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Matthew 27:36 : this statement about the executioners sitting down to watch Jesus takes the place of a statement as to the time of execution in Mk. he purpose apparently was to guard against a rescue.

Matthew 27:37 : this fact is mentioned out of its proper place. t is probable that the placard with the accusation was fixed up before the cross was erected. As it stands in Mt.’s narrative, it looks like an after-thought of the soldiers as they sat keeping watch, their final jest at the expense of their victim and the nation to which He belonged. What the custom was as to this is not known. Of the various versions of the inscription Mk.’s is the shortest: THE KING OF THE JEWS; to this Mt. prefixes: This is Jesus.

Matthew 27:38 : τότε introduces the fact mentioned as an accompaniment of the crucifixion of Jesus, ithout indicating its precise place in the course of events.—σταυροῦνται, the historical present with lively effect; and passive, probably to imply that this act was performed by other soldiers. This very slight notice grows into a considerable incident in the hands of Luke.

Matthew 27:39-44. Taunts of spectators (Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-37; Luke 23:39). The last drop in Christ’s bitter cup. To us it may seem incredible that even His worst enemies could be guilty of anything so brutal as to hurl taunts at one suffering the agonies of crucifixion. But men then felt very differently from us, thanks to the civilising influence of the Christian faith, which has made the whole details of the Passion history so revolting to the Christian heart. These sneers at the great Sufferer are not invented fulfilments of prophecy (Psalm 22:7-8; so Brandt), but belong to the certainties of the tragic story as told by the synoptists.

Matthew 27:39. οἱ παραπορευόμενοι, the passers by: the place of crucifixion therefore near a road; going to or from the temple services (Speaker’s Com.); or on work-day business, the 13th not the 14th of the month? (Fritzsche, De Wette).—κινοῦντες τ. κ. α., shaking or nodding the head in the direction of the cross, as if to say: that is what it has come to.

Matthew 27:40. ὁ καταλύων (cf. ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα, Matthew 23:37), this and the other taunts seem to be echoes of words said to or about Jesus at the trial, of which a report has already gone abroad among the populace. Whether the saying about destroying the temple was otherwise known can only be a matter of conjecture.—εἰ υἱὸς εἶ τ. θ.: Jesus had confessed Himself to be the Son of God at the trial (Matthew 26:64).—κατάβηθι: the God of this world and all men of the world have but one thought as to Sonship; of course it means exceptional privilege. What can a Son of God have to do with a cross?

Matthew 27:41. ὁμοίως, etc.: one might have expected the dignitaries, priests, scribes, elders, to have left that low-minded work to the mob. But they condescend to their level, yet with a difference. They speak about the Sufferer, not to Him, and in a tone of affected seriousness and fairness.

Matthew 27:42. ἄλλους ἔσωσεν, etc., He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Both facts; the former they can now afford to admit, and they do so all the more readily that it serves as a foil to the other fact patent to everybody.—βασιλεὺς Ἰ. Messianic King—the claim involved in the confession before the Sanhedrim, refuted by the cross, for who could believe that Messiah would be crucified?—καταβάτω νῦν, etc.: yet let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe on Him at once. These pious scoffers profess their readiness to accept descent from the cross as the conclusive sign from heaven they had always been asking for.

Matthew 27:43. his looks like a mere echo of Psalm 22:9 (not a literal quotation from the Sept[153], however, rather recalling Isaiah 36:5) rather than a word likely to be spoken by the Sanhedrists. What did they know about the personal piety of Jesus? Probably they were aware that He used to call God “Father,” and that may be the basis of the statement, along with the confession of Sonship before the Sanhedrim: θεοῦ εἰμι υἱός.—νῦν, now is the time for testing the value of His trust; a plausible wicked sneer.—εἰ θέλει αὐτόν, if He love Him, an emphatic if, the love disproved by the fact.—θέλει is used in the sense of love in the Sept[154] (Psalm 18:20; Psalm 41:12). Palairet gives examples of a similar use in Greek authors.

[153] Septuagint.

[154] Septuagint.