Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 27:31
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify [him.]
31, 32. Jesus is led to Crucifixion
Mar 15:20-21; Luk 23:26-32; Joh 19:16-17
St Luke has several particulars of what happened on the way to Golgotha, omitted in the other Gospels. The great company of people and of women who followed Him; the touching address of Jesus to the women; the last warning of the coming sorrows; the leading of two malefactors with Him.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As they came out – That is, either out of the governors palace where he had been treated with such cruelty and contempt, or out of the gates of the city, to crucify him.
A man of Cyrene – Cyrene was a city of Libya, in Africa, lying west of Egypt. There were many Jews there, and they were in the habit, like others, of going frequently to Jerusalem.
Him they compelled go bear his cross – John says Joh 19:17 that Jesus went forth bearing his cross. Luke says Luk 23:26 that they laid the cross on Simon, that he might bear it after Jesus. There is no contradiction in these accounts. It was a part of the usual punishment of those who were crucified that they should bear their own cross to the place of execution. Accordingly, it was laid at first on Jesus, and he went forth, as John says, bearing it. Weak, however, and exhausted by suffering and watchfulness, he probably sunk under the heavy burden, and they laid hold of Simon that he might bear one end of the cross, as Luke says, after Jesus. The cross was composed of two pieces of wood, one of which was placed upright in the earth, and the other crossed it after the form of the figure of a cross. The upright part was commonly so high that the feet of the person crucified were 2 or 3 feet from the ground.
On the middle of that upright part there was usually a projection or seat on which the person crucified sat, or, as it were, rode. This was necessary, as the hands were not alone strong enough to bear the weight of the body; as the body was left exposed often many days, and not unfrequently suffered to remain till the flesh had been devoured by vultures or putrefied in the sun. The feet were fastened to this upright piece either by nailing them with large spikes driven through the tender part, or by being lashed by cords. To the cross-piece at the top, the hands, being extended, were also fastened, either by spikes or by cords, or perhaps, in some cases, by both. The hands and feet of our Saviour were both fastened by spikes. Crosses were also sometimes made in the form of the letter X, the limbs of the person crucified being extended to the four parts, and he suffered to die a lingering death in this cruel manner. The cross used in the Crucifixion of Christ appears to have been the former. The mention of the cross often occurs in the New Testament. It was the instrument on which the Saviour made atonement for the sins of the world. The whole of the Christians hope of heaven, and all his peace and consolation in trial and in death, depend on the sacrifice there made for sin, and on just views and feelings in regard to the fact and the design of the Redeemers death. See the notes at Joh 21:18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And after that they had mocked him,…. Gone through the whole farce, and glutted themselves with derision of him, and with sport and diversion with him,
they took the robe off from him; it belonging to one of their company,
and put his own raiment on him; partly that he might be known to be the selfsame person that was condemned and committed to them, which they now brought forth to crucify; and partly, that the four soldiers that were appointed to be the executioners, might have the perquisite of his clothes, which belonged unto them:
and led him away to crucify him; for a condemned person was always executed the same day: their canon is e,
“after that his judgment, or sentence is finished, they do not tarry with him, but slay him, , “that very day”.”
And their custom was this;
“he whose sentence for death is finished, they bring him out from the house of judgment; and one stands at the door of it, and linen clothes in his hand, and a horse at some distance from him; and a crier goes out before him, “saying”, such an one is going to be executed with such a death, because he has committed such a sin, in such a place, at such a time, such and such being witnesses; whoever knows him to be innocent, let him come, and speak in his favour: if one says, I have something to say in his favour: this waves with the linen clothes, and the other rides upon the horse, and runs and brings back him that is judged, to the sanhedrim; and if he is found innocent, they dismiss him: but if not, he returns, and goes to execution f.”
The Jews pretend g, that a crier went out before Jesus of Nazareth, forty days before his execution, and made such a proclamation, but found none that had any thing to say in his favour, and therefore hanged him on the evening of the passover. But this is false; Christ had no such length of time, or his friends any liberty granted them to speak for him. They led him out of the common hall, through Jerusalem, and through one of the gates of it, without the city, in order to crucify him, to which he was condemned, when that prophecy was fulfilled in Isa 53:7. “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”: as he made no opposition or struggle, but quietly went along with them, where they led him; so he took every thing patiently from them, uttered not one complaint, or any murmuring and repining word, or any thing by way of reviling; but became meekly subject to them, and submitted himself to him that judgeth righteously.
e Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 12. sect. 4. Misn. Sanhed. c. 6. sect. 1. f Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 13. sect. 1. g T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 43. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(31) They took the robe off from him.At this point we have to insert the account which St. John gives (Joh. 19:4-5) of Pilates last attempt to rescue the just Man whom he had unjustly condemned. He showed the silent Sufferer in the mock insignia of royalty, as if asking them, Is not this enough? The cries of Crucify Him! were but redoubled, and once again the cowardly judge took his place in the official chair, and passed the final sentence. The raiment which they put on Him again included both the tunic and the cloak, or over-garment. In this case, the former was made without seam or opening (Joh. 19:23), and the mere act of drawing it roughly over the lacerated flesh must have inflicted acute agony.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
140. LEADING FORTH AND CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS, Mat 27:32-34 .
31. Led him away to crucify him From the judgment hall of Pilate at the fortress of Antonia, Jesus is led forth to crucifixion. That he was led to a spot without the city gates, we are assured by St. Paul. Heb 13:11-12. But in what direction, whether east or west, neither Scripture, nor any reliable tradition, nor any circumstantial evidence informs us. Tradition, indeed, of a later date has fixed upon a spot, where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now stands as a monument of the event. (See map of city.) But clear circumstantial proof shows that the site of that church was not without the ancient city walls.
While our Lord was led forth a multitude, mostly women, follow him weeping. Jesus addresses them with a compassionate prophecy of the sorrows which the sins of their countrymen were bringing upon their heads. Luk 23:27-31.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put on him his own clothes, and led him away to crucify him.’
Then at last they had had their fill of mocking Him, and duty called. So they took the robe off Him, and clothed Him in His own robe, and led Him away to crucify Him. The devilish mockery was over. The crown may well have been left in place. The soldiers were aware, from Pilate’s orders about the placard on the cross, that he was bent on angering the Jews.
Normally prisoners would be led to crucifixion naked, but the clothing was probably a concession to the Jewish hatred of nakedness. It would avoid offending the crowd. It will be noted in all this that no mention is made of how Jesus behaved under this treatment. What Matthew is concerned to bring out here is how the ‘world’ treated Him, intending by it a complete contrast with His later genuine coronation (Mat 28:18; compare also Mat 25:31)
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Crucifixion and Death.
v. 31. And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him, and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.
v. 32. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear His cross.
v. 33. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,
v. 34. they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall; and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink.
v. 35. And they crucified Him, and parted His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted My garments among them, and upon My vesture did they cast lots.
v. 36. And sitting down they watched Him there;
v. 37. and set up over His head His accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. The cruel mockery finally began to pall upon the soldiers; they proceeded to carry out the sentence. Taking off the mantle, they clothed Him once more in His own clothes, and led Him away to crucify Him. The very simplicity of the narrative enhances its effect a hundredfold, besides being internal evidence for the truth of Scriptures. Matthew relates only some of the chief incidents of the day. Just beyond the gates of the city the procession came upon one Simon of Cyrene, a town in African Libya, where many Jews were living. This man they pressed into service, Jesus having proved too weak to carry His cross; for the bearing of the cross was a part of the criminal’s punishment. Thus they all came to a place called Golgotha, or the place of the skull, undoubtedly named so from its shape, which resembled that of the upper human skull. It was outside the walls of the city, Heb 13:12. Here, in accordance with the prophecy, Psa 69:21, they gave Him vinegar or sour wine to drink, mixed with gall, a potion which was supposed to stupefy the senses and deaden the sense of pain; a Jewish custom. But Jesus refused the draught; He wanted to endure all His sufferings with full consciousness, also the pains which attended the act of crucifying. Crucifixion was a punishment of criminals. And among these Christ was reckoned; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, Isa 53:5. After the crucifying had been performed, the soldiers amused themselves by gambling for the garments of Jesus, probably in this manner that they first put up the several pieces and cast lots according to the value, each one thus getting a part. The coat they then made a separate stake, since it could not be divided, Joh 19:23-24. Thus again a prophetic word was fulfilled, Psa 22:18, and the mocking soldiers unconsciously performed the will of God. They then settled down to their duty of watching their crucified charges, in order that no one might meddle with them, especially not for the purpose of taking any one of them down. They also affixed, at Pilate’s command, a sign to the head of the cross, giving the reason for the sentence: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews; written in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew-Aramaic. Thus did Pilate give vent to the bitterness of his heart, for he felt the sting of his defeat at the hands of the Jews. Thus did the soldiers enjoy their final jest at the expense of Jesus and of the nation to which He belonged. And, unconsciously, but none the less truly, they uttered therewith a comforting bit of Gospel-truth, for Jesus of Nazareth is the promised King of the Jews, the Messiah of the world.
The form of execution by means of crucifying had been introduced into Judea by the Romans when this country became a province of the Roman Empire. The Jews had made use of a post or upright pole for hanging, called the cursed tree, Gal 3:13; Deu 21:23, but the Romans employed some form of a cross-beam, and nailed the body to the cross thus formed by driving nails through the hands and feet. Since there was rarely more than a small strip beneath the feet to support the weight of the body, the pains attending crucifixion must have been the most unbearable torture, a slow straining of muscles and sinews, a gradual wrenching apart of ligaments and joints, to which was usually added the fever caused by the open wounds, Psa 22:14-17. By Roman custom the crucified criminal was compelled to die in this excruciating agony, after which his flesh was given to the birds or to wild animals. According to Jewish custom, due partly to reasons of humanity, partly to demands of Levitical purity, the bodies must be taken down and buried. By a combination of the two customs, the practice of breaking the legs, to hasten death, and of giving the mercy-stroke of piercing the body, with a lance, was introduced.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 27:31. They took the robe off from, &c. It is not said that they took the crown of thorns off his head, which served to gratify their passions both of malice and contempt: probably our Lord died wearing it, that the title which was written over him might be better understood. It was a Jewish custom in the time of Moses to execute delinquents without the camp; but after Jerusalem was built, they were executed without the city walls. Dr. Lardner has abundantly proved by many quotations, that it was customary not only for the Jews, but also for the Sicilians, Ephesians, and Romans, to execute theirmalefactors without the gates of the cities. See Heb 13:12-13 and Lardner’s Credibility, part, 1: vol. 1.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 27:31 . ] His upper garments, for which they had substituted the sagum . This is in no way at variance with , Mat 27:28 .
We are to understand that as the crown of thorns had now served its purpose, it was also taken off at the same time.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
XXVIII
THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST THE FIRST THREE HOURS
Harmony, pages 207-212 and Mat 27:31-44
Upon the execution of Jesus by crucifixion I have one general remark. Far back yonder in Old Testament history, in the days of Moses, is this saying, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” The one hanged on a tree was lifted up. See particularly the expiatory case of hanging up the sons of Saul. Hence also the typical act of Moses in lifting up the brazen serpent, and our Lord’s application to his own case as antitypical: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” a type that the Saviour of the world was to die by crucifixion. Jesus explained in his lifetime that by being lifted up signified the manner of his death.
The question comes up, Why was Jesus crucified, since the Jewish penalty was death by stoning? They did not crucify they stoned other people. How mighty the spirit of prophecy, so far back in history, to foretell a method of punishing not known to the prophet in his age!
Now we commence on page 207 of the Harmony. I will give first the events leading to the place of crucifixion, and what transpired there. The incidents, in their order, as we see on page 207, are as follows: The first incident is expressed near the top in John’s column: “They took Jesus, therefore; and he went out bearing the cross for himself.” In view of the next incident, it is quite probable that in his fasting and weakness, and his lack of sleep, he was physically unable to carry that cross from the judgment seat to the place of crucifixion, and fainted under it. Hence we come to the second incident, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke: “And as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon, by name: him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross.” So Christ bore his own cross until they got out of the city, and being unable to carry it longer, the crucifiers took a man that they met coming into the city and compelled him to bear the cross. There is a song we all have heard: Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me. Judge Andrew Broadus, who was once president of the old Baptist State Convention of Texas, once said that when this song was first written, or certainly as they used to sing it in old Virginia, it read thus: Must Simon bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me.
The newspapers reported that when the Pan-Episcopal Council was held in the City of London (the Pan-Council is an all-the-world council) Dean Stanley, dean of the ceremonies, put up to preach in Westminster Abbey a coal black Negro, Bishop of Haiti; and when that Negro got up to preach in the presence of royalty, nobility, and the professors of the great colleges or universities of Oxford and Cambridge, surrounded by “storied urn and animated bust,” he read the scripture about the two sons of Zebedee being presented by their mother for the positions on the right hand and on the left hand in the kingdom of Jesus; and he fashioned his text this way: “Lord, let my son John have the place on thy right hand in thy kingdom, and let my son James have the place on thy left hand in thy kingdom.” Then the Negro said, “Let us pray,” and offered this prayer: O God, who hast fashioned all of our hearts like, and hast made of one blood all the nations of men that inhabit the earth, we pray thee that the sons of Shem who betrayed the Lord may have the place on thy right hand, and the sons of Japheth who crucified the Saviour may have the place on thy left hand; but let the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the African, who bore thy cross, have the place at the outer gate, where some of the sweetness of the song from within, and something of the light of the glory of God in heaven may fall upon them, but where, looking earthward, they may see Ethiopia stretching out her dusky hands to God and hear the footfalls of the sons of Gush coming home to heaven.
That Negro preacher based his thought upon the geography of Simon the Cyrenian. Cyrene is a province of northern Africa, but it does not follow that because he was from Cyrene he was a Negro, and this Simon certainly was not. He was rather the father of Alexander and Rufus, well-known Jews. But, anyhow, that Negro’s prayer, in my judgment, was the most eloquent language ever spoken in Westminster Abbey.
I call attention to a singular sermon. At a meeting of Waco Association many years ago, held with the East Waco church, Rev. C. E. Stephen preached the annual sermon from this text: “Him they compelled to bear his cross,” referring to Simon. Simon, the Cyrenian, him they (the enemies of Christ) compelled to bear the cross of Christ. It certainly was a singular sermon. His thought was this: That if a man professes to be a Christian and will not voluntarily take up the cross of his Lord and Master, the outside world will compel him to bear that cross, or they will advertise him well abroad. “Compelling a Christian to bear the cross,” was his theme. For instance, it is reported that in the days of demoniacal possession Satan took possession of a Christian, and when he was summoned before a saint with power to cast out demons, and asked how he dared to enter into a Christian he said, with much extenuation, “I did not go to the church after him; he came into my territory. I found him in the ballroom and in the saloon, and I took possession of him.” Whenever, therefore, a Christian departs from true cross-bearing; when he leaves the narrow way by a little stile and goes over into the territory of Giant Despair, he is soon locked up in Doubting Castle until he is compelled to bear his cross.
The next incident related is that a great multitude followed. And a great multitude will follow a show, parade, even a band of music, or a hanging of any kind. I once saw 7,000 people assembled to see a man hanged, and since I saw it, I was there myself. Now, here was a man to be hanged on a tree, and a great multitude followed from various motives. In this multitude were a great many women who bewailed and lamented. They followed from no principle of curiosity, no desire to see a show, but with intense sympathy they looked upon him when he fainted under the burden of the cross that he was carrying his own cross. The women wept, and right at that point the great artists of the world with matchless skill have taken that scene for a painting, and we have a great masterpiece of Christ sinking under the cross and a woman reaching out her hands and weeping and crying, dragging up Simon the Cyrenian to make him take the cross.
The next incident is that of the two malefactors also condemned to crucifixion, walking along with him. They had their crosses, and Jesus had his cross with the malefactors. And another incident is that they came to the place of crucifixion, which is, in the Hebrew, or Aramaic, called Golgotha, and in the Latin version it is called Calvary. Golgotha and Calvary mean exactly the same thing, “a skull.” Dr. Broadus rightly says that this was a place where a projection of the hill or mountainside assumes the shape of a skull. You can see a picture of it in any of the books illustrative of the travels in the Holy Land; and there that rocky skull seems to stand out now. That is the place where Jesus was crucified. If you were to go there they would tell you he was crucified where the holy sepulcher is situated; they would show you a piece of the “true cross” if you wanted to see it. They have disposed of enough of the pieces of the “true cross” to make a forest.
Just as they came to the place of crucifixion, Golgotha, they made a mixture of wine and gall. The object of that was to stupefy him so as to deaden the pain that would follow when they began to drive the nails in his hands, just as a doctor would administer ether, laudanum, or chloroform, and Jesus, knowing what it was, refused to drink it. He looked at what was before him, and he wanted to get to it with clear eyes and with a clear brain. Some men seek stupefication of drugs, and others that of spirits, such as alcohol, suggested by still lower spirits of another kind; and they drug themselves in order that they may sustain the terrible ordeal they are to undergo. Christ refused to drink. These are the incidents on the way and at the place.
Now they have gotten to the place, and it is said, “They crucified him.” The word “crucify” comes from crux, meaning “a cross,” that is, they put him on a cross. There are three kinds of crosses. One looks like X, or the multiplication sign; that is called St. Andrew’s cross; another was like a T. This probably was the oldest form. The third form is like a + with the upright stroke extending above the crossbar. This is the most usual form, and is the real form of the cross on which Christ was crucified. Except the cross had been made in this last fashion, there could not have been put over his head the accusation that we will look at directly. The tall beam was lying on the ground, Christ was laid on it, and a hole was dug as a socket into which the lower end of it could be placed after he was fastened on it. Then he was stretched out so that his hands, with palms upward, would come on that crosspiece, and with huge spikes through each hand he was nailed to that crosspiece. Then his feet were placed over each other with the instep up, and a longer spike was driven through the two feet into the centerpiece. When he was thus nailed, they lifted that cross up just as they do these big telegraph poles. They lifted up that cross with him on it and dropped it into its socket in the ground. You can imagine the tearing of his hands and of his feet; but he said nothing.
When they had crucified him, the record says, “And sitting down they watched him there.” When I was a young preacher, in 1869, I was invited to preach a commencement sermon at Waco University, afterward consolidated with and known as Baylor University. So I came up to preach this commencement sermon, and my text was, “Sitting down, they watched him there,” explaining who “they” were; the different people that watched him, and the different emotions excited in their minds as they watched him; the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the elders, the Romans, the curious crowd they watched him, and they watched him there on the cross. Many years afterward, George v. Truett came to my house one day and said, “I would like to see a sermon you preached when a young man.” So I gave him that sermon to look at. He sat there and read it with tears in his eyes, and said, finally, “You can’t beat it now.”
The next thought is: What time of day was it? The record says that it was the third hour, which means, counting from sunup of our time, nine o’clock exactly, when the cross was dropped into the socket. And now is presented the thought that the two malefactors the thieves, or robbers, along with him were crucified, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. He was crucified between two thieves, and what a proverb that has become -0- “crucified between two thieves!” The sinless man and only holy man by nature and perfect obedience that ever lived crucified as a sinner and between two evildoers. How dramatic how pathetic!
Now for the first time Jesus speaks. On the way to the cross he had spoken just once. He had said to those weeping women: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me: weep for yourselves and for your children.” And then he tells them of the awful doom coming on that city and on that nation, because of their rejection of Christ. He never opened his mouth again until in this first voice, hanging there between those two thieves, and looking at his executioners, he says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Whoever, under such circumstances, prayed such a prayer? The martyrs oftentimes afterward, when they were bound to the stake and burned and the flames would begin to rise, and the Spirit of Christ would come on them, would stretch out their hands through the fire and say, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” That is voice one.
The next incident is that there were right under the cross the four soldiers four were detached at each cross, according to the Roman custom, the executioners who were entitled to the effects of the victim. And they had taken off all his outer garments before they crucified him. Now these four men take various articles of his apparel and divide them: “Now, you take the girdle and I’ll take the turban”; “I will take the inner coat,” and so on. But they came to the outer coat, a seamless coat, and being without a seam, how could they divide that? So they agreed to gamble for it. And there, with Christ, hanging on the cross and dying, the men that impaled him there gamble for his clothes. And the record says that two scriptures were fulfilled thereby. One scripture says, “They parted my garments [vestments] among them, and for my garment did they cast lots.”
In order to see the dramatic effect on many painters, of Christ on the way to the cross, of Christ on the cross, and of Christ being let down from the cross, just go into a good and great picture gallery in Europe, or into a real good one in the United States. There will be seen the great master-paintings of Christ before Pilate, the Lord’s Supper, Christ sinking under the burden of the cross, Christ nailed to the cross, Christ hanging on the cross, or Christ taken down from the cross. Picture after picture comes up before you from the brushes of the great master painters of the world.
The next incident recorded is: They nailed up above his head a wide board on which the accusation against him was written. That was in accordance with the law that if a man be put to death, a violent death, over his head, where everybody could see it, could be read the charge against him. Now, I will reconcile the different statements of that accusation. Mark says, “The King of the Jews”; Luke says, “This is the King of the Jews”; Matthew says, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; John says, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
So we see that Luke prefixes two words, Matthew puts in the word “Jesus,” and John adds the other two words “of Nazareth.” So we take the simple statement first and go to the most complex, the four statements given by the historians, just as it is given above. All tradition is agreed as to “The King of the Jews,” and each one of the historians adds some other thought. As I said in a previous discussion, that accusation was written in Hebrew, or Aramaic, in Greek, and in Latin, and this will account for some variations in the form of the statement. Suppose, for instance, in Aramaic it was: “This is the King of the Jews”; in Latin, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; in Greek, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”; you can see how each one could have written just exactly as he should read it; and everybody that passed by, seeing a man hanging on the cross would look up and say, “What has he done, this King of the Jews? What has this Jesus, the King of the Jews done? What has Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, done?”
So Pilate wrote on that board that went over the head of Jesus Christ on the cross, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He had not been able to try him on any other offense than that. When the Jews saw that sign they said to Pilate, “Do not put it, ‘This is the King of the Jews,’ but write it that he said he was the King of the Jews.” Pilate then was petulant and said to them, “What I have written, I have written. You charge him with being King of the Jews, and I write that over his head on the cross.”
I heard Dr. Burleson preach thirteen times on what Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written.” He makes this application of it: “You cannot get away from anything that you have signed your name to: ‘What I have written, I have written,’ ” that you can ofttimes evade a word you have spoken, though the Arabs have a proverb that “the word spoken” is master. Lawyers will tell you: “Say what you please, but don’t write anything; curse a man if you want to, knock him down if you want to, kill him if you want to, but don’t write anything. Whatever you write is evidence, and that is against you; but so long as you don’t write anything we can defend you and get you off under some technicality of the law.” As a famous baron of England once said to a young man he encouraged: “Whisper any sort of nonsense you please in the ear of the girl, but don’t write a letter; that letter can be brought up in evidence against you.” Now we can see how Dr. Burleson made the application in that sermon, “What I have written, I have written.”
Pilate was determined that everybody should see and be able to read it; and so he wrote it in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They were the three languages of the world, and therefore when Conybeare and Howson began to write their Life of Paul , the motto of the first chapter is, “And the title was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin”: in Hebrew, that every Jew might be able to read it; in Greek that every scholar might be able to read it; in Latin that every Roman might be able to read it. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were the reigning languages of the world, and through the world in the three regnant languages there went this statement of Pilate: To the Jew, who said in his own language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Roman it went, being written in Latin, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Greek it went in his language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
The second voice is the next thought for consideration. You are not to suppose that he was up very high, but so that his feet were two or three feet above the ground. Then he had to be up there where everybody could see his face, and as they were watching him he was looking at his mother. In the Temple when he was presented, Simeon, whom God had declared should live until Christ came, turning to the mother, said, “This child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul.” And the sword comes.
The Romanists have a very beautiful tract called the “Sorrows of Mary.” I have a copy of it, but it is in Portuguese. The seven sorrows of Mary answer to the sword piercing her heart, and one of them was when Christ fell down under the cross, and another was when she saw him hanging on the cross. Now, he is looking at his mother. Joseph, her husband, has long since died. They were very poor when Joseph lived. As you know, they could offer only a pair of turtle doves when they presented him in the Temple. They were not able to offer even a kid or a lamb, they were so poor. And Jesus had no home nowhere to lay his head and his mother and his younger half-brothers would go around with him wherever he went. “Now you take care of the mother, the brokenhearted mother,” he said, as he looked down from the cross upon John. This next voice comes, then, as he speaks for his mother. John is seen as he looks down. So he says, “Mother, behold thy son!” And then he looks at John (who is now talking to his mother), and says, “Son, behold thy mother!” He meant for John to provide for her. Her own sons had no abiding place, no home. John was well-to-do the richest one of the apostles. So he charges John to take care of his mother, and from that hour John took her to his home. Now the Romanists say that this proves that these others were not half-brothers of Jesus that Mary never had but one child. They say, “If her own sons were living, why did Jesus give her over to John, her kinsman?” And the answer is that they had no home. John was rich; he had a home. John was nearer to Jesus than these half-brothers, and John was nearer to Mary than they were. The voices of Jesus, thus far, as he spoke from the cross: first, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; second, “Woman, behold thy son; Son, behold thy mother.” We will now consider the mocking that took place. Let us see who did that mocking.
First class: They that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Thus spake the passer-by.
Second class: “In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others; himself he cannot save. He is the king of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusteth on God; let him deliver him now, if he desireth him,” and they belonged to the Sanhedrin. How sarcastic and cutting they were!
Third class: “And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach.” The passer-by; the priests, scribes, and elders and his fellow sufferers, all mock him.
But Luke tells us a different story about one of these men hanging there. In other words, at first both of them mocked him, but one of them, looking at him, reflected about his case, became penitent, and he turned around then, and said to the other, “Dost thou not even fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due rewards of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss.” He rebukes himself and the other malefactor, dying there by the side of Christ. Penitence strikes him when he looks upon the matchless dignity, patience, and glory of Jesus. Twisting his head around toward Christ, he said, “Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” as a hymn so sweetly puts it: Jesus, thou art the sinner’s friend, As such I look to thee; Now in the fulness of thy love, O Lord, remember me.
I heard that hymn sung in a camp meeting when one thousand people wept and hundreds of lips spoke out and said, “O, Lord, remember me.”
We now come to the third voice of Jesus. “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” “You ask me to remember you when I come to my kingdom. I answer not hereafter, but right now. To-day you and I will enter Paradise together.” What a salvation! No wonder everybody wants to preach on the penitent thief. How gracious to see a man who had been a criminal, his hands stained with blood, being led out to execution, strange to say, being executed by the side of the Saviour, and there, instead of an ignominious death, the thought awaited him of the Paradise of the world to come!
The question arises: Where is Paradise? This question we will discuss in the next chapter (Mat 27:45-56 ).
QUESTIONS 1. What was the general remark on the crucifixion of Christ?
2. What was the first incident cited leading to the crucifixion?
3. What was the second incident, the hymn based thereon and, according to Andrew Broadus, what is the original text of the first stanza?
4. What was the incident of the Pan-Episcopal Council, based on this bearing of Christ’s cross?
5. What singular sermon cited and what is the application?
6. Who followed him to the place of crucifixion, what pathetic incident on the way, and what is the meaning and application of Christ’s little parable in Luk 23:31 ?
7. Where was Christ crucified, what is the description of the place and what is the story of the auctioneer illustrating the traditions of sacred places and things?
8. What anesthetic was offered Christ at the place of crucifixion and why did he not take it?
9. What is the meaning of “crucify,” what are the different kinds of crosses used and upon which kind was Christ crucified?
10. Describe the awful scene of nailing Christ to the cross and the erection of it.
11. Who “watched him there” and what was the effect on each class? (See sermon in the author’s first volume of sermons.)
12. At what hour of the day was the cross erected, and what makes this scene peculiarly dramatic and pathetic?
13. What was the first voice from the cross and how unlike any other saying ever uttered before?
14. What incident at the cross especially emphasizes the depravity of the human heart?
15. What was the dramatic effect of the crucifixion on the world’s artists?
16. What custom prevailed among the Romans in regard to an accusation under which a man was crucified?
17. What were the words so written, as given by the four historians, commencing with the briefest form and going in order to the longest, showing why there is no contradiction?
18. Why would not Pilate change the form of the accusation at the request of the Jews?
19. According to this accusation, under which of the three charges was Jesus executed blasphemy, treason, or sedition?
20. What great preacher preached many times on Pilate’s reply to the Jews and what was the application?
21. In what three languages was Christ’s accusation written, and why?
22. What was the second voice from the cross and why did Jesus commit the care of his mother to John?
23. Who mocked Jesus on the cross and what did each class of mockers say?
24. What was the case of the two thieves, what led to the repentance of one of them, what was his prayer and what hymn is based upon it?
25. What was the third voice from the cross, what was its meaning and what was the significance of the three crosses?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
31 And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him .
Ver. 31. Put his own raiment on him ] God’s hand was in this, that all men seeing him to suffer in his own habit, might acknowledge that it was very he, and not another that suffered in his stead. Mahomet in his Koran speaks very honourably of Christ, except only in two things: 1. He took up the Arian heresy, to deny his Deity. 2. He denied that he was crucified, but that some one was crucified for him. But what saith St Peter? “He his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,” &c.,1Pe 2:241Pe 2:24 .
They led him away ] Quite out of the city, Ut vera piacularis victima et pro nobis fieret, Heb 13:12-13 . This was a mystery hardly understood by any of the faithful before Christ; neither could we well have told what to make of it, but that the apostle hath there opened it to us, by the instinct of the Holy Ghost. “Let us therefore” (as he adviseth) “go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,” accounting it our crown, as those apostles did that rejoiced in their new dignity of suffering shame for Christ’s name, Act 5:41 ; “It was their grace to be so disgraced.” Est et confusionis gloria, et gloriosa confusio. (Ambr.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31 34. ] HE IS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. Mar 15:20-23 .Luk 23:26-33Luk 23:26-33 . Joh 19:16-17 . The four accounts are still essentially and remarkably distinct. Matthew’s and Mark’s are from the same source , but varied in expression, and in detail; Luke’s and John’s stand each alone ; Luke’s being the fullest, and giving us the deeply interesting address to the daughters of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
31. ] Peculiar to Matt. and Mark. . = Mark. Executions usually took place without the camp, see Num 15:35 , or city, 1Ki 21:13 ; Act 7:58 ; Heb 13:11-13 . Grotius brings examples to shew that the same was the custom of the Romans.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 27:31 . , etc.: they took off the mock royal robe, and put on again His own garments ( , the upper garments, but why the plural?). No mention of the crown; left on according to some of the ancients, Origen, e.g. : “semel imposita et nunquam detracta”; and, according to the same Father, consumed by the head of Jesus (“consumpta a capite Jesu”). Taken off doubtless along with the rest, for there must be no mockery of Jesus or Jews before the public. Such proceedings only for the barracks (Holtz., H.C.).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
to = for to. Greek. eis (with Inf.) App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
31-34.] HE IS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. Mar 15:20-23. Luk 23:26-33. Joh 19:16-17. The four accounts are still essentially and remarkably distinct. Matthews and Marks are from the same source, but varied in expression, and in detail; Lukes and Johns stand each alone; Lukes being the fullest, and giving us the deeply interesting address to the daughters of Jerusalem.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 27:31. , …, and when, etc.) When the mockery was concluded, they removed also the crown of thorns.[1192]
[1192] Which ought to be therefore omitted in pictures representing Him crucified.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
and led: Mat 20:19, Mat 21:39, Num 15:35, 1Ki 21:10, 1Ki 21:13, Isa 53:7, Joh 19:16, Joh 19:27, Act 7:58, Heb 13:12
Reciprocal: Lev 16:27 – without Mar 15:20 – and led Joh 19:17 – he Heb 12:2 – endured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7:31
After completing their shameful mockery, they replaced the robe with his own clothing and started the “last mile” of his life toward the place of crucifixion.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.
[Led him away to crucify him.] These things are delivered in Sanhedrim, of one that is guilty of stoning: “If there be no defence found for him, they lead him out to be stoned, and a crier went before, saying aloud thus, ‘N. the son of N. comes out to be stoned, because he hath done so and so. The witnesses against him are N. and N.: whosoever can bring any thing in his defence, let him come forth and produce it.’ ” On which thus the Gemara of Babylon: “The tradition is, that on the evening of the Passover Jesus was hanged, and that a crier went before him for forty days making this proclamation, ‘This man comes forth to be stoned, because he dealt in sorceries, and persuaded and seduced Israel; whosoever knows of any defence for him, let him come forth and produce it’: but no defence could be found, therefore they hanged him on the evening of the Passover. Ulla saith, His case seemed not to admit of any defence, since he was a seducer, and of such God hath said, ‘Thou shalt not spare him, neither shalt thou conceal him,’ ” Deu 13:8.
They led him that was to be stoned out of the city, Act 7:58; so also him that was to be crucified: “The place of stoning was without the three camps; for at Jerusalem there were three camps,” (namely, God’s, the Levites’, and the people’s, as it was in the encamping in the wilderness:) “and in every city also where there was a council,” (namely, of twenty-three,) “the place of stoning was without the city. For all cities that have walls bear a resemblance to the camp of Israel.”
Because Jesus was judged at a heathen tribunal, therefore a death is inflicted on him not usual with the Jewish council, namely, crucifixion. In several things the circumstances and actions belonging to his death differed from the custom of the Jews in putting persons to death.
1. They never judge two on the same day. But here, besides Christ, are two thieves judged.
2. They never carried one that was to be hanged to hanging till near sunset: They stay till near sunset, and then they pass sentence, and execute him. And the reason is given by the Glosser; “They do not perfect his judgment, nor hang him in the morning, lest they should neglect his burial, and happen to forget themselves,” and the malefactor should hang till after sunset; “but near sunsetting, so that they may bury him out of hand.” But Christ was sentenced to death before noon; and at noon was nailed to the cross. For,
3. They first put the condemned person to death, and then hanged him upon a tree; but the custom of the (Roman) empire is first to hang them, and then to put them to death.
4. They did not openly lament for those that were led forth to be put to death; but for Jesus they did, Luk 23:27;28. The reason of this difference is not to be sought from the kind of the death, but from the persons: They did not bewail for a person led out to execution, but they lamented inwardly in their hearts. You will wonder at the reason which the Gloss thus gives you: “They did not openly bewail him, upon this account, that his being vilified” [when nobody openly lamented him] “might help to atone for him; but they sorrowed for him in their hearts; for this did not tend to his honour, nor lessen the atonement.” Those were better instructed, who lamented for Christ both as to the thing and person.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 27:31. And when they had mocked him. After this occurred the presentation to the people (Joh 19:5) and Pilates last attempt to release Him. But his previous permission of the mockery shows a great lack of moral earnestness. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Though Pilate was neither weak nor irresolute, he exhibited that lack of moral principle which then characterized the heathen world. His position, authority, and convictions, render the course he pursued one which entitled his name to the continued pillory of shame accorded to it in the Apostles creed.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 27:31-32. After they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him But it is not said they took the crown of thorns off his head, which served to gratify both their malice and contempt; probably he died wearing it, that the title, which was written over him, might be the better understood. And led him away to crucify him It was a Jewish custom, in the time of Moses, to execute delinquents without the camp; but after Jerusalem was built, they were executed without the city walls. And Dr. Lardner has proved, by many quotations, that it was customary not only for the Jews, but also for the Sicilians, Ephesians, and Romans to execute their malefactors without the gates of their cities. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene According to custom, Jesus walked to the place of execution, and bore his cross at his first setting out, (Joh 19:17,) not indeed the whole cross, but the transverse beam to which he was to be nailed; the other part being at the place already. But the fatigue of the preceding night, spent without sleep, the sufferings he had undergone in the garden, his having been hurried from place to place, and obliged to stand the whole time of his trials, the want of food and loss of blood, which he had sustained, and not his want of courage on this occasion, concurred to make him so faint, that he was not long able to bear his cross. The soldiers, therefore, laid it on one Simon, a native of Cyrene in Egypt, the father of Alexander and Rufus, two noted men among the first Christians at the time Mark wrote his gospel, (see Mar 15:21,) and forced him to bear it after Jesus. This they did, however, not out of compassion for Jesus; but lest he should die with fatigue, and by that means should elude his punishment. As Jesus went along he was followed by a great crowd, particularly of women, who sighed, shed tears, beat their breasts, and bitterly lamented the severity of his lot; which gave occasion to his predicting, once more, the calamities coming on his country: for, turning unto them, he said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children, &c.; see Luk 23:27-30; thus showing, that the thoughts of those calamities afflicted his soul far more than the feelings of his own sufferings.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
CXXXIII.
THE CRUCIFIXION.
Subdivision A.
ON THE WAY TO THE CROSS.
(Within and without Jerusalem. Friday morning.)
aMATT. XXVII. 31-34; bMARK XV. 20-23; cLUKE XXIII. 26-33; dJOHN XIX. 17.
a31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the bpurple, arobe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who can measure the grace of God or the depravity of man?], d17 They took Jesus therefore: bAnd they lead him out to crucify him. aand led [722] him away to crucify him. dand he went out, bearing the cross for himself, a32 And as they came out, cwhen they led him away, athey found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: bone passing by, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, ahim they claid hold upon {bcompel acompelled} to go with them, that he might bear his cross. cand laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. [Cyrene was a flourishing city in the north of Africa, having in it a large Jewish population, and Simon shows by his name that he was a Jew. The Cyreneans had one or more synagogues in Jerusalem ( Act 2:10, Act 6:9, Act 11:20). There were many Cyreneans afterwards engaged in spreading the gospel ( Act 13:1), and since the sons of this man are spoken of as well known to Mark’s readers it is altogether likely that Simon was one of them. This Rufus may be the one mentioned by Paul ( Rom 16:13). The Roman soldiers found Simon entering the city, and because he was a stranger and they needed a man just then, they impressed him after the manner mentioned on Luk 19:43, Mat 24:15), Jesus refers to the sorrows which the Romans were to bring upon the Jews, and the meaning may be, If the fiery persecution of Rome is so consuming that my innocence, though again and again pronounced by the governor himself, is no protection against it, what will that fire do when it envelopes the dry, guilty, rebellious city of Jerusalem? Or we may make the present and the future grief of the women the point of comparison, and interpret thus: If they cause such sorrow to the women while the city is like a green tree, how much more when, like a dry, dead tree, it is about to fall.] 32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. b22 And they bring him unto the place dwhich is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: bwhich is, being interpreted, {athat is to say,} The place of a skull [Where this place was, or why it was so called, are matters of conjecture. All that we know certainly is that it was outside of, yet near, the city– Heb 13:12, Joh 19:20], c33 And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, a34 they gave {boffered} him wine ato drink mingled with gall: {bmyrrh:} but {aand} when he had tasted it, he would not drink. bhe received it not. [This mixture of sour wine mingled with gall and myrrh was intended to dull the sense of pain of those being crucified or otherwise severely punished. The custom is said to have originated with the Jews and not with the Romans. Jesus declined it because it was the Father’s will that he should suffer. He would not go upon the cross in a drugged, semi-conscious condition.] [724]
[FFG 722-724]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
CHAPTER 27.
JESUS LED TO CALVARY
Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. And they took Jesus, and led Him away, carrying His cross. Mark: And when they mocked Him, they divested Him of His purple robe, and put on Him His own raiment, and led Him away, that they may crucify Him. You see the crown of thorns was not taken off but remained on His brow throughout His crucifixion. They compel Simon, a certain Cyrenian along with them, having come from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he may bear His cross. As the city of Cyrene stood on the northern shore of Africa, there is at least a probability that this was a stout, muscular colored man, who enjoyed the honor of carrying the cross, which proved too much for the fainting Jesus after a night of sleepless harassment and terrible suffering, attended by the loss of much blood.
Luk 23:27-32. And a great crowd of people followed Him, and of women, who continued to weep and bewail Him. And Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bring forth, and the breasts which did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. These words of our Savior describe the horrific sufferings which came on those people forty years from that date, the Roman wars lasting five years, and resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of a million, the slavery of another million, the exile of the little remnant, and the annihilation of the Jewish polity. All this He saw in vivid panorama before His eyes mountains of the dead, rivers of blood, and the desolation of the city and the land.
Because if they do these things in the green tree, what may be done in the dry? This statement is metaphoric; e. g., If, while Mercys door is wide open, the Holy Ghost wooing, Jesus and His apostles and evangelists preaching, and everything prosperous and auspicious, they reject and crucify Him who came from heaven to save them, killing their own Christ for whom they had waited two thousand years, what will they do when the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and God has turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind, to believe lies and be condemned? Thus the green tree emblematizes the mercy and grace abounding in the days of Jesus; and the dry, the horrific spiritual dearth coming on the land because they insulted God, slew His Son, and outraged the Holy Ghost.
And there were also two others, malefactors, being led, along with Him to be put to death. Mat 27:33-34 : And having come into the place called Golgotha, which is denominated the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; and tasting it, He did not wish to drink. This was a soporific potion, conducive to the lulling of the nerves to insensibility and the obtundification of the feeling, so as to mitigate the awful severity of the pain, somewhat corresponding with the modern chloroform. You see that Jesus declined to drink it, preferring to enjoy the clear and unclouded exercise of His intellect and the full acumen of His nerves. So when physicians want you to take chloroform, or some kind of a nervous sedative, which might probably render you unconscious of your suffering, you have the example of Jesus declining all artificial relief when passing through the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, enjoying the normal exercise of nerves and brain. Calvary is not far from Pilates judgment-hall, the ascension beginning in the city about one square from the hall, and continuing really to the summit of Calvary, passing northward through the Damascus Gate, then turning somewhat eastward, the mountain being one of the peaks of Bezetha, and within the angle formed by the road to Jericho, leading east, and the way to Damascus leading north, as the Romans were in the habit of crucifying their criminals in the most public and conspicuous places, so as to present the greatest possible terror to evildoers. Heb 13:12, locates it without the gate. Calvary is Greek, and means skull, because the hill has the shape of a human skull. When I first came to Jerusalem, with nothing but the Scripture for my guide, I recognized Calvary before any one pointed it out to me.