Scripture quotations on this page are from the World English Bible (public domain), shown in quotation marks; all commentary is written by Scripture Trove. Source: Matthew 27 · Commentary
Chapter 26 ends with Peter's bitter weeping, the deepest scene of the night. Chapter 27 begins at dawn, narrating the entire process from Judas's end to Jesus's crucifixion and burial. This is the most somber and central chapter of the entire Gospel of Matthew, perhaps of the entire Bible: the Son of God died.
This chapter is the second half of the Passion Narrative (chapters 26-27): chapter 26 is "Preparation and Betrayal," and chapter 27 is "Trial and Crucifixion." From Pilate's judgment hall to the hill of Golgotha to Joseph's new tomb, every scene tells the same story: the innocent one died for the guilty.
27:46 "About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”"
Matthew 27:46（World English Bible）
27:54 "Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”"
Matthew 27:54（World English Bible）
The image of the cross is so heavy that we can easily turn it into a theological concept and forget that it was a real event. A man suffocated to death on a piece of wood, abandoned by those closest to him, mocked by passersby, and even the sky grew dark.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?": The Son of God experienced the deepest loneliness you could ever experience. What does this mean? It means that when you are in darkness and feel that God is not there, your Lord has walked the same path. He doesn't stand at a distance telling you to "be strong"; He has walked into your darkness.
But the deepest message of the cross is not suffering, but love. "He saved others, but he can’t save himself." The mockers were right: He truly could not save Himself—not because He lacked the power, but because if He had saved Himself, He could not have saved you.
Judas felt remorse and fell into despair, while Peter wept bitterly and was restored. When you face failure, which reaction are you more inclined toward? What helps you move from "remorse" to "repentance"?
Pilate knew Jesus was innocent yet yielded to pressure. Have you ever compromised what you know is right because of pressure?
"My God, why have you forsaken me?": Have you ever had moments when you felt God was silent or absent? What does it mean to you to know that Jesus also experienced this feeling?
Chapter 27 is the center of the King's passion: Judas's remorse, Pilate's trial, the crowd's choice, the soldiers' mockery, the cross, the death, the burial, and the sealing of the tomb. Matthew shows the reader that human justice, religious power, and popular sentiment can all fail, yet God accomplishes salvation through the rejected King.
A verse-by-verse reading can proceed through the themes of "Handover, Mockery, Crucifixion, Testimony, and Burial." Matthew 27:3-10 lets the thirty pieces of silver echo Zechariah, 27:11-26 shows the innocent one being condemned, 27:27-44 pushes the sarcastic portrayal of kingship all the way to the cross, 27:45-56 explains the cosmic significance of this death through the darkness, the temple curtain, and the centurion's confession, and 27:57-66 guarantees the reality of the death.
27:1-2 "Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor."
Matthew 27:1-2（World English Bible）
"Now when morning had come": πρωΐας γενομένης (prōias genomenēs) (when morning came), the Sanhedrin formally confirmed the verdict from the night trial (a trial at night was procedurally invalid and required a formal daytime resolution to "legalize" it, at least formally complying with the Mishnah's requirements for trial procedures). "all the chief priests and the elders of the people": Note that this was a formal resolution of the entire Sanhedrin, not the conspiracy of a few. Jesus' death was the collective decision of the highest Jewish authority. "delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor": The Jewish Sanhedrin had the authority for religious trials but not the power to carry out the death penalty (John 18:31, "We have no authority to kill anyone." The Roman Empire reserved the power of capital punishment for the governor in its directly administered provinces). This also explains why Jesus was crucified (a Roman punishment) rather than stoned (a Jewish punishment). John 18:32 says, "that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying what kind of death he should die" (Jesus had repeatedly prophesied that he would be "lifted up": John 3:14; 12:32-33; crucifixion is being "lifted up," not "cast down").
Pontius Pilate (Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος), the Roman governor (praefectus) of the province of Judea from AD 26-36. A stone inscription discovered in Caesarea in 1961 confirms his existence and title. Pilate was normally stationed in Caesarea Maritima (a city on the Mediterranean coast) and only came to Jerusalem for major festivals like Passover, as the large gathering of pilgrims increased the risk of riots.
27:3-5 "Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.” He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself."
Matthew 27:3-5（World English Bible）
"remorse": μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai) is different from μετάνοια (metanoia, repentance, turning to God). Judas's remorse was regret over the consequences, not a directional change concerning the sin itself. The former sees only the trouble one has caused; the latter acknowledges one is a sinner in need of forgiveness. The former sees God as a judge to be avoided; the latter sees God as a Father to whom one can return. He confessed that Jesus was an "innocent person" (ἀθῷον αἷμα, athōon haima, innocent blood), a testimony to Jesus' innocence from the enemy camp. This forms a threefold witness along with Pilate's wife (27:19, "that righteous man") and Pilate himself (27:24, "the blood of this righteous person"). Ironically, even the betrayer knew He was innocent; only the religious leaders pretended not to know. But the chief priests' response is chillingly cold: "What is that to us? You see to it." They had used Judas to achieve their goal and now discarded him like a used tool. This has always been Satan's method: when tempting you to sin, he gives you a thousand reasons; after you have sinned, he gives you none, leaving you alone to face the judgment of your conscience.
Judas "threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself." "threw down... in the sanctuary" (ἔρριψεν εἰς τὸν ναόν, erripsen eis ton naon). Note that this is ναός (naos) (the sanctuary area) and not ἱερόν (hieron) (the entire temple complex). Judas threw the silver into an area only priests could enter, a desperate act filled with anger and accusation. From "I betrayed innocent blood" to death by hanging, Judas's trajectory is the logical end of despair: he saw his sin but saw no possibility of forgiveness. He knew he was wrong but did not believe there was still salvation. Acts 1:18-19 adds another detail, that Judas "falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out." The two accounts are not contradictory: it's possible the rope broke after he hanged himself, and he fell. This stands in stark contrast to Peter. Peter also committed a grave sin (denying Jesus three times), but after weeping bitterly (26:75), he moved toward restoration (John 21:15-17). Judas, after his remorse, moved toward self-destruction. The difference between them was not the severity of their sin but the direction of their response. One turned to God, the other to himself. Judas's tragedy reminds us that recognizing our sin is not the same as receiving forgiveness. The crucial question is where we take our sin. Taking it to ourselves leads only to despair; taking it to God leads to restoration.
27:6-8 "The chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, “It’s not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.” They took counsel, and bought the potter’s field with them, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field was called “The Field of Blood” to this day."
Matthew 27:6-8（World English Bible）
27:9-10 "Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”"
Matthew 27:9-10（World English Bible）
The chief priests refused to put the thirty pieces of silver back into the temple treasury (because it was "the price of blood," and the κορβανᾶς (korbanas), or sacred treasury, could not accept unclean money). The irony is that they had no conscientious objection when they paid this blood money, but now they are concerned about the purity of the treasury. They were experts in the letter of the law but completely ignored its spirit. Jesus had already condemned this kind of hypocrisy: "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!" (23:24). Paying silver to kill the Son of Man is swallowing a camel; worrying about a few coins defiling the treasury is straining out a gnat. "bought the potter’s field with them, to bury strangers in": This field became a public cemetery for the unknown. The price of an innocent man's blood was used to bury the unclaimed dead. Even this use is full of symbolic meaning: the final resting place of the abandoned is paid for by the blood of the abandoned Messiah, as if prefiguring how the cross would open a way home for all the "abandoned strangers" of the world.
Matthew quotes "Jeremiah the prophet," but the actual content comes mainly from Zechariah 11:12-13 (thirty pieces of silver, the potter). However, Matthew may be following the Jewish tradition of "composite quotations named after the most famous prophet" (in the Jewish ordering of the canon, Jeremiah often stands first among the prophetic books). He also integrates themes from Jeremiah 19:1-13 (the potter's gate, burial in this place, innocent blood, prophecy of punishment) and Jeremiah 32:6-9 (the purchase of a field as a sign of future restoration). Three prophetic texts intertwine in the event of Judas: Zechariah provides the amount and the potter, while Jeremiah provides the field of blood and the judgment. Multiple Old Testament prophetic threads converge in a single historical event. The core prophecy is precisely fulfilled: the thirty pieces of silver were ultimately used to buy the potter's field. From Zechariah's vision to Judas's silver, a prophecy hundreds of years old was fulfilled in an immoral real estate transaction. "has been called 'The Field of Blood' to this day": When Matthew wrote his Gospel, this field still existed. Acts 1:19 likewise records that "it became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem." The place name itself became lasting evidence of the prophecy's fulfillment.
27:11 "Now Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “So you say.”"
Matthew 27:11（World English Bible）
27:12-14 "When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they testify against you?” He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly."
Matthew 27:12-14（World English Bible）
"Jesus stood before the governor": A subtle reversal of scenes. In a human court, Jesus is the defendant standing before the judge. But from God's perspective, the judge will one day stand before the defendant to be judged (25:31-32, the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne and all the nations will be gathered before him; Acts 17:31, God has set a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness). Today, Pilate sits on the judgment seat; after the resurrection, Jesus will sit on the great white throne. The exchange of positions is only a matter of time. "Are you the King of the Jews?": Note the change in the accusation. Before the Jewish Sanhedrin, it was a religious charge (blasphemy, claiming to be the Son of God). Before the Roman governor, it became a political charge (treason, claiming to be the King of the Jews). This is because a Roman court would not adjudicate internal Jewish religious disputes (cf. Gallio's ruling in Acts 18:14-15; Gallio explicitly refused to get involved in an internal Jewish debate). To get Pilate to issue a death sentence, they had to frame Jesus as a political threat to Caesar. This tactic of branding religious opponents as political criminals is common throughout history. "So you say" (σὺ λέγεις, sy legeis), the same pattern as his answer to Caiaphas: an affirmation, but with a degree of distance. Jesus is indeed the King of the Jews, but not the kind of political monarch Pilate understood (John 18:36, "My Kingdom is not of this world.").
Jesus' silence once again fulfills Isaiah 53:7: "He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent". Pilate "marveled greatly" (θαυμάζειν λίαν, thaumazein lian, was exceedingly amazed). In a Roman court, a defendant would typically defend himself vigorously (as silence was tantamount to guilt, and lawyers would be hired to deliver eloquent refutations; the famous Ciceronian defense is a product of this culture). Jesus' silence shattered all of Pilate's expectations for a defendant's behavior. This was not the silence of guilt, but the silence of one in authority. He did not need to defend himself, because the very purpose of his coming was to be condemned, to suffer the penalty in place of us who deserved condemnation.
27:15-18 "Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the multitude one prisoner, whom they desired. They had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?” For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up."
Matthew 27:15-18（World English Bible）
27:19 "While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.”"
Matthew 27:19（World English Bible）
The custom of releasing a prisoner at Passover, though not directly mentioned by Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, has precedent, as Roman governors were known to pardon prisoners during festivals (the governor of Egypt is recorded doing so in papyrus documents, a practice called abolitio). This custom itself is full of Passover symbolism: Passover is a festival of release (commemorating the Israelites' release from Egypt, Exodus 12), and now a guilty man is released because an innocent man takes his place. The blood of the lamb substituting for the firstborn is once again lifted high, only this time the lamb has a name: Jesus.
Barabbas (Βαραββᾶς), Aramaic for "son of the father" (bar-abba). The name creates a profound irony: the true "Son of the Father" (the Son of God) is rejected, and a criminal "son of a father" (Barabbas) is released. Some ancient manuscripts (like the Caesarean text-type family and Origen's commentary) even record Barabbas's name as "Jesus Barabbas." If this is accurate, the irony is even sharper: a choice between two men named "Jesus" (Joshua: "Yahweh is salvation"). One sought freedom through violence (Mark 15:7, "had committed murder in the insurrection," indicating he was a Zealot-style revolutionary who used force in the name of national liberation), while the other brought salvation through sacrifice. Barabbas is a microcosm of every sinner. We are all the one who deserved to die but was released because Jesus took our place. The sin is ours, the freedom is borrowed, and on the back of that release order is written another man's name.
Pilate "knew that because of envy" (φθόνος, phthonos, envy) they had delivered him up. As a politician, he saw through to the chief priests' true motive: it was not loyalty to the law but fear of Jesus' influence. The crowds' adoration, his healing power, and his authoritative teaching all threatened their religious status. Envy was the root of Cain's murder of Abel (Genesis 4), the root of Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery (Genesis 37), and now it was the root of sending the Messiah to the cross. The ugliest sin in human history has a consistent lineage. Pilate's wife had a dream about "that righteous man," a detail recorded only by Matthew. In Roman culture, dreams were considered warnings from the gods (Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, also had a premonitory dream before his assassination, as recorded in Plutarch's Lives). Even a Gentile's dream testifies on Jesus' behalf, while God's chosen people are shouting, "Crucify him!" Dreams serve an important narrative function in Matthew's Gospel: the Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod (2:12), Joseph was told in a dream to take Jesus and flee to Egypt (2:13), and now, at the end of the Gospel, another dream comes to testify for Jesus. From the dreams of his infancy to the dream at his passion, God never stopped speaking through the most unlikely people.
27:20-23 "Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. But the governor answered them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!” But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”"
Matthew 27:20-23（World English Bible）
27:24-26 "So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it.” All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!” Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified."
Matthew 27:24-26（World English Bible）
"persuaded the multitudes" (ἔπεισαν, epeisan, they persuaded, convinced). The chief priests and elders actively worked the crowd, engaging in organized manipulation of public opinion. The same crowd that had shouted "Hosanna" a few days earlier (21:9) was now shouting "Crucify him!" The crowd gathered before the governor's palace in the early morning was likely composed mainly of the chief priests' supporters and those with vested interests in the temple, rather than the Galilean pilgrims from Palm Sunday (Passover pilgrims would have been staying in camps outside the city and may not have been present so early). The ease with which the crowd's voice was manipulated is a warning for every age. "Why? What evil has he done?": Pilate declared Jesus innocent three times (John 18:38, "I find no basis for a charge against him"; Luke 23:15, "he has done nothing worthy of death"; Luke 23:22, a second confirmation). Roman legal procedure confirmed Jesus' innocence three times, but political pressure triumphed over legal justice. Luke 23:12 records that Pilate also sent Jesus to Herod (because Jesus was a Galilean under Herod's jurisdiction), and Herod also found no guilt, adding a fourth confirmation of his innocence.
"took water and washed his hands before the multitude": This action is very interesting. Washing hands to atone for guilt is a Jewish ritual, not a Roman custom (Deuteronomy 21:6-7 stipulates that when an unidentified body is found, the elders of the nearest town are to wash their hands over a heifer, declaring, "Our hands have not shed this person’s blood"). Pilate used the Jews' own ritual before the Jews to try to shift responsibility. A Roman governor borrowed the religious ritual of the people on trial to absolve himself, but water cannot wash away real guilt. He still signed the death warrant. In the Apostles' Creed, Pilate's name is forever tied to Jesus' suffering: "suffered under Pontius Pilate." History does not accept his hand-washing.
"May his blood be on us, and on our children!": This sentence has been severely misused throughout history to justify anti-Semitism and the persecution of Jewish people. This is a grievously wrong application of the text. It must be pointed out: first, these were the words of the crowd present, not the entire Jewish nation (most Jews at the time lived in the diaspora, not Jerusalem); second, Jesus' prayer on the cross was, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34)—the victim himself had already forgiven them; third, the first several thousand people to believe were precisely the Jews of Jerusalem (Acts 2:41, "about three thousand souls were added to them"), for whom Jesus' blood was not a curse but for the forgiveness of sins (26:28). When an Israelite believes in the Lord, this blood becomes their salvation, not their condemnation.
"flogged" (φραγελλώσας), the Roman scourging (flagellatio) used a whip (flagellum) with pieces of metal, bone, and lead embedded in leather thongs. The victim was tied to a post and flogged on their bare back. The whip could tear through skin and flesh, exposing ribs and internal organs. Roman law limited the number of lashes for citizens, but there was no limit for non-citizens. Many prisoners died during or shortly after the flogging; to survive it and still be able to be crucified was the limit of physical endurance. This was not a symbolic punishment. Isaiah 52:14 prophesied, "his appearance was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men." After the flogging, Jesus would have been disfigured, perhaps to the point that his facial features were unrecognizable. 1 Peter 2:24 says, "by his wounds you were healed." Every gash on the Lord's body is a window opened for us, allowing God's healing to enter the gashes of our souls.
27:27-29 "Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him. They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”"
Matthew 27:27-29（World English Bible）
27:30-31 "They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. When they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him."
Matthew 27:30-31（World English Bible）
"the whole garrison" (ὅλη ἡ σπεῖρα): A σπεῖρα (speira) in the Roman military was equivalent to an infantry cohort, numbering about six hundred men. Six hundred Roman soldiers gathered to mock a prisoner who had already been flogged to a bloody pulp. This scale of "group entertainment" shows the public nature of the punishment and the numbness of the barracks. A man was about to die, and for them, it was a festival-like diversion. They conducted a sarcastic coronation ceremony: the scarlet robe mimicked the emperor's purple robe (a commander's red cloak, or paludamentum, was the closest substitute for purple, as the dye was so expensive only royalty could afford it), the crown of thorns mimicked a laurel wreath or a radiate crown (portraits of Roman emperors often depicted them with a radiate solar crown to signify divinity), and the reed mimicked a scepter. Every symbol of kingship was twisted into an instrument of mockery. "Hail, King of the Jews!" (Χαῖρε, βασιλεῦ τῶν Ἰουδαίων) directly mimicked the greeting "Hail, Caesar!" (Ave, Caesar), turning the highest honor for the emperor into the basest humiliation for a prisoner.
But the deeper irony is that everything they mocked was true. The crown of thorns was indeed a crown (in Genesis 3:18, thorns are a symbol of the fall and the curse: "It will yield thorns and thistles for you." The King wore the curse of the fall, bearing in humanity's place the consequences of what was lost in Eden). The scarlet robe was indeed a king's robe (in Revelation 19:13, the returning Christ is "dressed in a robe dipped in blood"; the blood-soaked robe of the cross echoes the glory of his return). The kneeling was indeed appropriate (Philippians 2:10, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth"). They performed the right actions with the wrong attitude.
"took the reed and struck him on the head": This drove the crown of thorns deeper into his scalp. The thorns pierced his skin, compounding the pain and humiliation. The thorns common in Palestine (possibly from the Ziziphus spina-christi tree) can be several centimeters long. "They spat on him": In ancient Near Eastern culture, spitting on someone was the most extreme personal insult (Numbers 12:14, Yahweh says, "If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days?"). The prophecies of Isaiah 50:6, "I didn’t hide my face from shame and spitting," and 52:14, "his appearance was so marred," were fulfilled with every slap and every spit. "When they had mocked him, they took the robe off of him, and put his own clothes on him": This detail shows that the mocking ritual had a clear beginning and end and was an organized group activity. The entire process lasted for a considerable time; "the whole garrison" implies that hundreds of men took turns participating. This was not a matter of a few minutes.
27:32 "As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross."
Matthew 27:32（World English Bible）
27:33-34 "When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull,” they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink."
Matthew 27:33-34（World English Bible）
"Simon of Cyrene": Cyrene is in the region of Cyrenaica in modern-day Libya, which had a large Jewish diaspora (Acts 2:10 notes that people from Cyrene were present at Pentecost; Acts 11:20 mentions that men from Cyrene were among the first to preach the gospel to Gentiles). Mark 15:21 adds that he was "the father of Alexander and Rufus." Mark's readers knew his sons, and the Rufus mentioned in Romans 16:13—"Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord"—is very likely the same person, indicating that Simon later became a Christian and his whole family came to faith. An accidental chore became the turning point of his life: that morning he was merely coming into the city from the country on some business, but he ended up carrying the most important cross in the world, and from that day on, he and his family were drawn into the story of Christ. The Romans had the authority to compel residents of the provinces to perform services for the military (Matthew 5:41, "whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two," describes this right of conscription). Simon was compelled (ἀγγαρεύω, angareuō, to press into service) to carry the cross because Jesus, weakened by the flogging, could no longer carry it Himself. This also echoes Jesus' teaching: "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23). Simon literally carried Jesus' cross, becoming a living prefigurement of all who follow the Lord.
Golgotha (Γολγοθᾶ, Golgotha, Aramaic for "skull"). Its exact location is disputed. Tradition holds it to be the site of the present-day Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem (archaeology confirms this site was outside the city walls in the first century and contained tombs). Others suggest the "Garden Tomb" outside the Damascus Gate. "Sour wine to drink mixed with gall": Proverbs 31:6-7 advises giving strong drink to the dying to ease their suffering. This was an anesthetic drink mixed with bitter herbs, and Jewish women had a charitable tradition of providing pain-relieving wine to those condemned to death (Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a). But Jesus "when he had tasted it, he would not drink." He refused any means of dulling the pain, choosing to face the cross with full consciousness.
27:35-38 "When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, and they sat and watched him there. They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left."
Matthew 27:35-38（World English Bible）
"When they had crucified him": Matthew (and the other Gospel writers) describes the process of crucifixion with a single sentence, offering no graphic details. This extreme restraint is very rare in ancient literature. Cicero called crucifixion "the most cruel and terrible punishment" (crudelissimum taeterrimumque supplicium). Iron nails (about 12-18 cm long) were driven through the wrist bones and ankles (John 20:25 records the nail marks were still present after the resurrection; in 1968, the ankle bone of a crucified man was unearthed north of Jerusalem with an 11.5 cm iron nail still embedded in it, providing direct archaeological evidence for this form of punishment). But the Gospels do not let us dwell on the physical agony; instead, they guide us to contemplate the meaning of the cross. Later "Passion" paintings that pile on gory details actually violate the literary style of the Gospels. The Bible focuses on the "why," not the "how gruesome."
"they divided his clothes among them, casting lots": This directly fulfills Psalm 22:18, "They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing." Every detail on the cross was foreseen by the prophets. The Roman execution squad customarily divided the condemned person's clothing as an extra perk. John 19:23-24 describes in detail how the clothes were divided into four parts, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece, so they cast lots for it. Some scholars suggest this seamless tunic symbolizes the robe of the high priest (Josephus records that the high priest's inner robe was woven in one piece).
"THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS" (the titulus, or charge sheet). John 19:20 records that the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. This was a proclamation to the whole world: the King of the Jews was being crucified. The chief priests protested that it should have read, "He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews,’" but Pilate refused to change it (John 19:22, "What I have written, I have written"). In the end, it was a Gentile governor who wrote the most accurate theological declaration for Jesus. "Two robbers" (λῃσταί, lēstai, rebels or insurrectionists). Jesus was crucified between two criminals, fulfilling Isaiah 53:12, "he was counted with the transgressors." The king's throne became a criminal's cross.
27:39-40 "Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”"
Matthew 27:39-40（World English Bible）
27:41-44 "Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach."
Matthew 27:41-44（World English Bible）
The threefold mockery forms a set of concentric circles, moving from the outside in: the passersby (the general public), the religious leaders (the center of power), and the robbers crucified with him (his companions at the execution). Every layer joins in the ridicule. From strangers to enemies to fellow sufferers, not a single voice stands with Him. This is the literal meaning of being "rejected by the whole world." "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross": The structure of this temptation is identical to the one in the wilderness (4:3, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread"—it begins with the same "If you are the Son of God"). On the cross, the devil issues his final temptation through human mouths: prove yourself with power and abandon the way of the cross. The temptation in the wilderness was in a place where no one could see; the temptation on the cross is before everyone. Public humiliation doubles the temptation: it is easier to give in before others to save face than to give in alone. Jesus refused in the wilderness, and He refuses again on the cross, but this time the refusal costs Him His life. From refusing to turn stones to bread to refusing to come down, every "no" was a "yes" spoken for our sake.
"He saved others, but he can’t save himself": This is an unwitting declaration of the core of the gospel: it is precisely because He chose not to save Himself that He could save others. The logic of the cross is this: love requires sacrifice, and salvation requires a price. If He had come down from the cross, He would have proven His power but lost His redemptive purpose. He "can't" save Himself not because He lacks the power, but because love would not allow it.
"He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him": This is an almost verbatim quote of Psalm 22:8, "He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him." The mockers have no idea they are fulfilling prophecy. Luke 23:39-43 adds a crucial detail: one of the robbers repents at the last moment, saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." Jesus replies, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Even on the cross, grace is still at work.
27:45-46 "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”"
Matthew 27:45-46（World English Bible）
"from the sixth hour... until the ninth hour": From noon to 3 p.m., the whole land was shrouded in unnatural darkness for three full hours. This was not a solar eclipse (Passover is celebrated at the full moon, making a solar eclipse impossible). In Exodus 10:21-23, the ninth plague, a plague of darkness, covered Egypt for three days. The darkness of God's judgment on Egypt now covered the scene of God judging His own Son. Amos 8:9 prophesied, "In that day... I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day." The prophetic darkness of the final judgment arrived early at the cross.
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?": This is an Aramaic quotation of Psalm 22:1. It is the most awe-inspiring and perplexing sentence in the entire Bible. Jesus is quoting a Psalm on the cross, which means He is not crying out randomly in despair but is using the language of Scripture to express His experience. Psalm 22 begins with a cry of abandonment but ends with a song of triumphant praise (Psalm 22:27-31, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh"). In quoting the beginning of this psalm, Jesus knew its ending.
But here there is real spiritual agony: 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For him who knew no sin, he made to be sin on our behalf." At this moment, Jesus bore the entirety of human sin, and the holy Father cannot be in the presence of sin. This was an unprecedented rupture in the relationship within the Triune God. This was not a dramatic performance; it was the ultimate price God paid to save humanity: not just physical death, but the spiritual agony of separation from the Father.
27:47-49 "Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”"
Matthew 27:47-49（World English Bible）
27:50 "Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit."
Matthew 27:50（World English Bible）
"This man is calling Elijah": "Eli" (Ἠλί, Ēli, my God) sounds similar to "Elijah" (Ἠλίας, Ēlias) in Aramaic. Jewish tradition held that Elijah would return before the Messiah (Malachi 4:5) and that he would rescue the righteous in times of crisis. Jewish folk tales often feature Elijah appearing at the last moment to save a righteous person in distress. The people standing by may have genuinely misheard (the voice from the cross was distorted by pain), or they may have been mocking. "Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him": even as Jesus is dying, the onlookers are treating Him as entertainment.
"a sponge... filled it with vinegar": This was the cheap sour wine (posca, vinegar mixed with water) of Roman soldiers. This may not have been an act of mercy but an attempt to prolong Jesus' consciousness and suffering. But whatever the intention, this act fulfilled Psalm 69:21, "They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink." Even the unintentional actions of the bystanders were fulfilling the prophecies of the prophets.
"Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit": This "loud voice" (φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, phōnē megalē) is unusual. Death by crucifixion is typically a slow process of asphyxiation, and a dying person would have no strength left to shout loudly. John 19:30 records His final words: "It is finished!" (τετέλεσται, tetelestai), which is a cry of victory, not a sigh of defeat. John 10:18 says, "No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself." Jesus was not conquered by death; He actively surrendered His life.
27:51-53 "Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many."
Matthew 27:51-53（World English Bible）
27:54 "Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”"
Matthew 27:54（World English Bible）
"the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom": This was the veil before the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:31-33 specified it be made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, with cherubim worked into it). According to Jewish tradition, it was about eighteen meters high, a handbreadth thick, and woven from seventy-two strands of thread, so strong that two horses could not pull it apart. "From the top to the bottom" indicates that it was not torn by human hands from below, but that God Himself tore it from above.
The significance of this veil is profound. It separated people from the presence of God, representing the fact that sinners cannot approach a holy God. Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year on the Day of Atonement, and he had to bring the blood of atonement with him (Leviticus 16). The tearing of the veil means that the way to God is now open forever. There is no longer a need for a high priest as a mediator, nor for the blood of animals as a price. Hebrews 10:19-20 provides the clearest theological commentary on this: "having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." Jesus' body was torn (on the cross), and the temple veil was also torn. His body is that veil.
"The earth quaked... The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised": This account is unique to Matthew and is considered an eschatological sign. The Old Testament repeatedly links earthquakes and the resurrection of the dead with the end times (Ezekiel 37:12-13, the resurrection of dry bones; Daniel 12:2, "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake"). The cross is a premature eruption of end-time events; the new age is breaking forth from within the heart of the old.
"Truly this was the Son of God" (a Greek phrase). This is the Christological climax of the entire book. From the voice from heaven (3:17, "This is my beloved Son"), to Peter's confession (16:16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"), to this earthly testimony from a Gentile Roman officer. To a Roman, "Son of God" might simply have been an expression of awe (akin to "this man was truly the son of a god"), but within Matthew's narrative framework, it carries its full theological weight. This phrase has been developing from the Father's mouth (3:17), to the devil's temptation (4:3), to the disciples' confession (14:33), to the high priest's interrogation (26:63), and here, at the foot of the cross, it reaches its ultimate confirmation. At the same moment that Israel's religious leaders reject Jesus, a Gentile sees the truth. Matthew's Gospel begins with the Magi (Gentiles) worshiping Jesus and climaxes with the centurion (a Gentile) confessing Him, framing the entire gospel narrative with Gentile faith.
27:55-56 "Many women were there watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee."
Matthew 27:55-56（World English Bible）
The disciples all fled (26:56), but the women remained. They were "watching from a distance," but they did not leave. At a time when the male disciples had all disappeared, these women who had followed and served Jesus all the way from Galilee became the sole witnesses of the cross. John 19:25 mentions that Jesus' mother Mary and "the disciple whom he loved" (John) were also near the cross, but Matthew's lens focuses specifically on this group of women. Their "watching from a distance" was not apathetic observation, but the love of those who could get no closer to the heavily guarded execution site. They would become the first witnesses of the resurrection (28:1-10). In first-century Jewish society, the testimony of women was not accepted in a court of law (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 4.8.15, explicitly states that women and slaves could not be witnesses), but God chose the most disregarded people to deliver the most important news. This in itself is a sign of the gospel: the weak are exalted, and the overlooked become the witnesses.
27:57-58 "When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself was also Jesus’ disciple came. This man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up."
Matthew 27:57-58（World English Bible）
27:59-61 "Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock, and he rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb."
Matthew 27:59-61（World English Bible）
Joseph of Arimathea. Luke 23:50-51 adds that he was "a member of the council, a good and righteous man" who "was also waiting for God’s Kingdom" and "had not consented to their counsel and deed." John 19:38 says he was a "disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews." But now, he stepped forward. John 19:39 adds that Nicodemus (the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night in John 3) also took part in the burial. Two men who had been secret believers publicly declared their allegiance after Jesus' death. While the disciples fled in fear, it was these two "secret believers" who stepped up. Sometimes the most unexpected people do the right thing at the most critical moment.
Requesting the body from Pilate required great courage. It was tantamount to publicly declaring his association with an executed rebel, which meant risking ostracism from his colleagues in the Sanhedrin and even endangering his own safety. Roman law typically left the bodies of the crucified to be eaten by birds and beasts as an additional humiliation. Pilate's consent to hand over the body was an unusual "favor" granted to Jesus. Isaiah 53:9 prophesied of the suffering servant, "They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death." A poor man's death (crucifixion) was paired with a rich man's tomb; prophecy was once again precisely fulfilled.
"wrapped it in a clean linen cloth": σινδών καθαρά (sindōn kathara, a clean linen cloth). This was a respectful form of burial, unlike the hasty disposal common for criminals. John 19:39 adds that Nicodemus brought about a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, a quantity of spices fit for a royal burial (cf. the burial of King Asa with various spices in 2 Chronicles 16:14). A man executed as a criminal received the burial of a king—another irony.
His "new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock" was a typical tomb for the wealthy in first-century Jerusalem: a chamber hewn out of a limestone rock face, with a low entrance requiring one to stoop, and stone benches inside for laying the body. A "new tomb" (John 19:41 adds, "in which no one had ever yet been laid") ensured that the witness to the resurrection would not be confused with other bodies; no one could claim, "Someone else was resurrected." "He rolled a large stone to the door of the tomb": This type of round, rolling stone (golel) typically weighed one to two tons. Once rolled into a prepared channel, gravity made it very difficult to push open again, ensuring the tomb's security. The two Marys were "sitting opposite the tomb": they witnessed the burial site (they knew the body was indeed placed there), so on the morning of the resurrection, they knew where to go. Matthew is establishing a continuous chain of evidence for the resurrection.
27:62-64 "Now on the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come at night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”"
Matthew 27:62-64（World English Bible）
27:65 "Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.”"
Matthew 27:65（World English Bible）
27:66 "So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone."
Matthew 27:66（World English Bible）
"the day after the Preparation Day": This was the Sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset). Matthew's use of this phrase instead of simply "the Sabbath" may be an ironic hint: the Jewish leaders were supposed to rest on the Sabbath, but to ensure Jesus remained in the tomb, they went to see the Gentile governor and arrange for a military guard on the Sabbath. Ironically, they had repeatedly accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath (12:2, 10), and now they themselves were breaking the Sabbath rules. "that deceiver" (ἐκεῖνος ὁ πλάνος, ekeinos ho planos, that impostor), even after his death they were unwilling to use Jesus' name, as if speaking it would be a form of acknowledgment. They remembered Jesus had said, "After three days I will rise again": ironically, the disciples seemed to have forgotten this promise (in 28:1, the women went to the tomb to anoint the body, not to meet the risen Lord), and Jesus' enemies took His words more seriously than His friends did. "lest perhaps his disciples come... and steal him away": The chief priests' concern reveals their deep-seated anxiety. If Jesus were merely a deceiver, why be so nervous? Why mobilize the machinery of the state against a dead man? Their fear itself is a testament to the power of Jesus' words.
Pilate's reply, "You have a guard": κουστωδία (koustodia) is a loanword from the Latin custodia (a guard detachment). Scholars debate whether this refers to Roman soldiers or the temple guard. 28:14, "if this comes to the governor’s ears," implies these guards were accountable to the Roman authorities; if they were merely the temple guard, they would have no need to fear the governor. "Make it as secure as you can": Pilate's attitude toward this group of religious leaders was already quite impatient.
With Roman soldiers on guard and the stone sealed (σφραγίζω, sphragizō, to add a wax or cord seal, breaking which was an offense against Roman authority), every possible human precaution was taken. But all this ironically became the most powerful counter-evidence against any denial of the resurrection. If the tomb had not been guarded, the claim that "the disciples stole the body" could not have been refuted (in fact, 28:11-15 records that after the guards reported the reality of the resurrection, the chief priests used this very "disciples stole him" story as a cover-up). God allowed the enemy to seal the tomb as tightly as possible, so that when it was opened, no one could deny what had happened. Human precautions became a testimony to God's work. The seal, the stone, the armed guards—all tools intended to prove Jesus was a fraud—ultimately became ironclad proof of His resurrection.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" is not a cry of uncontrolled despair, but the prayer of Psalm 22 entering the mouth of Christ. Jesus truly entered the place of abandonment, so that those crushed by shame, failure, and betrayal would know that the Savior does not explain suffering from a distance, but bears sin and judgment in the deepest darkness.
| Original | Transliteration | English Translation | Semantic Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| σταυρός | stauros | Cross | The most brutal Roman punishment, reserved for slaves and rebels; Roman citizens were exempt. |
| τετέλεσται | tetelestai | It is finished | Perfect tense: completed with ongoing effects; in commercial documents, it meant "paid in full." |
| καταπέτασμα | katapetasma | Veil | The curtain before the Most Holy Place in the temple: the final barrier separating God from humanity. |
| μεταμέλομαι | metamelomai | Remorse / Regret | Judas's "remorse," distinct from μετάνοια (repentance / a change in life's direction). |
| κηνσουρίων | kensiōn | Centurion | A Roman army officer in command of a hundred soldiers; the Gentile who confessed Jesus as the Son of God. |
| Psalm 22 | Matthew 27 | Fulfillment |
|---|---|---|
| 22:1 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" | 27:46 Jesus' cry | Literal fulfillment |
| 22:7 "All those who see me mock me." | 27:39 "Those who passed by blasphemed him..." | The mockers' actions |
| 22:8 "He trusts in Yahweh." | 27:43 "He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’" | The mockers' words are an almost verbatim quote. |
| 22:15 "My strength is dried up like a potsherd." | John 19:28 "I am thirsty." | Physical suffering on the cross |
| 22:16 "They pierced my hands and my feet." | 27:35 The crucifixion | Nails piercing hands and feet |
| 22:18 "They divide my garments among them." | 27:35 "...divided his garments among them, casting lots..." | Precise fulfillment |
Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before the invention of crucifixion. It is impossible that David was describing a form of punishment he had never seen. This precise correspondence across time and space is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence for Old Testament prophecy.
Crucifixion was the most brutal form of capital punishment in the Roman Empire:
Cicero called it "a most cruel and terrible punishment" (crudelissimum taeterrimumque supplicium). Paul said, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" (Galatians 3:13, alluding to Deuteronomy 21:23). The cross was not just death, but a complete religious and social humiliation.
| Verse in this Chapter | New Testament Echo | Explanation of Connection |
|---|---|---|
| 27:4 Innocent blood | Hebrews 9:14 "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" | The "innocent blood" that Judas acknowledged became the blood that cleanses human hearts. |
| 27:26 The release of Barabbas | Romans 5:8 "But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." | We are all the released Barabbas: the guilty is set free while the innocent dies in their place. |
| 27:46 Why have you forsaken me? | Hebrews 2:18 "For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted." | Jesus experienced humanity's deepest suffering, so he can understand all suffering. |
| 27:51 The veil is torn | Hebrews 4:16 "Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need." | The tearing of the veil opened the way for every believer in the New Covenant era to come directly before God. |
| 27:54 The centurion's confession | Romans 10:9 "that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." | The first person to confess Jesus after the cross was a Gentile, demonstrating the universality of the gospel. |
| 27:66 The sealing of the tomb | 1 Corinthians 15:4 "and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," | The more stringent the human precautions, the more undeniable the evidence of the resurrection becomes. |
| Character | Identity/Role | Role in this Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus | The sinless, substitutionary Lamb | Accepts the unjust trial in silence and completes redemption on the cross. |
| Judas | The remorseful betrayer | Acknowledges Jesus's innocence but turns to despair: remorse is not the same as repentance. |
| Pilate | The judge who knew the truth but yielded to pressure | Declares Jesus innocent three times yet still sentences him to death. |
| Centurion | The Gentile witness | Confesses at the foot of the cross, "Truly this was the Son of God," a climax of the entire book. |
| Joseph of Arimathea | The secret disciple | Steps forward at a critical moment to bury Jesus in his own new tomb. |
| Theme | Revelation in this Chapter | Canonical Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Substitutionary Atonement | The innocent dies for the guilty: Barabbas is released because Jesus took his place. | Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed." |
| The Tearing of the Veil | The way to God is opened forever: no longer a need for intermediaries. | Hebrews 10:19-20 "Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;" |
| The Suffering Servant | The prophecies of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are fulfilled point by point on the cross. | 1 Peter 2:24 "who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed." |
| The Faith of the Gentiles | The centurion recognizes the Son of God at the very moment Israel's leaders reject him. | Matthew 8:10 "When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, 'Most certainly I tell you, I have not found so great a faith, not even in Israel.'" |