The crucifixion

Matthew 27:27-44

In this section of Scripture we have the description of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The details that we see express man at his worst and God at His best. What I mean by that is that in the cross we see both the heart of sinful man and the heart of our loving God. The torturous death of the Son of God at the hands of sinful man shows us just how sinful mankind is. When presented with the darling of heaven, man brutally tortured and killed Him. The cross is without a doubt the ultimate expression of man’s sinfulness. But the cross is also the greatest expression of God’s love. Christ’s willingness to endure our punishment on the cross is the greatest act of love ever known to mankind (Rom. 5:8, John 3:16).

v.27 Pilate had a group of soldiers that were assigned to travel with him. The KJV calls it a “band” of soldiers which would equal 600 men. These men would have been made up of Romans as well as other nationalities that had their territories conquered by Rome. Jewish people, however, were given an exemption to military service. Therefore, all of these men would have been pagan men, probably not very familiar with the Jewish religion. Jesus, along with Pilate and the soldiers enter into Pilate’s headquarters. The governor had his own place to stay set apart by Rome in Jerusalem.

v.28 Inside Jesus is stripped of His clothing. He is dressed in a scarlet robe. This would have been like a violet-red color. It would have closely resembled purple. In fact it could have been called purple by some. That is what John and Mark call it (John 19:2, Mark 15:17). Purple was symbolic of royalty. The Romans soldiers were mocking Jesus claim to be king. The Romans were known for being especially cruel to their prisoners. Jesus is no exception. The 600 men gang up on Jesus to humiliate and hurt Him.

v.29 They continue to mock Him as king. They weave together a crown of thorns. A crown made in the form of a wreath resembled the type that Caesar wore. You have probably seen one on images of Roman Emperors as well as on Roman coins. Caesar’s wreath would not have contained thorns, however. The thorns were an insult to Christ as well as a way to inflict more pain upon Him. Genesis 3:18 tells us that thorns are the result of sin. There could be a symbolism here of Jesus taking upon Himself the sins of the world. Of course the soldiers would not have understood that. But it could have been something orchestrated by the Lord as a picture for believers to see and comprehend.

They put a reed in his right hand. This would have been some sort of stick. It symbolized the royal scepter that Caesar held in his right hand. It represented his power and authority. The soldiers were simply mocking Jesus. That is clear as they begin to bow before the Lord and sarcastically say “Hail King of the Jews!” We can assume the soldiers were laughing it up while all of this was going on.

v.30-31 The situation quickly turns violent. It is no longer mockery. Now we see that physical abuse begins. The soldiers begin to spit on Jesus. He had already been spit upon by the religious leaders (26:67). They snatch the reed He was forced to hold from Him and begin to beat Him upon His head with it. This would have driven the thorns from the crown deeper into His head. Snatching the scepter from Christ could have symbolized something else as well. They could have been saying “You are a King? Look how easily I take your power away from you! “ Once the mockery was finished Jesus was dressed back in His own clothing and led away to be crucified.

v.32 The Roman soldiers led Jesus outside of the city of Jerusalem. The custom of those condemned to be crucified was that they carry their cross to the place of execution. The “cross” likely refers to the cross beam that would be attached to another beam at the place of execution. For some time, Christ was made to carry His own cross (John 19:17). However, at some point the Roman soldiers forced another man by the name of Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. It could be that Christ had collapsed from exhaustion and blood loss brought on by the severe beating He had already endured. Simon was from Cyrene, which was modern day Libya. He was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover.

Simon carrying the cross as he followed Jesus was a perfect picture of Luke’s explanation of discipleship (14:27).

v.33 The Jewish law stated that executions had to take place outside of the city (Num. 15:35). Jesus is taken to a place called Golgotha Luke uses the Latin term “Calvariae” (Luke 23:33) from where we get “Calvary” The term means “skull”. The Aramic term is “Golgotha”. The Greek word is kranion, from which we get “cranium”. The reason that the area was known as “the place of the skull” is because of the shape of the landscape. It resembled the shape of a skull. The hill was outside the Northern wall of Jerusalem and can still be seen today.

v.34 The Roman soldiers contributed to the mocking of Jesus by offering Him a mixture of wine and gall. “Gall” was some type of bitter tasting narcotic. The mixture was used to dull the pain of the victims. It kept them from moving around so much on the cross, which could result in them falling off. It was not being offered to Jesus for mercy, however. They were probably taunting Him with it. After tasting this mixture, Jesus spit it out on the ground. Christ would endure the fullness of the agony of the cross. He would di sober, without anything dulling His senses. He did, however take a drink while on the cross (John 19:28-30). It is interesting to note that Jesus requested the drink that He received. The soldier’s actions were cruel. They had no desire to help Jesus. They were merely taking advantage of His situation.

v.35 Matthew does not mention that nails were driven through the feet and hands of the Lord, but John does (John 19:37). Christ was fastened to the cross by spikes. The pain that would have caused is far greater than we could imagine. Not all crucifixions were done in this way. Many were fastened to the cross with cords. The soldiers probably wanted some type of souvenir from the “celebrity” they were crucifying. They divided his clothing into four parts. His coat would be useless divided that way, so they decided to cast lots to see who got it (John19:23-24). The Psalmist prophesied this event in Psalm 22:18.

v.36-37 The soldiers would have been required to stay with Jesus until He was dead. It was their responsibility to make sure that no one rescued Jesus from the cross. Their depravity can be seen in that they are able and willing to watch a man die a slow and painful death while doing nothing to relieve Him. We can say what we like about executions today. But compared to the ancient world they are very humane. The Romans did not care about death with dignity or “cruel and unusual punishment”. In fact, they went out of their way to make the death cruel and to strip the victim of any dignity. The purpose was to keep people from committing crimes against the kingdom.

Christ’s “crime” was nailed above Him as was the Roman custom. The words “This is the King of the Jews” were placed for all to see. It was written in three languages: Greek, Latin and Hebrew (Luke 23:38). The Jews tried to get Pilate to change the sign to read, “He said I am…” but Pilate refused (John 19:.21-22). We can see God’s grace even in that sign. t was a written testimony for all to read that the Messiah had been crucified.

v.38 Two other men were led out with Christ to be crucified on that day. Luke 23:32 calls them “Malefactors” which means “evil doers”. In contrast to Christ, these men were guilty of crimes. Christ was crucified here between two thieves. He was placed in the center, I believe, so both had an opportunity to see Him, speak to Him, and listen to Him. Those two thieves could not have been at a better place at this point in time.

v.39-40 The mocking of Jesus continues, even while he is on the cross. Luke 23:35 tells us that these men were “rulers”. That probably means they were members of the Sanhedrin and they contributed to Jesus suffering with their insults. Luke says they said “He saved others, let Him save Himself!” Christ had indeed saved others. No one questioned that. His life was full of miraculous healings and even resurrections! They reasoned that “If” He were the Son of God He would come down from the cross. What they failed to understand was that in order to truly save others, His crucifixion was necessary. He is indeed the Christ, the chosen of God. They were simply not willing to believe it.

They also make another reference to Jesus words about rebuilding the Temple. one of the accusations brought before Him was that he said He would destroy and rebuild the Temple in three days. What Jesus said was “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will rebuild it”. He was speaking of His own body. The religious leaders were indeed “destroying His Temple” at that moment. And in three days they would see that He would build it again.

v.41-42 The mockery increases. The religious leaders all join in. Scribes, elders, chief priests and all that represented the religion of Judaism taunted Jesus. They issue a challenge to the Lord. They tell Him that they will believe in Him if He comes down from the cross. That wasn’t true. It is interesting to me that these men are tempting Jesus to abandon the cross. Thank God He did not.

v.43 The words of the religious leaders show that they believe Jesus is getting what He deserves. They don’t believe that Jesus trusted in God and they don’t believe that God will deliver Jesus. Their point is that if Jesus were truly from God He would not be on the cross. In their minds, the cross proves that they are right and Jesus is wrong. Jesus claim to be the Son of God was blasphemy in their minds (John 5:18). They believed the cross was God’s punishment toward Jesus for making such a blasphemous claim.

v.44 . Most of us are not aware that at one point both thieves were insulting Christ. One, however, had a change of heart at some point on the cross. He began to rebuke the other thief. He warns that he should fear God while he is in this circumstance (Luke 23:39-43). The two thieves are guilty but Jesus is innocent. The repentant thief addresses Jesus as Lord. He asks Christ to remember him when He enters into His kingdom. His request should be seen as simply a request for Jesus to save him. The fullness of Christ’s kingdom would not be known until His future return. Jesus replies to the man by assuring him that he does not have to wait until the final resurrection and the culmination of the kingdom. He would be with Christ in paradise on this very day! Paradise is the place where the righteous go at the point of death. The thief would be in heaven today!

Thoughts to Consider

1. The torture and murder of Jesus reveals mankind at its worst.

2. The cross reveals God at his best.

3. Insults are both hurtful and sinful, the tongue is a sword.

4. If Christ had saved Himself He would not have saved us.