The King before the Roman governor Pilate
27
📚When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people consulted together against Jesus to put him to death. 2 📚And when they had bound him, they led him away and handed him over to Pontius Pilate the governor.27:2 Israel was ruled by Rome, the most powerful empire of that day. Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea where Jerusalem was situated. They took Jesus to Pilate because they did not have the authority to put anyone to death (John 18:31).⚜
3 📚Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse and brought the thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders,
27:3 1 Tim 6:10. Judas did not repent and trust in God's mercy, as v 5 makes clear. He added one more sin to his many other sins. His sorrow was only the worldly kind of sorrow, the kind that works death – 2 Cor 7:10.⚜
4 📚saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood”. And they said, “What is that to us? You see to that”.
27:4 Judas knew, as everyone else knew, that Jesus was innocent of any wrong doing (Matt 26:60). In the Bible there are other examples of wicked men who confessed they had sinned – see Ex 9:27; 1 Sam 26:21. Confession without forsaking sin is useless (Prov 28:13). Here the Jewish leaders showed themselves more hardened, merciless, and depraved than even Judas himself.⚜
5 📚And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he left, went away and hanged himself.
27:5 Suicide is self murder, and the Jews rightly regarded it as a terrible sin. People have no more right to kill themselves than to kill others.⚜
6 📚And the chief priests picked up the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them in the treasury, because it is the price of blood”.
27:6 They called it blood money because they paid it so they could take Jesus and put Him to death. They knew this was no fit offering for God. See how they were concerned to keep up outward forms even at the time they were determined to murder God's holy Son. Compare Matt 23:23-24. Now if we reject Him what good are all our religious beliefs, customs and rituals?⚜
7 And they consulted together, and bought the potter's field with them, in which to bury foreigners. 8 📚So that field has been called, “The field of blood” to this day. 9 📚Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
And they took the thirty pieces
of silver,
the price of the one whose value
was estimated,
whose price was set by the children
of Israel,
10 📚And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord ordered me.
27:7-10 This was in fulfillment of Jer 32:6-9 and Zech 11:12-13. Jeremiah wrote of buying a field, Zechariah wrote of thirty pieces of silver and a potter (perhaps the words he spoke were originally spoken by Jeremiah but not recorded in his prophecy). Compare Acts 20:35 (a saying not recorded in the Gospels), and Jude 14 (not recorded in Genesis). But see how God works even in the minds and actions of ungodly, unbelieving men to fulfill His word. Compare John 11:49-53; Acts 2:22-23.⚜
11 📚And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “You say it 📖”.
27:11 Another accusation the Jewish leaders brought against Jesus was that He was trying to set Himself up as a literal King in Israel in opposition to Rome. See Luke 23:2, 14; John 19:12.⚜
12 📚And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 📚Then Pilate said to him, “Don't you hear how many things they testify against you?”
14 📚And he did not answer him a word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
27:12-14 See Matt 26:63; 1 Pet 2:23. Pilate had tried many cases, but probably had seen few, if any, accused persons who did not deny the charges against them, or at least make some sort of excuse.⚜
15 📚Now at that feast the governor used to release to the people a prisoner, chosen by them.
27:15 He did this each year at the time of the Passover.⚜
16 📚And at that time they had a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.
17 📚Therefore when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas? Or Jesus who is called Christ?”
27:17 Pilate said this hoping they would ask for the release of Jesus. He knew how to weigh evidence and he soon realized that Jesus was innocent and wished to have Him off his hands (Luke 23:4, 7, 16, 22; John 19:12).⚜
18 📚For he knew that they had handed him over out of envy.
19 📚While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I have suffered greatly in a dream because of him”.
27:19 Once again the innocence of Jesus is stated – this time from an unexpected source. But it did not prevent Pilate from having Jesus crucified.⚜
20 📚But the chief priests and elders persuaded the crowd that they should ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
27:20 Crowds are often easily swayed by strong and unscrupulous leaders. God warns us about being swept along in a crowd to do evil (Ex 23:2). When the crowd is bent on doing wrong, it requires great strength of character to stand against it and do what is right.⚜
21 📖The governor responded and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”
22 📚Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!”
27:22 Pilate's question is one all should ponder. What we do with Christ will determine our eternal destiny. If we receive Him, believe Him and love Him we will live with Him in heaven forever. If we do not, our portion will be in the lake of fire (Matt 25:41, 46). To reject Him is to take the side of His enemies who crucified Him.
Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution. A horizontal beam of wood was fastened to a vertical beam. Then the feet of a person sentenced to death were nailed to the vertical beam, his hands to the horizontal beam, and the cross was lifted up and placed in the ground. It was a very cruel and barbarous form of execution. Jesus' worst enemies could not state a single evil act He had done (see also Matt 26:59-60). All they could do was rage and shout against Him.⚜
23 📚And the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
24 📚When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it”.
27:24 This attempt to escape responsibility was useless. Pilate was there to administer justice. But in his sinful weakness he was willing to abandon a just man to a cruel death to pacify the Jews. In doing so he shared their guilt. There is never a way that we can wash our hands of the responsibility God puts on us. And sin and guilt can be washed away only in the blood of the One Pilate gave up to crucifixion (Matt 26:28).⚜
25 📚Then all the people answered and said, “His blood 📖 be on us, and on our children”.
26 📚Then he released Barabbas to them, and when he had Jesus beaten with a whip, he handed him over to be crucified.
27:26 Pilate violated the laws of his country, the law of God, and his own conscience. The flogging alone was sometimes enough to kill a man. In his depraved weakness Pilate gave Jesus up both to that and to crucifixion.⚜
The King is handed over to be crucified and is mocked by the Roman soldiers
27 📚Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor's palace, and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 📚And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 📚And when they had woven a crown of thorns, they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And they knelt in front of him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 📚And they spit on him, and took the reed and beat him on the head. 31 📚And after mocking him, they removed the robe from him, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
27:27-31 Pilate was also responsible for this. They were his soldiers. One accusation against Jesus was that He was making Himself a king (v 11). The mocking of the soldiers was related to this. The scarlet (or purple) robe was the colour of royalty. The reed was a mocking symbol of a king's scepter. And kings have crowns, so they gave Jesus one. Jesus is the King of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). Man's fallen nature would try to deny Him that and make a cruel mockery of it all. Let us learn what Rom 8:7 means.⚜
32 📚And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, named Simon, and made him carry Jesus' cross.
27:32 At first Jesus bore His cross (John 19:17). Was He unable to continue because of physical weakness caused by the beating He endured?⚜
The King on the cross suffers, speaks and dies
33 📚And when they came to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,
27:33 Golgotha is the Hebrew name for Calvary and means the same (“a skull”). The place was outside the walls of Jerusalem.⚜
34 📚they gave him wine vinegar mixed with gall to drink. And when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it.
27:34 Ps 69:21. The idea was to stupefy those about to be executed and relieve their pains to some extent. Jesus chose to face the full force of sufferings for the sins of mankind.⚜
35 📚And they crucified him, and divided his garments, casting lots, so that there might be a fulfilment of what was spoken by the prophet,
They divided my garments
among them,
and cast lots for my clothing.
27:35 Verse 28. This fulfilled the prophecy of Ps 22:18. “They” means the Roman soldiers.⚜
36 📚And sitting down they watched him there.
27:36 Their job was to see that He died and that no one rescued Him before then.⚜
37 📚And they placed over his head this written accusation against him,
THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27:37 This was Pilate's work (John 19:19). He was mocking the Jews who had rejected Jesus as their king, but he wrote more truth than he believed or imagined. It was the custom when crucifying people to put the accusations against them on a board over their heads.⚜
38 📚At that time two thieves were crucified with him, one at the right hand, and another at the left. 39 📚And those who passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 📚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”.
27:40 Again they twist His words (Matt 26:61).⚜
41 📚In the same way the chief priests also, with the scribes and elders, mocking him said, 42 📚“He saved others. Himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
27:42 The Lord Jesus could not save Himself, only because He would not. Compare Matt 26:53. His very purpose in coming to earth was to give Himself to suffering and death as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (Matt 20:28). If He had listened to the taunt of the Jews and come down from the cross, no one would ever have been saved from sin, no one would have been able to enter God's holy heaven.⚜
43 📚“He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
27:39-43 Ps 22:6-18 reveals the inner experience of the Lord Jesus at this time.⚜
44 📚Also the thieves who were crucified with him, in the same way heaped insults on him.
27:44 One of these robbers later changed his mind (Luke 23:39-43).⚜
45 📚Now from noon there was darkness over all the land up to three 📖 in the afternoon.
46 📚And about three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” That is to say, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 📖
47 📚Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This man is calling for Elijah 📖”.
27:47 They did not understand His words.⚜
48 📚And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Let him alone. Let's see whether Elijah will come to save him”.
50 📚Jesus, when he had cried out again with a loud voice, gave up his spirit.
27:50 John 19:30 tells us what He said. The Lord Jesus voluntarily gave up His spirit – no one was able to take it from Him (John 10:17-18).⚜
51 📚And immediately the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks split,
27:51 Another marvelous sign from God. For the significance of this veil see the note at Ex 26:31-33. Can we doubt that God Himself tore this veil in two pieces? The tearing of the veil meant that the way into God's presence was opened by the sacrifice of Christ – Heb 9:3, 8; 10:19-22. About this time of day a priest would have been burning incense in the holy place in the temple.⚜
52 📚and the tombs opened up, and the bodies of many of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 📚and came out of the tombs after his resurrection, and went into the holy city 📖, and appeared to many.
27:52-53 This is the only reference to this event in the New Testament. We do not know what happened to these saints after this. Fallen asleep (v 52) is a way of speaking of death often used in the Bible (notes at John 11:11, 14; Acts 7:60).⚜
54 📚Now the centurion and those who were with him guarding Jesus, seeing the earthquake and the things that happened, were very frightened and said, “This really was the Son of God”.
27:54 The Roman soldiers confessed this, but the Jewish religious leaders denied it even after these events. Thus they showed themselves more hardened, more determined in their opposition to God's truth than the rough soldiers of a foreign power.⚜
55 📚And many women were there, watching at a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, performing service for him. 56 📚Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.
The King is buried
57 📚When it was evening there came a rich man from Arimathea 📖, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 📚He went to Pilate, and requested the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be handed over to him. 59 And taking the body Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 📚and put it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out of the rock. And he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 📚And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.
62 📚Now the next day, the one following the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate,
27:62 This was the Preparation Day for the Passover.⚜
63 📚saying, “Sir, we remember that when he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 📚Therefore, give an order that the tomb be made secure until the third day, or his disciples may come at night and steal him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead’, and the last error will be worse than the first”.
65 📚Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go make it as secure as you can”.
66 📚So they went and made the tomb secure, putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard.
27:63-66 These religious leaders brazenly called Jesus a “deceiver”, though they had no evidence whatever for that, and much evidence to the contrary. Hate blinds men to the truth, and drives them to oppose it. In this case their hate was used by God to make the evidence of Christ's resurrection more clear and certain. For, because of them, the tomb where He lay was sealed and guarded. God is able to turn all the malice of men and the tricks of Satan to His own good purpose and to the blessing of His own people. See note at Gen 50:20. It is a striking fact that the enemies of Jesus remembered Jesus' words that He would rise again, but His own disciples did not!⚜