Matthew's emphasis in his account of Jesus' crucifixion was on the mocking of the onlookers.
27:32 Jesus was able to carry the crosspiece of His cross until He passed through the city gate (cf. Mark 15:21 John 19:17). Normally crucifixions took place outside the city wall (cf. Lev. 24:14; Num. 15:35-36; 1 Kings 21:13; Acts 7:58). This location symbolized added rejection (cf. Heb. 13:13).
Simon's name was Jewish. He came from the town of Cyrene on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa (cf. Acts 2:10; 6:9; 11:20; 13:1). The Roman soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. Perhaps Matthew mentioned this because it is another piece of irony. Jesus was really bearing Simon's cross by dying in his place. The reader understands this, but at the time things looked completely opposite to onlookers.
The Muslim teaching that Simon took Jesus' place and died on the cross in His stead evidently rests on the teaching of Basilides, a second century gnostic heretic.1062
27:33 The word "Golgotha"is a transliteration of the Aramaic gulgoltameaning "skull.""Calvary"comes from the Latin calva, "skull."Its exact location is unknown. It was evidently north of the old city wall probably not far from the site of the present Church of the Holy Sepulcher (cf. John 19:20). Gordon's Calvary does not enjoy much support as a site from scholars any more.1063
27:34 Evidently the soldiers gave Jesus some wine to drink to which they had added myrrh (Mark 15:23). The myrrh was not a narcotic to deaden Jesus' pain but a bitter substance that made the wine undrinkable. In other words, the soldiers mocked Jesus by offering Him something refreshing but which proved disgustingly bitter. They professed to offer Him sympathy but really cruelly abused Him again. Matthew wrote "gall"because of the myrrh's bitter taste and to make the fulfillment of Psalm 69:20-21 clearer.
27:35 The Roman's normally tied or nailed the victim to the crossbeam of his cross. In Jesus' case they did the latter. They would then hoist the crossbeam and the prisoner up onto the upright member of the cross. Next they would fasten the crucified person's feet to the upright by tying or nailing them. The Romans constructed crosses in various shapes: an X, a T, or, as in Jesus' case, the traditional Twith the upright extending above the crossbeam (v. 37). Sometimes the victim was only a few inches off the ground, but Jesus appears to have been a few feet higher (v. 48; John 19:29). Normally the Romans crucified their victims naked. The executioners took the criminal's clothes for themselves. In Jesus' case they cast lots for his robe fulfilling Psalm 22:18 (cf. John 19:23-24). This happened in the late morning on Friday (Mark 15:25; John 19:14).
"Crucifixion was unspeakably painful and degrading. Whether tied or nailed to the cross, the victim endured countless paroxysms as he pulled with his arms and pushed with his legs to keep his chest cavity open for breathing and then collapsed in exhaustion until the demand for oxygen demanded renewed paroxysms. The scourging, the loss of blood, the shock from the pain, all produced agony that could go on for days, ending at last by suffocation, cardiac arrest, or loss of blood. When there was reason to hasten death, the execution squad would smash the victim's legs. Death followed almost immediately, either from shock or from collapse that cut off breathing."1064
The Romans reserved crucifixion for the worst criminals from the lowest classes of society. Roman citizens were exempt from crucifixion unless Caesar himself ordered it. For the Jews crucifixion was even more horrible because it symbolized a person dying under God's curse (Deut. 21:23). Israel's leaders hung up those who had died under God's curse for others to see and learn from. Jesus bore God's curse for the sins of humankind so we would not have to experience that curse.
27:36 This verse is unique to the first Gospel. Sometimes people took criminals down from their crosses to prevent them from dying. The solders guarded Jesus to prevent this from happening. Jesus really did die; no one rescued Him.
27:37 Often the Romans wrote the charge against the crucified criminal on a white tablet with red or black ink and attached it to his cross. Pilate had Jesus' charge written in Aramaic, Greek, and Latin (John 19:20). He meant it to be insulting to the Jews. The title "King of the Jews"meant "Messiah"to the Jews. Pilate meant that Jesus was a messianic pretender, but of course He was indeed the Messiah. Pilate ironically stated what Matthew wanted his readers to understand, that Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament had predicted: Son of God and Suffering Servant.
"This is Jesus the King of the Jews' is actually the theme of the book, though it here is used in sheer derision."1065
The full accusation, compiled by comparing the various Gospel accounts, was evidently "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews"(cf. Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19).
27:38 The two men crucified with Jesus were rebel guerrillas, not simply robbers (Gr. lestai, cf. v. 16). Jesus, the true Messiah, hung between two men who wanted to bring in the kingdom through violent action against Israel's enemies contrary to God's will. Matthew may have had Isaiah 53:12 in mind when he wrote this verse.
27:39-40 The Romans crucified people publicly to be an example to others. Evidently the site of Jesus' crucifixion was beside a road. Israel's leaders had charged Jesus with being a blasphemer because of His claim to destroy and rebuild the temple in three days (26:60-61). Matthew pointed out that the people passing by were really the ones blaspheming since they charging Jesus unjustly (cf. 9:3:12:31; 26:65). Their derision fulfilled prophecy (Ps. 22:7; 109:25; Lam. 2:15). These blasphemers continued to question Jesus' identity (cf. 26:63). Like Satan they tempted Him to prove who He was by demonstrating His identity in a way contrary to God's will (cf. 4:3, 6).
27:41 The chief priest, scribes, and elders represented all segments of the Sanhedrin (cf. 21:23; 26:59). They all mocked Jesus probably with words that Jesus heard.
27:42 The reference to His saving others probably goes back to Jesus' healing ministry. The religious leaders threw doubt on Jesus' healing ministry by claiming that He could not even heal His own condition. Of course, Jesus could have saved Himself from His suffering on the cross, but He could not have done so and provided salvation for humankind. In one sense the religious leaders spoke the truth.
The critics continued to point out Jesus' apparent helplessness. They implied that their failure to believe on Jesus was His fault. They promised to believe on Him if He would come down off the cross. If He had done so, there would have been no salvation for anyone (cf. 1:21; 8:16-17; 20:28; 26:26-29; 28:18-20).
27:43 The leaders were probably unconsciously quoting Psalm 22:8 (cf. John 11:51-52). They meant that God's failure to rescue Jesus proved that God did not delight in Him. Jesus' claims to be God's Son were therefore pretentious in their sight. God would identify His Son by delivering Him from death, but not in the way the religious leaders supposed. Presently God had to abandon His Son.
27:44 The insurrectionists crucified with Jesus joined the others who mocked Him (cf. Isa. 53:12). Matthew did not record that anyone spoke in His defense.
This section presents many different groups and individuals mocking Jesus: the Roman soldiers, the mob, the Jewish leaders, and the insurrectionists. The picture is of the Suffering Servant totally forsaken, misunderstood, and rejected by everyone. Yet through all this, Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about Messiah.
"As the leaders see it, Jesus threatens the overthrow of law and tradition and the destruction of the nation (12:1-14; 15:12; 21:43). In claiming to be the Son of God and the decisive figure in the history of salvation [cf. 21:33-42; 26:63-64], Jesus makes himself guilty of blasphemy against God and is deserving of death (26:65-66). Accordingly, in effecting the death of Jesus, the leaders understand themselves to be purging Israel of the error with which a false messiah would pervert the nation (27:63-64). The irony, however, is that in abjectly repudiating Jesus, the leaders achieve the opposite of what they had intended: far from purging Israel from error, they plunge it into fatal error, for they make both themselves and the people responsible for the death of the one who is in fact the Son of God and through whom God proffers salvation to Israel; unwittingly, therefore, the leaders make themselves responsible for Israel's [temporary] loss of its privileged place among the nations as God's chosen people (15:13-14; 21:37-43; 22:7; 27:20-25)."1066
