Matthew 27
DOYLY— by the prophet.] By David. See Ps. xxii. 19.
Matthew 27:2
2.—and delivered him to Pontius Pilate] Pontius Pilate had been appointed procurator of Judas about six years before this by Tiberius Cesar, the Roman emperor. Dr. Hales. After governing Judas for ten years, he was deprived of his office on account of his malpractices, was involved in various calamities, and died by his own hands at Vienne in Gaul, the place of his banishment. Abp. Neocome.
—the governor.] He is probably so called, because the title of procurator was less known, and because Pilate exercised the functions of a governour in deciding criminal causes, as indeed it was customary for the procurators to do in the smaller provinces of the Roman empire. Beausole.
2.—the angel of the Lord descended] This angel brought with him indeed a most glorious dayspring, his brightness covering the heavens and enlightening the world: “his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow,” all purity and joy and triumph and glory. Bp. Horne.
Matthew 27:3
3.—repeated himself.] Judas did not become a true and sincere penitent for his crime; but, now finding matters grown to a desperate height, and seeing no probable means of escape for Jesus from the malice of the Jews, he seems to have recollected the predictions of our Lord concerning the dreadful vengeance, which would overtake the person who had betrayed Him to death. This and many other dreadful reflections, working together with all that confusion which fear and guilt usually create, appear to have made up the concern and sorrow which he now felt. Dean Stanhope.
Matthew 27:4
4.—I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.] We should well observe how striking a proof is afforded, by this testimony of Judas, of the perfect innocence and integrity of our Lord’s character, and of the truth of His pretensions. If there had been any thing reprehensible in the former, or any deceit in the latter, it must have been known to Judas, who, being one of the twelve constant companions of His ministry, was witness to every thing He said or did. And, by making a discovery on this subject, he would not only have justified his own treachery, but would have highly gratified the chief priests and rulers. Instead, however, of producing any evidence against Jesus, Judas here gives a voluntary and most decisive evidence in His favour. This testimony of Judas is invaluable,
because it is the testimony of an unwilling witness; the testimony, not of a friend, but of an enemy; the testimony, not of one desirous to favour and befriend the accused, but of one who had actually betrayed Him. After such evidence as this, it seems impossible for any ingenuous mind either to question the reality of our Saviour’s miracles, or the divinity to which He laid claim; because, as Judas declared Him innocent, He must have been, what He assumed to be, the Son of God, and His religion the word of God. Bp. Porteus.
—What is that to us?] This answer of the chief priests was perfectly natural for men of their character. Men who had any feeling, any sentiments of common humanity, or even of common justice, would naturally have paused under these circumstances; would have examined Judas, and investigated the grounds of his repentance. But this was very far from entering into their plan. With the guilt or innocence of Jesus they did not concern themselves. All they wanted was the destruction of a Man whom they hated and feared, and whose life and doctrine were a standing reproach to them. This was their sole object; as to the mercy or the justice of the case, they were perfectly indifferent. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:5
5.—went and hanged himself.] His end was still more dreadful; for he fell headlong, the rope probably giving way, and “his bowels gushed out,” Acts i. 18. Bp. Mann. Thus crowning with suicide the murder of his Master and his Friend, rejecting his compassionate Saviour, and plunging his own soul into perdition. Dr. Hales.
Matthew 27:6
6.—It is not lawful—into the treasury, &c.] Meaning the treasury of the temple. How astonishing is the inconsistency of human nature, and how strange the contrivances, by which even the most abandoned of men endeavour to satisfy their minds and quiet their apprehensions! these very men, who had no scruple at all in murdering an innocent person, yet had wonderful qualms of conscience about putting into the treasury the money which they themselves had given as “the price of blood.” Bp. Porteus.
—the price of blood.] It was deemed unlawful by the Jews, and from them by the first Christians, that executioners should make any offerings, and that alms should be received from them: thus, by analogy, money by which life was bought was not to be put into the treasury. Dr. Hammond.
Matthew 27:7
7.—the potter’s field.] This field is now shewn beyond the valley of Hinnom; from the veneration it has obtained among Christians, it is called the Holy Field. Dr. Wells.
—strangers] Probably Jews from distant parts, who died in Jerusalem. Gratius.
Matthew 27:8
8.—by Jeremy the prophet.] The words here quoted are found, not in Jeremiah, but in Zechariah, at chap.
Christ is brought before Pilate. Pilate admonished of his wife. Anno DOMINI 33.
Matthew 27:11
- And Jesus] The passage respecting Judas, ver. 3—10, comes in by way of a parenthesis; and the relation is here continued from ver. 2. Bp. Pearce.
— stood before the governor.] Little did that governor imagine who it was that then stood before him. Little did he suspect that he must himself one day stand before the tribunal of that very Person whom he was then going to judge as a criminal. Bp. Porteus.
— Thou sayest.] That is, I am what thou sayest.
Matthew 27:14
14.— he answered him to never a word;] Our Lord’s conduct on this occasion was truly dignified. When He was called upon to acknowledge what was really true, He gave a direct answer both to the chief priests and to Pilate. He acknowledged that He was the Christ, the Son of God, the King of the Jews: but false and frivolous and unjust accusations He treated, as they deserved, with profound and contemptuous silence. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:15
15.— was wont to release unto the people &c.] This seems not to have been the custom of the Jews, but introduced by the Roman governour as an act of grace, for the purpose of gaining popularity. The custom obtained among some other nations. Dr. Hammond.
Matthew 27:16
16.— a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.] One who was a robber, and was imprisoned for having been concerned in an insurrection or sedition in the city, in which murder had been committed, Mark xv. 7; Luke xxiii. 19; John xviii. 40. Bp. Pearce.
Matthew 27:17
17.— Whom will ye that I release] Pilate appears to
have seen clearly that the whole accusation against Jesus was malicious and groundless, and accordingly made several efforts to save Him. As St. Luke relates, (chap. xxiii. 6, 7,) he sent Him to Herod, in order to save himself the pain of condemning an innocent man; but, on Herod’s sending Him back, Pilate was not discouraged, but had recourse to the new expedient of offering to release Jesus, as the customary act of grace on the feast day. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:18
18.— for envy] Through the envy and malice of the chief priests and scribes, who were enraged at the esteem which His works and doctrines had gained Him among the people. Dr. S. Clarke.
Matthew 27:20
20.— persuaded the multitude] Had the people been left to their own unbiased feeling, it is probable they would not have hesitated one moment in their choice: but it appears they were under the influence of leaders more wicked than themselves. This affords an awful warning to the lower orders of the people, to beware of giving themselves up, as they too frequently do, to the direction of artful and prodigate leaders, who abuse their simplicity and credulity to the worst purposes. The Jewish people seem to have been naturally attached to Jesus. They were astonished at His miracles, they were charmed with His discourses; and their diseases and infirmities were relieved by His omnipotent benevolence. But, notwithstanding all this, by the dexterous management of their chief priests and elders, their admiration of Jesus was converted, in a moment, into the most rancorous hatred; they were persuaded to ask the life of a murderer in preference to His, and to demand the destruction of One who had never offended, whose innocence was as clear as the day, and was repeatedly acknowledged and strongly urged upon them, by the very judge who had tried Him. Bp. Porteus.
Pilate releaseth Barabbas. Christ is crowned with thorns. Anno DOMINI 33.
a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
Matthew 27:24
- — and washed his hands] This was an ancient custom, among the Jews at least, of declaring innocence. See Deut. xxi. 6, 7, and Ps. xxvi. 6. Bp. Pearce. Pilate, having basely shrunk from his duty, and, contrary to his own conviction, condemned an innocent man, endeavoured to clear himself from this guilt, and to satisfy his conscience, by the vain ceremony of washing his hands before the multitude: but not so could he wash away the foul and indelible stain of murder from his soul. Still he hoped to transfer it to the accomplices of his crime. Bp. Porteus.
The extreme reluctance of Pilate to sentence Christ, considering his merciless character, (see further the account given by St. John,) is signally remarkable; and, still more, his repeated protestations of the innocence of his prisoner, although he had generally made no scruple of confounding the innocent with the guilty. But he was unquestionably influenced by the overruling providence of God, to make the righteousness of His Son appear in the clearest light, by the fullest, the most authentick, and the most publick evidence; 1st, by the testimony even of His judges, Pilate and Herod; 2d, by the message of Pilate’s wife, delivered to him on the tribunal; 3d, by the testimony of the traitor Judas, who hanged himself in despair for betraying the innocent blood; 4th, by the testimony of the Roman centurion and guard, at His crucifixion, to His divinity and righteousness; and 5th, of His fellow-sufferer on the cross. Never was innocence attested like unto His. Dr. Hales.
Matthew 27:25
- — His blood be on us, &c.] A most fatal imprecation this, and most dreadfully fulfilled upon them at the siege of Jerusalem, when the vengeance of Heaven overtook them with a fury unexampled in the history of the world; when they were at once exposed to the horrors of famine, of sedition, of assassination, and the sword of the Romans. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:26
- — when he had scourged Jesus,] It was the custom of the Romans to scourge those who were destined for crucifixion, as appears from several passages in their writings. Bp. Pearce.
— he delivered him to be crucified.] And now our blessed Lord is condemned; He is condemned by those who could not have pronounced any sentence against Him, had not He Himself at the same time vouchsafed to them breath to do so; He is condemned to die for us, that we might not be condemned to eternal death by Him; He is condemned to die the death, the shameful, the painful, the accursed death on the cross, and all to redeem us from shame, from pain, and from all the curses of the law. Bp. Beveridge.
Matthew 27:28
28, 29. — a scarlet robe. — a crown of thorns, &c.] They clothed Him in these pretended ensigns of royalty, in derision of His title of King of the Jews. Dr. Whitby. We hasten over this scene of insolence and outrage with aversed eyes, and can scarcely believe that any thing in the shape of man could have proceeded to this extreme of wanton barbarity. What a difference is there between this treatment of the innocent and injured Jesus, and that of the vileat criminal in our own country, previous to His execution: and how strongly does this mark the difference between the spirit of Paganism and the spirit of Christianity. Bp. Porteus. What inhuman wretches must these have been, thus to revel and sport with a condemned man, to triumph in His death, and preface it with so much insult and derision. But God was pleased to permit that these persons should so behave themselves, in order to fill up the measure of their iniquities, and the bitterness of that cup, which His Son was appointed to drink. It was requisite, to shew God’s utter detestation of sin, that He who had no sin of His own, and took our’s upon Him, must suffer all that was in any way due to it, all that could be consistent with His nature to suffer. Stackhouse.
Matthew 27:32
- — as they came out,] As they came out of the city. It was the Jewish (as also the Roman) custom to execute offenders without the city or the camp. Heb. xiii. 12; Numb. xv. 35; 1 Kings xxi. 13. Grotius.
— him they compelled to bear his cross.] It was the Anno DOMINI 33. He is crucified and reviled. AUBO DOMINI 33.
Matthew 27:33
- — a place called Golgotha.] The hill, on which our Saviour was crucified, is thought to have been called Golgotha in Hebrew, and Calvary in Latin, from its somewhat resembling the shape of a human skull. Being appropriated to the execution of malefactors, it was shut out of the city as a polluted place. But, since it was made the altar on which was offered up the precious and all-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, it has recovered itself from that infamy; and being resorted to by Christians with great devotion, it has drawn the city round about it, and now stands in the midst of Jerusalem a great part of the hill of Sion being shut out of the walls, to make room for the admission of mount Calvary. Dr. Wells.
Matthew 27:34
- — vinegar — mingled with gall.] St. Mark says, (chap. xv. 23,) “they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh;” the two accounts agree, for by the term translated vinegar is sometimes meant a strongly fermented wine, (see note at Ruth ii. 14;) and the word translated gall signifies any bitter infusion. This potion was probably administered to the condemned, in order to produce stupefaction, and take away the sense of pain. Dr. Whitby.
— and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.] Our Saviour refused to drink, as He needed none of those arts to diminish the sense of pain, and as He wished to shew His patience and resignation to suffering. Dr. Whitby. Also, presence of mind was necessary to enable Him to accomplish the prophecies relating to His death. On this latter account, He chose to taste, though he refused to drink. See Ps. lxix. 21.
Matthew 27:35
- And they crucified him.] Crucifixion was a death, deemed so scandalous and full of shame, that it was made peculiar to the meanest condition and the most heinous offences, and inflicted as the last mark of detestation on robbers, murderers, and the vilest of the people. Herein then we perceive the unspeakable condescension of our blessed Saviour, who not only vouchsafed to die, but disdained not the most ignominious death, that the malice and scorn of His enemies could inflict; to take upon Him the form of the meanest ser-
crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Matthew 27:37
- — his accusation written.] This was according to the custom of the Romans, with whom it was usual to cause the title of the crimes, for which a malefactor was condemned, to be either carried before him or affixed to the instrument of his punishment. Dr. Whitby.
Matthew 27:38
- — Then were there two thieves &c.] This was done with the view of adding to the ignominy of our Saviour’s sufferings. But this act of malignity, like many other instances of the same nature, answered a purpose little intended by the authors of it. It was the completion of a prophecy of Isaiah, in which, alluding to this very transaction, he says of the Messiah, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” Bp. Porteus. See Mark xv. 28.
Matthew 27:40
- — Thou that destroyest] Thou that saidst Thou wast able to destroy, &c. See note at chap. xxvi. 61. Bp. Pearce.
AUBO DOMINI 33. A miraculous darkness. Christ dieth.
Matthew 27:44
44.—The thieves also.] See Luke xxiii. 39, and note there.
Matthew 27:45
45.—there was darkness] A miraculous darkness from the sixth hour till the ninth; that is, from noon till three o’clock, according to our reckoning. Bp. Mann. This obscuration of the sun must have been preternatural, from its extent and duration, and from the opposition of the moon to the sun, the passover being at the time of the full moon. Dr. Hales.
Matthew 27:46
46.—My God, my God, &c.] We are not to imagine, that Jesus meant by these words to express any distrust of God’s favour and kindness towards Him, or any apprehension that the light of His countenance was withdrawn from Him. This was impossible. He well knew that under that load of affliction which, for the salvation of mankind, He voluntarily took upon Himself, He was still His heavenly Father’s “beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased.” These expressions therefore of seeming despondence, were nothing more than the natural and almost unavoidable effusions of a mind tortured with the acutest pain; of which many similar instances occur in the Psalms. Indeed these words themselves are the beginning of the twenty-second Psalm; and by citing them He shewed that He meant to apply the whole of that Psalm to Himself. And this very Psalm, although in the outset it breathes an air of dejection and complaint, yet ends in expressing the firmest trust in the mercy and protection of God. And our Lord Himself, when He breathed His last, committed Himself with boundless confidence to the care of the Almighty; “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.” Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:47
47.—calleth for Elias.] This is a taunt of the bystanders, pretending to mistake Eli “My God,” for the name of Elias. Roseumiller.
Matthew 27:48
- And straightway &c.] They perceived by His speaking that He was still alive; and Jesus had said, (John xix. 28.) “I thirst.” Bp. Pearce. Vinegar had been for many ages the common drink of the lower people in the East, (Ruth ii. 14.) and, as it was at that time the beverage of the Roman soldiers, it was probably offered to Christ by one of them more humane than the rest. Bp. Mann.
Matthew 27:50
50.—yielded up the ghost.] Such was the death to which the unrelenting malice of His enemies consigned the meek and holy Jesus. In the detail of all the minute occurrences concerning our Saviour’s passion, though brought about by natural and common causes, the ancient prophecies were remarkably fulfilled. It was not till every title was fulfilled, that the patient Son of God, as if then and not before at liberty to depart, said, “It is finished!” bowed his anointed head, and rendered up the ghost. Wonderful catastrophe! replete with mysteries; among which the har-
Matthew 27:51
- And, behold, the veil &c.] Such were the convulsions into which the whole frame of nature was thrown, when the Lord of all yielded up His life. The veil here mentioned was a curtain of rich tapestry, which separated the Holy place of the temple from the
The centurion’s confession. Joseph beggeth Christ’s body. Anno DOMINI 33.
Matthew 27:52
52.—many bodies of the saints &c.] According to the opinion of the Jews, when their Messiah came, there was to be a resurrection of some pious men. Dr. Whitby.
Matthew 27:53
53.—went into the holy city.] The sepulchres of the Jews were always out of their cities. Abp. Newcome.
Matthew 27:54
54.—the centurion.] The Roman captain, who, with a guard of soldiers, was ordered to attend the crucifixion of Jesus, and see the sentence executed. Bp. Porteus.
—Truly this was &c.] When the centurion saw the meekness, the patience, the resignation, the firmness with which our Lord endured the most excruciating torments; when he heard Him, at one time, fervently praying for His murderers; at another, disposing with dignity and authority of a place in paradise to one of His fellow-sufferers; and at length, with that confidence which nothing but conscious virtue and conscious dignity could at such a time inspire, recommending His spirit into the hands of His heavenly Father; he could not but conclude Him to be a most extraordinary person, and something more than human. But when, moreover, he observed the astonishing events that took place when Jesus expired; the agitation into which the whole frame of nature seemed to be thrown; the supernatural darkness, the earthquake, the rending of rocks, the opening of graves; he then burst out involuntarily into that striking exclamation, “Truly this was the Son of God.” Here then we have a testimony to the divine character of our Lord, which must be considered as in the highest degree impartial and incorrupt: the honest, unsolicited testimony of a plain man, a soldier and a heathen; the testimony, not of one who was prejudiced in favour of Christ and His religion, but of one, who by habit and education was probably strongly prejudiced against them. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:55
55.—which followed Jesus] Rather, “which had followed Jesus;” that is, when He last came from Galilee up to Jerusalem. Bp. Pearce.
Matthew 27:56
56.—Mary Magdalene.] Mary of Magdala: so called from her being of the town of Magdala. See Mark xvi. 9; Luke viii. 2. Respecting Magdala, see note at chap. xv. 39.
—the mother of Zebedee’s children.] Named Salome, the mother of St. James and St. John, Mark xv. 40. Bp. Pearce.
57.—a rich man &c. It is particularly mentioned that Joseph was “a rich man,” in order to point out by what a singular contrivance of Providence the prophecy was fulfilled, that the Messiah should make His grave with the rich in His death, Isai. liii. 9. The completion of this was highly improbable beforehand: for according to the Roman laws, the bodies of persons crucified were left to hang exposed in the air; and the Jews usually buried their malefactors in some neglected publick place. Dean Stanhope.
—of Arimathea.] This is supposed to be the same place where Samuel was born, called by the Hebrews Ramathaim-sophim. Dr. Hammond. It seems to be understood that this is the place which still goes under the name of Rama, lying in the usual road taken by pilgrims from Joppa or Jaffa to Jerusalem. It is still a considerable town, containing about three thousand inhabitants. Dr. Wells.
Matthew 27:58
58.—begged the body of Jesus.] It was not lawful with the Jews to suffer their criminals to hang all night on the tree, Deut. xxi. 23. They usually buried them ignominiously; but at the request of a family, would often permit a regular funeral. Dr. Lightfoot. Joseph, it is probable, wished to do as much honour to Jesus, as he was permitted at that time, and especially to preserve His body from the ignominy of being cast out among those of common executed malefactors. Dr. S. Clarke.
Matthew 27:60
- And laid it in his own new tomb.] It was a new tomb, in which no man had before been laid; it was an excavation in a rock, and guarded by a band of sixty soldiers, so that there could be no ground of suspicion that our Lord did not truly rise. Dr. Whitby.
—hewn out in the rock:] This is agreeable to the fashion of that country, where they cut their tombs out of the solid stone. This circumstance, minute as it appears, completely obviates the absurd objection of the Jews, “that His disciples stole Him away;” since, from such a tomb as this, there was no possible way by which His body could be removed, except by the mouth or door of the cave, at which (as we are told afterwards) a guard was placed, and where a great stone was rolled. It is worthy of observation, that the Evangelists are not
Christ’s sepulchre is sealed. His resurrection Anno DOMINI 33. the door of the sepulchre, and departed.
Matthew 27:62
62.—the next day, that followed &c.] Friday, or the sixth day of the week, being the day before the sabbath, was called “the day of the preparation,” (for the sabbath,) and it was in this year the day of the passover. “The next day, that followed” it, was the sabbath day, called by St. John, (chap. xix 31,) “an high day,” because it was one of the eight days of the paschal feast. Bp. Pearce. It should be remembered, that the “next day,” here mentioned, began on the evening of the Friday on which our Lord was crucified, as the Jews reckoned their days from the evening. Bp. Porteus.
Matthew 27:63
63.—we remember that that deceiver said,—I will rise again.] It is material to remark this expression of our Lord’s enemies; for at the very time that He predicted His resurrection, He predicted also His crucifixion, and all that He should suffer from the malice of these very men who now applied to Pilate for a guard. See Matt. xvi. 21. These men knew full well that the first part of this prediction had been accurately fulfilled through their malignity; and, instead of repenting of what they had done, they were so infatuated as to suppose, that by a guard of soldiers they could prevent the completion of the second. Bp. Watson.
Matthew 27:66
66.—sealing the stone, and setting a watch.] One cannot help admiring the wisdom of Providence in so disposing events, that the extreme anxiety of these men to prevent collusion, should be the means of adding the testimony of sixty unexceptionable witnesses, (the num-
ber of the Roman soldiers on the guard,) to the truth of the resurrection, and to the establishing the reality of it beyond all power of contradiction. The circumstance of sealing the stone was a precaution of which several instances occur in ancient times; we have a particular instance in the history of Daniel, chap. vi. 17. Bp. Porteus.
This uncommon care on their part was permitted, but over-ruled by God, in order to furnish the strongest proofs of the miraculous resurrection of His Son; and to confute these wicked men and their calumny which they suggested to Pilate, and afterwards propagated, “that the disciples stole the body away by night,” although they had used every human precaution to prevent its being taken away out of a new tomb, where there was no other corpse, and that tomb hewn out of a rock inaccessible behind, and its mouth secured by a great stone, under a seal and a guard of soldiers. In vain did they fight against God and kick against the pricks; sorely, to their own confusion and destruction. Dr. Hales.
Chap. XXVIII. ver. 1. In the end of the sabbath.] That is, “When the sabbath was past,” (see Mark xvi. 1,) which was after sunset, on the Saturday evening. “As it began to dawn,” that is, “very early in the morning,” (Mark xvi. 2; Luke xxiv. 1,) and “when it was yet dark,” John xx. 1. Bp. Pearce.
The day of our Lord’s resurrection was that on which it was before designed that He should rise. Accordingly, on this day, the sheaf of their first fruits, by which their harvest was to be consecrated, was lifted up before God, among the Jews, Lev. xxiii. 10, to signify that Christ, our firstfruits, should on that day be raised up by God, and so become a surety to us, of our future resurrection. See Rom. xi. 16; 1 Cor. xv. 20, 23. Abp. Wake.
—the other Mary] The mother of James and Joses, mentioned at chap. xxvii. 56.