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Matthew Chapter 27
Commentary by Matthew Henry
It is a very affecting story which is
recorded in this chapter concerning the sufferings and death
of our Lord Jesus. Considering the thing itself, there
cannot be a more tragic story told us; common humanity would
melt the heart, to find an innocent and excellent person
thus misused. But considering the design and fruit of
Christ's sufferings, it is gospel, it is good news, that
Jesus Christ was thus delivered for our offences; and there
is nothing we have more reason to glory in than the cross of
Christ. In this chapter, observe, I. How he was prosecuted.
1. The delivering of him to Pilate, verses 1, 2. 2. The
despair of Judas, verses 3-10. 3. The arraignment and trial
of Christ before Pilate, verses 11-14. 4. The clamors of the
people against him, verses 15-25. 5. Sentence passed, and
the warrant signed for his execution, verses 26. II. How he
was executed. 1. He was barbarously used, verses 27-30. 2.
Led to the place of execution, verses 31-33. 3. There he had
all possible indignities done him, and reproaches cast upon
him, verses 34-44. 4. Heaven frowned upon him, verses 45-49.
5. Many remarkable things attended his death, verses 50-56.
He was buried and a watch set on his grave, verses 57-66.
The Repentance of Judas; The
Confession of Judas; The Death of Judas; Disposal of the
Thirty Pieces of Silver.
Matthew 27:1-10 --
1 When the morning was come, all the
chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against
Jesus to put him to death: 2 And when they had bound him,
they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the
governor. 3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw
that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again
the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
departed, and went and hanged himself. 6 And the chief
priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful
for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price
of blood. 7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the
potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8 Wherefore that field
was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9 Then was
fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price
of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel
did value; 10 And gave them for the potter's field, as the
Lord appointed me.
We left Christ in the hands of the
chief priests and elders, condemned to die, but they could
only show their teeth; about two years before this the
Romans had taken from the Jews the power of capital
punishment; they could put no man to death, and therefore
early in the morning another council is held, to consider
what is to be done. And here we are told what was done in
that morning-council, after they had been for two or three
hours consulting with their pillows.
I. Christ is delivered up to Pilate,
that he might execute the sentence they had passed upon him.
Judea having been almost one hundred years before this
conquered by Pompey, had ever since been tributary to Rome,
and was lately made part of the province of Syria, and
subject to the government of the president of Syria, under
whom there were several procurators, who chiefly attended
the business of the revenues, but sometimes, as Pilate
particularly, had the whole power of the president lodged in
them. This was a plain evidence that the scepter was
departed from Judah, and that therefore now the Shiloh must
come, according to Jacob's prophecy, Genesis 49:10. Pilate
is characterized by the Roman writers of that time, as a man
of a rough and haughty spirit, willful and implacable, and
extremely covetous and oppressive; the Jews had a great
enmity to his person, and were weary of his government, and
yet they made use of him as the tool of their malice against
Christ.
1. They bound Jesus. He was bound
when he was first seized; but either they took off these
bonds when he was before the council, or now they added to
them. Having found him guilty, they tied his hands behind
him, as they usually do with convicted criminals. He was
already bound with the bonds of love to man, and of his own
undertaking, else he had soon broken these bonds, as Samson
did his. We were fettered with the bond of iniquity, held in
the cords of our sins (Proverbs 10:22); but God had bound
the yoke of our transgressions upon the neck of the Lord
Jesus (Isaiah 50:14), that we might be loosed by his bonds,
as we are healed by his stripes.
2. They led him away in a sort of
triumph, led him as a lamb to the slaughter; so was he taken
from prison and from judgment, Isaiah 53:7, 8. It was nearly
a mile from Caiaphas's house to Pilate's. All that way they
led him through the streets of Jerusalem, when in the
morning they began to fill, to make him a spectacle to the
world.
3. They delivered him to Pontius
Pilate; according to that which Christ had often said, that
he should be delivered to the Gentiles. Both Jews and
Gentiles were obnoxious to the judgment of God, and
concluded under sin, and Christ was to be the Savior both of
Jews and Gentiles; and therefore Christ was brought into the
judgment both of Jews and Gentiles, and both had a hand in
his death. See how these corrupt church-rulers abused the
civil magistrate, making use of him to execute their
unrighteous decrees, and inflict the grievance which they
had prescribed, Isaiah 10:1. Thus have the kings of the
earth been wretchedly imposed upon by the papal powers, and
condemned to the drudgery of extirpating with the sword of
war, as well as that of justice, those whom they have marked
for heretics, right or wrong, to the great prejudice of
their own interests.
II. The money which they had paid to
Judas for betraying Christ, is by him delivered back to
them, and Judas, in despair, hangs himself. The chief
priests and elders supported themselves with this, in
prosecuting Christ, that his own disciple betrayed him to
them; but now, in the midst of the prosecution, that string
failed them, and even he is made to them a witness of
Christ's innocence and a monument of God's justice; which
served, 1. For glory to Christ in the midst of his
sufferings, and a specimen of his victory over Satan who had
entered into Judas. 2. For warning to his persecutors, and
to leave them the more inexcusable. If their heart had not
been fully set in them to do this evil, what Judas said and
did, one would think, should have stopped the prosecution.
(1.) See here how Judas repented:
not like Peter, who repented, believed, and was pardoned:
no, he repented, despaired, and was ruined. Now observe
here,
[1.] What induced him to repent. It
was when he saw that he was condemned. Judas, it is
probable, expected that either Christ would have made his
escape out of their hands, or would so have pleaded his own
cause at their bar as to have come off, and then Christ
would have had the honor, the Jews the shame, and he the
money, and no harm done. This he had no reason to expect,
because he had so often heard his Master say that he must be
crucified; yet it is probable that he did expect it, and
when the event did not answer his vain fancy, then he fell
into this horror, when he saw the stream strong against
Christ, and him yielding to it. Note, Those who measure
actions by the consequences of them rather than by the
divine law, will find themselves mistaken in their measures.
The way of sin is down-hill; and if we cannot easily stop
ourselves, much less can we stop others whom we have set a
going in a sinful way. He repented himself; that is, he was
filled with grief, anguish, and indignation, at himself,
when reflecting upon what he had done. When he was tempted
to betray his Master, the thirty pieces of silver looked
very fine and glittering, like the wine, when it is red, and
gives its color in the cup. But when the thing was done, and
the money paid, the silver was become dross, it bit like a
serpent, and stung like an adder. Now his conscience flew in
his face; "What have I done! What a fool, what a wretch, am
I, to sell my Master, and all my comfort and happiness in
him, for such a trifle! All these abuses and indignities
done him are chargeable upon me; it is owing to me, that he
is bound and condemned, spit upon and buffeted. I little
thought it would have come to this, when I made that wicked
bargain; so foolish was I, and ignorant, and so like a
beast." Now he curses the bag he carried, the money he
coveted, the priests he dealt with, and the day that he was
born. The remembrance of his Master's goodness to him, which
he had so basely requited, the bowels of mercy he had
spurned at, and the fair warnings he had slighted, steeled
his convictions, and made them the more piercing. Now he
found his Master's words true; It were better for that man,
that he had never been born. Note, Sin will soon change its
taste. Though it be rolled under the tongue as a sweet
morsel, in the bowels it will be turned into the gall of
asps (Job 20:12-14), like John's book, Revelation 10:9.
[2.] What were the indications of
his repentance.
First, He made restitution; He
brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief
priests, when they were all together publicly. Now the money
burned in his conscience, and he was as sick of it as ever
he had been fond of it. Note, That which is ill gotten, will
never do good to those that get it, Jeremiah 13:10; Job
20:15. If he had repented, and brought the money back before
he had betrayed Christ, he might have done it with comfort,
then he had agreed while yet in the way; but now it was too
late, now he cannot do it without horror, wishing ten
thousand times he had never meddled with it. See James 5:3.
He brought it again. Note, what is unjustly gotten, must not
be kept; for that is a continuance in the sin by which it
was got, and such an avowing of it as is not consistent with
repentance. He brought it to those from whom he had it, to
let them know that he repented his bargain. Note, Those who
have served and hardened others in their sin, when God gives
them repentance, should let them know it whose sins they
have been partakers in, that it may be a means to bring them
to repentance.
Secondly, He made confession (verse
4); I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood.
1. To the honor of Christ, he pronounces his blood innocent.
If he had been guilty of any sinful practices, Judas, as his
disciple, would certainly have known it, and, as his
betrayer, would certainly have discovered it; but he, freely
and without being urged to it, pronounces him innocent, to
the face of those who had pronounced him guilty. 2. To his
own shame, he confesses that he had sinned, in betraying
this blood. He does not lay the blame on any one else; does
not say, "You have sinned, in hiring me to do it;" but takes
it all to himself; "I have sinned, in doing it." Thus far
Judas went toward his repentance, yet it was not to
salvation. He confessed, but not to God, did not go to him,
and say, I have sinned, Father, against heaven. He confessed
the betraying of innocent blood, but did not confess that
wicked love of money, which was the root of this evil. There
are those who betray Christ, and yet justify themselves in
it, and so come short of Judas.
(2.) See here how the chief priests
and elders entertained Judas's penitential confession; they
said, What is that to us? See thou to that. He made them his
confessors, and that was the absolution they gave him; more
like the priests of devils than like the priests of the holy
living God.
[1.] See here how carelessly they
speak of the betraying of Christ. Judas had told them that
the blood of Christ was innocent blood; and they said, What
is that to us? Was it nothing to them that they had thirsted
after this blood, and hired Judas to betray it, and had now
condemned it to be shed unjustly? Is this nothing to them?
Does it give no check to the violence of their prosecution,
no warning to take need what they do to this just man? Thus
do fools make a mock at sin, as if no harm were done, no
hazard run, by the commission of the greatest wickedness.
Thus light do many make of Christ crucified; what is it to
them, that he suffered such things?
[2.] See here how carelessly they
speak of the sin of Judas; he said, I have sinned, and they
said, "What is that to us? What are we concerned in thy sin,
that thou tells us of it?" Note, It is folly for us to think
that the sins of others are nothing to us, especially those
sins that we are any way accessory to, or partakers in. Is
it nothing to us, that God is dishonored, souls wounded,
Satan gratified and his interests served, and that we have
aided and abetted it? If the elders of Jezreel, to please
Jezebel, murder Naboth, is that nothing to Ahab? Yes, he has
killed, for he has taken possession, 1 Kings 21:19. The
guilt of sin is not so easily transferred as some people
think it is. If there were guilt in the matter, they tell
Judas that he must look to it, he must bear it. First,
Because he had betrayed him to them. His was indeed the
greater sin (John 19:11); but it did not therefore follow,
that theirs was no sin. It is a common instance of the
deceitfulness of our hearts, to extenuate our own sin by the
aggravation of other people's sins. But the judgment of God
is according to truth, not according to comparison.
Secondly, Because he knew and believed him to be innocent.
"If he be innocent, see thou to it, that is more than we
know; we have adjudged him guilty, and therefore may justly
prosecute him as such," Wicked practices are buoyed up by
wicked principles, and particularly by this, That sin is sin
only to those that think it to be so; that it is no harm to
persecute a good man, if we take him to be a bad man; but
those who thus think to mock God, will but deceive and
destroy themselves.
[3.] See how carelessly they speak
of the conviction, terror, and remorse, that Judas was
under. They were glad to make use of him in the sin, and
were then very fond of him; none more welcome to them than
Judas, when he said, What will ye give me, and I will betray
him to you? They did not say, What is that to us? But now
that his sin had put him into a fright, now they slighted
him, had nothing to say to him, but turned him over to his
own terrors; why did he come to trouble them with his
melancholy fancies? They had something else to do than to
heed him. But why so shy? First, Perhaps they were in some
fear lest the sparks of his conviction, brought too near,
should kindle a fire in their own consciences, and lest his
moans, listened to, should give an alarm to their own
convictions. Note, Obstinate sinners stand upon their guard
against convictions; and those that are resolvedly
impenitent, look with disdain upon the penitent. Secondly,
However, they were in no concern to succor Judas; when they
had brought him into the snare, they not only left him, but
laughed at him. Note, Sinners, under convictions, will find
their old companions in sin but miserable comforters. It is
usual for those that love the treason, to hate the traitor.
(3.) Here is the utter despair that
Judas was hereby driven into. If the chief priests had
promised him to stay the prosecution, it would have been
some comfort to him; but, seeing no hopes of that, he grew
desperate, verse 5.
[1.] He cast down the pieces of
silver in the temple. The chief priests would not take the
money, for fear of taking thereby the whole guilt to
themselves, which they were willing that Judas should bear
the load of; Judas would not keep it, it was too hot for him
to hold, he therefore threw it down in the temple, that,
whether they would or no, it might fall into the hands of
the chief priests. See what a drug money was, when the guilt
of sin was tacked to it, or was thought to be so.
[2.] He went, and hanged himself.
First, He retired--anechorese; he withdrew into some
solitary place, like the possessed man that was drawn by the
devil into the wilderness, Luke 8:29. Woe to him that is in
despair, and is alone. If Judas had gone to Christ, or to
some of the disciples, perhaps he might have had relief, bad
as the case was; but, missing of it with the chief priests,
he abandoned himself to despair: and the same devil that
with the help of the priests drew him to the sin, with their
help drove him to despair. Secondly, He became his own
executioner; He hanged himself; he was suffocated with
grief, so Dr. Hammond: but Dr. Whitby is clear that our
translation is right. Judas had a sight and sense of sin,
but no apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, and so he
pined away in his iniquity. His sin, we may suppose, was not
in its own nature unpardonable: there were some of those
saved, that had been Christ's betrayers and murderers; but
he concluded, as Cain, that his iniquity was greater than
could be forgiven, and would rather throw himself on the
devil's mercy than God's. And some have said, that Judas
sinned more in despairing of the mercy of God, than in
betraying his Master's blood. Now the terrors of the
Almighty set themselves in array against him. All the curses
written in God's book now came into his bowels like water,
and like oil into his bones, as was foretold concerning him
(Psalms 109:18, 19), and drove him to this desperate shift,
for the escaping of a hell within him, to leap into that
before him, which was but the perfection and perpetuity of
this horror and despair. He throws himself into the fire, to
avoid the flame; but miserable is the case when a man must
go to hell for ease.
Now, in this story, 1. We have an
instance of the wretched end of those into whom Satan
enters, and particularly those that are given up to the love
of money. This is the destruction in which many are drowned
by it, 1 Timothy 6:9, 10. Remember what became of the swine
into which, and of the traitor into whom, the devil enters;
and give not place to the devil. 2. We have an instance of
the wrath of God revealed from heaven against the
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, Romans 1:18. As in
the story of Peter we behold the goodness of God, and the
triumphs of Christ's grace in the conversion of some
sinners; so in the story of Judas we behold the severity of
God, and the triumphs of Christ's power and justice in the
confusion of other sinners. When Judas, into whom Satan
entered, was thus hung up, Christ made an open show of the
principalities and powers he undertook the spoiling of,
Colossians 2:15. 3. We have an instance of the direful
effects of despair; it often ends in self-murder. Sorrow,
even that for sin, if not according to God, works death (2
Corinthians 7:10), the worst kind of death; for a wounded
spirit, who can bear? Let us think as bad as we can of sin,
provided we do not think it unpardonable; let us despair of
help in ourselves, but not of help in God. He that thinks to
ease his conscience by destroying his life, doth, in effect,
dare God Almighty to do his worst. And self-murder, though
prescribed by some of the heathen moralists, is certainly a
remedy worse than the disease, how bad the disease may be.
Let us watch against the beginnings of melancholy, and pray,
Lord, lead us not into temptation.
(4.) The disposal of the money which
Judas brought back, verses 6-10. It was laid out in the
purchase of a field, called the potter's field; because some
potter had owned it, or occupied it, or lived near it, or
because broken potters' vessels were thrown into it. And
this field was to be a burying-place for strangers, that is,
proselytes to the Jewish religion, who were of other
nations, and, coming to Jerusalem to worship, happened to
die there. [1.] It looks like an instance of their humanity,
that they took care for the burying of strangers; and it
intimates that they themselves allowed (as St. Paul says,
Acts 24:15), that there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and of the unjust; for we therefore take
care of the dead body, not only because it has been the
habitation of a rational soul, but because it must be so
again. But, [2.] It was no instance of their humility that
they would bury strangers in a place by themselves, as if
they were not worthy to be laid in their burying-places;
strangers must keep their distance, alive and dead, and that
principle must go down to the grace, Stand by thyself, come
not near me, I am holier than thou, Isaiah 65:5. The sons of
Seth were better affected towards Abraham, though a stranger
among them, when they offered him the choicest of their own
sepulchers, Genesis 23:6. But the sons of the stranger, that
have joined themselves to the Lord, though buried by
themselves, shall rise with all that are dead in Christ.
This buying of the potter's field
did not take place on the day that Christ died (they were
then too busy to mind any thing else but hunting him down);
but it took place not long after; for Peter speaks of it
soon after Christ's ascension; yet it is here recorded.
First, To show the hypocrisy of the
chief priests and elders. They were maliciously persecuting
the blessed Jesus, and now,
1. They scruple to put that money
into the treasury, or corban, of the temple, with which they
had hired the traitor. Though perhaps they had taken it out
of the treasury, pretending it was for the public good, and
though they were great sticklers for the corban, and labored
to draw all the wealth of the nation into it, yet they would
not put that money into it, which was the price of blood.
The hire of a traitor they thought parallel to the hire of a
whore, and the price of a malefactor (such a one they made
Christ to be) equivalent to the price of a dog, neither of
which was to be brought into the house of the Lord,
Deuteronomy 23:18. They would thus save their credit with
the people, by possessing them with an opinion of their
great reverence for the temple. Thus they that swallowed a
camel, strained at a gnat.
2. They think to atone for what they
had done, by this public good act of providing a
burying-place for strangers, though not at their own charge.
Thus in times of ignorance people were made to believe that
building churches and endowing monasteries would make amends
for immoralities.
Secondly, To signify the favor
intended by the blood of Christ to strangers, and sinners of
the Gentiles. Through the price of his blood, a resting
place is provided for them after death. Thus many of the
ancients apply this passage. The grave is the potter's
field, where the bodies are thrown as despised broken
vessels; but Christ by his blood purchased it for those who
by confessing themselves strangers on earth seek the better
country; he has altered the property of it (as a purchaser
doth), so that now death is ours, the grave is ours, a bed
of rest for us. The Germans, in their language, call
burying-places God's fields; for in them God sows his people
as a corn of wheat, John 12:24. See Hosea 2:23; Isaiah
26:19.
Thirdly, To perpetuate the infamy of
those that bought and sold the blood of Christ. This field
was commonly called Aceldama--the field of blood; not by the
chief priests, they hoped in this burying-place to bury the
remembrance of their own crime; but by the people; who took
notice of Judas's acknowledgment that he had betrayed the
innocent blood, though the chief priests made nothing of it.
They fastened this name upon the field in perpetuam rei
memoriam--for a perpetual memorial. Note, Divine Providence
has many ways of entailing disgrace upon the wicked
practices even of great men, who, though they seek to cover
their shame, are put to a perpetual reproach.
Fourthly, That we may see how the
scripture was fulfilled (verses 9, 10); Then was fulfilled
that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet. The words
quoted are found in the prophecy of Zechariah, Chapter
11:12. How they are here said to be spoken by Jeremy is a
difficult question; but the credit of Christ's doctrine does
not depend upon it; for that proves itself perfectly divine,
though there should appear something human as to small
circumstances in the penmen of it. The Syriac version, which
is ancient, reads only, It was spoken by the prophet, not
naming any, whence some have thought that Jeremy was added
by some scribe; some think that the whole volume of the
prophets, being in one book, and the prophecy of Jeremiah
put first, it might not be improper, currente calamo--for a
transcriber to quote any passage out of that volume, under
his name. The Jews used to say, The spirit of Jeremiah was
in Zechariah, and so they were as one prophet. Some suggest
that it was spoken by Jeremiah, but written by Zechariah; or
that Jeremiah wrote the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters
of Zechariah. Now this passage in the prophet is a
representation of the great contempt of God, that was found
among the Jews, and the poor returns they made to him for
rich receiving from him. But here that is really acted,
which was there but figuratively expressed. The sum of money
is the same--thirty pieces of silver; this they weighed for
his price, at this rate they valued him; a goodly price; and
this was cast to the potter in the house of the Lord; which
was here literally accomplished. Note, We should better
understand the events of Providence, if we were better
acquainted even with the language and expressions of
scripture; for even those also are sometimes written upon
the dispensations of Providence so plainly, that he who runs
may read them. What David spoke figuratively (Psalms 92:7),
Jonah made a literal application of; All thy waves and thy
billows are gone over me, Jonah 3:3.
The giving of the price of him that
was valued, not for him, but for the potter's field,
bespeaks, 1. The high value that ought to be put upon
Christ. The price was given, not for him; no, when it was
given for him, it was soon brought back again with disdain,
as infinitely below his worth; he cannot be valued with the
gold of Ophir, nor this unspeakable Gift brought with money.
2. The low value that was put upon him. They of the children
of Israel did strangely undervalue him, when his price did
but reach to buy a potter's field, a pitiful sorry spot of
ground, not worth looking upon. It added to the reproach of
his being bought and sold, that it was at so low a rate.
Cast it to the potter, so it is in Zechariah; a contemptible
petty chapman, not the merchant that deals in things of
value. And observe, They of the children of Israel thus
undervalued him; they who were his own people, that should
have known better what estimate to put upon him, they to
whom he was first sent, whose glory he was, and whom he had
valued so highly, and bought so dear. He gave kings' ransoms
for them, and the richest countries (so precious were they
in his sight, Isaiah 43:3, 4), Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba;
but they gave a slave's ransom for him (see Exodus 21:32),
and valued him but at the rate of a potter's field; so was
that blood trodden under foot, which bought the kingdom of
heaven for us. But all this was as the Lord appointed; so
the prophetic vision was, which typified this event, and so
the event itself, as the other instances of Christ's
sufferings, was by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God.
Christ at the Bar of Pilate.
Matthew 27:11-25 --
11 And Jesus stood before the
governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the
King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him,
Thou sayest.
12 And when he was accused of the
chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then said
Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they
witness against thee? 14 And he answered him to never a
word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. 15 Now
at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the
people a prisoner, whom they would. 16 And they had then a
notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 Therefore when they
were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye
that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called
Christ? 18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent
unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just
man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream
because of him. 20 But the chief priests and elders
persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and
destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said unto them,
Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They
said, Barabbas. 22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do
then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto
him, Let him be crucified. 23 And the governor said, Why,
what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying,
Let him be crucified. 24 When Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took
water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I
am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on
us, and on our children.
We have here an account of what
passed in Pilate's judgment-hall, when the blessed Jesus was
brought thither betimes in the morning. Though it was no
court-day, Pilate immediately took his case before him. We
have there,
I. The trial Christ had before
Pilate.
1. His arraignment; Jesus stood
before the governor, as the prisoner before the judge. We
could not stand before God because of our sins, nor lift up
our face in his presence, if Christ had not been thus made
sin for us. He was arraigned that we might be discharged.
Some think that this bespeaks his courage and boldness; he
stood undaunted, unmoved by all their rage. He thus stood in
this judgment, that we might stand in God's judgment. He
stood for a spectacle, as Naboth, when he was arraigned, was
set on high among the people.
2. His indictment; Art thou the king
of the Jews? The Jews were now not only under the
government, but under the very jealous inspection, of the
Roman powers, which they were themselves to the highest
degree disaffected to, and yet now pretended a concern for,
to serve this turn; accusing Jesus as an Enemy to Cæsar
(Luke 23:2), which they could produce no other proof of,
than that he himself had newly owned he was the Christ. Now
they thought that whoever was the Christ, must be the king
of the Jews, and must deliver them from the Roman power, and
restore to them a temporal dominion, and enable them to
trample upon all their neighbors. According to this chimera
of their own, they accused our Lord Jesus, as making himself
king of the Jews, in opposition to the Roman yoke; whereas,
though he said that he was the Christ, he meant not such a
Christ as this. Note, Many oppose Christ's holy religion,
upon a mistake of the nature of it; they dress it up in
false colors, and then fight against it. They assuring the
governor that, if he made himself Christ, he made himself
king of the Jews, the governor takes it for granted, that he
goes about to pervert the nation, and subvert the
government. Art thou a king? It was plain that he was not so
de facto--actually; "But dost thou lay any claim to the
government, or pretend a right to rule the Jews?" Note, It
has often been the hard fate of Christ's holy religion,
unjustly to fall under the suspicions of the civil powers,
as if it were hurtful to kings and provinces, whereas it
tends mightily to the benefit of both.
3. His plea; Jesus said unto him,
"You say. It is as you say, though not as you meanest; I am
a king, but not such a king as you suspect me to be." Thus
before Pilate he witnessed a good confession, and was not
ashamed to own himself a king, though it looked ridiculous,
nor afraid, though at this time it was dangerous.
4. The evidence (verse 12); He was
accused of the chief priests. Pilate found no fault in him;
whatever was said, nothing was proved, and therefore what
was wanting in matter they made up in noise and violence,
and followed him with repeated accusations, the same as they
had given in before; but by the repetition they thought to
force a belief from the governor. They had learned, not only
calumniari--to calumniate, but fortiter calumniari--to
calumniate stoutly. The best men have often been accused of
the worst crimes.
5. The prisoner's silence as to the
prosecutors' accusations; He answered nothing, (1.) Because
there was no occasion; nothing was alleged but what carried
its own confutation along with it. (2.) He was now taken up
with the great concern that lay between him and his Father,
to whom he was offering up himself a Sacrifice, to answer
the demands of his justice, which he was so intent upon,
that he minded not what they said against him. (3.) His hour
was come, and he submitted to his Father's will; Not as I
will, but as thou wilt. He knew what his Father's will was,
and therefore silently committed himself to him that judges
righteously. We must not thus by our silence throw away our
lives, because we are not lords of our lives, as Christ was
of his; nor can we know, as he did, when our hour is come.
But hence we must learn, not to render railing for railing,
1 Peter 2:23.
Now, [1.] Pilate pressed him to make
some reply (verse 13); Hearest thou not how many things they
witness against thee? What these things were, may be
gathered from Luke 23:3, 5, and John 19:7. Pilate, having no
malice at all against him, was desirous he should clear
himself, urges him to it, and believes he could do it;
Hearest thou not? Yes, he did hear; and still he hears all
that is witnessed unjustly against his truths and ways; but
he keeps silence, because it is the day of his patience, and
doth not answer, as he will shortly, Psalms 50:3. [2.] He
wondered at his silence; which was not interpreted so much
into a contempt of the court, as a contempt of himself. And
therefore Pilate is not said to be angry at it, but to have
marveled greatly at it, as a thing very unusual. He believed
him to be innocent, and had heard perhaps that never man
spoke like him; and therefore he thought it strange that he
had not one word to say for himself. We have,
II. The outrage and violence of the
people, in pressing the governor to crucify Christ. The
chief priests had a great interest in the people, they
called them Rabbi, Rabbi, made idols of them, and oracles of
all they said; and they made use of this to incense them
against him, and by the power of the mob gained the point
which they could not otherwise carry. Now here are two
instances of their outrage.
1. Their preferring Barabbas before
him, and choosing to have him released rather than Jesus.
(1.) It seems it was grown into a
custom with the Roman governors, for the honoring of the
Jews, to grace the feast of the Passover with the release of
a prisoner, verse 15. This, they thought, did honor to the
feast, and was agreeable to the commemoration of their
deliverance; but it was an invention of their own, and no
divine institution; though some think that it was ancient,
and kept up by the Jewish princes, before they became a
province of the empire. However, it was a bad custom, an
obstruction to justice, and an encouragement to wickedness.
But our gospel-Passover is celebrated with the release of
prisoners, by him who hath power on earth to forgive sins.
(2.) The prisoner put in competition
with our Lord Jesus was Barabbas; he is here called a
notable prisoner (verse 16); either because by birth and
breeding he was of some note and quality, or because he had
signalized himself by something remarkable in his crimes;
whether he was so notable as to recommend himself the more
to the favors of the people, and so the more likely to be
interceded for, or whether so notable as to make himself
more liable to their age, is uncertain. Some think the
latter, and therefore Pilate mentioned him, as taking it for
granted that they would have desired any one's release
rather than his. Treason, murder, and felony, are the three
most enormous crimes that are usually punished by the sword
of justice; and Barabbas was guilty of all three, Luke
23:19; John 18:40. A notable prisoner indeed, whose crimes
were so complicated.
(3.) The proposal was made by Pilate
the governor (verse 17); Whom will ye that I release unto
you? It is probable that the judge had the nomination of
two, one of which the people were to choose. Pilate proposed
to them to have Jesus released; he was convinced of his
innocence, and that the prosecution was malicious; yet had
not the courage to acquit him, as he ought to have done, by
his own power, but would have him released by the people's
election, and so he hoped to satisfy both his own
conscience, and the people too; whereas, finding no fault in
him, he ought not to have put him upon the country, or
brought him into peril of his life. But such little tricks
and artifices as these, to trim the matter, and to keep in
with conscience and the world too, are the common practice
of those that seek more to please men than God. What shall I
do then, says Pilate, with Jesus, who is called Christ? He
puts the people in mind of this, that this Jesus, whose
release he proposed, was looked upon by some among them as
the Messiah, and had given pregnant proofs of his being so;
"Do not reject one of whom your nation has professed such an
expectation."
The reason why Pilate labored thus
to get Jesus discharged was because he knew that for envy
the chief priests had delivered him up (verse 18); that it
was not his guilt, but his goodness, that they were provoked
at; and for this reason he hoped to bring him off by the
people's act, and that they would be for his release. When
David was envied by Saul, he was the darling of the people;
and any one that heard the hosannas with which Christ was
but a few days ago brought into Jerusalem, would have
thought that he had been so, and that Pilate might safely
have referred this matter to the commonalty, especially when
so notorious a rogue was set up as a rival with him for
their favors. But it proved otherwise.
(4.) While Pilate was thus laboring
the matter, he was confirmed in his unwillingness to condemn
Jesus, by a message sent him from his wife (verse 19), by
way of caution; Have thou nothing to do with that just man
(together with the reason), for I have suffered many things
this day in a cream because of him. Probably, this message
was delivered to Pilate publicly, in the hearing of all that
were present, for it was intended to be a warning not to him
only, but to the prosecutors. Observe,
[1.] The special providence of God,
in sending this dream to Pilate's wife; it is not likely
that she had heard any thing, before, concerning Christ, at
least not so as to occasion her dreaming of him, but it was
immediately from God: perhaps she was one of the devout and
honorable women, and had some sense of religion; yet God
revealed himself by dreams to some that had not, as to
Nebuchadnezzar. She suffered many things in this dream;
whether she dreamed of the cruel usage of an innocent
person, or of the judgments that would fall upon those that
had any hand in his death, or both, it seems that it was a
frightful dream, and her thoughts troubled her, as Daniel
2:1; 4:5. Note, The Father of spirits has many ways of
access to the spirits of men, and can seal their instruction
in a dream, or vision of the night, Job 33:15, 16. Yet to
those who have the written word, God more ordinarily speaks
by conscience on a waking bed, than by dreams, when deep
sleep falls upon men.
[2.] The tenderness and care of
Pilate's wife, in sending this caution, thereupon, to her
husband; Have nothing to do with that just man. First, This
was an honorable testimony to our Lord Jesus, witnessing for
him that he was a just man, even then when he was persecuted
as the worst of malefactors: when his friends were afraid to
appear in defense of him, God made even those that were
strangers and enemies, to speak in his favor; when Peter
denied him, Judas confessed him; when the chief priests
pronounced him guilty of death, Pilate declared he found no
fault in him; when the women that loved him stood afar off,
Pilate's wife, who knew little of him, showed a concern for
him. Note, God will not leave himself without witnesses to
the truth and equity of his cause, even when it seems to be
most spitefully run down by its enemies, and most shamefully
deserted by its friends. Secondly, It was a fair warning to
Pilate; Have nothing to do with him. Note, God has many ways
of giving checks to sinners in their sinful pursuits, and it
is a great mercy to have such checks from Providence, from
faithful friends, and from our own consciences; it is also
our great duty to hearken to them. O do not this abominable
thing which the Lord hates, is what we may hear said to us,
when we are entering into temptation, if we will but regard
it. Pilate's lady sent him this warning, out of the love she
had to him; she feared not a rebuke from him for meddling
with that which belonged not to her; but, let him take it
how he would, she would give him the caution. Note, It is an
instance of true love to our friends and relations, to do
what we can to keep them from sin; and the nearer any are to
us, and the greater affection we have for them, the more
solicitous we should be not to suffer sin to come or lie
upon them, Leviticus 19:17. The best friendship is
friendship to the soul. We are not told how Pilate turned
this off, probably with a jest; but by his proceeding
against the just man it appears that he did not regard it.
Thus faithful admonitions are made light of, when they are
given as warnings against sin, but will not be so easily
made light of, when they shall be reflected upon as
aggravations of sin.
(5.) The chief priests and the
elders were busy, all this while, to influence the people in
favor of Barabbas, verse 20. They persuaded the multitude,
both by themselves and their emissaries, whom they sent
abroad among them, that they should ask Barabbas, and
destroy Jesus; suggesting that this Jesus was a deceiver, in
league with Satan, an enemy to their church and temple;
that, if he were let alone, the Romans would come, and take
away their place and nation; that Barabbas, though a bad
man, yet, having not the interest that Jesus had, could not
do so much mischief. Thus they managed the mob, who
otherwise were well affected to Jesus, and, if they had not
been so much at the beck of their priests, would never have
done such a preposterous thing as to prefer Barabbas before
Jesus. Here, [1.] We cannot but look upon these wicked
priests with indignation; by the law, in matters of
controversy between blood and blood, the people were to be
guided by the priests, and to do as they informed them,
Deuteronomy 17:8, 9. This great power put into their hands
they wretchedly abused, and the leaders of the people caused
them to err. [2.] We cannot but look upon the deluded people
with pity; I have compassion on the multitude, to see them
hurried thus violently to so great wickedness, to see them
thus priest-ridden, and falling in the ditch with their
blind leaders.
(6.) Being thus over-ruled by the
priests, at length they made their choice, verse 21. Whether
of the twain (says Pilate) will ye that I release unto you?
He hoped that he had gained his point, to have Jesus
released. But, to his great surprise, they said Barabbas; as
if his crimes were less, and therefore he less deserved to
die; or as if his merits were greater, and therefore he
better deserved to live. The cry for Barabbas was so
universal, one and all, that there was no color to demand a
poll between the candidates. Be astonished, O heavens, at
this, and, thou earth, be horribly afraid! Were ever men
that pretended to reason or religion, guilty of such
prodigious madness, such horrid wickedness! This was it that
Peter charged so home upon them (Acts 3:14); Ye desired a
murderer to be granted to you; yet multitudes who choose the
world, rather than God, for their ruler and portion, thus
choose their own delusions.
2. Their pressing earnestly to have
Jesus crucified, verses 22, 23. Pilate, being amazed at
their choice of Barabbas, was willing to hope that it was
rather from a fondness for him than from an enmity to Jesus;
and therefore he puts it to them, "What shall I do then with
Jesus? Shall I release him likewise, for the greater honor
of your feast, or will you leave it to me?" No, they all
said, Let him be crucified. That death they desired he might
die, because it was looked upon as the most scandalous and
ignominious; and they hoped thereby to make his followers
ashamed to own him, and their relation to him. It was absurd
for them to prescribe to the judge what sentence he should
pass; but their malice and rage made them forget all rules
of order and decency, and turned a court of justice into a
riotous, tumultuous, and seditious assembly. Now was truth
fallen in the street, and equity could not enter; where one
looked for judgment, behold, oppression, the worst kind of
oppression; for righteousness, behold, a cry, the worse cry
that ever was, Crucify, crucify the Lord of glory. Though
they that cried thus, perhaps, were not the same persons
that the other day cried Hosanna, yet see what a change was
made upon the mind of the populace in a little time: when he
rode in triumph into Jerusalem, so general were the
acclamations of praise, that one would have thought he had
no enemies; but now when he was led in triumph to Pilate's
judgment-seat, so general were the outcries of enmity, that
one would think he had no friends. Such revolutions are
there in this changeable world, through which our way to
heaven lies, as our Master's did, by honor and dishonor, by
evil report, and good report, counter-changed (2 Corinthians
6:8); that we may not be lifted up by honor, as if, when we
were applauded and caressed, we had made our nest among the
stars, and should die in that nest; nor yet be dejected or
discouraged by dishonor, as if, when we were trodden to the
lowest hell, from which there is no redemption. Bides tu
istos qui te laudant; omnes aut sunt hostes, aut (quod in
æquo est) esse possunt--You observe those who applaud you;
either they are all your enemies, or, which is equivalent,
they may become so. Seneca de Vita Beat.
Now, as to this demand, we are
further told,
(1.) How Pilate objected against it;
Why, what evil hath he done? A proper question to ask before
we censure any in common discourse, much more for a judge to
ask before he pass a sentence of death. Note, It is much for
the honor of the Lord Jesus, that, though he suffered as an
evil-doer, yet neither his judge nor his prosecutors could
find that he had done any evil. Had he done any evil against
God? No, he always did those things that pleased him. Had he
done any evil against the civil government? No, as he did
himself, so he taught others, to render to Cæsar the things
that were Cæsar's. Had he done any evil against the public
peace? No, he did not strive or cry, nor did his kingdom
come with observation. Had he done any evil to particular
persons? Whose ox had he taken, or whom had he defrauded?
No, so far from that, that he went about doing good. This
repeated assertion of his unspotted innocence, plainly
intimates that he died to satisfy for the sins of others;
for if it had not been for our transgressions that he was
thus wounded, and for our offences that he was delivered up,
and that upon his own voluntary undertaking to atone for
them, I see not how these extraordinary sufferings of a
person that had never thought, said, or done, any thing
amiss, could be reconciled with the justice and equity of
that providence that governs the world, and at least
permitted this to be done in it.
(2.) How they insisted upon it; They
cried out the more, Let him be crucified. They do not go
about to show any evil he had done, but, right or wrong, he
must be crucified. Quitting all pretensions to the proof of
the premises, they resolve to hold the conclusion, and what
was wanting in evidence to make up in clamor; this unjust
judge was wearied by importunity into an unjust sentence, as
he in the parable into a just one (Luke 18:4, 5), and the
cause carried purely by noise.
III. Here is the devolving of the
guilt of Christ's blood upon the people and priests.
1. Pilate endeavors to transfer it
from himself, verse 24.
(1.) He sees it to no purpose to
contend. What he said, [1.] Would do no good; he could
prevail nothing; he could not convince them what an unjust
unreasonable thing it was for him to condemn a man whom he
believed innocent, and whom they could not prove guilty. See
how strong the stream of lust and rage sometimes is; neither
authority nor reason will prevail to give check to it. Nay,
[2.] It was more likely to do hurt; he saw that rather a
tumult was made. This rude and brutish people fell to high
words, and began to threaten Pilate what they would do if he
did not gratify them; and how great a matter might this fire
kindle, especially when the priests, those great
incendiaries, blew the coals! Now this turbulent tumultuous
temper of the Jews, by which Pilate was awed to condemn
Christ against his conscience, contributed more than any
thing to the ruin of that nation not long after; for their
frequent insurrections provoked the Romans to destroy them,
though they had reduced them, and their inveterate quarrels
among themselves made them an easy prey to the common enemy.
Thus their sin was their ruin.
Observe how easily we may be
mistaken in the inclination of the common people; the
priests were apprehensive that their endeavors to seize
Christ would have caused an uproar, especially on the feast
day; but it proved that Pilate's endeavor to save him,
caused an uproar, and that on the feast day; so uncertain
are the sentiments of the crowd.
(2.) This puts him into a great
strait, betwixt the peace of his own mind, and the peace of
the city; he is loath to condemn an innocent man, and yet
loath to disoblige the people, and raise a devil that would
not be soon laid. Had he steadily and resolutely adhered to
the sacred laws of justice, as a judge ought to do, he had
not been in any perplexity; the matter was plain and past
dispute, that a man in whom was found no faulty, ought not
to be crucified, upon any pretence whatsoever, nor must an
unjust thing be done, to gratify any man or company of men
in the world; the cause is soon decided; Let justice be
done, though heaven and earth come together--Fiat justitia,
ruat cœlum. If wickedness proceed from the wicked, though
they be priests, yet my hand shall not be upon him.
(3.) Pilate thinks to trim the
matter, and to pacify both the people and his own conscience
too, by doing it, and yet disowning it, acting the thing,
and yet acquitting himself from it at the same time. Such
absurdities and self-contradictions do they run upon, whose
convictions are strong, but their corruptions stronger.
Happy is he (says the apostle, Romans 14:22) that condemns
not himself in that thing which he allows; or, which is all
one, that allows not himself in that thing which he
condemns.
Now Pilate endeavors to clear
himself from the guilt,
[1.] By a sign; He took water, and
washed his hands before the multitude; not as if he thought
thereby to cleanse himself from any guilt contracted before
God, but to acquit himself before the people, from so much
as contracting any guilt in this matter; as if he had said,
"If it be done, bear witness that it is none of my doing."
He borrowed the ceremony from that law which appointed it to
be used for the clearing of the country from the guilt of an
undiscovered murder (Deuteronomy 21:6, 7); and he used it
the more to affect the people with the conviction he was
under of the prisoner's innocence; and, probably, such was
the noise of the rabble, that, if he had not used some such
surprising sign, in the view of them all, he could not have
been heard.
[2.] By a saying; in which, First,
He clears himself; I am innocent of the blood of this just
person. What nonsense was this, to condemn him, and yet
protest that he was innocent of his blood! For men to
protest against a thing, and yet to practice it, is only to
proclaim that they sin against their consciences. Though
Pilate professed his innocence, God charges him with guilt,
Acts 4:27. Some think to justify themselves, by pleading
that their hands were not in the sin; but David kills by the
sword of the children of Ammon, and Ahab by the elders of
Jezreel. Pilate here thinks to justify himself, by pleading
that his heart was not in the action; but this is an
averment which will never be admitted. Protestatio non valet
contra factum--In vain does he protest against the deed
which at the same time he perpetrates. Secondly, He casts it
upon the priests and people; "See ye to it; if it must be
done, I cannot help it, do you answer it before God and the
world." Note, Sin is a brat that nobody is willing to own;
and many deceive themselves with this, that they shall bear
no blame if they can but find any to lay the blame upon; but
it is not so easy a thing to transfer the guilt of sin as
many think it is. The condition of him that is infected with
the plague is not the less dangerous, either for his
catching the infection from others, or his communicating the
infection to others; we may be tempted to sin, but cannot be
forced. The priests threw it upon Judas; See thou to it; and
now Pilate throws it upon them; See ye to it; for with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.
2. The priests and people consented
to take the guilt upon themselves; they all said, "His blood
be on us, and one our children; we are so well assured that
there is neither sin nor danger in putting him to death,
that we are willing to run the hazard of it;" as if the
guilt would do no harm to them or theirs. They saw that it
was the dread of guilt that made Pilate hesitate, and that
he was getting over this difficulty by a fancy of
transferring it; to prevent the return of his hesitation,
and to confirm him in that fancy, they, in the heat of their
rage, agreed to it, rather than lose the prey they had in
their hands, and cried, His blood be upon us. Now,
(1.) By this they designed to
indemnify Pilate, that is, to make him think himself
indemnified, by becoming bound to divine justice, to save
him harmless. But those that are themselves bankrupts and
beggars will never be admitted security for others, nor
taken as a bail for them. None could bear the sin of others,
except him that had none of his own to answer for; it is a
bold undertaking, and too big for any creature, to become
bound for a sinner to Almighty God.
(2.) But they did really imprecate
wrath and vengeance upon themselves and their posterity.
What a desperate word was this, and how little did they
think what as the direful import of it, or to what an abyss
of misery it would bring them and theirs! Christ had lately
told them, that upon them would come all the righteous blood
shed upon the earth, from that of the righteous Abel; but as
if that were too little, they here imprecate upon themselves
the guilt of that blood which was more precious than all the
rest, and the guilt of which would lie heavier. O the daring
presumption of willful sinners, that run upon God, upon his
neck, and defy his justice! Job 15:25, 26. Observe,
[1.] How cruel they were in their
imprecation. They imprecated the punishment of this sin, not
only upon themselves, but upon their children too, even
those that were yet unborn, without so much as limiting the
entail of the curse, as God himself had been pleased to
limit it, to the third and fourth generation. It was madness
to pull it upon themselves, but the height of barbarity to
entail it on their posterity. Surely they were like the
ostrich; they were hardened against their young ones, as
though they were not theirs. What a dreadful conveyance was
this of guilt and wrath to them and their heirs for ever,
and this delivered by joint consent, nemine contradicents--unanimously,
as their own act and deed; which certainly amounted to a
forfeiture and defeasance of that ancient charter, I will be
a God to thee, and to thy seed. Their entailing the curse of
the Messiah's blood upon their nation, cut off the entail of
the blessings of that blood from their families, that,
according to another promise made to Abraham, in him all the
families of the earth might be blessed. See what enemies
wicked men are to their own children and families; those
that damn their own souls, care not how many they take to
hell with them.
[2.] How righteous God was, in his
retribution according to this imprecation; they said, His
blood be on us, and on our children; and God said Amen to
it, so shall thy doom be; as they loved cursing, so it came
upon them. The wretched remains of that abandoned people
feel it to this day; from the time they imprecated this
blood upon them, they were followed with one judgment after
another, till they were quite laid waste, and made an
astonishment, a hissing, and a byword; yet on some of them,
and some of theirs, this blood came, not to condemn them,
but to save them; divine mercy, upon their repenting and
believing, cut off this entail, and then the promise was
again to them, and to their children. God is better to us
and ours than we are.
Christ Scourged and Derided; Christ
Mocked by the Soldiers.
Matthew 27:26-32 --
26 Then released he Barabbas unto
them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be
crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus
into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band
of soldiers. 28 And they stripped him, and put on him a
scarlet robe. 29 And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right
hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him,
saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30 And they spit upon him,
and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31 And after
that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him,
and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify
him. 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene,
Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
In these verses we have the
preparation for, and prefaces to, the crucifixion of our
Lord Jesus. Here is,
I. The sentence passed, and the
warrant signed for his execution; and this immediately, the
same hour.
1. Barabbas was released, that
notorious criminal: if he had not been put in competition
with Christ for the favor of the people, it is probable that
he had died for his crimes; but that proved the means of his
escape; to intimate that Christ was condemned for this
purpose, that sinners, even the chief of sinners, might be
released; he was delivered up, that we might be delivered;
whereas the common instance of divine Providence, is, that
the wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the
transgressor for the upright, Proverbs 21:18; 11:18. In this
unparalleled instance of divine grace, the upright is a
ransom for the transgressors, the just for the unjust.
2. Jesus was scourged; this was an
ignominious cruel punishment, especially as is was inflicted
by the Romans, who were not under the moderation of the
Jewish law, which forbade scourging, above forty stripes;
this punishment was most unreasonably inflicted on one that
was sentenced to die: the rods were not to introduce the
axes, but to supersede them. Thus the scripture was
fulfilled, The plowers ploughed upon my back (Psalms 129:3),
I gave my back to the smiters (Isaiah 50:6), and, By his
stripes we are healed, Isaiah 53:5. He was chastised with
whips, that we might not be for ever chastised with
scorpions.
3. He was then delivered to be
crucified; though his chastisement was in order to our
peace, yet there is no peace made but by the blood of his
cross (Colossians 1:20); therefore the scourging is not
enough, he must be crucified; a kind of death used only
among the Romans; the manner of it is such, that it seems to
be the result of wit and cruelty in combination, each
putting forth itself to the utmost, to make death in the
highest degree terrible and miserable. A cross was set up in
the ground, to which the hands and feet were nailed, on
which nails the weight of the body hung, till it died of the
pain. This was the death to which Christ was condemned, that
he might answer the type of the brazen serpent lifted up
upon a pole. It was a bloody death, a painful, shameful,
cursed death; it was so miserable a death, that merciful
princes appointed those who were condemned to it by the law,
to be strangled first, and then nailed to the cross; so
Julius Cæsar did by some pirates, Sueton. lib. 1.
Constantine, the first Christian emperor, by an edict
abolished the use of that punishment among the Romans,
Sozomen, Hist. lib. 1. Chapter 8. Ne salutare signum
subserviret ad perniciem--That the symbol of salvation might
not be subservient to the victim's destruction.
II. The barbarous treatment which
the soldiers gave him, while things were getting ready for
his execution. When he was condemned, he ought to have had
some time allowed him to prepare for death. There was a law
made by the Roman senate, in Tiberius's time, perhaps upon
complaint of this and the like precipitation, that the
execution of criminals should be deferred at least ten days
after sentence. Sueton in Tiber. cap. 25. But there were
scarcely allowed so many minutes to our Lord Jesus; nor had
he any breathing-time during those minutes; it was a crisis,
and there were no lucid intervals allowed him; deep called
unto deep, and the storm continued without any intermission.
When he was delivered to be
crucified, that was enough; they that kill the body, yield
that there is no more that they can do, but Christ's enemies
will do more, and, if it be possible, wrap up a thousand
deaths in one. Though Pilate pronounced him innocent, yet
his soldiers, his guards, set themselves to abuse him, being
swayed more by the fury of the people against him, than by
their master's testimony for him; the Jewish rabble infected
the Roman soldiery, or perhaps it was not so much in spite
to him, as to make sport for themselves, that they thus
abused him. They understood that he pretended to a crown; to
taunt him with that gave them some diversion, and an
opportunity to make themselves and one another merry. Note,
It is an argument of a base, servile, sordid spirit, to
insult over those that are in misery, and to make the
calamities of any matter of sport and merriment.
Observe, 1. Where this was done--in
the common hall. The governor's house, which should have
been a shelter to the wronged and abused, is made the
theatre of this barbarity. I wonder that the governor, who
was so desirous to acquit himself from the blood of this
just person, would suffer this to be done in his house.
Perhaps he did not order it to be done, but he connived at
it; and those in authority will be accountable, not only for
the wickedness which they do, or appoint, but for that which
they do not restrain, when it is in the power of their
hands. Masters of families should not suffer their houses to
be places of abuse to any, nor their servants to make sport
with the sins, or miseries, or religion, of others.
2. Who were concerned in it. They
gathered the whole band, the soldiers that were to attend
the execution, would have the whole regiment (at least five
hundred, some think twelve or thirteen hundred) to share in
the diversion. If Christ was thus made a spectacle, let none
of his followers think it strange to be so used, 1
Corinthians 4:9; Hebrews 10:33.
3. What particular indignities were
done him.
(1.) They stripped him, verse 28.
The shame of nakedness came in with sin (Genesis 3:7); and
therefore Christ, when he came to satisfy for sin, and take
it away, was made naked, and submitted to that shame, that
he might prepare for us white raiment, to cover us,
Revelation 3:18.
(2.) They put on him a scarlet robe,
some old red cloak, such as the Roman soldiers wore, in
imitation of the scarlet robes which kings and emperors
wore; thus upbraiding him with his being called a King. This
sham of majesty they put upon him in his dress, when nothing
but meanness and misery appeared in his countenance, only to
expose him to the spectators, as the more ridiculous; yet
there was something of mystery in it; this was he that was
red in his apparel (Isaiah 63:1, 2), that washed his
garments in wine (Genesis 49:11); therefore he was dressed
in a scarlet robe. Our sins were as scarlet and crimson.
Christ being clad in a scarlet robe, signified his bearing
our sins, to his shame, in his own body upon the tree; that
we might wash our robes, and make them white, in the blood
of the Lamb.
(3.) They platted a crown of thorns,
and put it upon his head, verse 29. This was to carry on the
humor of making him a mock-king; yet, had they intended it
only for a reproach, they might have platted a crown of
straw, or rushes, but they designed it to be painful to him,
and to be literally, what crowns are said to be
figuratively, lined with thorns; he that invented this
abuse, it is likely, valued himself upon the wit of it; but
there was a mystery in it. [1.] Thorns came in with sin, and
were part of the curse that was the product of sin, Genesis
3:18. Therefore Christ, being made a curse for us, and dying
to remove the curse from us, felt the pain and smart of
those thorns, nay, and binds them as a crown to him (Job
31:36); for his sufferings for us were his glory. [2.] Now
he answered to the type of Abraham's ram that was caught in
the thicket, and so offered up instead of Isaac, Genesis
22:13. [3.] Thorns signify afflictions, 2 Chronicles 33:11.
These Christ put into a crown; so much did he alter the
property of them to them that are his, giving them cause to
glory in tribulation, and making it to work for them a
weight of glory. [4.] Christ was crowned with thorns, to
show that his kingdom was not of this world, nor the glory
of it worldly glory, but is attended here with bonds and
afflictions, while the glory of it is to be revealed. [5.]
It was the custom of some heathen nations, to bring their
sacrifices to the altars, crowned with garlands; these
thorns were the garlands with which this great Sacrifice was
crowned. [6.] these thorns, it is likely, fetched blood from
his blessed head, which trickled down his face, like the
previous ointment (typifying the blood of Christ with which
he consecrated himself) upon the head, which ran down upon
the beard, even Aaron's beard, Psalms 133:2. Thus, when he
came to espouse to himself his love, his dove, his undefiled
church, his head was filled with dew, and his locks with the
drops of the night, Canticles 5:2.
(4.) They put a reed in his right
hand; this was intended for a mock-scepter, another of the
insignia of the majesty they jeered him with; as if this
were a scepter good enough for such a King, as was like a
reed shaken with the wind (Chapter 11:7); like scepter, like
kingdom, both weak and wavering, and withering and
worthless; but they were quite mistaken, for his throne is
for ever and ever, and the scepter of his kingdom is a right
scepter, Psalms 45:6.
(5.) They bowed the knee before him,
and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! Having made
him a sham King, they thus make a jest of doing homage to
him, thus ridiculing his pretensions to sovereignty, as
Joseph's brethren (Genesis 37:8); Shall thou indeed reign
over us? But as they were afterward compelled to do
obeisance to him, and enrich his dreams, so these here bowed
the knee, in scorn to him who was, soon after this, exalted
to the right hand of God, that at his name every knee might
bow, or break before him; it is ill jesting with that which,
sooner or later, will come in earnest.
(6.) They spit upon him; thus he had
been abused in the High Priest's hall, Chapter 26:67. In
doing homage, the subject kissed the sovereign, in token of
his allegiance; thus Samuel kissed Saul, and we are bid to
kiss the Son: but they, in this mock-homage, instead of
kissing him, spit in his face; that blessed face which
outshines the sun, and before which the angels cover theirs,
was thus polluted. It is strange that the sons of men should
ever do such a piece of villany, and that the Son of God
should ever suffer such a piece of ignominy.
(7.) They took the reed, and smote
him on the head. That which they had made the mock-ensign of
his royalty, they now make the real instrument of their
cruelty, and his pain. They smote him, it is probable, upon
the crown of thorns, and so struck them into his head, that
they might wound it the deeper, which made the more sport
for them, to whom his pain was the greatest pleasure. Thus
was he despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief. All this misery and shame he
underwent, that he might purchase for us everlasting life,
and joy, and glory.
III. The conveying of him to the
place of execution. After they had mocked and abused him, as
long as they thought fit, they then took the robe off from
him; to signify their divesting him of all the kingly
authority they had invested him with, by putting it on him;
and they put his own raiment on him, because that was to
fall to the soldiers' share, that were employed in the
execution. They took off the robe, but no mention is made of
their taking off the crown of thorns, whence it is commonly
supposed (though there is no certainty of it) that he was
crucified with that on his head; for as he is a Priest upon
his throne, so he was a King upon his cross. Christ was led
to be crucified in his own raiment, because he himself was
to bear our sins in his own body upon the tree. And here,
1. They led him away to be
crucified; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, as a
sacrifice to the altar. We may well imagine how they hurried
him on, and dragged him along, with all the speed possible,
lest any thing should intervene to prevent the glutting of
their cruel rage with his precious blood. It is probable
that they now loaded him with taunts and reproaches, and
treated him as the off-scouring of all things. They led him
away out of the city; for Christ, that he might sanctify the
people with his own blood, suffered without the gate
(Hebrews 13:12), as if he that was the glory of them that
waited for redemption in Jerusalem was not worthy to live
among them. To this he himself had an eye, when in the
parable he speaks of his being cast out of the vineyard,
Chapter 21:39.
2. They compelled Simon of Cyrene to
bear his cross, verse 32. It seems, at first he carried the
cross himself, as Isaac carried the wood for the
burnt-offering, which was to burn him. And this was
intended, as other things, both for pain and shame to him.
But after a while they took the cross off from him, either,
(1.) In compassion to him, because they saw it was too great
a load for him. We can hardly think that they had any
consideration of that, yet it teaches us that God considers
the frame of his people, and will not suffer them to be
tempted above what they are able; he gives them some
breathing-time, but they must expect that the cross will
return, and the lucid intervals only give them space to
prepare for the next fit. But, (2.) Perhaps it was because
he could not, with the cross on his back, go forward so fast
as they would have him. Or, (3.) They were afraid, lest he
should faint away under the load of his cross, and die, and
so prevent what their malice further intended to do against
him: thus even the tender mercies of the wicked (which seem
to be so) are really cruel. Taking the cross off from him,
they compelled one Simon of Cyrene to bear it, pressing him
to the service by the authority of the governor or the
priests. It was a reproach, and none would do it but by
compulsion. Some think that this Simon was a disciple of
Christ, at least a well-wisher to him, and that they knew
it, and therefore put this upon him. Note, All that will
approve themselves disciples indeed, must follow Christ,
bearing his cross (Chapter 16:24), bearing his reproach,
Hebrews 13:13. We must know the fellowship of his sufferings
for us, and patiently submit to all the sufferings for him
we are called out to; for those only shall reign with him,
that suffer with him; shall sit with him in his kingdom,
that drink of his cup, and are baptized with his baptism.
The Crucifixion.
Matthew 27:33-49 --
33 And when they were come unto a
place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and
when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. 35 And they
crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they
cast lots. 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37
And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS
JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38 Then were there two thieves
crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on
the left. 39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging
their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple,
and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 Likewise also the
chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders,
said, 42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be
the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross,
and we will believe him. 43 He trusted in God; let him
deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the
Son of God. 44 The thieves also, which were crucified with
him, cast the same in his teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour
there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. 46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? 47 Some of them
that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man
calleth for Elias. 48 And straightway one of them ran, and
took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a
reed, and gave him to drink. 49 The rest said, Let be, let
us see whether Elias will come to save him.
We have here the crucifixion of our
Lord Jesus.
I. The place where our Lord Jesus
was put to death.
1. They came to a place called
Golgotha, near adjoining to Jerusalem, probably the common
place of execution. If he had had a house of his own in
Jerusalem, probably, for his greater disgrace, they would
have crucified him before his own door. But now in the same
place where criminals were sacrificed to the justice of the
government, was our Lord Jesus sacrificed to the justice of
God. Some think that it was called the place of a skull,
because it was the common charnel-house, where the bones and
skulls of dead men were laid together out of the way, lest
people should touch them, and be defiled thereby. Here lay
the trophies of death's victory over multitudes of the
children of men; and when by dying Christ would destroy
death, he added this circumstance of honor to his victory,
that he triumphed over death upon his own dunghill.
2. There they crucified him (verse
35), nailed his hands and feet to the cross, and then reared
it up, and him hanging on it; for so the manner of the
Romans was to crucify. Let our hearts be touched with the
feeling of that exquisite pain which our blessed Savior now
endured, and let us look upon him who was thus pierced, and
mourn. Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow? And when we
behold what manner of death he died, let us in that behold
with what manner of love he loved us.
II. The barbarous and abusive
treatment they gave him, in which their wit and malice vied
which should excel. As if death, so great a death, were not
bad enough, they contrived to add to the bitterness and
terror of it.
1. By the drink they provided for
him before he was nailed to the cross, verse 34. It was
usual to have a cup of spiced wine for those to drink of,
that were to be put to death, according to Solomon's
direction (Proverbs 31:6, 7), Give strong drink to him that
is ready to perish; but with that cup which Christ was to
drink of, they mingled vinegar and gall, to make it sour and
bitter. This signified, (1.) The sin of man, which is a root
of bitterness, bearing gall and wormwood, Deuteronomy 29:18.
The sinner perhaps rolls it under his tongue as a sweet
morsel, but to God it is grapes of gall, Deuteronomy 32:32.
It was so to the Lord Jesus, when he bare our sins, and
sooner or later it will be so to the sinner himself,
bitterness at the latter end, more bitter than death,
Ecclesiastes 7:26. (2.) It signified the wrath of God, that
cup which is Father put into his hand, a bitter cup indeed,
like the bitter water which caused the curse, Numbers 5:18.
This drink they offered him, as was literally foretold,
Psalms 69:21. And, [1.] He tasted thereof, and so had the
worst of it, took the bitter taste into his mouth; he let no
bitter cup go by him un-tasted, when he was making atonement
for all our sinful tasting of forbidden fruit; now he was
tasting death in its full bitterness. [2.] He would not
drink it, because he would not have the best of it; would
have nothing like an opiate to lessen his sense of pain, for
he would die so as to feel himself die, because he had so
much work to do, as our High Priest, in his suffering work.
2. By the dividing of his garments,
verse 35. When they nailed him to the cross, they stripped
him of his garments, at least his upper garments; for by sin
we were made naked, to our shame, and thus he purchased for
us white raiment to cover us. If we be at any time stripped
of our comforts for Christ, let us bear it patiently; he was
stripped for us. Enemies may strip us of our clothes, but
cannot strip us of our best comforts; cannot take from us
the garments of praise. The clothes of those that are
executed are the executioner's fee: four soldiers were
employed in crucifying Christ, and they must each of them
have a share: his upper garment, if it were divided, would
be of no use to any of them, and therefore they agreed to
cast lots for it. (1.) Some think that the garment was so
fine and rich, that it was worth contending for; but that
agreed not with the poverty Christ appeared in. (2.) Perhaps
they had heard of those that had been cured by touching the
hem of his garment, and they thought it valuable for some
magic virtue in it. Or, (3.) They hoped to get money of his
friends for such a sacred relic. Or, (4.) Because, in
derision, they would seem to put a value upon it, as royal
clothing. Or, (5.) It was for diversion; to pass away the
time while they waited for his death, they would play a game
at dice for the clothes; but, whatever they designed, the
word of God is herein accomplished. In that famous psalm,
the first words of which Christ made use of upon the cross,
it was said, They parted my garments among them, and cast
lots upon my vesture, Psalms 22:18. This was never true of
David, but looks primarily at Christ, of whom David, in
spirit, spoke. Then is the offence of this part of the cross
ceased; for it appears to have been by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Christ stripped himself of
his glories, to divide them among us.
They now sat down, and watched him,
verse 36. The chief priests were careful, no doubt, in
setting this guard, lest the people, whom they still stood
in awe of, should rise, and rescue him. But Providence so
ordered it, that those who were appointed to watch him,
thereby became unexceptionable witnesses for him; having the
opportunity to see and hear that which extorted from them
that noble confession (verse 54), Truly this was the Son of
God.
3. By the title set up over his
head, verse 37. It was usual for the vindicating of public
justice, and putting the greater shame upon malefactors that
were executed, not only by a crier to proclaim before them,
but by a writing also over their heads to notify what was
the crime for which they suffered; so they set up over
Christ's head his accusation written, to give public notice
of the charge against him; This is Jesus the King of the
Jews. This they designed for his reproach, but God so
overruled it, that even his accusation redounded to his
honor. For, (1.) Here was no crime alleged against him. It
is not said that he was a pretended Savior, or a usurping
King, though they would have it thought so (John 19:21);
but, This is Jesus, a Savior; surely that was no crime; and,
This is the King of the Jews; nor was that a crime; for they
expected that the Messiah should be so: so that, his enemies
themselves being judges, he did no evil. Nay, (2.) Here was
a very glorious truth asserted concerning him--that he is
Jesus the King of the Jews, that King whom the Jews expected
and ought to have submitted to; so that his accusation
amounts to this, That he was the true Messiah and Savior of
the world; as Balaam, when he was sent for to curse Israel,
blessed them all together, and that three times (Numbers
24:10), so Pilate, instead of accusing Christ as a Criminal,
proclaimed him a King, and that three times, in three
inscriptions. Thus God makes men to serve his purposes,
quite beyond their own.
4. By his companions with him in
suffering, verse 38. There were two thieves crucified with
him at the same time, in the same place, under the same
guard; two highway-men, or robbers upon the road, as the
word properly signifies. It is probable that this was
appointed to be execution-day; and therefore they hurried
the prosecution of Christ in the morning, that they might
have him ready to be executed with the other criminals. Some
think that Pilate ordered it thus, that this piece of
necessary justice, in executing these thieves, might atone
for his injustice in condemning Christ; others, that the
Jews contrived it, to add to the ignominy of the sufferings
of our Lord Jesus; however it was, the scripture was
fulfilled in it (Isaiah l3:12), He was numbered with the
transgressors.
(1.) It was a reproach to him, that
he was crucified with them. Though, while he lived, he was
separate from sinners, yet in their deaths they were not
divided, but he was made to partake with the vilest
malefactors in their plagues, as if he had been a partaker
with them in their sins; for he was made sin for us, and
took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh. He was, at his
death, numbered among the transgressors, and had his lot
with the wicked, that we, at our death, might be numbered
among the saints, and have our lot among the chosen.
(2.) It was an additional reproach,
that he was crucified in the midst, between them, as if he
had been the worst of the three, the principal malefactor;
for among three the middle is the place for the chief. Every
circumstance was contrived to his dishonor, as if the great
Savior were of all others the greatest sinner. It was also
intended to ruffle and discompose him, in his last moments,
with the shrieks, and groans, and blasphemies, of these
malefactors, who, it is likely, made a hideous outcry when
they were nailed to the cross; but thus would Christ affect
himself with the miseries of sinners, when he was suffering
for their salvation. Some of Christ's apostles were
afterwards crucified, as Peter, and Andrew, but none of them
were crucified with him, lest it should have looked as if
they had been joint undertakers with him, in satisfying for
man's sin, and joint purchasers of life and glory; therefore
he was crucified between two malefactors, who could not be
supposed to contribute any thing to the merit of his death;
for he himself bare our sins in his own body.
5. By the blasphemies and reviling
with which they loaded him when he was hanging upon the
cross; though we read not that they cast any reflections on
the thieves that were crucified with him. One would have
thought that, when they had nailed him to the cross, they
had done their worst, and malice itself had been exhausted:
indeed if a criminal be put into the pillory, or carted,
because it is a punishment less than death, it is usually
attended with such expressions of abuse; but a dying man,
though an infamous man, should be treated with compassion.
It is an insatiable revenge indeed which will not be
satisfied with death, so great a death. But, to complete the
humiliation of the Lord Jesus, and to show that, when he was
dying, he was bearing iniquity, he was then loaded with
reproach, and, for aught that appears, not one of his
friends, who the other day cried Hosanna to him, durst be
seen to show him any respect.
(1.) The common people, that passed
by, reviled him. His extreme misery and exemplary patience
under it, did not mollify them, or make them to relent; but
they who by their outcries brought him to this, now think to
justify themselves in it by their reproaches, as if they did
well to condemn him. They reviled him: eblasphemoun--they
blasphemed him; and blasphemy it was, in the strictest
sense, speaking evil of him who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. Observe here,
[1.] The persons that reviled him;
they that passed by, the travelers that went along the road,
and it was a great road, leading from Jerusalem to Gibeon;
they were possessed with prejudices against him by the
reports and clamors of the High Priest's creatures. It is a
hard thing, and requires more application and resolution
than is ordinarily met with, to keep up a good opinion of
persons and things that are every where run down, and spoken
against. Every one is apt to say as the most say, and to
throw a stone at that which is put into an ill name. Turba
Remi sequitur fortunam semper et odit damnatos--The Roman
rabble fluctuate with a man's fluctuating fortunes, and fail
not to depress those that are sinking. Juvenal.
[2.] The gesture they used, in
contempt of him--wagging their heads; which signifies their
triumph in his fall, and their insulting over him, Isaiah
37:22; Jeremiah 18:16; Lamentations 2:15. The language of it
was, Aha, so would we have it, Psalms 35:25. Thus they
insulted over him that was the Savior of their country, as
the Philistines did over Samson the destroyer of their
country. This very gesture was prophesied of (Psalms 22:7);
They shake the head at me. And Psalms 109:25.
[3.] The taunts and jeers they
uttered. These are here recorded.
First, They upbraided him with his
destroying of the temple. Though the judges themselves were
sensible that what he had said of that was misrepresented
(as appears Mark 14:59), yet they industriously spread it
among the people, to bring an odium upon him, that he had a
design to destroy the temple; than which nothing would more
incense the people against him. And this was not the only
time that the enemies of Christ had labored to make others
believe that of religion and the people of God, which they
themselves have known to be false, and the charge unjust
"Thou that destroys the temple, that vast and strong fabric,
try thy strength now in plucking up that cross, and drawing
those nails, and so save thyself; if thou hast the power
thou hast boasted of, this is a proper time to exert it, and
give proof of it; for it is supposed that every man will do
his utmost to save himself." This made the cross of Christ
such a stumbling-block to the Jews, that they looked upon it
to be inconsistent with the power of the Messiah; he was
crucified in weakness (2 Corinthians 13:4), so it seemed to
them; but indeed Christ crucified is the Power of God.
Secondly, They upbraided him with
his saying that he was the Son of God; If thou be so, say
they, come down from the cross. Now they take the devil's
words out of his mouth, with which he tempted him in the
wilderness (Chapter 4:3, 6), and renew the same assault; If
thou be the Son of God. They think that now, or never, he
must prove himself to be the Son of God; forgetting that he
had proved it by the miracles he wrought, particularly his
raising of the dead; and unwilling to wait for the complete
proof of it by his own resurrection, to which he had so
often referred himself and them; which, if they had observed
it, would have anticipated the offence of the cross. This
comes of judging things by the present aspect of them,
without a due remembrance of what is past, and a patient
expectation of what may further be produced.
(2.) The chief priests and scribes,
the church rulers, and the elders, the state rulers, they
mocked him, verse 41. They did not think it enough to invite
the rabble to do it, but gave Christ the dishonor, and
themselves the diversion, or reproaching him in their own
proper persons. They should have been in the temple at their
devotion, for it was the first day of the feast of
unleavened bread, when there was to be a holy convocation
(Leviticus 23:7); but they were here at the place of
execution, spitting their venom at the Lord Jesus. How much
below the grandeur and gravity of their character was this!
Could any thing tend more to make them contemptible and base
before the people? One would have thought, that, though they
neither feared God nor regarded man, yet common prudence
should have taught them who had so great a hand in Christ's
death, to keep as much as might be behind the curtain, and
to play least in sight; but nothing is so mean as that
malice may stick at it. Did they disparage themselves thus,
to do despite to Christ, and shall we be afraid of
disparaging ourselves, by joining with the multitude to do
him honor, and not rather say, If this be to be vile, I will
be yet more vile?
Two things the priests and elders
upbraided him with.
[1.] That he could not save himself,
verse 42. He had been before abused in his prophetical and
kingly office, and now in his priestly office as a Savior.
First, They take it for granted that he could not save
himself, and therefore had not the power he pretended to,
when really he would not save himself, because he would die
to save us. They should have argued, "He saved others,
therefore he could save himself, and if he do not, it is for
some good reason." But, Secondly, They would insinuate,
that, because he did not now save himself, therefore all his
pretence to save others was but sham and delusion, and was
never really done; though the truth of his miracles was
demonstrated beyond contradiction. Thirdly, They upbraid him
with being the King of Israel. They dreamed of the external
pomp and power of the Messiah, and therefore thought the
cross altogether disagreeable to the King of Israel, and
inconsistent with that character. Many people would like the
King of Israel well enough, if he would but come down from
the cross, if they could have his kingdom without the
tribulation through which they must enter into it. But the
matter is settled; if no cross, then no Christ, no crown.
Those that would reign with him, must be willing to suffer
with him, for Christ and his cross are nailed together in
this world. Fourthly, They challenged him to come down from
the cross. And what had become of us then, and the work of
our redemption and salvation? If he had been provoked by
these scoffs to come down from the cross, and so to have
left his undertaking unfinished, we had been for ever
undone. But his unchangeable love and resolution set him
above, and fortified him against, this temptation, so that
he did not fail, nor was discouraged. Fifthly, They promised
that, if he would come down from the cross, they would
believe him. Let him give them that proof of his being the
Messiah, and they will own him to be so. When they had
formerly demanded a sign, he told them that the sign he
would give them, should be not his coming down from the
cross, but, which was a greater instance of his power, his
coming up from the grave, which they had not patience to
wait two or three days for. If he had come down from the
cross, they might with as much reason have said that the
soldiers had juggled in nailing him to it, as they said,
when he was raised from the dead, that the disciples came by
night, and stole him away. But to promise ourselves that we
would believe, if we had such and such means and motives of
faith as we ourselves would prescribe, when we do not
improve what God has appointed, is not only a gross instance
of the deceitfulness of our hearts, but the sorry refuge, or
subterfuge rather, of an obstinate destroying infidelity.
[2.] That God, his Father, would not
save him (verse 43); He trusted in God, that is, he
pretended to do so; for he said, I am the Son of God. Those
who call God Father, and themselves his children, thereby
profess to put a confidence in him, Psalm 9:10. Now they
suggest, that he did but deceive himself and others, when he
made himself so much the darling of heaven; for, if he had
been the Son of God (as Job's friends argued concerning
him), he would not have been abandoned to all this misery,
much less abandoned in it. This was a sword in his bones, as
David complains of the like (Psalms 42:10); and it was a
two-edged sword, for it was intended, First, To vilify him,
and to make the standers-by think him a deceiver and an
impostor; as if his saying, that he was the Son of God, were
now effectually disproved. Secondly, To terrify him, and
drive him to distrust and despair of his Father's power and
love; which some think, was the thing he feared, religiously
feared, prayed against, and was delivered from, Hebrews 5:7.
David complained more of the endeavors of his persecutors to
shake his faith, and drive him from his hope in God, than of
their attempts to shake his throne, and drive him from his
kingdom; their saying, There is no help for him in God
(Psalm 3:2) and, God has forsaken him, Psalm 71:11. In this,
as in other things, he was a type of Christ. Nay, these very
words David, in that famous prophecy of Christ, mentions, as
spoken by his enemies (Psalm 22:8); He trusted on the Lord
that he would deliver him. Surely these priests and scribes
had forgotten their Psalter, or they would not have used the
same words, so exactly to answer the type and prophecy: but
the scriptures must be fulfilled.
(3.) To complete the reproach, the
thieves also that were crucified with him were not only not
reviled as he was, as if they had been saints compared with
him, but, though fellow-sufferers with him, joined in with
his prosecutors, and cast the same in his teeth; that is,
one of them did, who said, If thou be the Christ, save
thyself and us, Luke 23:39. One would think that of all
people this thief had least cause, and should have had least
mind, to banter Christ. Partners in suffering, though for
different causes, usually commiserate one another; and few,
whatever they have done before, will breathe their last in
reviling. But, it seems, the greatest mortifications of the
body, and the most humbling rebukes of Providence, will not
of themselves mortify the corruptions of the soul, nor
suppress the wickedness of the wicked, without the grace of
God.
Well, thus our Lord Jesus having
undertaken to satisfy the justice of God for the wrong done
him in his honor by sin, he did it by suffering in his
honor; not only by divesting himself of that which was due
to him as the Son of God, but by submitting to the utmost
indignity that could be done to the worst of men; because he
was made sin for us, he was thus made a curse for us, to
make reproach easy to us, if at any time we suffer it, and
have all manner of evil said against us falsely, for
righteousness' sake.
III. We have here the frowns of
heaven, which our Lord Jesus was under, in the midst of all
these injuries and indignities from men. Concerning which,
observe,
1. How this was signified--by an
extraordinary and miraculous eclipse of the sun, which
continued for three hours, verse 45. There was darkness epi
pasan ten gen--over all the earth; so most interpreters
understand it, though our translation confines it to that
land. Some of the ancients appealed to the annals of the
nation concerning this extraordinary eclipse at the death of
Christ, as a thing well known, and which gave notice to
those parts of the world of something great then in doing;
as the sun's going back in Hezekiah's time did. It is
reported that Dionysius, at Heliopolis in Egypt, took notice
of this darkness, and said, Aut Deus naturæ patitur, aut
mundi machina dissolvitur--Either the God of nature is
suffering, or the machine of the world is tumbling into
ruin. An extraordinary light gave intelligence of the birth
of Christ (Chapter 2:2), and therefore it was proper that an
extraordinary darkness should notify his death, for he is
the Light of the world. The indignities done to our Lord
Jesus, made the heavens astonished, and horribly afraid, and
even put them into disorder and confusion; such wickedness
as this the sun never saw before, and therefore withdrew,
and would not see this. This surprising, amazing, darkness
was designed to stop the mouths of those blasphemers, who
were reviling Christ as he hung on the cross; and it should
seem that, for the present, it struck such a terror upon
them, that though their hearts were not changed, yet they
were silent, and stood doubting what this should mean, till
after three hours the darkness scattered, and then (as
appears by verse 47), like Pharaoh when the plague was over,
they hardened their hearts. But that which was principally
intended in this darkness, was, (1.) Christ's present
conflict with the powers of darkness. Now the prince of this
world, and his forces, the rulers of the darkness of this
world, were to be cast out, to be spoiled and vanquished;
and to make his victory the more illustrious, he fights them
on their own ground; gives them all the advantage they could
have against him by this darkness, lets them take the wind
and sun, and yet baffles them, and so becomes more than a
conqueror. (2.) His present want of heavenly comforts. This
darkness signified that dark cloud which the human soul of
our Lord Jesus was now under. God makes his sun to shine
upon the just and upon the unjust; but even the light of the
sun was withheld from our Savior, when he was made sin for
us. A pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun;
but because now his soul was exceeding sorrowful, and the
cup of divine displeasure was filled to him without mixture,
even the light of the sun was suspended. When earth denied
him a drop of cold water, heaven denied him a beam of light;
having to deliver us from utter darkness, he did himself, in
the depth of his sufferings, walk in darkness, and had no
light, Isaiah 50:10. During the three hours that this
darkness continued, we do not find that he said one word,
but passed this time in a silent retirement into his own
soul, which was now in agony, wrestling with the powers of
darkness, and taking in the impressions of his Father's
displeasure, not against himself, but the sin of man, which
he was now making his soul an offering for. Never were there
three such hours since the day that God created man upon the
earth, never such a dark and awful scene; the crisis of that
great affair of man's redemption and salvation.
2. How he complained of it (verse
46); About the ninth hour, when it began to clear up, after
a long and silent conflict. Jesus cried, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? The words are related in the Syriac tongue, in
which they were spoken, because worthy of double remark, and
for the sake of the perverse construction which his enemies
put upon them, in putting Elias for Eli. Now observe here,
(1.) Whence he borrowed this
complaint--from Psalms 22:1. It is not probable (as some
have thought) that he repeated the whole psalm; yet hereby
he intimated that the whole was to be applied to him, and
that David, in spirit, there spoke of his humiliation and
exaltation. This, and that other word, Into thy hands I
commit my spirit, he fetched from David's psalms (though he
could have expressed himself in his own words), to teach us
of what use the word of God is to us, to direct us in
prayer, and to recommend to us the use of
scripture-expressions in prayer, which will help our
infirmities.
(2.) How he uttered it--with a loud
voice; which bespeaks the extremity of his pain and anguish,
the strength of nature remaining in him, and the great
earnestness of his spirit in this expostulation. Now the
scripture was fulfilled (Joel 3:15, 16); The sun and the
moon shall be darkened. The Lord shall also roar out of
Zion, and utter his voice form Jerusalem. David often speaks
of his crying aloud in prayer, Psalms 55:17.
(3.) What the complaint was--My God,
My God, why hast thou forsaken me? A strange complaint to
come from the mouth of our Lord Jesus, who, we are sure, was
God's elect, in whom his soul delighted (Isaiah 42:1), and
one in whom he was always well pleased. The Father now loved
him, nay, he knew that therefore he loved him, because he
laid down his life for the sheep; what, and yet forsaken of
him, and in the midst of his sufferings too! Surely never
sorrow was like unto that sorrow which extorted such a
complaint as this from one who, being perfectly free from
sin, could never be a terror to himself; but the heart knows
its own bitterness. No wonder that such a complaint as this
made the earth to quake, and rent the rocks; for it is
enough to make both the ears of every one that hears it to
tingle, and ought to be spoken of with great reverence.
Note, [1.] That our Lord Jesus was,
in his sufferings, for a time, forsaken by his Father. So he
says himself, who we are sure was under no mistake
concerning his own case. Not that the union between the
divine and human nature was in the least weakened or
shocked; no, he was now by the eternal Spirit offering
himself: nor as if there were any abatement of his Father's
love to him, or his to his Father; we are sure that there
was upon his mind no horror of God, or despair of his favor,
nor any thing of the torments of hell; but his Father
forsook him; that is, First, He delivered him up into the
hands of his enemies, and did not appear to deliver him out
of their hands. He let loose the powers of darkness against
him, and suffered them to do their worst, worse than against
Job. Now was that scripture fulfilled (Job 16:11), God hath
turned me over into the hands of the wicked; and no angel is
sent from heaven to deliver him, no friend on earth raised
up to appear for him. Secondly, He withdrew from him the
present comfortable sense of his complacency in him. When
his soul was first troubled, he had a voice from heaven to
comfort him (John 12:27, 28); when he was in his agony in
the garden, there appeared an angel from heaven
strengthening him; but now he had neither the one nor the
other. God hid his face from him, and for awhile withdrew
his rod and staff in the darksome valley. God forsook him,
not as he forsook Saul, leaving him to an endless despair,
but as sometimes he forsook David, leaving him to a present
despondency. Thirdly, He let out upon his soul an afflicting
sense of his wrath against man for sin. Christ was made Sin
for us, a Curse for us; and therefore, though God loved him
as a Son, he frowned upon him as a Surety. These impressions
he was pleased to admit, and to waive that resistance of
them which he could have made; because he would accommodate
himself to this part of his undertaking, as he had done to
all the rest, when it was in his power to have avoided it.
[2.] That Christ's being forsaken of
his Father was the most grievous of his sufferings, and that
which he complained most of. Here he laid the most doleful
accents; he did not say, "Why am I scourged? And why spit
upon? And why nailed to the cross?" Nor did he say to his
disciples, when they turned their back upon him, Why have ye
forsaken me? But when his Father stood at a distance, he
cried out thus; for this as it that put wormwood and gall
into the affliction and misery. This brought the waters into
the soul, Psalms 69:1-3.
[3.] That our Lord Jesus, even when
he was thus forsaken of his Father, kept hold of him as his
God, notwithstanding; My God, my God; though forsaking me,
yet mine. Christ was God's servant in carrying on the work
of redemption, to him he was to make satisfaction, and by
him to be carried through and crowned, and upon that account
he calls him his God; for he was now doing his will. See
Isaiah 49:5-9. This supported him, and bore him up, that
even in the depth of his sufferings God was his God, and
this he resolves to keep fast hold of.
(4.) See how his enemies impiously
bantered and ridiculed this complaint (verse 47); They said,
This man calls for Elias. Some think that this was the
ignorant mistake of the Roman soldiers, who had heard talk
of Elias, and of the Jews' expectation of the coming of
Elias, but knew not the signification of Eli, Eli, and so
made this blundering comment upon these words of Christ,
perhaps not hearing the latter part of what he said, for the
noise of the people. Note, Many of the reproaches cast upon
the word of God and the people of God, take rise from gross
mistakes. Divine truths are often corrupted by ignorance of
the language and style of the scripture. Those that hear by
the halves, pervert what they hear. But others think that it
was the willful mistake of some of the Jews, who knew very
well what he said, but were disposed to abuse him, and make
themselves and their companions merry, and to misrepresent
him as one who, being forsaken of God, was driven to trust
in creatures; perhaps hinting also, that he who had
pretended to be himself the Messiah, would now be glad to be
beholden to Elias, who was expected to be only the harbinger
and forerunner of the Messiah. Note, It is no new thing for
the most pious devotions of the best men to be ridiculed and
abused by profane scoffers; nor are we to think it strange
if what is well said in praying and preaching be
misconstrued, and turned to our reproach; Christ's words
were so, though he spoke as never man spoke.
IV. The cold comfort which his
enemies ministered to him in this agony, which was like all
the rest.
1. Some gave him vinegar to drink
(verse 48); instead of some cordial-water to revive and
refresh him under this heavy burthen, they tantalized him
with that which did not only add to the reproach they were
loading him with, but did too sensibly represent that cup of
trembling which his Father had put into his hand. One of
them ran to fetch it, seeming to be officious to him, but
really glad of an opportunity to abuse and affront him, and
afraid lest any one should take it out of his hands.
2. Others, which the same purpose of
disturbing and abusing him, refer him to Elias (verse 49);
"Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.
Come, let him alone, his case is desperate, neither heaven
nor earth can help him; let us do nothing either to hasten
his death, or to retard it; he has appealed to Elias, and to
Elias let him go."
The Crucifixion; The Death of
Christ.
Matthew 27:50-56 --
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with
a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the
graves were opened; and many |
