 has a chiastic structure.

27:32 Simon, who was from Cyrene. The mention of this man in passing is a striking historical allusion and may imply that Simon was or became a disciple of Jesus. Some speculate that he may be the same person as Simon called Niger in Acts 13:1. Cyrene was a north African city on the Mediterranean (cf. Acts 2:10; 6:9; 11:20; 13:1). It was the capital of the Roman province of Cyrenaica, roughly equivalent to modern Libya. Simon may have been a Jerusalem resident (Acts 6:9) or a religious pilgrim.

the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. The conscription of Simon to carry the cross bar of Jesus’ cross probably indicates the degree of physical suffering already undergone by Jesus. Normally, the condemned criminal would be forced to carry his own cross (10:38; 16:24). The forced conscription of Simon reminds the reader of the teaching of Jesus in 5:41, to the effect that if one is forced (evidently by a soldier) to go one mile, one should go two.

27:33 Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). Ancient tradition identifies the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with Golgotha, the Aramaic word for “skull.” Perhaps a skull-like rock formation there gave rise to this name. The Latin word for skull is calvaria, from which the English word Calvary is derived. Crucifixions were used by conquerors as a public spectacle to humiliate rebels and quell resistance, so it is likely that Golgotha was near a well-traveled street, which would entail many observers (cf. 27:39; 3 Macc 5:21-24).

27:34 wine mixed with bitter gall. When they arrived at Golgotha, Jesus refused to drink the wine mixed with gall offered to him by the soldiers (but cf. 27:48 where he does drink the wine; also Ps 69:21; Prov 31:6). This was probably a sedative (b. Sanhedrin 43a) customarily offered to those about to experience the torture of crucifixion, but it may have been another act of mockery, since gall might have made the wine extremely bitter in taste (Davies and Allison 1997:612-613).

27:35 After they had nailed him to the cross. Matthew’s narrative supplies few details of the actual crucifixion, stressing instead the actions of the people involved and the fulfillment of prophecy. See the commentary below for further details on crucifixion.

the soldiers gambled for his clothes. The soldiers of the execution detail would get the meager belongings of those who were crucified, and they determined who would get Jesus’ garment by casting lots for it (Ps 22:18).

27:37 A sign was fastened. The sign was a titulus (a placard on which was written the charge against him).

This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. The charge or titulus against Jesus involves a profound irony. Jesus’ kingship was rejected by the leaders of Israel, who worked to have him crucified. The Romans also mocked Jesus as king (27:29). Yet his very crucifixion was an enactment of his power to save his people from their sins, and his resurrection, ascension, and return progressively vindicate his claim to be the King of the Jews (cf. John 19:19-22; 1 Cor 1:18, 23-25).

27:38 Two revolutionaries. The criminals (cf. 26:55) on Jesus’ right and left are mentioned here and later in 27:44 (cf. Isa 53:12). One cannot help but be reminded of 20:23.

27:39-40 You said you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. Jesus’ alleged plans to destroy the Temple were brought up again here (cf. 26:61), as the passersby shook their heads (cf. Ps 22:7; 109:25; Jer 18:16; Lam 2:15) and mocked Jesus. The taunts capitalized on the incompatibility between Jesus’ supposed high office and his actual low situation (cf. 4:3, 6).

if you are the Son of God, save yourself. If he could do something as miraculous as destroy the Temple, surely he could save his life. Certainly he could come down from the cross if he was the Son of God. The taunt to demonstrate his sonship by coming down from the cross (27:40, 42, 44) is particularly perverse since Jesus was willingly enduring the cross precisely because he was the obedient Son of God (cf. 26:39, 42, 44). Jesus knew that if he saved his life he would lose it and the lives of his people whom he came to save (1:21; 10:38-39; 16:24-26; 20:28; 26:28).

27:41-42 he can’t save himself! The leading priests and elders had followed Jesus from Pilate’s residence to the place of crucifixion (cf. 27:12). There the teachers of religious law, who had not appeared since they joined in the trial at Caiaphas’ residence, rejoined them (26:57). Their taunts use the third person and they are not addressed directly to Jesus as are those of the passersby in 27:39-40, but if anything they are even more cutting. They scoffed that Jesus supposedly could save others but cannot save himself.

Let him come down . . . and we will believe. The leaders said they would believe that Jesus was the King of Israel if he would manifest his status by coming down from the cross. In their view, if Jesus really was God’s trusting Son in whom God took pleasure (Ps 22:8-9; Wis 2:18-20; cf. Matt 3:17; 17:5; 26:63), God would rescue him from crucifixion. But it was God’s will that Jesus drink the cup of crucifixion, pour out his own blood, and inaugurate the new covenant.

27:44 the revolutionaries who were crucified with him ridiculed him in the same way. These two added their voices to this barrage of taunts (but cf. Luke 23:39-43).

COMMENTARY [Text]

The narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion is a story of the gruesome process of execution. The story begins with the action of the soldiers in mocking Jesus (27:27-31), conscribing Simon to carry the cross (27:32), arriving at Golgotha (27:33), offering Jesus wine with gall (27:34), crucifying Jesus (27:35a), gambling for his garments (27:35b), observing (27:36), and putting up the sign describing Jesus’ identity (27:37). The next section is an inclusio framed by the mention of the revolutionaries who were crucified on both sides of Jesus (27:38-44). The theme here is mockery, whether by the bystanders (27:39-40), the religious leaders (27:41-43), or the revolutionaries themselves (27:44). As Jesus was tempted three times (4:1-11), so he is mocked three times. Both the temptation and the mockery focus on Jesus’ sonship. Both the devil and the various mockers confront Jesus with the alternative of reigning without suffering, but both times Jesus would have none of it.

The mockery of the passage is ironic, since Jesus really is the Son of God and the Temple would be destroyed within a generation. Jesus did in fact save others and will continue to do so. He is the King of Israel, who trusted in God, and God was supremely pleased with him. He did not come down from the cross but he did overcome death. Each point of sarcastic ridicule is, in fact, eventually shown to be true. The mockers were unwitting evangelists. The irony is never more pronounced than in the actions of the soldiers who dressed Jesus as a king and pretended to pay homage to him (27:27-31). What the soldiers acted out in cruel jest is prophetic of what really will happen some day. After his resurrection, Jesus was exalted as the glorious Son of Man and given all authority (28:18). His message of the rule of God continues to win willing subjects from all the nations of the earth. At the end of the age, he will return as the King and be seated on his glorious throne (25:31ff). Things are not always as they seem, and sometimes things are exactly the opposite of what they seem.

Old Testament 316. The crucifixion narrative is replete with Old Testament citations and allusions, the most prominent of which follow, listed in the order they appear:

27:34— Wine mixed with bitter gall (Ps 69:21; mercy or mockery?)

27:35— Garments divided by throwing dice (Ps 22:18)

27:36— Soldiers watch Jesus (Ps 22:17)

27:38— Counted among the rebels (Isa 53:12)

27:39— Shaking heads in mockery (Ps 22:7)

27:43— God will deliver if he trusts in him (Ps 22:8)

27:45— Darkness at noon (Amos 8:9)

27:46— “Why have you abandoned me?” (Ps 22:1)

27:57, 60— His grave with a rich man (Isa 53:9)

Anti-Semitism? It is also significant that perhaps the most vicious mockers of Jesus in the crucifixion narrative were Gentiles (27:27-31). This calls into question the tendency among Christians towards identifying Jews with rejection of Jesus and Gentiles with reception of Jesus, which is found in some treatments of Matthew’s theology. There are examples in Matthew of Jews who love Jesus and of Gentiles who hate him. France (1985:397) goes too far in commenting on 27:44 when he says that “the totality of Jesus’ rejection by his people is complete.” Rather, not all of the mockers in the crucifixion narrative are Jews (27:27-31), and not all the Jews are mockers (27:55-57). Therefore, Matthew should not be charged with an unqualified negative view of the Jews nor a similarly unqualified positive view of the Gentiles.

Crucifixion. Crucifixion was cruel and unusual punishment, to say the least (Josephus War 1.97-98; 5.449-551; Antiquities 13.379-383; 18:63-64; Hengel 1977; Brown 1994:945-952). The Romans used it in the case of slaves, notorious criminals, and insurrectionists to make a political statement. Crucifixion asserted the dominion of Rome over conquered peoples by making a gruesome example of anyone who dared to upset the pax Romana. According to Josephus, it was frequently utilized during the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Although practices varied somewhat, crucifixion often involved driving a long nail (Luke 24:39; John 20:25; Col 2:14) through the victim’s ankles into the vertical post of the cross and driving nails through the victim’s outstretched hands or wrists into the horizontal beam of the cross. The precise medical cause of death by crucifixion is not clear. It is commonly thought that victims would die of asphyxia. They would eventually have difficulty supporting their own weight with their legs. Then it would become increasingly difficult to breathe when hanging by the arms. The process could take days, and at times the executors would break the legs of the victims to hasten their deaths, though in the case of Jesus this was not necessary (John 19:31-33). Another theory is that dehydration and loss of blood from the pre-crucifixion flogging and the nail wounds would cause death (Brown 1994:1088-1092).

The crucifixion narrative in Matthew is the culmination of the story of Jesus’ rejection. It stresses the way in which various parties—the bystanders, the Jewish leaders, and the revolutionaries crucified with Jesus—taunt him. In their way of thinking, his crucifixion unmasked Jesus as an impotent pretender to messianic office. Jesus’ ministry as Messiah, however, was never intended to involve the military leadership they expected to remove Rome’s oppressive yoke. Jesus and John before him demanded individual Jewish repentance, not war against Rome. Jesus’ messianic values are epitomized most clearly in 12:14-21. There the Pharisees were planning to kill Jesus because his healing on the Sabbath amounted to work in their view. In response, Jesus withdrew from conflict and counseled silence on the healing. The Kingdom is built not by the sword (26:52) but by one repentant disciple at a time. Such disciples acknowledge that following Jesus amounts to a transformation of fundamental values involving crucifixion of the old ego-centered life and renewal into a Kingdom-centered life of humble service (10:38-39; 16:24-26; 20:23, 26-28). In this messianic model, justice is achieved not by military prowess but by individual repentance and humble service to others, but the Jewish religious establishment of Jesus’ day would have none of it.

In addition to modeling Kingdom values, Jesus’ crucifixion accomplished redemption. Jesus saved his people from their sins (1:21) by giving his life as a ransom for them (20:28). This ransom entailed the sacrificial pouring out of his blood so that their sins could be forgiven (26:28). The Torah pronounces a curse on anyone who is hung on a tree (Deut 21:22-23; cf. Isa 53:3-6), and other New Testament authors develop this along the lines of vicarious sacrifice—on the cross Jesus bore the curse and penalty for the sins of his people so that they would not have to bear that curse themselves. There are subtle allusions to Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; 1 Pet 2:24) as well as an explicit citation of it in Galatians 3:13, both to the effect that Jesus took on himself the sin and guilt of his people and thereby achieved their forgiveness and redemption (Rom 3:24-26; 1 Cor 1:23-24; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Tim 2:6). Paul develops the theology of crucifixion even further, teaching that the believer in Jesus has become identified with Jesus in death to the old life of sin and identified with Jesus in resurrection to a new life of holiness (Rom 5:12-6:11; 1 Cor 15:20-22; Gal 2:20; 6:14; Eph 2:1-6; 4:22-24; Col 2:8-15; 3:1-4). Paul’s understanding of the redemptive effect of the cross also develops Matthew’s stress on mission to Gentiles, since the new life in Christ is lived in community with all who believe in Jesus, whether Jew or Gentile (Rom 15:7-12; Eph 2:11-22; Col 3:9-11).