Matthew 27 Devotional & Commentary: Reckless Rejection0

Devotional Sharing, Submitted by Michael Kang, Gracepoint Berkeley

Matthew 27:11-25

Why did the crowd want to crucify Jesus?  What does thebaffling hatred of the crowds show about the nature of sin?  What is behind the people’s bold request (v. 25) that displays total ignorance of Jesus’ identity?  How does this show that rejection of God is, at least partially, fueled by recklessness?  In what ways might I be engaged in this kind of recklessness?

The crowd wanted to crucify Jesus because they couldn’t stand up to the truth. Though some were against him, they had just cheered him into Jerusalem, and so some of them were probably ambivalent about what should happen to him. But at that moment they decided to hate him. They were turned against him by the chief priests and the Pharisees. They willfully blinded themselves to the truth about Jesus and what they knew about him, what they had witnessed throughout his ministry, and they ended up on the side of the leaders. Jesus indeed was the wedge and since they could not get on the side of following him and confessing him as Lord, they had to turn against him. Sin is mysterious – what they did seems to defy reason – and it is baffling why they hated Jesus so much. They weren’t willing to make the confession that he was indeed the Son of God and so they had to have him killed for blasphemy. The nature of sin is this kind of denial of the Truth, the refusal to accept Jesus as Lord, and it leads to crucifying him.

Matthew 27:11-25

“…the narrative does not implicate Pilate alone: the insistent people, blindly following their blind leaders (v. 20; compare 15:14; 23:16), embrace the moral responsibility Pilate seeks to evade. In the narrative world of Matthew, their acceptance of guilt for Jesus’ blood on themselves and the generation of their children (27:24-25) directly invites the catastrophic events of AD 66-70 (23:29-39)”^[1]

• Why did the crowd want to crucify Jesus?  What does the baffling hatred of the crowds show about the nature of sin?
• What is behind the people’s bold request (v. 25) that displays total ignorance of Jesus’ identity?  How does this show that rejection of God is, at least partially, fueled by recklessness?
• In what ways might I be engaged in this kind of recklessness?

Matthew 27:37-40

“So there was on Golgotha a group of three crosses, in the middle the Son of God, and on either side a brigand. Truly, he was with sinners in his death. The final verses describe the taunts flung at Jesus by the passers-by, by the Jewish authorities, and by the brigands who were crucified with him. They all centered round one thing—the claims that Jesus had made and his apparent helplessness on the Cross. It was precisely there that the Jews were so wrong. They were using the glory of Christ as a means of mocking him. “?Come down,?” they said, “?and we will believe on you.?” But…?It is precisely because he would not come down that we believe in him.?  The Jews could see God only in power; but Jesus showed that God is sacrificial love.”^[2]

• How does Jesus being crucified with “sinners” communicate the extent to which he was willing to identify with me?
• In what ways have I “hurled insults” at God because of what He seemingly failed to do in my life?
• What can I learn about God’s heart from the fact that Jesus refused to come down from the cross?

Matthew 27:11-50

“Here we have humanity at its worst–a scene of vicious mockery. The Jews have mocked Jesus as Messiah (26:67-68); here the Roman soldiers ridicule him as king. Matthew’s readers recognize that the soldiers speak more truly than they know, for Jesus is both King and Suffering Servant. The ‘robe’ is probably the short red cloak worn by Roman military and civilian officials.  For a crown, the soldiers plait a wreath of thorns from palm spines or acanthus and crush it down on Jesus’ head in imitation of the circlet on the coins of Tiberius Caesar. The staff they put in his hand stands for a royal scepter; and the mocking ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ corresponds to the Roman acclamation ‘Ave, Caesar!’ and caps the flamboyant kneeling. Not content with the ridicule and the torture of the thorns, they spit on him and use the staff, the symbol of his kingly authority, to hit him on the head ‘again and again.’^[3]

“We may shudder at what the soldiers did; but of all the parties involved in the crucifixion they were least to be blamed. They were not even stationed in Jerusalem; they had no idea who Jesus was; they certainly were not Jews, for the Jews were the only nation in the Roman Empire who were exempt from military service; they were conscripts who may well have come from the ends of the earth. They indulged in their rough horse-play; but, unlike the Jews and unlike Pilate, they acted in ignorance.  Maybe for Jesus of all things this was the easiest to bear, for, although they made a sham king of him…to them he was nothing more than a deluded Galilean going to a cross.”^[4]

• Reflect on the different ways that that Jesus, the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe, was treated with humiliation and cruelty throughout this passage.
• Meditate on the different characters responsible for crucifying Jesus.   What about each person led to their role in crucifying Jesus?  Do I see the same tendencies within me?
• What is the absurdity of this situation?
• Reflect on the scandal of God’s amazing grace.

Additional Questions:

Matthew 27:1-4

• What was the result of Judas being “seized with remorse”?
• What did this accomplish for the one that he betrayed?  Similarly, what are some inadequate solutions to cope with guilt in our society today?
• What is the difference between remorse and repentance?  (cf. 2 Cor 7:10)  What do I do when I am “seized with remorse”?

Matthew 27:4-5

• Why is the chief priests’ response to Judas’s confession so incongruous with the responsibilities of their position?
• What is tragic about the response of both Judas and the priests?
• How does sin prevent me from carrying out God’s intended purpose for my life?

Matthew 27:6-10

“They are fixated on scrupulous adherence to religious custom but hardhearted about their unscrupulous complicity in the betrayal of Jesus to death. The irony is that they are careful not to defile the temple treasury with blood money, but they are the very ones who earlier schemed to provide the money that shed the blood of an innocent man.”^[5]

• What is ironic about the chief priests’ concern about the use of the money, especially in light of Judas’ confession that he had betrayed “innocent blood”?
• In what ways have I grown accustomed to observing the “law” out of habit while ignoring the implications it might have in my current choices and actions?
• What caused the chief priests to be so blind towards what they were doing to Jesus?  In what ways am I guilty of the same?

Matthew 27:1-10

• What does the response of the chief priests—“what is that to us?  That’s your responsibility”—reveal about human inability, and the helplessness of sinners to find forgiveness from human courts?

Matthew 27:27-31

• How did the fact that there was a “whole company of soldiers” allow them to more easily engage in this kind of mockery?  What can I learn about the nature of human sinfulness through this?
• It is easy to criticize what the soldiers did to Jesus.  Why am I more culpable when I commit acts that “mock” or dishonor Jesus?

Matthew 27:41-44

“At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the devil tempted Jesus in the same way (4:3, 6); now the people throw another cruel temptation at him to escape the cross: ‘Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!’ Their taunt says more than they know, but Jesus will continue to pursue the Father’s will, as he resolutely affirmed three times in Gethsemane (26:39 – 44). Matthew’s readers will hear in these taunts from the passersby another allusion to Psalm 22: ‘But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads’ (Ps. 22:6 – 7).”^[6]

• How is the attitude of “save yourself” manifested in the world today?
• What are the situations in my life when the voices that tell me to “save [my]self” clamor the loudest?

Matthew 27:45-46

“Not only does Jesus bear the load of humanity’s sin, but he becomes sin on our behalf (see 2 Cor. 5:21). He became cursed by God for us, ‘for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree”’ (Gal. 3:13). William Hendriksen comments graphically on the darkness that portends Jesus’ cry: The darkness meant judgment, the judgment of God upon our sins, his wrath as it were burning itself out in the very heart of Jesus, so that he, as our Substitute, suffered most intense agony, indescribable woe, terrible isolation or forsakenness. Hell came to Calvary that day, and the Savior descended into it and bore its horrors in our stead.”[7]

• How is “darkness came over ” an apt description of what happens when sin takes over?
• Reflect on Jesus’ suffering and darkness as he bore the weight of my sin.
• How does Jesus’ cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” provide hope in times of despair?

Matthew 27:51-54

“This large blue, purple and scarlet curtain separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, an inner room which symbolized God’s presence (Exodus 26:31-33). It was, in effect, the barrier that separated people from God. When God supernaturally tore the curtain (perhaps by earthquake) he showed dramatically that Christ’s death had given people access to God (Heb. 9:1-15; 10:19-22).”[8]

• How does the fact that “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” and “the tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life” illustrate what Christ has accomplished through his death?
• What caused the centurion and those with him to exclaim, “Surely he was the Son of God!”?
• What has led me to my current understanding of who Jesus is?
• What lesson can I learn from the irony of this situation where this pagan centurion recognizing Jesus while the religious leaders remained stubborn in their unbelief even after this event?

Matthew 27:57-60

“Joseph’s action was courageous, for his petition was a tacit admission that he was a friend of Jesus and consequently an associate in whatever supposed subversion Jesus might have advocated. Joseph took the initiative and petitioned Pilate for permission to remove the body. His request was an open confession of his faith, for up to this time he had been a secret believer…” ^[9]

• Why would Jesus’ death have emboldened Joseph to identify himself with Jesus in this way?
• What can I learn from the fact that God used Joseph to provide a tomb for Jesus?

Matthew 27:63-66

“The passage begins in the most curious way.  It says that the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate on the next day, which is the day after the Preparation.  Now Jesus was crucified on the Friday.  Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath.  The hours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday were called …The Preparation.  We have that, according to Jewish reckoning, the new day began at 6 p.m.  Therefore, the Sabbath began at 6 p.m. on Friday…If this is accurate, it can only mean one thing – it must mean the chief priests and Pharisees actually approached Pilate on Sabbath with their request…it is clear to see how radically they broke the Sabbath Law.”^[10]

• How did the chief priests and the Pharisee’s plan to “make the tomb as secure [they knew] how” backfire in the end?
• How does this show that God is the sovereign one who is in control over all situations?
• What is ironic about the chief priests and the Pharisees trying to secure the tomb against the resurrection?

^[2]The Gospel of Matthew : Volume 2. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily Study Bible, Rev. ed. The Westminster Press: Philadelphia

[3] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositors Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for Matthew 27:28-31.

^[4]The Gospel of Matthew : Volume 2. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily Study Bible, Rev. ed. The Westminster Press: Philadelphia

[5] Wilkins, Michael J., NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.

[6] Wilkins, Michael J. “The Mocking of Messiah (27:39 – 44)” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew. By Michael J. Wilkins, 900. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.

[7] Wilkins, Michael J., NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.

[8] “Matthew 27:51” In The Quest Study Bible: Matthew (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994) 1432.

[9] Frank E. Gaebelein, Gen. Ed. Expositor’s Bible Commentary CD, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992) notes for John chapter 19.

[10] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, Daily Study Bible Series, Rev. ed. (Philadelphia:  Westminster Press, 1975). 374-75.