|
| Chapter 27 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
|
1 ¶ When the morning had 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, who had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, repented and brought back 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 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 Therefore that field was called the Field of Blood unto this day. 9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him that was valued, whom they the children of Israel did value, 10 and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me." 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 by 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 never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled 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 who is called Christ?" 18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him. 19 When he had sat 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 for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said unto them, "Which of the two will ye that I release unto you?" They said, "Barabbas!" 22 Pilate said unto them, "What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?" They all said 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 not prevail, but rather that a tumult was beginning, 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. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole detachment of soldiers. 28 And they stripped Him and put on Him a scarlet robe. 29 And when they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head and a reed in His right hand, and they bowed their knees before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 30 And they spat upon Him, and took the reed and smote Him on the head. 31 And after 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 had 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 those who 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, who were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth. 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out 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 those who stood there, when they heard that, said, "This man calleth for Elijah." 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 Elijah will come to save him." 50 ¶ Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two and the earth quaked and the rocks rent. 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who slept arose, 53 and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the Holy City and appeared unto many. 54 Now when the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" 55 And many women were there beholding afar off, who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto Him, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s children. 57 ¶ When the evening had come, there came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who himself also was Jesus’ disciple. 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. 59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the sepulcher. 62 Now the next day, that following the Day of the Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63 saying, "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Command therefore that the sepulcher be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, ‘He is risen from the dead,’ so that the last error shall be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said unto them, "Ye have a watch. Go your way, make it as secure as ye can." 66 So they went and made the sepulcher secure, sealing the stone and setting up a watch. |
v1,2 The Second Trial before the Sanhedrin. Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1; John 18:28. Under the Jewish law it was not permitted to hold a trial at night, neither should it take place just before a sabbath or festival. In addition Jewish law also specified that for any trial which was a capital crime, e.g. might result in death of the prisoner as the punishment, there must be two trials, a day apart. This day break trial was therefore an attempt by the religious leaders to bring the trials into some sort of a legal procedure. Pontius Pilate was the Roman procurator, the governor of the Judea area A.D.26-36, and was therefore responsible for law and order under the Roman rule. He was present in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, though his official residence (home) was in Caesarea. Rome always had the final decision in any crime which involved execution as a punishment. v3-10 The regret by Judas Iscariot. Judas sees that Jesus is being taken to Pilate, and now knows that instead of making the Jewish leaders recognize and accept who Jesus was, his action and betrayal had resulted in Jesus instead being condemned to death by the religious leaders. Judas "repented", the original Greek used in the text was not the usual word used in the New Testament for ‘repentance to salvation,’ it indicates a feeling of guilt for doing something wrong without any reference to God. His main "change of mind" was towards the money. He finds the chief priests and elders, probably still in the high priests house or on the way to Pilate. Judas then tries to return the thirty pieces of silver. Judas realized that he had sent an innocent man to trial and death. The priests answered, "That’s your problem, nothing to do with us." v5 The refusal results in Judas going to the Temple and throws the money into the sanctuary. He then goes and hangs himself. The additional details in Acts 1:15-20 do not contradict. The money was considered dishonorable, full of shame and disgrace, it could not therefore be placed into the temple treasury, Deuteronomy 23:18. It is worth noting that the priests were quite happy to pay Judas the money in the first place. v7,8 "Potter’s field, to bury strangers in, called the Field of Blood," A field, apparently well known to the Jews of the time, "unto this day," was purchased with the money. v9,10 There is some discussion as to which verses Matthew was referring. Jeremiah 18:1-4; Zechariah 11:12,13 are possible. v11-31 The trial before Pilate. Mark 15:2-5; Luke 23:2,3; John 18:28-38. Matthew continues the story from v2. v11-14 Jesus is taken into the Praetorium, the main residence area of the Roman governor. Pilate must have already known about the arrest of Jesus as he would have had to authorize the Roman soldiers being present in the Garden arrest, John 18:12. The first question by Pontius Pilate comes from the Jewish charge, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Luke 23:1,2; John 18:28-33. The response of Jesus indicates that He agrees with the question, However, He ignores the charges made by the Jewish leaders. The non response by Jesus is very unusual for anyone accused, this makes Pilate think careful about this man before him, but has to consider this action as an admission of guilt. Following further questioning by Pilate Jesus supplies information about His kingdom, John 18:36-38. In Luke 23:4-13 we are told that Pilate tries to pass the judgement on to Herod, but Jesus was returned after Herod had had his fun. v15 The origin of this custom is unknown. v16-18 Barabbas was guilty of robbery, murder and a very violent uprising against the Roman authority, compared with Jesus, who had healed and helped so many people. Pilate knows why the religious leaders are bringing the charge,- personal desires - they are jealous of Jesus. v19 As Pilate waits for the Jewish reaction to his offer of freedom of Jesus or Barabbas he gets a message from his wife, she has had a dream. We are not told what was the source of this dream. It would seem strange if it came from God as it could have stopped the trial and then the planned crucifixion. However, God does not think or behave in the same way as man and may have been making sure that the Roman judge knew he was killing an innocent person, Jesus. v20,21 During the interval the chief priest and elders have persuaded, possibly paid for the crowd to choose Barabbas and reject Jesus. This action shows just how morally and spiritually corrupt and evil are the minds of these religious people. v23 "Let him be crucified!" Execute Him in the Roman way, not the Jewish way which was normally stoned to death. v24 A Jewish symbolic custom, Deuteronomy 21:6-9, the meaning is obvious but does not take the guilt away from Pilate for he still has to authorize the execution. v25 The history of the Jewish nation after this time shows what was the result of this statement by the Jews. See Acts 5:26-28. v26 The Roman scourge was a very cruel torture, they used a whip made of many leather strips joined at a short handle. The leather strips or thongs had pieces of bone and/or metal attached to the thongs. This was applied across the bare back and front of the person. Many people had died as a result of the scourge. The scourging was done before Jesus was taken to the cross for crucifixion by the Roman soldiers. John 19:1-6 tells us that this scourging was a final attempt by Pilate to satisfy the Jewish hatred of Jesus, but it did not work. v27 The Praetorium must have been part of the Castle of Antonia, this would explain why there was a "detachment of soldiers (about 600 men)" present. After the soldiers had received their orders to crucify Jesus they take the opportunity to mock, make fun of Jesus in an unkind way. They stripped Him of His clothes and put on Jesus a purple robe, possibly a soldiers cloak, they then made a crown out of the thorn tree and gave Him a reed as a scepter, a staff carried by a king. They then bowed their knees as in false worship, spit and hit Him as they called out "Hail, King of the Jews!" v31-56 The Crucifixion. For events order see Crucifixion Events. History of the use of the cross. Mark 15:22-32; Luke 23:33-43; John 19:17-24. v32 Simon of Cyrene is made to carry the cross, He represents all Mankind, Man has to carry their cross to the punishment, even though God Himself was to pay the price. The sons of Simon are known to the readers of Mark’s Gospel, Mark 15:21. Perhaps the effect of this day brought the family to salvation. v33 Golgotha. An Aramaic word meaning ‘skull,’ the Latin equivalent is ‘Calvaria.’ The exact location is unknown, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre could have been built at the place, it was outside the city during the New Testament times, others claim Gordon’s Calvary, further to the North is the place. v34 Wine vinegar mixed with gall had the power to deaden pain and other reactions and make it easier for the prisoner, but Jesus, after tasting refused to take it, He needed all His abilities fully functioning. v35 Crucifixion. A method of execution which often takes the person many hours and often days to die. "Parted His garments," John 19:23,24 tells us that the soldiers divided the items of clothing into four and then gambled on the cloak which was seamless and could not be split. "Spoken by the prophet," Psalm 22:18. v36 Part of the soldiers duty was to prevent someone rescuing the person. v37 Pilate had prepared a sign to fit to the top of the cross, to show why he was being crucified, quot;This is Jesus the King of the Jews." which caused a major reaction from the religious leaders, John 19:19-22; Luke 23:38; Mark 15:26. v38 "Two robbers," the same word was used to describe Barabbas, an indication that they were probably part of the same gang and that Jesus was taking the place of Barabbas in the execution. v39-43 Those who walked by called out names and challenged Him, Mark 15:29. These were the basic charges of the Sanhedrin, ‘destroy the temple’ and ‘Son of God.’ The chief priests and religious leaders joined in with the mocking, not by directly speaking to Jesus but talking to the crowd, they list all the things Jesus had done, "He saved others;" not acknowledging the miracles, in fact trying to say they are fakes as He cannot save Himself. "We will even believe Him if He comes off the cross." They did not realize that by staying on the cross our Lord Jesus was saving the world, the task for which He had come. "He trusted in God; let Him deliver him now," we must praise God He did not save His Son. v44 The thieves also accused Jesus of being a false person, though one was later to realized that he, as a robber, deserved the punishment, Luke 23:39-43. v45 Jesus was initially nailed to the cross at 09:00 a.m. (third hour, Mark 15:25). Three hours passed then there was a supernatural darkness "over all the land" from noon to 3:00 p.m. (sixth to ninth hour). Some have said that this was an eclipse of the sun, the moon gets in line with the sun and covers it, but the Passover festival occurs at full moon, which means the moon was on the wrong side of the earth. We are not told how far "there was darkness over all the land" covered, whether local or global. v46 This is the only words from the cross recorded by both Mark and Matthew. "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" God is holy and pure and could not look upon the evil sin of the world being put on His Son, 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13. We cannot appreciate the full meaning of this but we must remember that God the Father and His Son had been together for eternity. The Father God did not leave Jesus as He was able to give His life into the Fathers hands, Luke 23:46 but as the Judge, God the Father had to separate himself from Jesus so that Jesus could have spiritual death in place of sinful man, spiritual death is separation from God. v47-49 Some it seems mis-heard the "Eloi" for "Elias" and thought Jesus was calling for Elijah. The soldier for some reason offers Jesus a drink as the crowd now turn against Jesus saying "Let be; let us see whether Elijah will come." Even with the darkness they still do not accept the claims of Jesus and previous events showed this statement by the priests was false. v50 Jesus now makes the last two final announcements from the cross, in a loud voice, "It is finished," John 19:30. The task that had been set by God the Father was now completed, Jesus was now able to give up His life and give it into the hands of the Father. All the Gospels confirm that the death was a volentary release of life, not death as a direct result of the crucifixion. v51 Veil of the temple:- This was the curtain which divided the Holy place from the Holy of Holies, Exodus 26:31, only the high priest was allowed past this curtain on the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16:1-30. "From the top to the bottom," normally a tear would have started at the bottom, this could only happen if the curtain was deliberately torn by someone. God had now shown that the way to Him was open through the death of His Son, Heb 10:19-23 v52,53 This events in these verses is only recorded by Matthew. Following the death of Jesus the writer records that the graves of many of the Old Testament saints were opened and there bodies were resurrected after His resurrection. We are not told whether the bodies returned to their graves after this event. It is possible therefore these Old Testament saints went to heaven with Jesus, 1 Cor 15:20. v54 Having seen all the events on and around the cross the Centurion makes this statement, "Truly, this was the Son of God!" An amazing acceptance from a pagan Roman soldier who had not been brought up under the Jewish teaching. v55,56 A group of women are standing near the cross. One was Mary Magdalene. In Luke 8:2 we are told that she had been cleaned of seven devils by Jesus. Some people claim she had a bad past but there is no scriptural record. Mary the mother of James and Joseph, John 19:25 records she is the wife of Clopas(Cleopas). Mother of Zebedee’s children, Salome, Mark 15:40, sister of Mary, John 19:25. The Roman soldiers confirmed that Jesus was dead, John 19:31-35. To make sure a soldier pushed a spear into His side, "and forthwith there came out blood and water." This is a sign that the person had been dead for some time as the blood is separating. v57-66 The Burial of Jesus v57 "When the evening had come," this would be the period 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus come to take the body down. Joseph of Arimathaea was a rich member of the Sanhedrin, Luke 23:50,51. His position and wealth allowed him to have a tomb close to Jerusalem, though he obviously lived elsewhere. v58 As Joseph of Arimathaea was not a relative his request for the body would need some explaining to Pilate, the Roman controller. v59,60 Once Joseph had permission, he removes the body from the cross, assisted by Nicodemus. They wrapped the body in the usual linen cloth and placed the body in Joseph’s tomb. The entrance was closed with the usual large round stone. v61 These actions were all seen by the two Mary’s. v62 "After the Day of the Preparation," compare Mark 15:42. Some people think this must be Saturday but Matthew does not refer to the ‘Sabbath’ and the day of "Preparation for the Feast day" would have been on Wednesday night. See John 19:14, 31. On this basis the entombment of Jesus would have been a full 72 hours, from sundown Wednesday until sundown Saturday. v63,64 The private predictions of the resurrection by Jesus have somehow reached the ears of the chief priests and Pharisees and want to prevent anyone stealing the body and claiming a resurrection. Unfortunately the disciples seem to have ignored this promise by Jesus and all they saw was a dead Jesus. v65,66 Having obtained Pilate’s agreement, the tomb is sealed, so they would know it had been opened, and a temple guard is mounted at the tomb until after the third day. |
Easy English Translation
| Back to previous page | Return to Home Page |
| The Gospel of Matthew |
