Matthew, Chapter 27  

Matt. 27:22-26

Matt. 27:22 "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. 26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified."

When the people cried out to crucify Jesus, Pilate asked again, "Why, what evil hath he done?" The people's answer was to let him be crucified.

Pilate ceremoniously took water, washed his hands before the multitude, and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Then the people assured that the wrath of God would eventually be poured out upon themselves said, "His blood be on us, and on our children." As the Lord had already prophesied in Matthew chapter 24, at 70 AD the wrath of God was poured out upon them and upon their children.

"Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified." Pilate showed his own fleshly nature as he had Jesus scourged. While Pilate saw and declared that Jesus was innocent of the charges laid against him, yet Pilate had him scourged.

Matt. 27:27-37

Matt. 27: 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. 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."

In the above account, we see the actions of the soldiers who crucified Jesus. We see their mocking of him as they put on him a scarlet robe, platted a crown of thorns, placed it on his head, placed a reed in his right hand, and mockingly bowed the knee and set an accusation over his head, "THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." As Roman soldiers, they were mocking the idea of a group of people having a king outside the authority of Caesar. In the 22nd Psalms we see some of the actions of the soldiers being prophesied of several hundred years before.

"They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall." This apparently was a mixture designed to dull the senses much like morphine dulls pain today. Apparently, this was given to those who were to be crucified as a gesture to ease the pain of their suffering. However, Jesus refused to drink the mixture. The pain and suffering that Jesus was about to undergo at the hands of a wrathful God must be felt and experienced by the Lamb of God as he suffered for his people.
"And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross." There are two schools of thought on the fact that the scriptures speak of Jesus bearing his cross and it also speaks of Simon bearing his cross. One school of thought is that Jesus bore the cross part way and Simon bore it the rest of the way. The other school of thought is that Simon bore the wooden cross the whole way and that Jesus bore the cross of pain and suffering for his people the whole way. Since I cannot prove either to be the case, I will not interject an opinion.

Matt. 27:38-44

Matt. 27:38 "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."
Once Jesus was crucified, the mocking continued. After having been mocked by the soldiers, now the chief priests, scribes and elders join in the mocking. They mock the idea of him being the King of Israel, they mock the idea of him being the Son of God and they mocked the idea of him raising the temple in three days. (Of course, the Lord told us that he was speaking of the temple of his body which he did raise in three days.)

We also see that both thieves at the first ridiculed and mocked Jesus.

Next, we see Jesus response, first to the people ridiculing him, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." And to the two thieves we see Jesus saying later to one of the thieves, "Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Thus Jesus answered the cruel mockings with love.

Matt. 27:45-50

Matt. 27:45 "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. 50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost."

Occasionally we get a glimpse at the things required to satisfy God's wrathful judgment. One of the things that pertaining to God's wrathful judgment of sin is darkness:

1. 2 Pet 2:4 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
2. 2 Pet 2:17 "These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever."
3. Jude 1:6 "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."
4. Jude 1:13 "Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

We get an Old Testament picture of what happened on the cross in the judgments of God against Egypt and Pharaoh: Ex. 10:21 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."

Next, we notice the extent of that darkness: Luke 23:44 "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour." This was not an eclipse of the sun, which would not cause darkness over all the earth for three hours. This was God turning out the lights for three hours over all the earth. The scene of Christ's sufferings was so great that God turned out the lights so that man could not look upon it.

"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?" God had forsaken the man Jesus in order that he might complete the punishment of God for sin and suffer the full extent of God's wrath to satisfy the judgment of God on behalf of the people of God.

"Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." Jesus said, just before he died, "It is finished." He had finished the sufferings required to satisfy God's wrathful judgment of sin on behalf of all the elect. It was necessary that Christ die and shed his blood in order to save his people from their sins. "Without the shedding of blood is no remission." Christ had remitted the sins of his people.
 

Matt. 27:51-53

Matt. 27:51 "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 bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

The veil of the temple separated the holy place from the most holy place. The veil was a representation of the body of Christ: Heb. 10:19 "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." Thus it is through the broken flesh of Jesus that we have access unto the most holy place or paradise.

The veil was rent from top to bottom. It was rent from the top (where God is) to the bottom (where the fallen elect were). God opened Paradise for us and it was through the death and resurrection of Christ.

"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." I must confess that I do not whether the holy city is referring to the city of Jerusalem, the church, or Paradise. Further, I do not know whether these, which arose, arose to natural bodies only to die again, such as Lazarus arose, or whether they arose to glorified bodies. I do notice that they arose AFTER the resurrection of Christ. Certainly, Christ has the preeminence in all things.