Matthew 27:45-50 The Triumph of the Cross

Tommaso Laureti's Triumph.of.Christianity, 1585

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Jesus’ cry while on the cross, Matthew 27:46, quoting Psalm 22:1

’Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies.  Who can explore His strange design?  In vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depths of love divine. (Charles Wesley, “And Can it Be” 1738)

“And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.…I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”  (Amos 8:9-10 ESV)

Now from the sixth hour, (twelve noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, (v. 45).  Two other times in Scripture God has used darkness as a sign of judgment. The first was in Exodus 10:21 as the ninth plague was visited upon Pharaoh and Egypt by Moses.  The second time is mentioned in 24:29.   When our Lord returns, darkness will accompany the Day of Judgment (see also Joel 2:10, Isaiah 13:10, 34:4, Ezekiel 32:7 and Amos 8:9)

Judgment is a dominant factor at Christ’s crucifixion.  For on Him our sin has been cast; He has taken our place.  The judgment of God due us is now being visited upon Him.   Romans 5:9 says we are “saved by Him from the wrath of God.” 

Sin against an all-holy God cannot be merely dismissed or glossed over by diligent human effort.   The full cost of sin is death, separation from God.    And at this moment, as He is impaled, suffering and dying, Christ is bearing that cost.  God the Father has turned His back in righteous judgment on the cross.  Our sin has been fully imputed to the Lamb.

It is no wonder then that at about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (v. 46).  The injustice, the beatings, the spit, the mockings, the abandonment, the floggings, did not make our Lord cry out. But being forsaken by the Father, THIS is what made our Lord cry out.  The greatest pain for our incarnate Lord, more so than the tortures, was to be separated from His Father.  

Arthur Pink in his book, Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross, said it very well: “Surely this is a cry that ought to melt the hardest heart.”   Jesus’ cry was not merely the pious prayer of a dying man. When one surveys the cross, he comes up short if he believes Jesus’ death by crucifixion goes no further than to set an example for the rest of us to follow.  Yes, we must be willing to take up our cross and lay down our lives for His sake (see 16:24-25).   But what Jesus did was much more than lead by example: He paid the full price of our sin and our rebellion, a price no man could take upon himself.  “The wages of sin is death,” says Paul in Romans 6:23, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

And some of the bystanders, hearing His cry, said, “This man is calling Elijah,” (v. 47).   Maybe these bystanders, knowing the Scripture that says Elijah is to return “before the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Malachi 4:5), thought they were witnessing the Judgment Day. After all, some of His day thought that Jesus was Elijah (see 16:14).  Maybe they heard Jesus cry “Eli” and mistook that for Elijah.   In an act of compassion one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, (v. 48).   

But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him,” (v. 49).  Perhaps this was a statement of faith; perhaps some at the foot of the cross were seeking entertainment as a man was dying before them.    And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit, (v. 50).  It is finished.  The immortal has died. 

The Passover Lamb :slain. God and sinners: reconciled.   Our sin: atoned for.  Justice: satisfied. Jesus: victor.  His name is exalted above all names!  The greatest act of love in history is now complete. I pray that one day you will be part of the myriad of voices gathered around the throne, worshiping, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth, and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”  (Revelation 5:12)

Matthew 27:39-44: Taunting the God of Love

Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy's 1884 "Golgotha" 

“Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.” Chief priests, mocking Jesus in Matthew 27:42

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; … they wag their heads.  “He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”  (Psalm 22:6-8)

“It was the power of love, not nails, that kept him there.” (Robert Mounce’s commentary on Matthew)

The Lamb of God has willingly offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.   There He is, in a human body, nailed to a cross, facing death head-on.   The universe worships.  But man, the benefactor of the most incredible act of love ever demonstrated, doesn’t get it.   Hard-hearted, rebellious or at best ignorant, man can only mock and taunt.

And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! (v. 39 -40) Interestingly, Matthew never records Jesus saying those words.   (But John does.  See John 2:19.)  But Matthew references Jesus saying these words two times: here and in 26:61)

Those passing by continue to mock Jesus:  “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross,” (v. 40). The same wicked spirit is at work here as in Matthew chapter 4 when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness.   Twice (4:3, 4:6) Satan began his taunt of Jesus with the words, “If you are the Son of God…” In both chapter 4 and here in v. 40, the intent is the same:  To have Jesus disobey the will of His Father.   It worked easily enough on Adam and Eve. 

Maybe, just maybe, if he kept pressing, Satan could get Jesus to also disobey Father God, shattering the perfect unity of the Trinity and foiling the plan of God.  But the matter has already been settled.  The night before in the garden, Jesus said to the Father, “Your will be done,” (26:42).  Jesus is not the frail first Adam; He is the obedient perfect second Adam (see Romans 5:12-21).  Jesus was going to the cross and there He will stay until His death, to the glory of God!

The whole kit and kaboodle of Israel’s religious elite, the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, turned out to see their nemesis crucified.  There they mocked him mercilessly, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him,” (vv. 41-42).  

No , they would not believe in Him, even if He came down from the cross.   Earlier Jesus had healed many (see 15:29-31) and fed 4000 (see 15:32-38).  But the Pharisees and Sadducees still demanded a sign (see 16:1).   “An evil… generation seeks for a sign,” Jesus replied, “but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,” (16:4; see also 12:40). 

The chief priests, scribes and elders had their man.  Here he was before them, powerless, suffering and dying.   Believing their enemy was defeated, they continued their taunts:  “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God,’” (v. 43).   When on trial before the Council, Caiaphas adjured Jesus, “tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”  To which Jesus said, “You have said so,” (26:63-64).   Now, they are throwing that back in His face, probably spitting in self-righteous anger.  Maybe some are laughing and slapping each other on the back. 

The taunting was so ruckus that a third group of mockers joined in.  Even the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled Him in the same way (v. 44). Luke details that one of those robbers repented and was saved (see Luke 23:39-43). 

If our Lord had given in to their taunts and come down from the cross, then He would have been no different than Evil Knievel, Houdini, David Blaine, or any another stunt man.   And we would still be in our sins.  But because of His love for us, on the cross He stayed. Even while we mocked, even while we were enemies of God, Christ died for us.   He didn’t do it when we decided to become better people.  But He died when we were weak, ungodly and sinners. And by His blood we have been justified and saved from His wrath (see Romans 5:6-10).   The very God we have taunted has now saved us from ourselves!   Worship Him, for He is worthy.   And the sign of Jonah will prove His worth even further!         

Matthew 27:32-38 Place of a Skull

“This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”  The sign over Jesus’ head at His crucifixion, Matthew 27:37

Rembrandt's Raising of the Cross, 1633

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.  (Psalm 22:16-18)

He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.   By his wounds you have been healed.  (1 Peter 2:24). 

The Jewish carpenter from Galilee has suffered ridicule, injustice, and abuse.  His disciples have abandoned him.  He has survived a torture so intense that it usually kills its victims.  It is no wonder he can barely walk.  Therefore the soldiers, as they went out from the governor’s headquarters, found a man of Cyrene, a city along the northern coast of Africa.   Simon was his name (v. 32). Even though Simon lived in Africa, he had a very Jewish name. And Acts 2:10 and 6:9 speak of the Jews from Cyrene. He was most likely one of the Jews that lived abroad and had traveled back to Jerusalem to participate in the Passover. They compelled this man to carry his cross (v. 32). 

Mark’s gospel names Simon’s two sons, Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21).  Was it because Alexander and Rufus were known to the church of Mark’s day?   Is this the same Rufus that Paul greets in Romans 16:13?  Is it the same Alexander of Acts 19:33?  We don’t know.  But interestingly, there is a possibility Simon’s sons were known in the early church. 

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, (v. 34).  Certainly this is a fulfillment of Psalm 69:21.  Mark 15:23 mentions that the wine was mixed with myrrh, which was used to prepare a body for burial (John 19:39).   Luke 23:36 seems to imply that the offering of the wine was not an act of pity but another mocking gesture.  

A possible location in Jerusalem for the "Place of a Skull".  One  can see the image of a skull in the rocks here.  Today this hill hosts a bus station.  

Regardless of motive, when Jesus tasted it, he would not drink it, (v. 34).  Our Lord, who willingly drank from the cup of the wrath of God (26:42) would not drink from the cup that would lessen the pain of God’s wrath.   As Charles Ryrie says in his study Bible, “Jesus refused [the wine], preferring to meet His death with all His faculties unimpaired.” 

Matthew, like the other gospel writers, offers no details, no gory word pictures, no cries of agony, of the moment of crucifixion, other than the stripped down words, they crucified him (v. 35).  Like flogging, crucifixion was a common punishment used by the Roman authorities; the gospel writers needed to remind no one of the excruciating details.   The soldiers divided his garments among them by casting lots (v. 35) and thus fulfilled David’s prophecy of Psalm 22:18.

Maybe the disciples would try one last heroic effort to rescue Jesus, the authorities may have thought.  After all, violence broke out when they arrested Jesus (see 26:51).  Therefore the soldiers sat down and kept watch over him there (v. 36).  As Jesus lost blood and was slowly suffocating, the chief priests and Pilate were arguing about wording on the sign over his head where they put the charge against him, (v. 37).  John 19:19-22 gives the details of the argument while Matthew provides only the final decision: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews,” (v. 37).

Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left, (v. 38).  Jesus likely took the place of the robbers’ co-conspirator, Barabbas, both literally and redemptively.  He took our place literally and redemptively.

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,” (Romans 8:3-4).   He has done what the best of our good works could not do.   He has reconciled us to God.   He did not die in a peaceful drug-induced sleep.  He took evil head on; He suffered and died for our sins so that we may be redeemed to our God.   What an awesome Savior! 

Matthew 27:27-31: He Bore the Spit

After the soldiers mocked and spit on Jesus, Pilate brought Him out one final time to appeal to the crowd before sending Him to be crucified, as John's gospel records.   1800s Hungarian painter Mihaly Munkascy captures that moment in the second painting of his gospel trilogy.

“Hail, King of the Jews!” The Roman soldiers mocking Jesus in Matthew 27:29.

Many of these [unbelieving] scholars, scholars who apparently devoted their life to New Testament scholarship, disliked Jesus Christ.  Some pitied him as a hopeless failure.  Others sneered at him, and some felt an outright contempt… there are New Testament scholars who detest and despise Jesus Christ. (Ann Rice, from “Author’s Notes,” from her novel Christ The Lord Out Of Egypt)

"I'm an atheist, so it was actually a joy.  Spitting on Christ was a great deal of fun-especially for me, being a woman...I can't embrace a male god who has persecuted female sexuality throughout the ages.”  (Amanda Donahoe, commenting on her role in "Lair of the White Worm" where she spits on a crucifix.  AFA Journal, November/December, 1991)

The order was given.  Pilate’s decision has been made.  Jesus the Christ shall be crucified.   The Roman soldiers, who were trained killing machines, will carry out the execution.   But first, a little diversion. The soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's headquarters, which is known as the Praetorium, located inside the city walls of Jerusalem near the temple.  They gathered the whole battalion, anywhere from 100 to 600 soldiers, before him (v. 27).

And they stripped him.  The stripping must have re-opened some of his wounds that had coagulated into his clothes.   Next they put a scarlet robe on him (v. 28).   Mark and John describe the robe’s color similarly as purple. Precision in dyes was not common then.  The robe probably was a robe of war belonging to one of the Roman soldier present.

And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand (v. 29).  These were not small thorns from a rose bush but long thorns from perhaps a jujube shrub, easily found in Jerusalem.   These thorns, along with the stripping, the robe, even the reed (which represented a king’s scepter), added further injury to insult.

Max Lucado describes the scene this way: “Strong, rested, armed soldiers encircled an exhausted, nearly dead, Galilean carpenter and beat up on him.” (from his book, He Chose the Nails: What God Did To Win Your Heart)

And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. (vv. 29-30). At His trial before the Council of chief priests, Jesus was also spit upon, beaten and mocked.  However, the chief priests mocked Him not as King but as “Christ.”  (Matthew 26:67-68).   Matthew shows that the rejection of Christ is not a Jewish-only problem.   Or just a Roman problem.   It is universal; it is a human problem. No matter man’s religious, racial or political background, he will by nature rebelliously mock and insult Jesus.

An atheist told me recently, “Why can’t there just be no God?”  The darkness in our hearts prefers darkness to light. We prefer a reality with no hope, no meaning, no purpose over a universe ruled by a loving deity.  We want to be “free” to pursue the darkness of our hearts.   But we are only as free as a man who skydives without a parachute.  For several minutes he thinks he can fly…until he notices the ground rushing up at him.  Therefore we mock Him, slap Him…kill Him.

Lesser gods, if treated by mere humans like Jesus was, would call down fire and brimstone right then and there.  Yet our Lord came to take upon Himself our reproaches, even our “spit.”  Isaiah thus prophesied, “I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting,” (Isaiah 50:6). Max Lucado continues: “Spitting isn’t intended to hurt the body—it can’t. Spitting is intended to degrade the soul, and it does…the One who chose the nails also chose the saliva…he bore the spit of man.”

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him (v. 31).   Our Lord’s enemies think they have won.   They lead Him out to crucify Him.   They think they will rid themselves once and for all of this Jesus who has the gall to stand in judgment of them.  They taunt, they gloat, they beat and they spit.  And now they will crucify.   It looks like the good guys have lost.  Evil revels in its finest hour.  Darkness is will soon descend on this Friday afternoon.  But to quote Tony Campolo, “Its Friday.  But Sunday’s coming.”    

Matthew 27:26: The Great Exchange

Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered Him to be crucified.  Matthew 27:26

“Broken bottles broken plates, broken switches broken gates, broken dishes broken parts.  Streets are filled with broken hearts; broken words never meant to be spoken.  Everything is broken.” (Bob Dylan, “Everything is Broken,” 1989)

“The soldier would use a whip of braided leather thongs with metal balls woven into them.  When the whip would strike the flesh, these balls would cause deep bruises or contusions, which would break open with further blows.  And the whip had pieces of sharp bone as well, which would cut the flesh severely.” (Dr. Alexander Metherall, as interviewed by Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ)

As mentioned before, some of the earliest manuscripts of Matthew identify Barabbas as “Jesus Barabbas” in 27:16 and 17.  Additionally, while Barabbas means generically “the son of a father,” Jesus’ title is “the Son of the Father God.”  Both Barabbas and Jesus were accused of trying to overthrow Caesar (see Mark 15:7 and Luke 23:2).  The one that was guilty of this crime was released while the One innocent was delivered over to be crucified (v. 26).  Several commentators have mentioned that the cross on which Jesus was crucified was most likely designated for Barabbas.    I believe it is no coincidence that these two are so closely intertwined. 

Barabbas exchanged for Jesus.  The guilty for the innocent.  The selfish for the Selfless.  The son of a father for the Father’s Son.   The criminal for the Judge.  Murderous rebellion for Perfect Obedience.  The taker of life for the Creator of life. The mortal for the Immortal.  One walks; One dies… Barabbas is everyman; we are all Barabbas.  

This “Great Exchange,” the guilty Barabbas set free and the innocent Jesus being delivered to be crucified, is a picture of what Jesus did for all mankind on the cross.   We have been spared the punishment for our sins while He took upon Himself the wrath of God due us (see Romans 5:9).   “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities…” (Isaiah 53:4-5).   “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God,” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  

Matthew mentions almost as an aside that Jesus was scourged.   Gory details are omitted.  Any details are omitted.   Maybe Matthew could not bear to write about such hideousness that Jesus endured. Maybe Matthew’s original readers were all too familiar with the extreme torture of scourging.  What was obvious then, is not so obvious today. 

Dr. Metherall , in his interview in The Case for Christ continues to describe what happens to the human body when it is scourged:  “The back would be so shredded that part of the spine was sometimes exposed by the deep, deep cuts.  The whipping would have gone all the way from the shoulders down to the back, the buttocks, and the back of the legs…” 

“and with his stripes we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:5). 

Jesus has experienced the worst that this world offers.   While earthly kings revel in their comforts, He is not immune from pain, suffering and death.  Rather He has walked through the fires of our rebellion and the hell of our rejection of God.    Jesus was the victim of gross injustice; Jesus felt the physical pain of excruciating torture; Jesus knows abandonment from those who promised to follow Him even till death.   He is not a distant god far away from the pain down here; rather, He drank from the bitter cup of the wrath of God designated for our punishment (see 26:42).    

 In Jesus “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…Therefore let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” (Hebrews 4:15-16).   Draw near to Him.  For in Christ we have been set free while our reproach has fallen upon Him (see Psalm 69:9).  No wonder Martin Luther, as he contemplated the cross, cried out, “O the sweet exchange!”   Everything seems broken in this corrupt world.   But soon He will make everything new again (see Revelation 21:5).  Hallelujah! 

Matthew 27:24-25: The Great Reversal

“His blood be on us and on our children!”  The crowd responding to Pilate in Matthew 27:25

“He comes to make His blessings flow; far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found, far as, far as, the curse is found.” (Joy to the World by Isaac Watts, 1719)

 “…yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” (The high priest to the apostles in Acts 5:28)

 

To chronologically harmonize the gospel accounts is not illogical or contradictory. It can, however, be difficult.  There is another time break in Matthew 27; this time between verses 23 and 24.  John 19:1-15 fills in the details while Matthew focuses more on the crowd choosing Barabbas over Jesus.

In his attempt to convince the crowd to not choose Barabbas over Jesus, Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing (v. 24).  Rather Pilate noticed that a riot was beginning (v. 24).  Pilate did not want another riot.  Since Pilate was appointed governor, he had failed to keep the peace with the Jews (see Luke 13:1).  This had earned him a skeptical and watchful eye from the emperor.   Additionally the chief priests, manipulating Pilate’s fear of the emperor, once again rejected their God by proclaiming, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).

With no result in his efforts to free Jesus, Pilate was forced into a decision he didn’t want.   He took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” (v. 24).   Pilate borrowed one of the Jewish customs from Deuteronomy 21:6-7, where one washes his hands to proclaim his innocence of a slain man’s blood.  Pilate also may have been acting on his wife’s advice from verse 19.   Pilate concludes with, “See to it yourselves,” (v. 24); words which are eerily similar to the words of the chief priests to Judas in 27:4.

Next comes one of the most tragic boasts in all of Scripture: And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and our children!” (v. 25).  Matthew has been wrongly accused of anti-Semitism for including these words which appear only in his gospel; Christians (and others), blind to their own complicity, have sadly used this as an excuse to persecute Jews.  

Several weeks later Peter stood before a crowd in Jerusalem comprised of “men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem,” (Acts 2:14).   It was the day of Pentecost, the day the Lord poured out His Holy Spirit on all who believe.   Peter, like the crowd before him, had also cursed and denied the Lord (see 26:74).  Yet he preached here with anointed power.    Peter’s choice of words was not coincidental:  “For the promise [of forgiveness] is for you and for your children,” (Acts 2:39, emphasis added).  Peter continued, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation,” (Acts 2:40).  

My friend Avi Snyder, who works for Jews for Jesus, calls this “The Great Reversal.”  God in His incredible mercy reversed the very curse that the Jews called upon themselves.    The Father wanted to be sure that the very first ones to hear (and receive) the gospel were the ones who demanded Jesus’ crucifixion!   And in another incredible reversal, the blood of Jesus did fall upon the Jews, resulting not in their condemnation but rather in their salvation.

I am guilty of speaking impulsively.  Especially when I become passionate about something.  I sometimes say things I regret; I will even curse myself (or others) unknowingly.  And to think, I serve a God who will take my curses and turn them into blessings.  Not just earthly blessings but blessings of salvation.   I weep.  I am humbled.  I am forever grateful. 

The self-appointed curse on the Jerusalem people became a blessing for the Jerusalem people; and it will spread to “Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth,” (Acts 1:8).   Bring Him the ugliness in your heart and the inadvertent ways you have cursed yourself and others.   Be “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37) and cry out to the Lord.  He will forgive you and restore you.  He “will give you a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezekiel 36:26).   Oh, what an awesome God we serve! 

Matthew 27:15-23 “Let Him be Crucified!”

“Why, what evil has He done?” Pilate to the crowd concerning Jesus, Matthew 27:23

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned; the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. (Irish poet W. B. Yeats, 1865-1939, The Second Coming)

…the God of our fathers glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.  But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.  (Peter to the crowd at the temple, Acts 3:13b-14)

Pilate, who is convinced Jesus is innocent (see John 18:38), is appealing to the crowd to have them choose Jesus as the one prisoner to be released  according to a custom practiced at the Passover feast during this time in Israel’s history (see v. 15).  But instead of choosing Jesus, the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas (v. 20).   

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowd yelled, “Hosanna to the Son of David!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!” (21:9).   Now less than a week later, they want Pilate to destroy Jesus (v. 20). Scripture is silent as to why the crowd so quickly turned on Jesus.   But perhaps Scripture does offer some clues.   

Maybe the crowds who welcomed Him when He entered Jerusalem were pilgrims from Galilee while the whole city of Jerusalem, witnessing this event, was stirred up saying, “Who is this?”(21:10). Here in the early morning (see John 18:28) it was the locals who were up starting their day, not the weary pilgrims, demanding Christ be crucified.  Maybe when the Council condemned Him (26:66) and humiliated Him (26:67-68), the crowd realized that this was not the political messiah who would overthrow Rome and free Israel.   Their hopes were dashed and before them was just another pretender to the throne of David.    

 

Whatever the reason, the crowd wanted Jesus crucified.  The governor, both confused and amazed, again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”  And they said, “Barabbas.”  Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”  They all said, “Let Him be crucified!”  Pilate, still unsure about their choice, retorted, “Why, what evil has He done?”   But they shouted all the more, “Let Him be crucified!”  (v. 21-23).  

 

The lost sheep of the house of Israel, the very ones to whom Jesus was sent (see 15:24) have considered Him “cut off from the land of the living,” (Isaiah 53:8).  Like us all, the sheep of Israel have now “gone astray; each has turned to his own way,” (Isaiah 53:6).     Satan believed he has successfully condemned to death the “beloved Son” of God in whom the Lord is “well-pleased,” (see 3:17 and 17:5). 

 “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him,” (Isaiah 53:10).   Satan and his minions are not in control but are mere pawns in the hands of God.  They are being used to bring about a supreme triumph and an eternal glory for His beloved Son.    God’s plan of redemption and restoration is unfolding just as He desires and in His timing.  

We are broken people living in a broken world.   A gunman executes a classroom of children; tsunamis and earthquakes kill hundreds of thousands.  Pain is the human experience.  And eventually death captures us all.  Yet soon “He will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,”  (Revelation 21:4).  He will make all things new.  This is the glorious hope of our faith.     Lets us remember that for now the path to that renewal must go through Pilate’s courtyard.    



On the facade of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) Church in Barcelona, Spain is this depiction of Pilate (on the right) confused and amazed.