Matthew Part 101

Text: Matthew 27:24-31.

Vs 24-26

Vs 24

washing hands

In Jewish culture, washing hands of innocence

Deut. 21:6-7, Ps. 26:6.

Also in Greco-Roman culture

can he simply wash his hands of innocence?

no, Romans 13:3-4.

“See to it yourself”

Distancing himself

same thing the chief priests and elders said, Matthew 27:4.

Vs 25

His blood be on us and our children

Who are these people? mostly locals and politicians, most likely including those who attended Jesus’ trial

Acts 5:28.

vs 26

scourged - (φραγελλόω, 2x) flog, whip, lash, scourge,

often, death would happen because of this

Medical Description of the flogging and Crucifixion of Jesus: “The Romans first stripped the victim and tied his hands to a post above his head. The whip (flagellum) was made of several pieces of leather with pieces of bone and lead embedded near the ends. Two men, one on each side of the victim, usually did the flogging. The Jews mercifully limited flogging to a maximum of forty stripes; the Romans had no such limitation. The following is a medical doctor’s description of the physical effects of flogging. “The heavy whip is brought down with full force again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back, and legs. At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then, as the blows continue, they cut deeper in the subcutaneous tissues, producing first an oozing of blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spurting arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles… Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue.” It is not surprising that victims of flogging seldom survived.

Crucified

Vs 27-31