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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
M A T T H E W.
CHAP. XXVII.
It is a very affecting story which is recorded in this chapter
concerning the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus. Considering the
thing itself, there cannot be a more tragical story told us; common
humanity would melt the heart, to find an innocent and excellent person
thus misused. But considering the design and fruit of Christ’s
sufferings, it is gospel, it is good news, that Jesus Christ was thus
delivered for our offences; and there is nothing we have more reason to
glory in than the cross of Christ. In this chapter, observe,
I. How he was prosecuted.
1. The delivering of him to Pilate,
2. The despair of Judas,
3. The arraignment and trial of Christ before Pilate,
4. The clamours of the people against him,
5. Sentence passed, and the warrant signed for his execution,
II. How he was executed.
1. He was barbarously used,
2. Led to the place of execution,
3. There he had all possible indignities done him, and reproaches cast
upon him,
4. Heaven frowned upon him,
5. Many remarkable things attended his death,
He was buried and a watch set on his grave,
| The Repentance of Judas; The Confession of Judas; The Death of Judas; Disposal of the Thirty Pieces of Silver. |
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1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders
of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and
delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was
condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces
of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
departed, and went and hanged himself.
6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is
not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the
price of blood.
7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s
field, to bury strangers in.
8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto
this day.
9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the
price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel
did value;
10 And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.
We left Christ in the hands of the chief priests and elders, condemned
to die, but they could only show their teeth; about two years before
this the Romans had taken from the Jews the power of capital
punishment; they could put no man to death, and therefore early in the
morning another council is held, to consider what is to be done. And
here we are told what was done in that morning-council, after they had
been for two or three hours consulting with their pillows.
I. Christ is delivered up to Pilate, that he might execute the sentence
they had passed upon him. Judea having been almost one hundred years
before this conquered by Pompey, had ever since been tributary to Rome,
and was lately made part of the province of Syria, and subject to the
government of the president of Syria, under whom there were several
procurators, who chiefly attended the business of the
revenues, but sometimes, as Pilate particularly, had the whole
power of the president lodged in them. This was a plain evidence that
the sceptre was departed from Judah, and that therefore now
the Shiloh must come, according to Jacob’s prophecy,
Pilate is characterized by the Roman writers of that time, as a man of
a rough and haughty spirit, wilful and implacable, and extremely
covetous and oppressive; the Jews had a great enmity to his person, and
were weary of his government, and yet they made use of him as the tool
of their malice against Christ.
1. They bound Jesus. He was bound when he was first seized; but
either they took off these bonds when he was before the council, or now
they added to them. Having found him guilty, they tied his hands behind
him, as they usually do with convicted criminals. He was already bound
with the bonds of love to man, and of his own undertaking, else he had
soon broken these bonds, as Samson did his. We were fettered with the
bond of iniquity, held in the cords of our sins
(Prov. x. 22);
but God had bound the yoke of our transgressions upon the neck
of the Lord Jesus
(Isa. l. 14),
that we might be loosed by his bonds, as we are healed by his
stripes.
2. They led him away in a sort of triumph, led him as a lamb
to the slaughter; so was he taken from prison and from
judgment,
Isa. liii. 7, 8.
It was nearly a mile from Caiaphas’s house to Pilate’s. All that way
they led him through the streets of Jerusalem, when in the morning they
began to fill, to make him a spectacle to the world.
3. They delivered him to Pontius Pilate; according to that which
Christ had often said, that he should be delivered to the
Gentiles. Both Jews and Gentiles were obnoxious to the judgment of
God, and concluded under sin, and Christ was to be the Saviour
both of Jews and Gentiles; and therefore Christ was brought into the
judgment both of Jews and Gentiles, and both had a hand in his death.
See how these corrupt church-rulers abused the civil magistrate, making
use of him to execute their unrighteous decrees, and inflict the
grievance which they had prescribed,
Isa. x. 1.
Thus have the kings of the earth been wretchedly imposed upon by the
papal powers, and condemned to the drudgery of extirpating with the
sword of war, as well as that of justice, those whom they have marked
for heretics, right or wrong, to the great prejudice of their own
interests.
II. The money which they had paid to Judas for betraying Christ, is by
him delivered back to them, and Judas, in despair, hangs himself. The
chief priests and elders supported themselves with this, in
prosecuting Christ, that his own disciple betrayed him to them; but
now, in the midst of the prosecution, that string failed them, and even
he is made to them a witness of Christ’s innocency and a
monument of God’s justice; which served,
1. For glory to Christ in the midst of his sufferings, and a specimen
of his victory over Satan who had entered into Judas.
2. For warning to his persecutors, and to leave them the more
inexcusable. If their heart had not been fully set in them to do this
evil, what Judas said and did, one would think, should have stopped the
prosecution.
(1.) See here how Judas repented: not like Peter, who repented,
believed, and was pardoned: no, he repented, despaired, and was ruined.
Now observe here,
[1.] What induced him to repent. It was when he saw that he was
condemned. Judas, it is probable, expected that either Christ would
have made his escape out of their hands, or would so have pleaded his
own cause at their bar as to have come off, and then Christ would have
had the honour, the Jews the shame, and he the money, and no harm done.
This he had no reason to expect, because he had so often heard his
Master say that he must be crucified; yet it is probable that he
did expect it, and when the event did not answer his vain fancy, then
he fell into this horror, when he saw the stream strong against Christ,
and him yielding to it. Note, Those who measure actions by the
consequences of them rather than by the divine law, will find
themselves mistaken in their measures. The way of sin is down-hill; and
if we cannot easily stop ourselves, much less can we stop others whom
we have set a going in a sinful way. He repented himself; that
is, he was filled with grief, anguish, and indignation, at himself,
when reflecting upon what he had done. When he was tempted to betray
his Master, the thirty pieces of silver looked very fine and
glittering, like the wine, when it is red, and gives its colour in
the cup. But when the thing was done, and the money paid, the
silver was become dross, it bit like a serpent, and stung like an
adder. Now his conscience flew in his face; “What have I done! What
a fool, what a wretch, am I, to sell my Master, and all my comfort and
happiness in him, for such a trifle! All these abuses and indignities
done him are chargeable upon me; it is owing to me, that he is bound
and condemned, spit upon and buffeted. I little thought it would have
come to this, when I made that wicked bargain; so foolish was I, and
ignorant, and so like a beast.” Now he curses the bag he carried, the
money he coveted, the priests he dealt with, and the day that he was
born. The remembrance of his Master’s goodness to him, which he had so
basely requited, the bowels of mercy he had spurned at, and the fair
warnings he had slighted, steeled his convictions, and made them the
more piercing. Now he found his Master’s words true; It were better
for that man, that he had never been born. Note, Sin will soon
change its taste. Though it be rolled under the tongue as a
sweet morsel, in the bowels it will be turned into the gall
of asps
like John’s book,
[2.] What were the indications of his repentance.
First, He made restitution; He brought again the thirty
pieces of silver to the chief priests, when they were all together
publicly. Now the money burned in his conscience, and he was as sick of
it as ever he had been fond of it. Note, That which is ill gotten, will
never do good to those that get it,
If he had repented, and brought the money back before he had betrayed
Christ, he might have done it with comfort, then he had agreed while
yet in the way; but now it was too late, now he cannot do it
without horror, wishing ten thousand times he had never meddled with
it. See
He brought it again. Note, what is unjustly gotten, must not be kept;
for that is a continuance in the sin by which it was got, and such an
avowing of it as is not consistent with repentance. He brought it to
those from whom he had it, to let them know that he repented his
bargain. Note, Those who have served and hardened others in their sin,
when God gives them repentance, should let them know it whose sins they
have been partakers in, that it may be a means to bring them to
repentance.
Secondly, He made confession
(v. 4);
I have sinner, in that I have betrayed innocent blood.
1. To the honour of Christ, he pronounces his blood
innocent. If he had been guilty of any sinful practices, Judas,
as his disciple, would certainly have know it, and, as his betrayer,
would certainly have discovered it; but he, freely and without being
urged to it, pronounces him innocent, to the face of those who had
pronounced him guilty.
2. To his own shame, he confesses that he had sinned, in
betraying this blood. He does not lay the blame on any one else; does
not say, “You have sinned, in hiring me to do it;” but takes it all to
himself; “I have sinned, in doing it.” Thus far Judas went toward his
repentance, yet it was not to salvation. He confessed, but not
to God, did not go to him, and say, I have sinned, Father, against
heaven. He confessed the betraying of innocent blood, but did not
confess that wicked love of money, which was the root of this evil.
There are those who betray Christ, and yet justify themselves in it,
and so come short of Judas.
(2.) See here how the chief priests and elders entertained Judas’s
penitential confession; they said, What is that to us? See thou to
that. He made them his confessors, and that was the
absolution they gave him; more like the priests of devils than
like the priests of the holy living God.
[1.] See here how carelessly they speak of the betraying of Christ.
Judas had told them that the blood of Christ was innocent blood; and
they said, What is that to us? Was it nothing to them that they
had thirsted after this blood, and hired Judas to betray it, and had
now condemned it to be shed unjustly? Is this nothing to them? Does it
give no check to the violence of their prosecution, no warning to take
need what they do to this just man? Thus do fools make a mock at sin,
as if no harm were done, no hazard run, by the commission of the
greatest wickedness. Thus light do many make of Christ crucified; what
is it to them, that he suffered such things?
[2.] See here how carelessly they speak of the sin of Judas; he said,
I have sinned, and they said, “What is that to us? What
are we concerned in thy sin, that thou tellest us of it?” Note, It is
folly for us to think that the sins of others are nothing to us,
especially those sins that we are any way accessary to, or partakers
in. Is it nothing to us, that God is dishonoured, souls wounded, Satan
gratified and his interests served, and that we have aided and abetted
it? If the elders of Jezreel, to please Jezebel, murder Naboth, is that
nothing to Ahab? Yes, he has killed, for he has taken
possession,
1 Kings xxi. 19.
The guilt of sin is not so easily transferred as some people think it
is. If there were guilt in the matter, they tell Judas that he must
look to it, he must bear it. First, Because he had
betrayed him to them. His was indeed the greater sin
(John xix. 11);
but it did not therefore follow, that theirs was no sin. It is a common
instance of the deceitfulness of our hearts, to extenuate our own sin
by the aggravation of other people’s sins. But the judgment of God is
according to truth, not according to comparison. Secondly,
Because he knew and believed him to be innocent. “If he be innocent,
see thou to it, that is more than we know; we have adjudged him
guilty, and therefore may justly prosecute him as such,” Wicked
practices are buoyed up by wicked principles, and particularly by this,
That sin is sin only to those that think it to be so; that it is no
harm to persecute a good man, if we take him to be a bad man; but those
who thus think to mock God, will but deceive and destroy
themselves.
[3.] See how carelessly they speak of the conviction, terror, and
remorse, that Judas was under. They were glad to make use of him in the
sin, and were then very fond of him; none more welcome to them than
Judas, when he said, What will ye give me, and I will betray him to
you? They did not say, What is that to us? But now that his
sin had put him into a fright, now they slighted him, had nothing to
say to him, but turned him over to his own terrors; why did he come to
trouble them with his melancholy fancies? They had something else to do
than to heed him. But why so shy? First, Perhaps they were in
some fear lest the sparks of his conviction, brought too near, should
kindle a fire in their own consciences, and lest his moans, listened
to, should give an alarm to their own convictions. Note, Obstinate
sinners stand upon their guard against convictions; and those that are
resolvedly impenitent, look with disdain upon the penitent.
Secondly, However, they were in no concern to succour Judas;
when they had brought him into the snare, they not only left him, but
laughed at him. Note, Sinners, under convictions, will find their old
companions in sin but miserable comforters. It is usual for those that
love the treason, to hate the traitor.
(3.) Here is the utter despair that Judas was hereby driven into. If
the chief priests had promised him to stay the prosecution, it would
have been some comfort to him; but, seeing no hopes of that, he grew
desperate,
v. 5.
[1.] He cast down the pieces of silver in the temple. The chief
priests would not take the money, for fear of taking thereby the whole
guilt to themselves, which they were willing that Judas should bear the
load of; Judas would not keep it, it was too hot for him to hold, he
therefore threw it down in the temple, that, whether they would or no,
it might fall into the hands of the chief priests. See what a
drug money was, when the guilt of sin was tacked to it,
or was thought to be so.
[2.] He went, and hanged himself. First, He
retired—anechorese; he withdrew into some solitary
place, like the possessed man that was drawn by the devil into the
wilderness,
Woe to him that is in despair, and is alone. If Judas had gone to
Christ, or to some of the disciples, perhaps he might have had relief,
bad as the case was; but, missing of it with the chief priests, he
abandoned himself to despair: and the same devil that with the help of
the priests drew him to the sin, with their help drove him to despair.
Secondly, He became his own executioner; He hanged
himself; he was suffocated with grief, so Dr. Hammond: but
Dr. Whitby is clear that our translation is right. Judas had a
sight and sense of sin, but no apprehension of the mercy
of God in Christ, and so he pined away in his iniquity. His sin,
we may suppose, was not in its own nature unpardonable: there were some
of those saved, that had been Christ’s betrayers and murderers; but he
concluded, as Cain, that his iniquity was greater than could be
forgiven, and would rather throw himself on the devil’s mercy than
God’s. And some have said, that Judas sinned more in despairing
of the mercy of God, than in betraying his Master’s blood. Now
the terrors of the Almighty set themselves in array against him. All
the curses written in God’s book now came into his bowels like
water, and like oil into his bones, as was foretold concerning him
and drove him to this desperate shift, for the escaping of a
hell within him, to leap into that before him, which was
but the perfection and perpetuity of this horror and despair. He throws
himself into the fire, to avoid the flame; but miserable is the case
when a man must go to hell for ease.
Now, in this story,
1. We have an instance of the wretched end of those into whom Satan
enters, and particularly those that are given up to the love of money.
This is the destruction in which many are drowned by it,
Remember what became of the swine into which, and of the traitor into
whom, the devil enters; and give not place to the devil.
2. We have an instance of the wrath of God revealed from heaven against
the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
As in the story of Peter we behold the goodness of God, and the
triumphs of Christ’s grace in the conversion of some sinners; so in the
story of Judas we behold the severity of God, and the triumphs of
Christ’s power and justice in the confusion of other sinners. When
Judas, into whom Satan entered, was thus hung up, Christ made an
open show of the principalities and powers he undertook the spoiling
of,
Col. ii. 15.
3. We have an instance of the direful effects of despair; it often ends
in self-murder. Sorrow, even that for sin, if not according
to God, worketh death
the worst kind of death; for a wounded spirit, who can bear? Let
us think as bad as we can of sin, provided we do not think it
unpardonable; let us despair of help in ourselves, but not of help in
God. He that thinks to ease his conscience by destroying his life,
doth, in effect, dare God Almighty to do his worst. And self-murder,
though prescribed by some of the heathen moralists, is certainly a
remedy worse than the disease, how bad soever the disease may be. Let
us watch against the beginnings of melancholy, and pray, Lord, lead
us not into temptation.
(4.) The disposal of the money which Judas brought back,
It was laid out in the purchase of a field, called the potter’s
field; because some potter had owned it, or occupied it, or lived
near it, or because broken potters’ vessels were thrown into it. And
this field was to be a burying-place for strangers, that is, proselytes
to the Jewish religion, who were of other nations, and, coming to
Jerusalem to worship, happened to die there.
[1.] It looks like an instance of their humanity, that they took care
for the burying of strangers; and it intimates that they
themselves allowed (as St. Paul saith,
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and
of the unjust; for we therefore take care of the dead body,
not only because it has been the habitation of a rational soul, but
because it must be so again. But,
[2.] It was no instance of their humility that they would bury
strangers in a place by themselves, as if they were not worthy to be
laid in their burying-places; strangers must keep their distance, alive
and dead, and that principle must go down to the grace, Stand by
thyself, come not near me, I am holier than thou,
Isa. lxv. 5.
The sons of Seth were better affected towards Abraham, though a
stranger among them, when they offered him the choicest of their own
sepulchres,
But the sons of the stranger, that have joined themselves to the
Lord, though buried by themselves, shall rise with all that are
dead in Christ.
This buying of the potter’s field did not take place on the day that
Christ died (they were then too busy to mind any thing else but hunting
him down); but it took place not long after; for Peter speaks of it
soon after Christ’s ascension; yet it is here recorded.
First, To show the hypocrisy of the chief priests and elders.
They were maliciously persecuting the blessed Jesus, and now,
1. They scruple to put that money into the treasury, or corban,
of the temple, with which they had hired the traitor. Though perhaps
they had taken it out of the treasury, pretending it was for the public
good, and though they were great sticklers for the corban, and
laboured to draw all the wealth of the nation into it, yet they would
not put that money into it, which was the price of blood. The hire of a
traitor they thought parallel to the hire of a whore, and the price of
a malefactor (such a one they made Christ to be) equivalent to the
price of a dog, neither of which was to be brought into the house of
the Lord,
Deut. xxiii. 18.
They would thus save their credit with the people, by possessing them
with an opinion of their great reverence for the temple. Thus they that
swallowed a camel, strained at a gnat.
2. They think to atone for what they had done, by this public
good act of providing a burying-place for strangers, though not at
their own charge. Thus in times of ignorance people were made to
believe that building churches and endowing monasteries would make
amends for immoralities.
Secondly, To signify the favour intended by the blood of Christ
to strangers, and sinners of the Gentiles. Through the price of
his blood, a resting place is provided for them after death. Thus many
of the ancients apply this passage. The grave is the potter’s
field, where the bodies are thrown as despised broken vessels; but
Christ by his blood purchased it for those who by confessing
themselves strangers on earth seek the better country; he has
altered the property of it (as a purchaser doth), so that now death is
ours, the grave is ours, a bed of rest for us. The Germans, in their
language, call burying-places God’s fields; for in them God
sows his people as a corn of wheat,
John xii. 24.
See
Thirdly, To perpetuate the infamy of those that bought and sold
the blood of Christ. This field was commonly called Aceldama–the
field of blood; not by the chief priests, they hoped in this
burying-place to bury the remembrance of their own crime; but by the
people; who took notice of Judas’s acknowledgment that he had betrayed
the innocent blood, though the chief priests made nothing of it. They
fastened this name upon the field in perpetuam rei memoriam–for a
perpetual memorial. Note, Divine Providence has many ways of
entailing disgrace upon the wicked practices even of great men, who,
though they seek to cover their shame, are put to a perpetual
reproach.
Fourthly, That we may see how the scripture was fulfilled
(v. 9, 10);
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet.
The words quoted are found in the prophecy of Zechariah,
How they are here said to be spoken by Jeremy is a difficult question;
but the credit of Christ’s doctrine does not depend upon it; for that
proves itself perfectly divine, though there should appear something
human as to small circumstances in the penmen of it. The Syriac
version, which is ancient, reads only, It was spoken by the
prophet, not naming any, whence some have thought that
Jeremy was added by some scribe; some think that the whole
volume of the prophets, being in one book, and the prophecy of Jeremiah
put first, it might not be improper, currente calamo–for a
transcriber to quote any passage out of that volume, under his
name. The Jews used to say, The spirit of Jeremiah was in
Zechariah, and so they were as one prophet. Some suggest that it
was spoken by Jeremiah, but written by Zechariah; or that
Jeremiah wrote the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of Zechariah.
Now this passage in the prophet is a representation of the great
contempt of God, that was found among the Jews, and the poor returns
they made to him for rich receivings from him. But here that is really
acted, which was there but figuratively expressed. The sum of money is
the same–thirty pieces of silver; this they weighed for his
price, at this rate they valued him; a goodly price; and this was
cast to the potter in the house of the Lord; which was here
literally accomplished. Note, We should better understand the events of
Providence, if we were better acquainted even with the language and
expressions of scripture; for even those also are sometimes written
upon the dispensations of Providence so plainly, that he who runs
may read them. What David spoke figuratively
(Ps. xlii. 7),
Jonah made a literal application of; All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me,
Jonah iii. 3.
The giving of the price of him that was valued, not for him, but for
the potter’s field, bespeaks,
1. The high value that ought to be put upon Christ. The price was
given, not for him; no, when it was given for him, it was soon brought
back again with disdain, as infinitely below his worth; he cannot be
valued with the gold of Ophir, nor this unspeakable Gift
brought with money.
2. The low value that was put upon him. They of the children of
Israel did strangely undervalue him, when his price did but reach
to buy a potter’s field, a pitiful sorry spot of ground, not worth
looking upon. It added to the reproach of his being bought and sold,
that it was at so low a rate. Cast it to the potter, so it is in
Zechariah; a contemptible petty chapman, not the merchant that deals in
things of value. And observe, They of the children of Israel
thus undervalued him; they who were his own people, that should
have known better what estimate to put upon him, they to whom he was
first sent, whose glory he was, and whom he had valued so highly, and
bought so dear. He gave kings’ ransoms for them, and the richest
countries (so precious were they in his sight,
Isa. xliii. 3, 4),
Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba; but they gave a slave’s ransom for him
(see
and valued him but at the rate of a potter’s field; so was that blood
trodden under foot, which bought the kingdom of heaven for us. But all
this was as the Lord appointed; so the prophetic vision was,
which typified this event, and so the event itself, as the other
instances of Christ’s sufferings, was by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God.
| Christ at the Bar of Pilate. |
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11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked
him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto
him, Thou sayest.
12 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he
answered nothing.
13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things
they witness against thee?
14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the
governor marvelled greatly.
15 Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto
the people a prisoner, whom they would.
16 And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto
them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus
which is called Christ?
18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent
unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for
I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude
that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
21 The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the
twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas.
22 Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus
which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be
crucified.
23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they
cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
24 When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that
rather 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.
25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on
us, and on our children.
We have here an account of what passed in Pilate’s judgment-hall, when
the blessed Jesus was brought thither betimes in the morning. Though it
was no court-day, Pilate immediately took his case before him. We have
there,
I. The trial Christ had before Pilate.
1. His arraignment; Jesus stood before the governor, as the
prisoner before the judge. We could not stand before God because of our
sins, nor lift up our face in his presence, if Christ had not been thus
made sin for us. He was arraigned that we might be discharged. Some
think that this bespeaks his courage and boldness; he stood
undaunted, unmoved by all their rage. He thus stood in this
judgment, that we might stand in God’s judgment. He stood for a
spectacle, as Naboth, when he was arraigned, was set on high
among the people.
2. His indictment; Art thou the king of the Jews? The Jews were
now not only under the government, but under the very jealous
inspection, of the Roman powers, which they were themselves to the
highest degree disaffected to, and yet now pretended a concern for, to
serve this turn; accusing Jesus as an Enemy to Cæsar
which they could produce no other proof of, than that he himself had
newly owned he was the Christ. Now they thought that whoever was
the Christ, must be the king of the Jews, and must deliver them
from the Roman power, and restore to them a temporal dominion, and
enable them to trample upon all their neighbours. According to this
chimera of their own, they accused our Lord Jesus, as making himself
king of the Jews, in opposition to the Roman yoke; whereas, though he
said that he was the Christ, he meant not such a Christ as this. Note,
Many oppose Christ’s holy religion, upon a mistake of the nature of it;
they dress it up in false colours, and then fight against it. They
assuring the governor that, if he made himself Christ, he made himself
king of the Jews, the governor takes it for granted, that he goes about
to pervert the nation, and subvert the government. Art thou a
king? It was plain that he was not so de facto–actually;
“But dost thou lay any claim to the government, or pretend a right to
rule the Jews?” Note, It has often been the hard fate of Christ’s holy
religion, unjustly to fall under the suspicions of the civil powers, as
if it were hurtful to kings and provinces, whereas it tends mightily to
the benefit of both.
3. His plea; Jesus said unto him, “Thou sayest. It is as thou
sayest, though not as thou meanest; I am a king, but not such a king as
thou dost suspect me to be.” Thus before Pilate he witnessed a good
confession, and was not ashamed to own himself a king, though it looked
ridiculous, nor afraid, though at this time it was dangerous.
4. The evidence
(v. 12);
He was accused of the chief priests. Pilate found no fault in
him; whatever was said, nothing was proved, and therefore what was
wanting in matter they made up in noise and violence, and followed him
with repeated accusations, the same as they had given in before; but by
the repetition they thought to force a belief from the governor. They
had learned, not only calumniari–to calumniate, but fortiter
calumniari–to calumniate stoutly. The best men have often been
accused of the worst crimes.
5. The prisoner’s silence as to the prosecutors’ accusations; He
answered nothing,
(1.) Because there was no occasion; nothing was alleged but what
carried its own confutation along with it.
(2.) He was now taken up with the great concern that lay between him
and his Father, to whom he was offering up himself a Sacrifice, to
answer the demands of his justice, which he was so intent upon, that he
minded not what they said against him.
(3.) His hour was come, and he submitted to his Father’s will; Not
as I will, but as thou wilt. He knew what his Father’s will was,
and therefore silently committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously. We must not thus by our silence throw away our lives,
because we are not lords of our lives, as Christ was of his; nor can we
know, as he did, when our hour is come. But hence we must learn,
not to render railing for railing,
1 Pet. ii. 23.
Now,
[1.] Pilate pressed him to make some reply
(v. 13);
Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? What
these things were, may be gathered from
Luke xxiii. 3, 5, and John xix. 7.
Pilate, having no malice at all against him, was desirous he should
clear himself, urges him to it, and believes he could do it; Hearest
thou not? Yes, he did hear; and still he hears all that is
witnessed unjustly against his truths and ways; but he keeps silence,
because it is the day of his patience, and doth not answer, as he will
shortly,
[2.] He wondered at his silence; which was not interpreted so much into
a contempt of the court, as a contempt of himself. And therefore Pilate
is not said to be angry at it, but to have marvelled greatly at
it, as a thing very unusual. He believed him to be innocent, and had
heard perhaps that never man spake like him; and therefore he
thought it strange that he had not one word to say for himself. We
have,
II. The outrage and violence of the people, in pressing the governor to
crucify Christ. The chief priests had a great interest in the people,
they called them Rabbi, Rabbi, made idols of them, and oracles
of all they said; and they made use of this to incense them against
him, and by the power of the mob gained the point which they could not
otherwise carry. Now here are two instances of their outrage.
1. Their preferring Barabbas before him, and choosing to have him
released rather than Jesus.
(1.) It seems it was grown into a custom with the Roman governors, for
the honouring of the Jews, to grace the feast of the passover with the
release of a prisoner,
This, they thought, did honour to the feast, and was agreeable to the
commemoration of their deliverance; but it was an invention of their
own, and no divine institution; though some think that it was ancient,
and kept up by the Jewish princes, before they became a province of the
empire. However, it was a bad custom, an obstruction to justice, and an
encouragement to wickedness. But our gospel-passover is celebrated
with the release of prisoners, by him who hath power on earth to
forgive sins.
(2.) The prisoner put in competition with our Lord Jesus was Barabbas;
he is here called a notable prisoner
(v. 16);
either because by birth and breeding he was of some note and quality,
or because he had signalized himself by something remarkable in his
crimes; whether he was so notable as to recommend himself the
more to the favours of the people, and so the more likely to be
interceded for, or whether so notable as to make himself more
liable to their age, is uncertain. Some think the latter, and therefore
Pilate mentioned him, as taking it for granted that they would have
desired any one’s release rather than his. Treason, murder, and
felony, are the three most enormous crimes that are usually
punished by the sword of justice; and Barabbas was guilty of all three,
Luke xxiii. 19; John xviii. 40.
A notable prisoner indeed, whose crimes were so complicated.
(3.) The proposal was made by Pilate the governor
(v. 17);
Whom will ye that I release unto you? It is probable that the
judge had the nomination of two, one of which the people were to
choose. Pilate proposed to them to have Jesus released;
he was convinced of his innocency, and that the prosecution was
malicious; yet had not the courage to acquit him, as he ought to have
done, by his own power, but would have him released by the people’s
election, and so he hoped to satisfy both his own conscience,
and the people too; whereas, finding no fault in him, he ought
not to have put him upon the country, or brought him into
peril of his life. But such little tricks and artifices as these,
to trim the matter, and to keep in with conscience and the world too,
are the common practice of those that seek more to please men than God.
What shall I do then, saith Pilate, with Jesus, who is called
Christ? He puts the people in mind of this, that this Jesus,
whose release he proposed, was looked upon by some among them as the
Messiah, and had given pregnant proofs of his being so; “Do not
reject one of whom your nation has professed such an
expectation.”
The reason why Pilate laboured thus to get Jesus
discharged was because he knew that for envy the chief
priests had delivered him up
(v. 18);
that it was not his guilt, but his goodness, that they were
provoked at; and for this reason he hoped to bring him off by
the people’s act, and that they would be for his release. When David
was envied by Saul, he was the darling of the people; and
any one that heard the hosannas with which Christ was but a few
days ago brought into Jerusalem, would have thought that he had been
so, and that Pilate might safely have referred this matter to the
commonalty, especially when so notorious a rogue was set up as a rival
with him for their favours. But it proved otherwise.
(4.) While Pilate was thus labouring the matter, he was confirmed in
his unwillingness to condemn Jesus, by a message sent him from his wife
(v. 19),
by way of caution; Have thou nothing to do with that just man
(together with the reason), for I have suffered many things this day
in a cream because of him. Probably, this message was delivered to
Pilate publicly, in the hearing of all that were present, for it was
intended to be a warning not to him only, but to the prosecutors.
Observe,
[1.] The special providence of God, in sending this dream to Pilate’s
wife; it is not likely that she had heard any thing, before, concerning
Christ, at least not so as to occasion her dreaming of him, but it was
immediately from God: perhaps she was one of the devout and
honourable women, and had some sense of religion; yet God revealed
himself by dreams to some that had not, as to Nebuchadnezzar. She
suffered many things in this dream; whether she dreamed of the
cruel usage of an innocent person, or of the judgments that would fall
upon those that had any hand in his death, or both, it seems that it
was a frightful dream, and her thoughts troubled her, as
Note, The Father of spirits has many ways of access to the spirits of
men, and can seal their instruction in a dream, or vision of the
night,
Job xxxiii. 15, 16.
Yet to those who have the written word, God more ordinarily speaks by
conscience on a waking bed, than by dreams, when deep sleep falls
upon men.
[2.] The tenderness and care of Pilate’s wife, in sending this caution,
thereupon, to her husband; Have nothing to do with that just man.
First, This was an honourable testimony to our Lord Jesus,
witnessing for him that he was a just man, even then when he was
persecuted as the worst of malefactors: when his friends were afraid to
appear in defence of him, God made even those that were strangers and
enemies, to speak in his favour; when Peter denied him, Judas confessed
him; when the chief priests pronounced him guilty of death, Pilate
declared he found no fault in him; when the women that loved him
stood afar off, Pilate’s wife, who knew little of him, showed a concern
for him. Note, God will not leave himself without witnesses to the
truth and equity of his cause, even when it seems to be most spitefully
run down by its enemies, and most shamefully deserted by its friends.
Secondly, It was a fair warning to Pilate; Have nothing to do
with him. Note, God has many ways of giving checks to sinners in
their sinful pursuits, and it is a great mercy to have such checks from
Providence, from faithful friends, and from our own consciences; it is
also our great duty to hearken to them. O do not this abominable
thing which the Lord hates, is what we may hear said to us, when we
are entering into temptation, if we will but regard it. Pilate’s lady
sent him this warning, out of the love she had to him; she feared not a
rebuke from him for meddling with that which belonged not to her; but,
let him take it how he would, she would give him the caution. Note, It
is an instance of true love to our friends and relations, to do what we
can to keep them from sin; and the nearer any are to us, and the
greater affection we have for them, the more solicitous we should be
not to suffer sin to come or lie upon them,
The best friendship is friendship to the soul. We are not told how
Pilate turned this off, probably with a jest; but by his proceeding
against the just man it appears that he did not regard it. Thus
faithful admonitions are made light of, when they are given as warnings
against sin, but will not be so easily made light of, when they shall
be reflected upon as aggravations of sin.
(5.) The chief priests and the elders were busy, all this while, to
influence the people in favour of Barabbas,
They persuaded the multitude, both by themselves and their
emissaries, whom they sent abroad among them, that they should ask
Barabbas, and destroy Jesus; suggesting that this Jesus was a
deceiver, in league with Satan, an enemy to their church and temple;
that, if he were let alone, the Romans would come, and take away their
place and nation; that Barabbas, though a bad man, yet, having not the
interest that Jesus had, could not do so much mischief. Thus they
managed the mob, who otherwise were well affected to Jesus, and, if
they had not been so much at the beck of their priests, would never
have done such a preposterous thing as to prefer Barabbas before Jesus.
Here,
[1.] We cannot but look upon these wicked priests with indignation; by
the law, in matters of controversy between blood and blood, the
people were to be guided by the priests, and to do as they informed
them,
This great power put into their hands they wretchedly abused, and the
leaders of the people caused them to err.
[2.] We cannot but look upon the deluded people with pity; I have
compassion on the multitude, to see them hurried thus violently to
so great wickedness, to see them thus priest-ridden, and falling in the
ditch with their blind leaders.
(6.) Being thus over-ruled by the priests, at length they made their
choice,
Whether of the twain (saith Pilate) will ye that I release
unto you? He hoped that he had gained his point, to have Jesus
released. But, to his great surprise, they said Barabbas; as if
his crimes were less, and therefore he less deserved
to die; or as if his merits were greater, and
therefore he better deserved to live. The cry for Barabbas was
so universal, one and all, that there was no colour to demand a poll
between the candidates. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and, thou
earth, be horribly afraid! Were ever men that pretended to reason
or religion, guilty of such prodigious madness, such horrid wickedness!
This was it that Peter charged so home upon them
(Acts iii. 14);
Ye desired a murderer to be granted to you; yet multitudes who
choose the world, rather than God, for their ruler and portion, thus
choose their own delusions.
2. Their pressing earnestly to have Jesus crucified,
Pilate, being amazed at their choice of Barabbas, was willing to hope
that it was rather from a fondness for him than from an enmity to
Jesus; and therefore he puts it to them, “What shall I do then with
Jesus? Shall I release him likewise, for the greater honour of your
feast, or will you leave it to me?” No, they all said, Let him be
crucified. That death they desired he might die, because it was
looked upon as the most scandalous and ignominious; and they hoped
thereby to make his followers ashamed to own him, and their relation to
him. It was absurd for them to prescribe to the judge what sentence he
should pass; but their malice and rage made them forget all rules of
order and decency, and turned a court of justice into a riotous,
tumultuous, and seditious assembly. Now was truth fallen in
the street, and equity could not enter; where one looked for
judgment, behold, oppression, the worst kind of oppression; for
righteousness, behold, a cry, the worse cry that ever was, Crucify,
crucify the Lord of glory. Though they that cried thus, perhaps,
were not the same persons that the other day cried Hosanna, yet
see what a change was made upon the mind of the populace in a little
time: when he rode in triumph into Jerusalem, so general
were the acclamations of praise, that one would have thought he
had no enemies; but now when he was led in triumph to
Pilate’s judgment-seat, so general were the outcries of
enmity, that one would think he had no friends. Such revolutions
are there in this changeable world, through which our way to heaven
lies, as our Master’s did, by honour and dishonour, by evil report,
and good report, counter-changed
(2 Cor. vi. 8);
that we may not be lifted up by honour, as if, when we were applauded
and caressed, we had made our nest among the stars, and should
die in that nest; nor yet be dejected or discouraged by
dishonour, as if, when we were trodden to the lowest hell, from which
there is no redemption. Bides tu istos qui te laudant; omnes aut
sunt hostes, aut (quod in æquo est) esse possunt–You observe
those who applaud you; either they are all your enemies, or, which is
equivalent, they may become so. Seneca de Vita Beat.
Now, as to this demand, we are further told,
(1.) How Pilate objected against it; Why, what evil hath he
done? A proper question to ask before we censure any in common
discourse, much more for a judge to ask before he pass a sentence of
death. Note, It is much for the honour of the Lord Jesus, that, though
he suffered as an evil-doer, yet neither his judge nor his prosecutors
could find that he had done any evil. Had he done any evil against
God? No, he always did those things that pleased him. Had he
done any evil against the civil government? No, as he did
himself, so he taught others, to render to Cæsar the things that
were Cæsar’s. Had he done any evil against the public
peace? No, he did not strive or cry, nor did his kingdom
come with observation. Had he done any evil to particular
persons? Whose ox had he taken, or whom had he defrauded? No, so
far from that, that he went about doing good. This repeated
assertion of his unspotted innocency, plainly intimates that he died to
satisfy for the sins of others; for if it had not been for our
transgressions that he was thus wounded, and for our offences that he
was delivered up, and that upon his own voluntary undertaking to atone
for them, I see not how these extraordinary sufferings of a person that
had never thought, said, or done, any thing amiss, could be reconciled
with the justice and equity of that providence that governs the world,
and at least permitted this to be done in it.
(2.) How they insisted upon it; They cried out the more, Let
him be crucified. They do not go about to show any evil he had
done, but, right or wrong, he must be crucified. Quitting all
pretensions to the proof of the premises, they resolve to hold the
conclusion, and what was wanting in evidence to make up in clamour;
this unjust judge was wearied by importunity into an unjust sentence,
as he in the parable into a just one
and the cause carried purely by noise.
III. Here is the devolving of the guilt of Christ’s blood
upon the people and priests.
1. Pilate endeavours to transfer it from himself,
(1.) He sees it to no purpose to contend. What he said,
[1.] Would do no good; he could prevail nothing; he could not
convince them what an unjust unreasonable thing it was for him to
condemn a man whom he believed innocent, and whom they could not prove
guilty. See how strong the stream of lust and rage sometimes is;
neither authority nor reason will prevail to give check to it. Nay,
[2.] It was more likely to do hurt; he saw that rather a
tumult was made. This rude and brutish people fell to high
words, and began to threaten Pilate what they would do if he did not
gratify them; and how great a matter might this fire kindle, especially
when the priests, those great incendiaries, blew the coals! Now this
turbulent tumultuous temper of the Jews, by which Pilate was awed to
condemn Christ against his conscience, contributed more than any thing
to the ruin of that nation not long after; for their frequent
insurrections provoked the Romans to destroy them, though they had
reduced them, and their inveterate quarrels among themselves made them
an easy prey to the common enemy. Thus their sin was their ruin.
Observe how easily we may be mistaken in the inclination of the common
people; the priests were apprehensive that their endeavours to
seize Christ would have caused an uproar, especially on the
feast day; but it proved that Pilate’s endeavour to save
him, caused an uproar, and that on the feast day; so uncertain are the
sentiments of the crowd.
(2.) This puts him into a great strait, betwixt the peace of his
own mind, and the peace of the city; he is loth to condemn an innocent
man, and yet loth to disoblige the people, and raise a devil
that would not be soon laid. Had he steadily and resolutely adhered to
the sacred laws of justice, as a judge ought to do, he had not been in
any perplexity; the matter was plain and past dispute, that a man in
whom was found no faulty, ought not to be crucified, upon any
pretence whatsoever, nor must an unjust thing be done, to gratify any
man or company of men in the world; the cause is soon decided; Let
justice be done, though heaven and earth come together–Fiat justitia,
ruat cœlum. If wickedness proceed from the wicked, though
they be priests, yet my hand shall not be upon him.
(3.) Pilate thinks to trim the matter, and to pacify both the people
and his own conscience too, by doing it, and yet
disowning it, acting the thing, and yet acquitting
himself from it at the same time. Such absurdities and
self-contradictions do they run upon, whose convictions are
strong, but their corruptions stronger. Happy is he
(saith the apostle,
that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth; or,
which is all one, that allows not himself in that thing which he
condemns.
Now Pilate endeavours to clear himself from the guilt,
[1.] By a sign; He took water, and washed his hands before
the multitude; not as if he thought thereby to cleanse himself from
any guilt contracted before God, but to acquit himself before the
people, from so much as contracting any guilt in this matter; as if he
had said, “If it be done, bear witness that it is none of my doing.” He
borrowed the ceremony from that law which appointed it to be
used for the clearing of the country from the guilt of an undiscovered
murder
and he used it the more to affect the people with the conviction he was
under of the prisoner’s innocency; and, probably, such was the noise of
the rabble, that, if he had not used some such surprising sign, in the
view of them all, he could not have been heard.
[2.] By a saying; in which, First, He clears
himself; I am innocent of the blood of this just person. What
nonsense was this, to condemn him, and yet protest that he was innocent
of his blood! For men to protest against a thing, and yet to practise
it, is only to proclaim that they sin against their consciences. Though
Pilate professed his innocency, God charges him with guilt,
Some think to justify themselves, by pleading that their hands
were not in the sin; but David kills by the sword of the children of
Ammon, and Ahab by the elders of Jezreel. Pilate here thinks to justify
himself, by pleading that his heart was not in the action; but
this is an averment which will never be admitted. Protestatio non
valet contra factum–In vain does he protest against the deed which at
the same time he perpetrates. Secondly, He casts it upon the
priests and people; “See ye to it; if it must be done, I cannot
help it, do you answer it before God and the world.” Note, Sin is a
brat that nobody is willing to own; and many deceive themselves with
this, that they shall bear no blame if they can but find any to lay the
blame upon; but it is not so easy a thing to transfer the guilt of sin
as many think it is. The condition of him that is infected with the
plague is not the less dangerous, either for his catching the infection
from others, or his communicating the infection to others; we may be
tempted to sin, but cannot be forced. The priests threw
it upon Judas; See thou to it; and now Pilate throws it upon
them; See ye to it; for with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you.
2. The priests and people consented to take the guilt upon
themselves; they all said, “His blood be on us, and one our
children; we are so well assured that there is neither sin nor
danger in putting him to death, that we are willing to run the hazard
of it;” as if the guilt would do no harm to them or theirs. They saw
that it was the dread of guilt that made Pilate hesitate, and that he
was getting over this difficulty by a fancy of transferring it; to
prevent the return of his hesitation, and to confirm him in that fancy,
they, in the heat of their rage, agreed to it, rather than lose the
prey they had in their hands, and cried, His blood be upon us.
Now,
(1.) By this they designed to indemnify Pilate, that is, to make him
think himself indemnified, by becoming bound to divine justice, to save
him harmless. But those that are themselves bankrupts and beggars will
never be admitted security for others, nor taken as a bail for them.
None could bear the sin of others, except him that had none of his own
to answer for; it is a bold undertaking, and too big for any creature,
to become bound for a sinner to Almighty God.
(2.) But they did really imprecate wrath and vengeance upon themselves
and their posterity. What a desperate word was this, and how little did
they think what as the direful import of it, or to what an abyss of
misery it would bring them and theirs! Christ had lately told them,
that upon them would come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth, from that of the righteous Abel; but as if that were too
little, they here imprecate upon themselves the guilt of that blood
which was more precious than all the rest, and the guilt of which would
lie heavier. O the daring presumption of wilful sinners, that run
upon God, upon his neck, and defy his justice!
Observe,
[1.] How cruel they were in their imprecation. They
imprecated the punishment of this sin, not only upon themselves, but
upon their children too, even those that were yet unborn,
without so much as limiting the entail of the curse, as God himself had
been pleased to limit it, to the third and fourth generation. It
was madness to pull it upon themselves, but the height of barbarity to
entail it on their posterity. Surely they were like the ostrich; they
were hardened against their young ones, as though they were not
theirs. What a dreadful conveyance was this of guilt and wrath
to them and their heirs for ever, and this delivered by joint
consent, nemine contradicents–unanimously, as their own act and
deed; which certainly amounted to a forfeiture and defeasance of
that ancient charter, I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed.
Their entailing the curse of the Messiah’s blood upon their nation, cut
off the entail of the blessings of that blood from their
families, that, according to another promise made to Abraham, in him
all the families of the earth might be blessed. See what enemies
wicked men are to their own children and families; those that damn
their own souls, care not how many they take to hell with them.
[2.] How righteous God was, in his retribution according to this
imprecation; they said, His blood be on us, and on our children;
and God said Amen to it, so shall thy doom be; as they loved
cursing, so it came upon them. The wretched remains of that
abandoned people feel it to this day; from the time they imprecated
this blood upon them, they were followed with one judgment after
another, till they were quite laid waste, and made an astonishment, a
hissing, and a byword; yet on some of them, and some of theirs, this
blood came, not to condemn them, but to save them; divine
mercy, upon their repenting and believing, cut off this entail, and
then the promise was again to them, and to their
children. God is better to us and ours than we are.
| Christ Scourged and Derided; Christ Mocked by the Soldiers. |
|
|
26 Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had
scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common
hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
28 And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.
29 And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it
upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the
knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on
the head.
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.
32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by
name: him they compelled to bear his cross.
In these verses we have the preparatives for, and
prefaces to, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. Here is,
I. The sentence passed, and the warrant signed for his execution; and
this immediately, the same hour.
1. Barabbas was released, that notorious criminal: if he had not been
put in competition with Christ for the favour of the people, it is
probable that he had died for his crimes; but that proved the means of
his escape; to intimate that Christ was condemned for this purpose,
that sinners, even the chief of sinners, might be released; he
was delivered up, that we might be delivered; whereas the
common instance of divine Providence, is, that the wicked is
a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright,
Prov. xxi. 18; xi. 18.
In this unparalleled instance of divine grace, the
upright is a ransom for the transgressors, the just for
the unjust.
2. Jesus was scourged; this was an ignominious cruel punishment,
especially as is was inflicted by the Romans, who were not under the
moderation of the Jewish law, which forbade scourgings, above forty
stripes; this punishment was most unreasonably inflicted on one that
was sentenced to die: the rods were not to introduce the axes,
but to supersede them. Thus the scripture was fulfilled, The
ploughers ploughed upon my back
(Ps. cxxix. 3),
I gave my back to the smiters
(Isa. l. 6),
and, By his stripes we are healed,
Isa. liii. 5.
He was chastised with whips, that we might not be for ever
chastised with scorpions.
3. He was then delivered to be crucified; though his
chastisement was in order to our peace, yet there is no peace made but
by the blood of his cross
(Col. i. 20);
therefore the scourging is not enough, he must be crucified; a
kind of death used only among the Romans; the manner of it is such,
that it seems to be the result of wit and cruelty in combination, each
putting forth itself to the utmost, to make death in the highest degree
terrible and miserable. A cross was set up in the ground, to which the
hands and feet were nailed, on which nails the weight of the body hung,
till it died of the pain. This was the death to which Christ was
condemned, that he might answer the type of the brazen serpent lifted
up upon a pole. It was a bloody death, a painful, shameful, cursed
death; it was so miserable a death, that merciful princes appointed
those who were condemned to it by the law, to be strangled first, and
then nailed to the cross; so Julius Cæsar did by some pirates,
Sueton. lib. 1. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, by an
edict abolished the use of that punishment among the Romans,
Sozomen, Hist. lib. 1. ch. 8. Ne salutare signum
subserviret ad perniciem–That the symbol of salvation might not be
subservient to the victim’s destruction.
II. The barbarous treatment which the soldiers gave him, while things
were getting ready for his execution. When he was condemned, he ought
to have had some time allowed him to prepare for death. There was a law
made by the Roman senate, in Tiberius’s time, perhaps upon complaint of
this and the like precipitation, that the execution of criminals should
be deferred at least ten days after sentence. Sueton in
Tiber. cap. 25. But there were scarcely allowed so many minutes to
our Lord Jesus; nor had he any breathing-time during those minutes; it
was a crisis, and there were no lucid intervals allowed
him; deep called unto deep, and the storm continued without any
intermission.
When he was delivered to be crucified, that was enough;
they that kill the body, yield that there is no more that they
can do, but Christ’s enemies will do more, and, if it be
possible, wrap up a thousand deaths in one. Though Pilate pronounced
him innocent, yet his soldiers, his guards, set themselves to abuse
him, being swayed more by the fury of the people against him,
than by their master’s testimony for him; the Jewish
rabble infected the Roman soldiery, or perhaps it was not so
much in spite to him, as to make sport for themselves, that they
thus abused him. They understood that he pretended to a crown; to
taunt him with that gave them some diversion, and an opportunity to
make themselves and one another merry. Note, It is an argument of a
base, servile, sordid spirit, to insult over those that are in misery,
and to make the calamities of any matter of sport and merriment.
Observe,
1. Where this was done–in the common hall. The
governor’s house, which should have been a shelter to the
wronged and abused, is made the theatre of this barbarity. I wonder
that the governor, who was so desirous to acquit himself from the blood
of this just person, would suffer this to be done in his house.
Perhaps he did not order it to be done, but he connived at it;
and those in authority will be accountable, not only for the wickedness
which they do, or appoint, but for that which they do not
restrain, when it is in the power of their hands. Masters of families
should not suffer their houses to be places of abuse to any, nor their
servants to make sport with the sins, or miseries, or religion, of
others.
2. Who were concerned in it. They gathered the whole
band, the soldiers that were to attend the execution, would have
the whole regiment (at least five hundred, some think twelve or
thirteen hundred) to share in the diversion. If Christ was thus made a
spectacle, let none of his followers think it strange to be so
used,
3. What particular indignities were done him.
(1.) They stripped him,
v. 28.
The shame of nakedness came in with sin
(Gen. iii. 7);
and therefore Christ, when he came to satisfy for sin, and take it
away, was made naked, and submitted to that shame, that
he might prepare for us white raiment, to cover us,
Rev. iii. 18.
(2.) They put on him a scarlet robe, some old red cloak, such as
the Roman soldiers wore, in imitation of the scarlet robes which
kings and emperors wore; thus upbraiding him with his being called a
King. This sham of majesty they put upon him in his dress,
when nothing but meanness and misery appeared in his countenance, only
to expose him to the spectators, as the more ridiculous; yet
there was something of mystery in it; this was he that was
red in his apparel
that washed his garments in wine
therefore he was dressed in a scarlet robe. Our sins were as
scarlet and crimson. Christ being clad in a scarlet robe,
signified his bearing our sins, to his shame, in his own body upon the
tree; that we might wash our robes, and make them white, in the blood
of the Lamb.
(3.) They platted a crown of thorns, and put it upon his head,
v. 29.
This was to carry on the humour of making him a mock-king; yet,
had they intended it only for a reproach, they might have
platted a crown of straw, or rushes, but they designed it
to be painful to him, and to be literally, what crowns are said
to be figuratively, lined with thorns; he that invented this abuse, it
is likely, valued himself upon the wit of it; but there was a mystery
in it.
[1.] Thorns came in with sin, and were part of the curse that was the
product of sin,
Therefore Christ, being made a curse for us, and dying to remove
the curse from us, felt the pain and smart of those thorns, nay, and
binds them as a crown to him
(Job xxxi. 36);
for his sufferings for us were his glory.
[2.] Now he answered to the type of Abraham’s ram that was caught in
the thicket, and so offered up instead of Isaac,
[3.] Thorns signify afflictions,
These Christ put into a crown; so much did he alter the property
of them to them that are his, giving them cause to glory in
tribulation, and making it to work for them a weight of glory.
[4.] Christ was crowned with thorns, to show that his kingdom was
not of this world, nor the glory of it worldly glory, but is
attended here with bonds and afflictions, while the glory of it is
to be revealed.
[5.] It was the custom of some heathen nations, to bring their
sacrifices to the altars, crowned with garlands; these thorns were the
garlands with which this great Sacrifice was crowned.
[6.] these thorns, it is likely, fetched blood from his blessed head,
which trickled down his face, like the previous ointment
(typifying the blood of Christ with which he consecrated himself)
upon the head, which ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s
beard,
Ps. cxxxiii. 2.
Thus, when he came to espouse to himself his love, his dove, his
undefiled church, his head was filled with dew, and his locks
with the drops of the night,
Cant. v. 2.
(4.) They put a reed in his right hand; this was intended for a
mock-sceptre, another of the insignia of the majesty they
jeered him with; as if this were a sceptre good enough for such a King,
as was like a reed shaken with the wind
(ch. xi. 7);
like sceptre, like kingdom, both weak and wavering, and withering and
worthless; but they were quite mistaken, for his throne is for ever
and ever, and the sceptre of his kingdom is a right sceptre,
Ps. xlv. 6.
(5.) They bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail,
King of the Jews! Having made him a sham King, they thus make a
jest of doing homage to him, thus ridiculing his pretensions to
sovereignty, as Joseph’s brethren
Shalt thou indeed reign over us? But as they were afterward
compelled to do obeisance to him, and enrich his dreams, so these here
bowed the knee, in scorn to him who was, soon after this, exalted to
the right hand of God, that at his name every knee might bow, or
break before him; it is ill jesting with that which, sooner or later,
will come in earnest.
(6.) They spit upon him; thus he had been abused in the High
Priest’s hall,
In doing homage, the subject kissed the sovereign, in token of his
allegiance; thus Samuel kissed Saul, and we are bid to kiss the
Son: but they, in this mock-homage, instead of kissing him, spit in
his face; that blessed face which outshines the sun, and before which
the angels cover theirs, was thus polluted. It is strange that the sons
of men should ever do such a piece of villany, and that the Son
of God should ever suffer such a piece of ignominy.
(7.) They took the reed, and smote him on the head. That which
they had made the mock-ensign of his royalty, they now make the
real instrument of their cruelty, and his pain. They
smote him, it is probable, upon the crown of thorns, and so
struck them into his head, that they might wound it the deeper, which
made the more sport for them, to whom his pain was the greatest
pleasure. Thus was he despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief. All this misery and shame he
underwent, that he might purchase for us everlasting life, and joy, and
glory.
III. The conveying of him to the place of execution. After they had
mocked and abused him, as long as they thought fit, they then took
the robe off from him; to signify their divesting him of all the
kingly authority they had invested him with, by putting it on him; and
they put his own raiment on him, because that was to fall to the
soldiers’ share, that were employed in the execution. They took off the
robe, but no mention is made of their taking off the crown of
thorns, whence it is commonly supposed (though there is no
certainty of it) that he was crucified with that on his head; for as he
is a Priest upon his throne, so he was a King upon his cross. Christ
was led to be crucified in his own raiment, because he himself
was to bear our sins in his own body upon the tree. And
here,
1. They led him away to be crucified; he was led as a
lamb to the slaughter, as a sacrifice to the altar. We may well
imagine how they hurried him on, and dragged him along, with all the
speed possible, lest any thing should intervene to prevent the glutting
of their cruel rage with his precious blood. It is probable that they
now loaded him with taunts and reproaches, and treated him as the
off-scouring of all things. They led him away out of the city;
for Christ, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate
as if he that was the glory of them that waited for redemption
in Jerusalem was not worthy to live among them. To this he himself had
an eye, when in the parable he speaks of his being cast out of the
vineyard,
ch. xxi. 39.
2. They compelled Simon of Cyrene to bear his cross,
v. 32.
It seems, at first he carried the cross himself, as Isaac
carried the wood for the burnt-offering, which was to burn him. And
this was intended, as other things, both for pain and shame to him. But
after a while they took the cross off from him, either,
(1.) In compassion to him, because they saw it was too great a load for
him. We can hardly think that they had any consideration of that, yet
it teaches us that God considers the frame of his people, and
will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able; he
gives them some breathing-time, but they must expect that the cross
will return, and the lucid intervals only give them space to prepare
for the next fit. But,
(2.) Perhaps it was because he could not, with the cross on his back,
go forward so fast as they would have him. Or,
(3.) They were afraid, lest he should faint away under the load of his
cross, and die, and so prevent what their malice further intended to do
against him: thus even the tender mercies of the wicked (which
seem to be so) are really cruel. Taking the cross off
from him, they compelled one Simon of Cyrene to bear it,
pressing him to the service by the authority of the governor or the
priests. It was a reproach, and none would do it but by compulsion.
Some think that this Simon was a disciple of Christ, at least a
well-wisher to him, and that they knew it, and therefore put this upon
him. Note, All that will approve themselves disciples indeed, must
follow Christ, bearing his cross
(ch. xvi. 24),
bearing his reproach,
Heb. xiii. 13.
We must know the fellowship of his sufferings for us, and
patiently submit to all the sufferings for him we are called out to;
for those only shall reign with him, that suffer with
him; shall sit with him in his kingdom, that drink of his
cup, and are baptized with his baptism.
| The Crucifixion. |
|
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33 And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that
is to say, a place of a skull,
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when
he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.
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.
36 And sitting down they watched him there;
37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS
JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the
right hand, and another on the left.
39 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest
it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross.
41 Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the
scribes and elders, said,
42 He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King
of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will
believe him.
43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have
him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
44 The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the
same in his teeth.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour.
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice,
saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me?
47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said,
This man calleth for Elias.
48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and
filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to
drink.
49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to
save him.
We have here the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus.
I. The place where our Lord Jesus was put to death.
1. They came to a place called Golgotha, near adjoining to
Jerusalem, probably the common place of execution. If he had had a
house of his own in Jerusalem, probably, for his greater disgrace, they
would have crucified him before his own door. But now in the same
place where criminals were sacrificed to the justice of the government,
was our Lord Jesus sacrificed to the justice of God. Some think that it
was called the place of a skull, because it was the common
charnel-house, where the bones and skulls of dead men were laid
together out of the way, lest people should touch them, and be defiled
thereby. Here lay the trophies of death’s victory over multitudes of
the children of men; and when by dying Christ would destroy death, he
added this circumstance of honour to his victory, that he triumphed
over death upon his own dunghill.
2. There they crucified him
(v. 35),
nailed his hands and feet to the cross, and then reared it up, and him
hanging on it; for so the manner of the Romans was to crucify. Let our
hearts be touched with the feeling of that exquisite pain which our
blessed Saviour now endured, and let us look upon him who was thus
pierced, and mourn. Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow? And when we
behold what manner of death he died, let us in that behold with what
manner of love he loved us.
II. The barbarous and abusive treatment they gave him, in which their
wit and malice vied which should excel. As if death, so great a death,
were not bad enough, they contrived to add to the bitterness and terror
of it.
1. By the drink they provided for him before he was nailed to the
cross,
It was usual to have a cup of spiced wine for those to drink of, that
were to be put to death, according to Solomon’s direction
Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish; but with that
cup which Christ was to drink of, they mingled vinegar and gall,
to make it sour and bitter. This signified,
(1.) The sin of man, which is a root of bitterness, bearing
gall and wormwood,
Deut. xxix. 18.
The sinner perhaps rolls it under his tongue as a sweet morsel, but to
God it is grapes of gall,
Deut. xxxii. 32.
It was so to the Lord Jesus, when he bare our sins, and sooner or later
it will be so to the sinner himself, bitterness at the latter end,
more bitter than death,
Eccl. vii. 26.
(2.) It signified the wrath of God, that cup which is Father
put into his hand, a bitter cup indeed, like the bitter water
which caused the curse,
Num. v. 18.
This drink they offered him, as was literally foretold,
And,
[1.] He tasted thereof, and so had the worst of it, took
the bitter taste into his mouth; he let no bitter cup go by him
untasted, when he was making atonement for all our sinful tasting of
forbidden fruit; now he was tasting death in its full
bitterness.
[2.] He would not drink it, because he would not have the
best of it; would have nothing like an opiate to lessen his
sense of pain, for he would die so as to feel himself die,
because he had so much work to do, as our High Priest, in
his suffering work.
2. By the dividing of his garments,
When they nailed him to the cross, they stripped him of his
garments, at least his upper garments; for by sin we were made
naked, to our shame, and thus he purchased for us white raiment to
cover us. If we be at any time stripped of our comforts for Christ, let
us bear it patiently; he was stripped for us. Enemies may strip us of
our clothes, but cannot strip us of our best comforts;
cannot take from us the garments of praise. The clothes of those
that are executed are the executioner’s fee: four soldiers were
employed in crucifying Christ, and they must each of them have a share:
his upper garment, if it were divided, would be of no use to any of
them, and therefore they agreed to cast lots for it.
(1.) Some think that the garment was so fine and rich, that it was
worth contending for; but that agreed not with the poverty Christ
appeared in.
(2.) Perhaps they had heard of those that had been cured by touching
the hem of his garment, and they thought it valuable for some magic
virtue in it. Or,
(3.) They hoped to get money of his friends for such a sacred relic.
Or,
(4.) Because, in derision, they would seem to put a value upon it, as
royal clothing. Or,
(5.) It was for diversion; to pass away the time while they waited for
his death, they would play a game at dice for the clothes; but,
whatever they designed, the word of God is herein accomplished. In that
famous psalm, the first words of which Christ made use of upon
the cross, it was said, They parted my garments among them, and cast
lots upon my vesture,
Ps. xxii. 18.
This was never true of David, but looks primarily at Christ, of
whom David, in spirit, spoke. Then is the offence of this part of the
cross ceased; for it appears to have been by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God. Christ stripped himself of his glories,
to divide them among us.
They now sat down, and watched him,
v. 36.
The chief priests were careful, no doubt, in setting this guard, lest
the people, whom they still stood in awe of, should rise, and rescue
him. But Providence so ordered it, that those who were appointed to
watch him, thereby became unexceptionable witnesses for him;
having the opportunity to see and hear that which extorted from them
that noble confession
(v. 54),
Truly this was the Son of God.
3. By the title set up over his head,
It was usual for the vindicating of public justice, and putting the
greater shame upon malefactors that were executed, not only by a crier
to proclaim before them, but by a writing also over their heads to
notify what was the crime for which they suffered; so they set up over
Christ’s head his accusation written, to give public notice of the
charge against him; This is Jesus the King of the Jews. This
they designed for his reproach, but God so overruled it, that even his
accusation redounded to his honour. For,
(1.) Here was no crime alleged against him. It is not said that he was
a pretended Saviour, or a usurping King, though they would have it
thought so
(John xix. 21);
but, This is Jesus, a Saviour; surely that was no crime; and,
This is the King of the Jews; nor was that a crime; for they
expected that the Messiah should be so: so that, his enemies themselves
being judges, he did no evil. Nay,
(2.) Here was a very glorious truth asserted concerning him–that he is
Jesus the King of the Jews, that King whom the Jews expected and
ought to have submitted to; so that his accusation amounts to this,
That he was the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; as Balaam, when
he was sent for to curse Israel, blessed them all together, and that
three times
so Pilate, instead of accusing Christ as a Criminal, proclaimed him a
King, and that three times, in three inscriptions. Thus
God makes men to serve his purposes, quite beyond their
own.
4. By his companions with him in suffering,
There were two thieves crucified with him at the same time, in
the same place, under the same guard; two highway-men, or robbers upon
the road, as the word properly signifies. It is probable that this was
appointed to be execution-day; and therefore they hurried the
prosecution of Christ in the morning, that they might have him ready to
be executed with the other criminals. Some think that Pilate ordered it
thus, that this piece of necessary justice, in executing these thieves,
might atone for his injustice in condemning Christ; others, that the
Jews contrived it, to add to the ignominy of the sufferings of our Lord
Jesus; however it was, the scripture was fulfilled in it
He was numbered with the transgressors.
(1.) It was a reproach to him, that he was crucified with them.
Though, while he lived, he was separate from sinners, yet in
their deaths they were not divided, but he was made to partake with
the vilest malefactors in their plagues, as if he had been a partaker
with them in their sins; for he was made sin for us, and took upon him
the likeness of sinful flesh. He was, at his death, numbered
among the transgressors, and had his lot with the wicked, that we, at
our death, might be numbered among the saints, and have our
lot among the chosen.
(2.) It was an additional reproach, that he was crucified in the
midst, between them, as if he had been the worst of the three, the
principal malefactor; for among three the middle is the
place for the chief. Every circumstance was contrived to his dishonour,
as if the great Saviour were of all others the greatest sinner.
It was also intended to ruffle and discompose him, in his last moments,
with the shrieks, and groans, and blasphemies, of these malefactors,
who, it is likely, made a hideous outcry when they were nailed to the
cross; but thus would Christ affect himself with the miseries of
sinners, when he was suffering for their salvation. Some of Christ’s
apostles were afterwards crucified, as Peter, and Andrew, but none of
them were crucified with him, lest it should have looked as if
they had been joint undertakers with him, in satisfying for man’s sin,
and joint purchasers of life and glory; therefore he was crucified
between two malefactors, who could not be supposed to contribute any
thing to the merit of his death; for he himself bare our sins in his
own body.
5. By the blasphemies and revilings with which they loaded him when he
was hanging upon the cross; though we read not that they cast any
reflections on the thieves that were crucified with him. One would have
thought that, when they had nailed him to the cross, they had done
their worst, and malice itself had been exhausted: indeed if a criminal
be put into the pillory, or carted, because it is a punishment less
than death, it is usually attended with such expressions of abuse; but
a dying man, though an infamous man, should be treated with compassion.
It is an insatiable revenge indeed which will not be satisfied with
death, so great a death. But, to complete the humiliation of the
Lord Jesus, and to show that, when he was dying, he was bearing
iniquity, he was then loaded with reproach, and, for aught
that appears, not one of his friends, who the other day cried
Hosanna to him, durst be seen to show him any respect.
(1.) The common people, that passed by, reviled him. His extreme
misery and exemplary patience under it, did not mollify them, or make
them to relent; but they who by their outcries brought him to this, now
think to justify themselves in it by their reproaches, as if they
did well to condemn him. They reviled him:
eblasphemoun—they blasphemed him; and
blasphemy it was, in the strictest sense, speaking evil of him
who thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Observe
here,
[1.] The persons that reviled him; they that passed by, the
travellers that went along the road, and it was a great road,
leading from Jerusalem to Gibeon; they were possessed with prejudices
against him by the reports and clamours of the High Priest’s creatures.
It is a hard thing, and requires more application and resolution than
is ordinarily met with, to keep up a good opinion of persons and things
that are every where run down, and spoken against. Every one is
apt to say as the most say, and to throw a stone at that which is put
into an ill name. Turba Remi sequitur fortunam semper et odit
damnatos–The Roman rabble fluctuate with a man’s fluctuating fortunes,
and fail not to depress those that are sinking. Juvenal.
[2.] The gesture they used, in contempt of him–wagging their
heads; which signifies their triumph in his fall, and their
insulting over him,
Jer. xviii. 16; Lam. ii. 15.
The language of it was, Aha, so would we have it,
Ps. xxxv. 25.
Thus they insulted over him that was the Saviour of their country, as
the Philistines did over Samson the destroyer of their country. This
very gesture was prophesied of
(Ps. xxii. 7);
They shake the head at me. And
[3.] The taunts and jeers they uttered. These are here recorded.
First, They upbraided him with his destroying of the
temple. Though the judges themselves were sensible that what he had
said of that was misrepresented (as appears
yet they industriously spread it among the people, to bring an
odium upon him, that he had a design to destroy the temple; than
which nothing would more incense the people against him. And
this was not the only time that the enemies of Christ had laboured to
make others believe that of religion and the people of God,
which they themselves have known to be false, and the charge
unjust “Thou that destroyest the temple, that vast and strong
fabric, try thy strength now in plucking up that cross, and
drawing those nails, and so save thyself; if thou hast
the power thou hast boasted of, this is a proper time to exert it, and
give proof of it; for it is supposed that every man will do his utmost
to save himself.” This made the cross of Christ such a
stumbling-block to the Jews, that they looked upon it to be
inconsistent with the power of the Messiah; he was crucified
in weakness
so it seemed to them; but indeed Christ crucified is the Power of
God.
Secondly, They upbraided him with his saying that he was the
Son of God; If thou be so, say they, come down from the
cross. Now they take the devil’s words out of his mouth, with which
he tempted him in the wilderness
(ch. iv. 3, 6),
and renew the same assault; If thou be the Son of God. They
think that now, or never, he must prove himself to be the Son of
God; forgetting that he had proved it by the miracles he wrought,
particularly his raising of the dead; and unwilling to wait for the
complete proof of it by his own resurrection, to which he had so often
referred himself and them; which, if they had observed it, would have
anticipated the offence of the cross. This comes of judging things by
the present aspect of them, without a due remembrance of what is
past, and a patient expectation of what may further be
produced.
(2.) The chief priests and scribes, the church rulers, and the
elders, the state rulers, they mocked him,
They did not think it enough to invite the rabble to do it, but gave
Christ the dishonour, and themselves the diversion, or reproaching him
in their own proper persons. They should have been in the temple at
their devotion, for it was the first day of the feast of unleavened
bread, when there was to be a holy convocation
but they were here at the place of execution, spitting their venom at
the Lord Jesus. How much below the grandeur and gravity of their
character was this! Could any thing tend more to make them
contemptible and base before the people? One would have thought,
that, though they neither feared God nor regarded man, yet common
prudence should have taught them who had so great a hand in Christ’s
death, to keep as much as might be behind the curtain, and to play
least in sight; but nothing is so mean as that malice may stick at it.
Did they disparage themselves thus, to do despite to Christ, and shall
we be afraid of disparaging ourselves, by joining with the multitude to
do him honour, and not rather say, If this be to be vile, I
will be yet more vile?
Two things the priests and elders upbraided him with.
[1.] That he could not save himself,
v. 42.
He had been before abused in his prophetical and kingly office, and now
in his priestly office as a Saviour. First, They take it for
granted that he could not save himself, and therefore had not
the power he pretended to, when really he would not save
himself, because he would die to save us. They should have
argued, “He saved others, therefore he could save
himself, and if he do not, it is for some good reason.” But,
Secondly, They would insinuate, that, because he did not now
save himself, therefore all his pretence to save others was but sham
and delusion, and was never really done; though the truth of his
miracles was demonstrated beyond contradiction. Thirdly, They
upbraid him with being the King of Israel. They dreamed of the
external pomp and power of the Messiah, and therefore thought the
cross altogether disagreeable to the King of Israel, and
inconsistent with that character. Many people would like the King of
Israel well enough, if he would but come down from the
cross, if they could have his kingdom without the tribulation
through which they must enter into it. But the matter is
settled; if no cross, then no Christ, no crown. Those that would reign
with him, must be willing to suffer with him, for Christ and his cross
are nailed together in this world. Fourthly, They
challenged him to come down from the cross. And what had become
of us then, and the work of our redemption and salvation? If he had
been provoked by these scoffs to come down from the cross, and
so to have left his undertaking unfinished, we had been for ever
undone. But his unchangeable love and resolution set him above,
and fortified him against, this temptation, so that he did not
fail, nor was discouraged. Fifthly, They promised that,
if he would come down from the cross, they would believe him.
Let him give them that proof of his being the Messiah, and they will
own him to be so. When they had formerly demanded a sign, he told them
that the sign he would give them, should be not his coming down from
the cross, but, which was a greater instance of his power, his
coming up from the grave, which they had not patience to wait
two or three days for. If he had come down from the cross, they
might with as much reason have said that the soldiers had juggled in
nailing him to it, as they said, when he was raised from the dead, that
the disciples came by night, and stole him away. But to promise
ourselves that we would believe, if we had such and such means and
motives of faith as we ourselves would prescribe, when we do not
improve what God has appointed, is not only a gross instance of the
deceitfulness of our hearts, but the sorry refuge, or
subterfuge rather, of an obstinate destroying infidelity.
[2.] That God, his Father, would not save him
(v. 43);
He trusted in God, that is, he pretended to do so; for he said,
I am the Son of God. Those who call God Father, and
themselves his children, thereby profess to put a confidence in
him,
Now they suggest, that he did but deceive himself and others, when he
made himself so much the darling of heaven; for, if he had been
the Son of God (as Job’s friends argued concerning him), he
would not have been abandoned to all this misery, much less
abandoned in it. This was a sword in his bones, as David
complains of the like
(Ps. xlii. 10);
and it was a two-edged sword, for it was intended, First,
To vilify him, and to make the standers-by think him a deceiver
and an impostor; as if his saying, that he was the Son of God,
were now effectually disproved. Secondly, To terrify
him, and drive him to distrust and despair of his Father’s power and
love; which some think, was the thing he feared, religiously
feared, prayed against, and was delivered from,
Heb. v. 7.
David complained more of the endeavours of his persecutors to shake
his faith, and drive him from his hope in God, than of their
attempts to shake his throne, and drive him from his kingdom;
their saying, There is no help for him in God
(Ps. iii. 2),
and, God has forsaken him,
Ps. lxxi. 11.
In this, as in other things, he was a type of Christ. Nay, these very
words David, in that famous prophecy of Christ, mentions, as spoken by
his enemies
(Ps. xxii. 8);
He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him. Surely these
priests and scribes had forgotten their psalter, or they would not have
used the same words, so exactly to answer the type and prophecy: but
the scriptures must be fulfilled.
(3.) To complete the reproach, the thieves also that were crucified
with him were not only not reviled as he was, as if they had been
saints compared with him, but, though fellow-sufferers with him, joined
in with his prosecutors, and cast the same in his teeth; that
is, one of them did, who said, If thou be the Christ, save thyself
and us,
Luke xxiii. 39.
One would think that of all people this thief had least cause,
and should have had least mind, to banter Christ. Partners in
suffering, though for different causes, usually commiserate one
another; and few, whatever they have done before, will breathe their
last in revilings. But, it seems, the greatest mortifications of the
body, and the most humbling rebukes of Providence, will not of
themselves mortify the corruptions of the soul, nor suppress the
wickedness of the wicked, without the grace of God.
Well, thus our Lord Jesus having undertaken to satisfy the justice of
God for the wrong done him in his honour by sin, he did it by suffering
in his honour; not only by divesting himself of that which was
due to him as the Son of God, but by submitting to the utmost indignity
that could be done to the worst of men; because he was made sin for us,
he was thus made a curse for us, to make reproach easy to us, if at any
time we suffer it, and have all manner of evil said against us falsely,
for righteousness’ sake.
III. We have here the frowns of heaven, which our Lord Jesus was under,
in the midst of all these injuries and indignities from men. Concerning
which, observe,
1. How this was signified–by an extraordinary and miraculous eclipse of
the sun, which continued for three hours,
v. 45.
There was darkness epi pasan ten gen—over all the
earth; so most interpreters understand it, though our translation
confines it to that land. Some of the ancients appealed to the
annals of the nation concerning this extraordinary eclipse at the death
of Christ, as a thing well known, and which gave notice to those parts
of the world of something great then in doing; as the sun’s going back
in Hezekiah’s time did. It is reported that Dionysius, at Heliopolis in
Egypt, took notice of this darkness, and said, Aut Deus naturæ
patitur, aut mundi machina dissolvitur–Either the God of nature is
suffering, or the machine of the world is tumbling into ruin. An
extraordinary light gave intelligence of the birth of Christ
(ch. ii. 2),
and therefore it was proper that an extraordinary darkness should
notify his death, for he is the Light of the world. The
indignities done to our Lord Jesus, made the heavens astonished,
and horribly afraid, and even put them into disorder and
confusion; such wickedness as this the sun never saw before, and
therefore withdrew, and would not see this. This surprising, amazing,
darkness was designed to stop the mouths of those blasphemers, who were
reviling Christ as he hung on the cross; and it should seem that, for
the present, it struck such a terror upon them, that though their
hearts were not changed, yet they were silent, and stood doubting what
this should mean, till after three hours the darkness
scattered, and then (as appears by
v. 47),
like Pharaoh when the plague was over, they hardened their hearts. But
that which was principally intended in this darkness, was,
(1.) Christ’s present conflict with the powers of
darkness. Now the prince of this world, and his forces, the
rulers of the darkness of this world, were to be cast out, to be
spoiled and vanquished; and to make his victory the more illustrious,
he fights them on their own ground; gives them all the advantage they
could have against him by this darkness, lets them take the wind
and sun, and yet baffles them, and so becomes more than a
conqueror.
(2.) His present want of heavenly comforts. This darkness signified
that dark cloud which the human soul of our Lord Jesus was now under.
God makes his sun to shine upon the just and upon the unjust; but even
the light of the sun was withheld from our Saviour, when he was made
sin for us. A pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun;
but because now his soul was exceeding sorrowful, and the cup of divine
displeasure was filled to him without mixture, even the light of the
sun was suspended. When earth denied him a drop of cold water, heaven
denied him a beam of light; having to deliver us from utter
darkness, he did himself, in the depth of his sufferings, walk in
darkness, and had no light,
During the three hours that this darkness continued, we do not
find that he said one word, but passed this time in a silent
retirement into his own soul, which was now in agony, wrestling with
the powers of darkness, and taking in the impressions of his Father’s
displeasure, not against himself, but the sin of man, which he was now
making his soul an offering for. Never were there three such
hours since the day that God created man upon the earth, never such a
dark and awful scene; the crisis of that great affair of man’s
redemption and salvation.
2. How he complained of it
(v. 46);
About the ninth hour, when it began to clear up, after a long
and silent conflict. Jesus cried, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
The words are related in the Syriac tongue, in which they were spoken,
because worthy of double remark, and for the sake of the perverse
construction which his enemies put upon them, in putting Elias
for Eli. Now observe here,
(1.) Whence he borrowed this complaint–from
It is not probable (as some have thought) that he repeated the whole
psalm; yet hereby he intimated that the whole was to be applied to him,
and that David, in spirit, there spoke of his humiliation and
exaltation. This, and that other word, Into thy hands I commit my
spirit, he fetched from David’s psalms (though he could have
expressed himself in his own words), to teach us of what use the word
of God is to us, to direct us in prayer, and to recommend to us the use
of scripture-expressions in prayer, which will help our
infirmities.
(2.) How he uttered it–with a loud voice; which bespeaks the
extremity of his pain and anguish, the strength of nature remaining in
him, and the great earnestness of his spirit in this expostulation. Now
the scripture was fulfilled
The sun and the moon shall be darkened. The Lord shall also roar out
of Zion, and utter his voice form Jerusalem. David often speaks of
his crying aloud in prayer,
(3.) What the complaint was–My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? A strange complaint to come from the mouth of our Lord Jesus,
who, we are sure, was God’s elect, in whom his soul delighted
(Isa. xlii. 1),
and one in whom he was always well pleased. The Father now loved
him, nay, he knew that therefore he loved him, because he laid down
his life for the sheep; what, and yet forsaken of him, and in the
midst of his sufferings too! Surely never sorrow was like unto that
sorrow which extorted such a complaint as this from one who, being
perfectly free from sin, could never be a terror to himself; but the
heart knows its own bitterness. No wonder that such a complaint as this
made the earth to quake, and rent the rocks; for it is enough to make
both the ears of every one that hears it to tingle, and ought to
be spoken of with great reverence.
Note,
[1.] That our Lord Jesus was, in his sufferings, for a time,
forsaken by his Father. So he saith himself, who we are sure was
under no mistake concerning his own case. Not that the union between
the divine and human nature was in the least weakened or shocked; no,
he was now by the eternal Spirit offering himself: nor as if
there were any abatement of his Father’s love to him, or his to his
Father; we are sure that there was upon his mind no horror of God, or
despair of his favour, nor any thing of the torments of hell; but his
Father forsook him; that is, First, He delivered him up into the
hands of his enemies, and did not appear to deliver him out of their
hands. He let loose the powers of darkness against him, and suffered
them to do their worst, worse than against Job. Now was that scripture
fulfilled
(Job xvi. 11),
God hath turned me over into the hands of the wicked; and no
angel is sent from heaven to deliver him, no friend on earth raised up
to appear for him. Secondly, He withdrew from him the present
comfortable sense of his complacency in him. When his soul was
first troubled, he had a voice from heaven to comfort him
when he was in his agony in the garden, there appeared an angel from
heaven strengthening him; but now he had neither the one nor the other.
God hid his face from him, and for awhile withdrew his rod and staff in
the darksome valley. God forsook him, not as he forsook Saul,
leaving him to an endless despair, but as sometimes he forsook David,
leaving him to a present despondency. Thirdly, He let out upon
his soul an afflicting sense of his wrath against man for sin. Christ
was made Sin for us, a Curse for us; and therefore,
though God loved him as a Son, he frowned upon him as a Surety. These
impressions he was pleased to admit, and to waive that
resistance of them which he could have made; because he
would accommodate himself to this part of his undertaking, as he had
done to all the rest, when it was in his power to have avoided it.
[2.] That Christ’s being forsaken of his Father was the most
grievous of his sufferings, and that which he complained most of. Here
he laid the most doleful accents; he did not say, “Why am I scourged?
And why spit upon? And why nailed to the cross?” Nor did he say to his
disciples, when they turned their back upon him, Why have ye
forsaken me? But when his Father stood at a distance, he cried out
thus; for this as it that put wormwood and gall into the
affliction and misery. This brought the waters into the soul,
Ps. lxix. 1-3.
[3.] That our Lord Jesus, even when he was thus forsaken of his Father,
kept hold of him as his God, notwithstanding; My God, my God;
though forsaking me, yet mine. Christ was God’s servant
in carrying on the work of redemption, to him he was to make
satisfaction, and by him to be carried through and crowned, and upon
that account he calls him his God; for he was now doing his
will. See
This supported him, and bore him up, that even in the depth of his
sufferings God was his God, and this he resolves to keep fast hold
of.
(4.) See how his enemies impiously bantered and ridiculed this
complaint
(v. 47);
They said, This man calleth for Elias. Some think that this was
the ignorant mistake of the Roman soldiers, who had heard talk of
Elias, and of the Jews’ expectation of the coming of Elias, but knew
not the signification of Eli, Eli, and so made this blundering
comment upon these words of Christ, perhaps not hearing the latter part
of what he said, for the noise of the people. Note, Many of the
reproaches cast upon the word of God and the people of God, take rise
from gross mistakes. Divine truths are often corrupted by ignorance of
the language and style of the scripture. Those that hear by the halves,
pervert what they hear. But others think that it was the wilful mistake
of some of the Jews, who knew very well what he said, but were disposed
to abuse him, and make themselves and their companions merry, and to
misrepresent him as one who, being forsaken of God, was driven to trust
in creatures; perhaps hinting also, that he who had pretended to be
himself the Messiah, would now be glad to be beholden to Elias, who was
expected to be only the harbinger and forerunner of the Messiah. Note,
It is no new thing for the most pious devotions of the best men to be
ridiculed and abused by profane scoffers; nor are we to think it
strange if what is well said in praying and preaching be misconstrued,
and turned to our reproach; Christ’s words were so, though he spoke as
never man spoke.
IV. The cold comfort which his enemies ministered to him in this agony,
which was like all the rest.
1. Some gave him vinegar to drink
(v. 48);
instead of some cordial-water to revive and refresh him under this
heavy burthen, they tantalized him with that which did not only add to
the reproach they were loading him with, but did too sensibly represent
that cup of trembling which his Father had put into his hand. One of
them ran to fetch it, seeming to be officious to him, but really
glad of an opportunity to abuse and affront him, and afraid lest any
one should take it out of his hands.
2. Others, which the same purpose of disturbing and abusing him, refer
him to Elias
(v. 49);
“Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Come,
let him alone, his case is desperate, neither heaven nor earth can help
him; let us do nothing either to hasten his death, or to retard it; he
has appealed to Elias, and to Elias let him go.“
| The Crucifixion; The Death of Christ. |
|
|
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up
the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from
the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks
rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him,
watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were
done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed
Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James
and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.
We have here, at length, an account of the death of Christ, and several
remarkable passages that attended it.
I. The manner how he breathed his last
(v. 50);
between the third and the sixth hour, that is, between nine and twelve
o’clock, as we reckon, he was nailed to the cross, and soon after the
ninth hour, that is, between three and four o’clock in the afternoon,
he died. That was the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, and the time when the paschal lamb was killed; and Christ
our Passover was sacrificed for us and offered himself in the evening
of the world a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour. It was at
that time of the day, that the angel Gabriel delivered to Daniel that
glorious prediction of the Messiah,
&c. And some think that from that very time when the angel spoke it, to
this time when Christ died, was just seventy weeks, that is, four
hundred and ninety years to a day, to an hour; as the departure of
Israel out of Egypt was at the end of the four hundred and
thirty years, even the self-same day,
Exod. xii. 41.
Two things are here noted concerning the manner of Christ’s dying.
1. That he cried with a loud voice, as before,
Now,
(1.) This was a sign, that, after all his pains and fatigues, his life
was whole in him, and nature strong. The voice of dying
men is one of the first things that fails; with a panting breath and a
faltering tongue, a few broken words are hardly spoken, and more hardly
heard. But Christ, just before he expired, spoke like a man in his
full strength, to show that his life was not forced from him, but
was freely delivered by him into his Father’s hands, as his
own act and deed. He that had strength to cry thus when he died,
could have got loose from the arrest he was under, and have bid
defiance to the powers of death; but to show that by the eternal
Spirit he offered himself, being the Priest as well as the
Sacrifice, he cried with a loud voice.
(2.) It was significant. This loud voice shows that he attacked
our spiritual enemies with an undaunted courage, and such a bravery of
resolution as bespeaks him hearty in the cause and daring in the
encounter. He was now spoiling principalities and powers, and in
this loud voice he did, as it were, shout for mastery, as one
mighty to save,
Isa. lxiii. 1.
Compare with this,
He now bowed himself with all his might, as Samson did, when he said,
Let me die with the Philistines,
Judg. xvi. 30.
Animamque in vulnere ponit–And lays down his life. His crying
with a loud voice when he died, signified that his death should be
published and proclaimed to all the world; all mankind being concerned
in it, and obliged to take notice of it. Christ’s loud cry was like a
trumpet blown over the sacrifices.
2. That then he yielded up the ghost. This is the usual
periphrasis of dying; to show that the Son of God upon the cross did
truly and properly die by the violence of the pain he was put to. His
soul was separated from his body, and so his body was
left really and truly dead. It was certain that he did die, for
it was requisite that he should die; thus it was written, both
in the close rolls of the divine counsels, and in the
letters patent of the divine predictions, and therefore
thus it behoved him to suffer. Death being the penalty for the
breach of the first covenant (Thou shalt surely die), the
Mediator of the new covenant must make atonement by means of
death, otherwise no remission,
He had undertaken to make his soul an offering for sin; and he
did it, when he yielded up the ghost, and voluntarily resigned
it.
II. The miracles that attended his death. So many miracles being
wrought by him in his life, we might well expect some to be
wrought concerning him at his death, for his name was called
Wonderful. Had he been fetched away as Elijah in a fiery
chariot, that had itself been miracle enough; but, being sent for
away by an ignominious cross, it was requisite that his humiliation
should be attended with some signal emanations of the divine glory.
1. Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain. This
relation is ushered in with Behold; “Turn aside, and see this
great sight, and be astonished at it.” Just as our Lord Jesus expired,
at the time of the offering of the evening-sacrifice, and upon a solemn
day, when the priests were officiating in the temple, and might
themselves be eyewitnesses of it, the veil of the temple was
rent by an invisible power; that veil which parted between the
holy place and the most holy. They had condemned him for
saying, I will destroy this temple, understanding it literally;
now by this specimen of his power he let them know that, if he had
pleased, he could have made his words good. In this, as in others of
Christ’s miracles, there was a mystery.
(1.) It was in correspondence with the temple of Christ’s body, which
was now in the dissolving. This was the true temple, in which dwelt
the fulness of the Godhead; when Christ cried with a loud
voice, and gave up the ghost, and so dissolved that temple, the
literal temple did, as it were, echo to that cry, and answer the
stroke, by rending its veil. Note, Death is the rending of the
veil of flesh which interposes between us and the holy of holies; the
death of Christ was so, the death of true Christians is so.
(2.) It signified the revealing and unfolding of the mysteries of the
Old Testament. The veil of the temple was for concealment, as was that
on the face of Moses, therefore it was called the veil of the
covering; for it was highly penal for any person to see the
furniture of the most holy place, except the High-Priest, and he but
once a year, with great ceremony and through a cloud of smoke; all
which signified the darkness of that dispensation;
But now, at the death of Christ, all was laid open, the mysteries were
unveiled, so that now he that runs may read the meaning of them. Now we
see that the mercy-seat signified Christ the great
Propitiation; the pot of manna signified Christ the Bread
of life. Thus we all with open face behold, as in a glass (which
helps the sight, as the veil hindered it), the glory of the Lord.
Our eyes see the salvation.
(3.) It signified the uniting of Jew and Gentile, by the removing of
the partition wall between them, which was the ceremonial law, by which
the Jews were distinguished from all other people (as a garden
enclosed), were brought near to God, while others were made to
keep their distance. Christ, in his death, repealed the
ceremonial law, cancelled that hand-writing of ordinances, took
it out of the way, nailed it to his cross, and so broke down the
middle wall of partition; and by abolishing those institutions
abolished the enmity, and made in himself of twain one new
man (as two rooms are made one, and that large and lightsome, by
taking down the partition), so making peace,
Eph. ii. 14-16.
Christ died, to rend all dividing veils, and to make all his one,
(4.) It signified the consecrating and laying open of a new and
living way to God. The veil kept people off from drawing near to
the most holy place, where the Shechinah was. But the rending of
it signified that Christ by his death opened a way to God,
[1.] For himself. This was the great day of atonement,
when our Lord Jesus, as the great High-Priest, not by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered once for all
into the holy place; in token of which the veil was rent,
&c. Having offered his sacrifice in the outer court, the blood of it
was now to be sprinkled upon the mercy-seat within the veil; wherefore
lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors; for the King of glory, the Priest of glory,
shall come in. Now was he caused to draw near, and made to
approach,
Though he did not personally ascend into the holy place not made with
hands till above forty days after, yet he immediately acquired a right
to enter, and had a virtual admission.
[2.] For us in him: so the apostle applies it,
We have boldness to enter into the holiest, by that new and living
way which he has consecrated for us through the veil. He died, to
bring us to God, and, in order thereunto, to rend that veil of
guilt and wrath which interposed between us and him, to take away the
cherubim and flaming sword, and to open the way to the
tree of life. We have free access through Christ to the throne of
grace, or mercy-seat, now, and to the throne of glory hereafter,
The rending of the veil signified (as that ancient hymn excellently
expresses it), that, when Christ had overcome the sharpness of
death, he opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Nothing
can obstruct or discourage our access to heaven, for the veil is rent;
a door is opened in heaven,
Rev. iv. 1.
2. The earth did quake; not only mount Calvary, where Christ was
crucified, but the whole land, and the adjacent countries. This
earthquake signified two things.
(1.) The horrible wickedness of Christ’s crucifiers. The
earth, by trembling under such a load, bore its testimony to the
innocency of him that was persecuted, and against the impiety of those
that persecuted him. Never did the whole creation, before, groan under
such a burthen as the Son of God crucified, and the guilty wretches
that crucified him. The earth quaked, as if it feared to open
its mouth to receive the blood of Christ, so much more
precious than that of Abel, which it had received, and was
cursed for it
and as if it fain would open its mouth, to swallow up those
rebels that put him to death, as it had swallowed up Dathan and Abiram
for a much less crime. When the prophet would express God’s great
displeasure against the wickedness of the wicked, he asks, Shall not
the land tremble for this?
Amos viii. 8.
(2.) The glorious achievements of Christ’s cross. This
earthquake signified the mighty shock, nay, the fatal blow, now
given to the devil’s kingdom. So vigorous was the assault Christ now
made upon the infernal powers, that (as of old, when he went out of
Seir, when he marched through the field of Edom) the earth
trembled,
Judg. v. 4; Ps. lxviii. 7, 8.
God shakes all nations, when the Desire of all nations is to come; and
there is a yet once more, which perhaps refers to this shaking,
3. The rocks rent; the hardest and firmest part of the earth was
made to feel this mighty shock. Christ had said, that if the children
should cease to cry Hosanna, the stones would immediately cry
out; and now, in effect, they did so, proclaiming the glory of the
suffering Jesus, and themselves more sensible of the wrong done him
than the hard-hearted Jews were, who yet will shortly be glad to find a
hole in the rocks, and a cleft in the ragged rocks, to hide them
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne. See
But when God’s fury is poured out like fire, the rocks are thrown
down by him,
Nah. i. 6.
Jesus Christ is the Rock; and the rending of these rocks,
signified the rending of that rock,
(1.) That in the clefts of it was may be hid, as Moses in the
cleft of the rock at Horeb, that there we may behold the glory of
the Lord, as he did,
Christ’s dove is said to be hid in the clefts of the rock
(Cant. ii. 14),
that is, as some make the allusion, sheltered in the wounds of our Lord
Jesus, the Rock rent.
(2.) That from the cleft of it rivers of living water may flow, and
follow us in this wilderness, as from the rock which Moses smote
and which God clave
and that rock was Christ,
1 Cor. x. 4.
When we celebrate the memorial of Christ’s death, our hard and rocky
hearts must be rent–the heart, and not the garments. That heart
is harder than a rock, that will not yield, that will not
melt, where Jesus Christ is evidently set forth
crucified.
4. The graves were opened. This matter is not related so fully
as our curiosity would wish; for the scripture was not intended to
gratify that; it should seem, that same earthquake that rent the rocks,
opened the graves, and many bodies of saints which slept,
arose. Death to the saints is but the sleep of the body, and
the grave the bed it sleeps in; they awoke by the power
of the Lord Jesus, and
(v. 53)
came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into
Jerusalem, the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now here,
(1.) We may raise many enquiries concerning it, which we cannot
resolve: as,
[1.] Who these saints were, that did arise. Some
think, the ancient patriarchs, that were in such care to be
buried in the land of Canaan, perhaps in the believing foresight of the
advantage of this early resurrection. Christ had lately proved the
doctrine of the resurrection from the instance of the patriarchs
(ch. xxii. 32),
and here was a speedy confirmation of his argument. Others think,
these that arose were modern saints, such as had been Christ in
the flesh, but died before him; as his father Joseph, Zecharias,
Simeon, John Baptist, and others, that had been known to the disciples,
while they lived, and therefore were the fitter to be witnesses to them
in an apparition after. What if we should suppose that they were
the martyrs, who in the Old-Testament times had sealed the
truths of God with their blood, that were thus dignified and
distinguished? Christ particularly points at them as his
forerunners,
And we find
that those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, arose
before the rest of the dead. Sufferers with Christ shall
first reign with him.
[2.] It is uncertain whether (as some think) they arose to life, now at
the death of Christ, and disposed of themselves elsewhere, but did not
go into the city till after his resurrection; or whether (as
others think), though their sepulchres (which the
Pharisees had built and varnished,
ch. xxiii. 29),
and so made remarkable, were shattered now by the earthquake (so little
did God regard that hypocritical respect), yet they did not
revive and rise till after the resurrection; only, for
brevity-sake, it is mentioned here, upon the mention of the opening
of the graves, which seems more probable.
[3.] Some think that they arose only to bear witness of Christ’s
resurrection to those to whom they appeared, and, having finished their
testimony, retired to their graves again. But it is more agreeable,
both to Christ’s honour and theirs, to suppose, though we cannot
prove, that they arose as Christ did, to die no more, and
therefore ascended with him to glory. Surely on them who did partake of
his first resurrection, a second death had no power.
[4.] To whom they appeared (not to all the people it is certain,
but to many), whether enemies or friends, in what manner they
appeared, how often, what they said and did, and how they disappeared,
are secret things which belong not to us; we must not covet to be
wise above what is written. The relating of this matter so
briefly, is a plain intimation to us, that we must not look that way
for a confirmation of our faith; we have a more sure word of prophecy.
See
(2.) Yet we may learn many good lessons from it.
[1.] That even those who lived and died before the death and
resurrection of Christ, had saving benefit thereby, as well as those
who have lived since; for he was the same yesterday that
he is to-day, and will be for ever,
Heb. xiii. 8.
[2.] That Jesus Christ, by dying, conquered, disarmed, and disabled,
death. These saints that arose, were the present trophies of the
victory of Christ’s cross over the powers of death, which he
thus made a show of openly. Having by death destroyed him that
had the power of death, he thus led captivity captive, and
gloried in these re-taken prizes, in them fulfilling that
scripture, I will ransom them from the power of the grave.
[3.] That, in virtue of Christ’s resurrection, the bodies of all the
saints shall, in the fulness of time, rise again. This was an
earnest of the general resurrection at the last day, when all that
are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. And
perhaps Jerusalem is therefore called here the holy city,
because the saints, at the general resurrection, shall enter into the
new Jerusalem; which will be indeed what the other was in name
and type only, the holy city,
Rev. xxi. 2.
[4.] That all the saints do, by the influence of Christ’s death, and in
conformity to it, rise from the death of sin to the life of
righteousness. They are raised up with him to a divine and
spiritual life; they go into the holy city, become
citizens of it, have their conversation in it, and appear to
many, as persons not of this world.
III. The conviction of his enemies that were employed in the execution
(v. 54),
which some make no less than another miracle, all things considered.
Observe,
1. The persons convinced; the centurion, and they that were with him
watching Jesus; a captain and his company, that were set on the
guard on this occasion.
(1.) They were soldiers, whose profession is commonly hardening,
and whose breasts are commonly not so susceptible as some others of the
impressions either of fear or pity. But there is no spirit too big,
too bold, for the power of Christ to break and humble.
(2.) They ware Romans, Gentiles, who knew not the scriptures
which were now fulfilled; yet they only were convinced. A sad presage
of the blindness that should happen to Israel, when the
gospel should be sent to the Gentiles, to open their eyes. Here were
the Gentiles softened, and the Jews hardened.
(3.) They were the persecutors of Christ, and those that but just
before had reviled him, as appears
How soon can God, by the power he has over men’s consciences, alter
their language, and fetch confessions of his truths, to his own glory,
out of the mouths of those that have breathed nothing but
threatenings, and slaughter, and blasphemies!
2. The means of their conviction; they perceived the earthquake,
which frightened them, and saw the other things that were done.
These were designed to assert the honour of Christ in his sufferings,
and had their end on these soldiers, whatever they had on others. Note,
The dreadful appearances of God in his providence sometimes work
strangely for the conviction and awakening of sinners.
3. The expressions of this conviction, in two things.
(1.) The terror that was struck upon them; they feared
greatly; feared lest they should have been buried in the darkness,
or swallowed up in the earthquake. Note, God can easily frighten the
most daring of his adversaries, and make them know themselves to be but
men. Guilt puts men into fear. He that, when iniquity abounds, doth not
fear always, with a fear of caution, when judgments are
abroad, cannot but fear greatly, with a fear of
amazement; whereas there are those who will not fear, though
the earth be removed,
Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.
(2.) The testimony that was extorted from them; they
said, Truly this was the Son of God; a noble confession; Peter
was blessed for it,
It was the great matter now in dispute, the point upon which he and his
enemies had joined issue,
ch. xxvi. 63, 64.
His disciples believed it, but at this time durst not confess it; our
Saviour himself was tempted to question it, when he said, Why hast
thou forsaken me? The Jews, now that he was dying upon the cross,
looked upon it as plainly determined against him, that he was not the
Son of God, because he did not come down from the cross. And yet now
this centurion and the soldiers make this voluntary confession of the
Christian faith, Truly this was the Son of God. The best of his
disciples could not have said more at any time, and at this time they
had not faith and courage enough to say thus much. Note, God can
maintain and assert the honour of a truth then when it seems to be
crushed, and run down; for great is the truth, and will
prevail.
IV. The attendance of his friends, that were witnesses of his death,
Observe,
1. Who they were; many women who followed him from Galilee. Not
his apostles (only elsewhere we find John by the cross,
their hearts failed them, they durst not appear, for fear of coming
under the same condemnation. But here were a company of women, some
would have called them silly women, that boldly stuck to
Christ, when the rest of his disciples had basely deserted him. Note,
Even those of the weaker sex are often, by the grace of God, made
strong in faith, that Christ’s strength may be made perfect in
weakness. There have been women martyrs, famous for courage and
resolution in Christ’s cause. Now of these women it is said,
(1.) That they had followed Jesus from Galilee, out of the great
love they had to him, and a desire to hear him preach; otherwise, the
males only were obliged to come up, to worship at the feast. Now having
followed him such a long journey as from Galilee to Jerusalem, eighty
or a hundred miles, they resolved not to forsake him now. Note, Our
former services and sufferings for Christ should be an argument with
us, faithfully to persevere to the end in our attendance on him. Have
we followed him so far and so long, done so much, and laid out
so much for him, and shall we forsake him now?
(2.) That they ministered to him of their substance, for his
necessary subsistence. How gladly would they have ministered to him
now, if they might have been admitted! But, being forbidden that, they
resolved to follow him. Note, When we are restrained from doing
what we would, we must do what we can, in the service of Christ.
Now that he is in heaven, though he is out of the reach of our
ministration, he is not out of the reach of our believing
views.
(3.) Some of them are particularly named; for God will honour
those that honour Christ. They were such as we have several
times met with before, and it was their praise, that we meet
with them to the last.
2. What they did; they were beholding afar off.
(1.) They stood afar off. Whether their own fear or their
enemies’ fury kept them at a distance, is not certain; however, it was
an aggravation of the sufferings of Christ, that his lovers and
friends stood aloof from his sore,
Ps. xxxviii. 11; Job xix. 13.
Perhaps they might have come nearer, if they would; but good people,
when they are in sufferings, must not think it strange, if some of
their best friends be shy of them. When Paul’s danger was imminent,
no man stood by him,
2 Tim. iv. 16.
If we be thus looked strangely upon, remember, our Master was so before
us.
(2.) They were there beholding, in which they showed a concern
and kindness for Christ; when they were debarred from doing any other
office of love to him, they looked a look of love toward him.
[1.] It was a sorrowful look; they looked unto him who was now
pierced, and mourned; and no doubt, were in bitterness
for him. We may well imagine how it cut them to the heart, to see him
in this torment; and what floods of tears it fetched from their eyes.
Let us with an eye of faith behold Christ and him crucified, and be
affected with that great love wherewith he loved us. But,
[2.] It was no more than a look; they beheld him, but they could not
help him. Note, When Christ was in his sufferings, the best of
his friends were but spectators and lookers on, even the angelic
guards stood trembling by, saith Mr. Norris, for he trod the
wine-press alone, and of the people there was none with him; so
his own arm wrought salvation.
| The Burial of Christ. |
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57 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathæa,
named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple:
58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate
commanded the body to be delivered.
59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth,
60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in
the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the
sepulchre, and departed.
61 And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting
over against the sepulchre.
62 Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation,
the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he
was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the
third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away,
and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last
error shall be worse than the first.
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make
it as sure as ye can.
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the
stone, and setting a watch.
We have here an account of Christ’s burial, and the manner and
circumstances of it, concerning which observe,
1. The kindness and good will of his friends that laid
him in the grave.
2. The malice and ill will of his enemies that were very
solicitous to keep him there.
I. His friends gave him a decent burial. Observe,
1. In general, that Jesus Christ was buried; when his precious
soul was gone to paradise, his blessed body was deposited in the
chambers of the grave, that he might answer the type of Jonas, and
fulfil the prophecy of Isaias; he made his grave with the
wicked. Thus in all things he must be made like unto his
brethren, sin only excepted, and, like us, unto dust he must
return. He was buried, to make his death the more certain, and his
resurrection the more illustrious. Pilate would not deliver his body
to be buried, till he was well assured that he was really dead; while
the witnesses lay unburied, there were some hopes concerning
them,
But Christ, the great Witness, is as one free among the dead, like
the slain that lie in the grave. He was buried, that he
might take off the terror of the grave, and make it easy to us, might
warm and perfume that cold noisome bed for us, and that we might be
buried with him.
2. The particular circumstances of his burial here related.
(1.) The time when he was buried; when the evening was
come; the same evening that he died, before sun-set, as is usual in
burying malefactors. It was not deferred till the next day, because it
was the sabbath; for burying the dead is not proper work either
for a day of rest or for a day of rejoicing, as the sabbath is.
(2.) The person that took care of the funeral was Joseph of Arimathea.
The apostles had all fled, and none of them appeared to show this
respect to their Master, which the disciples of John showed to
him after he was beheaded, who took up his body, and buried it,
ch. xiv. 12.
The women that followed him durst not move in it; then did God stir up
this good man to do it; for what work God has to do, he will find out
instruments to do it. Joseph was a fit man, for,
[1.] He had wherewithal to do it, being a rich man. Most of
Christ’s disciples were poor men, such were most fit to go about the
country to preach the gospel; but here was one that was a rich
man, ready to be employed in a piece of service which required a
man of estate. Note, Worldly wealth, though it is to many an
objection in religion’s way, yet, in some services to be done for
Christ, it is an advantage and an opportunity, and it is well for those
who have it, if withal they have a heart to use it for God’s glory.
[2.] He was well affected to our Lord Jesus, for he was himself his
disciple, believed in him, though he did not openly profess it.
Note, Christ has more secret disciples than we are aware of; seven
thousand in Israel,
(3.) The grant of the dead body procured from Pilate,
Joseph went to Pilate, the proper person to be applied to on
this occasion, who had the disposal of the body; for in things wherein
the power of the magistrate is concerned, due regard must be had to
that power, and nothing done to break in upon it. What we do that is
good, must be done peaceably, and not tumultuously. Pilate was willing
to give the body to one that would inter it decently, that he might do
something towards atoning for the guilt his conscience charged him with
in condemning an innocent person. In Joseph’s petition, and Pilate’s
ready grant of it, honour was done to Christ, and a testimony
borne to his integrity.
(4.) The dressing of the body in its grave-clothes
(v. 59);
though he was an honourable counsellor, yet he himself took the
body, as it should seem, into his own arms, from the infamous and
accursed tree
for where there is true love to Christ, no service will be thought too
mean to stoop to for him. Having taken it, he wrapped it in a clean
linen cloth; for burying in linen was then the common usage, which
Joseph complied with. Note, Care is to be taken of the dead bodies of
good men, for there is a glory intended for them at the resurrection,
which we must hereby testify our belief of, and wind up the dead body
as designed for a better place. This common act of humanity, if done
after a godly sort, may be made an acceptable piece of
Christianity.
(5.) The depositing of it in the sepulchre,
Here there was nothing of that pomp and solemnity with which the
grandees of the world are brought to the grave, and laid in the
tomb,
Job xxi. 32.
A private funeral did best befit him whose kingdom came not with
observation.
[1.] He was laid in a borrowed tomb, in Joseph’s burying place;
as he had not a house of his own, wherein to lay his head while
he lived, so he had not a grave of his own, wherein to lay his
body when he was dead, which was an instance of his poverty; yet in
this there might be somewhat of a mystery. The grave is the peculiar
heritage of a sinner,
Job xxiv. 19.
There is nothing we can truly call our own but our sins and our graves;
he returneth to his earth,
Psalm cxlvi. 4.
When we go to the grave, we go to our own place; but our Lord Jesus,
who had no sin of his own, had no grave of his own; dying under imputed
sin, it was fit that he should be buried in a borrowed grave;
the Jews designed that he should have made his grave with the
wicked, should have been buried with the thieves with whom he was
crucified, but God over-ruled it, so as that he should make it with
the rich in his death,
Isa. liii. 9.
[2.] He was laid in a new tomb, which Joseph, it is likely,
designed for himself; it would, however, be never the
worse for his lying in it, who was to rise so quickly, but a
great deal the better for his lying in it, who has
altered the property of the grave, and made it anew indeed, by
turning it into a bed of rest, nay into a bed of spices,
for all the saints.
[3.] In a tomb that was hewn out of a rock; the ground about
Jerusalem was generally rocky. Shebna had his sepulchre hewn out
thereabouts in a rock,
Isa. xxii. 16.
Providence ordered it that Christ’s sepulchre should be in a solid
entire rock, that no room might be left to suspect his disciples had
access to it by some underground passage, or broke through the back
wall of it, to steal the body; for there was no access to it but by the
door, which was watched.
[4.] A great stone was rolled to the door of his sepulchre; this
also was according to the custom of the Jews in burying their dead, as
appears by the description of the grave of Lazarus
(John xi. 38),
signifying that those who are dead, are separated and cut off
from all the living; if the grave were his prison, now was the
prison-door locked and bolted. The rolling of the stone to the grave’s
mouth, was with them as filling up the grave is with us, it completed
the funeral. Having thus in silence and sorrow deposited the previous
body of our Lord Jesus in the grave, the house appointed for all
living, they departed without any further ceremony. It is
the most melancholy circumstance in the funerals of our Christian
friends, when we have laid their bodies in the dark and silent grave,
to go home, and leave them behind; but alas, it is not we that go
home, and leave them behind, no, it is they that are gone to
the better home, and have left us behind.
(6.) The company that attended the funeral; and that was very
small and mean. Here were none of the relations in
mourning, to follow the corpse, no formalities to grace the solemnity,
but some good women that were true mourners–Mary Magdalene, and the
other Mary,
v. 56.
These, as they had attended him to the cross, so they followed
him to the grave; as if they composed themselves to sorrow, they
sat over against the sepulchre, not so much to fill their eyes
with the sight of what was done, as to empty them in rivers of tears.
Note, True love to Christ will carry us through, to the utmost, in
following him. Death itself cannot quench that divine fire,
II. His enemies did what they could to prevent his resurrection; what
they did herein was the next day that followed the day of the
preparation,
v. 62.
That was the seventh day of the week, the Jewish sabbath, yet
not expressly called so, but described by this periphrasis, because it
was now shortly to give way to the Christian sabbath, which began the
day after. Now,
1. All that day, Christ lay dead in the grave; having for six days
laboured and done all his work, on the seventh day he rested,
and was refreshed.
2. On that day, the chief priests and Pharisees, when they
should have been at their devotions, asking pardon for the sins of the
week past, were dealing with Pilate about securing the sepulchre, and
so adding rebellion to their sin. They that had so often
quarrelled with Christ for works of the greatest mercy on that day,
were themselves busied in a work of the greatest malice. Observe
here,
(1.) Their address to Pilate; they were vexed that the body was
given to one that would bury it decently; but, since it must be so,
they desire a guard may be set on the sepulchre.
[1.] Their petition sets forth, that that deceiver (so they call
him who is truth itself) had said, After three days I will rise
again. He had said so, and his disciples remembered those
very words for the confirmation of their faith, but his persecutors
remember them for the provocation of their rage and malice. Thus the
same word of Christ to the one was a savour of life unto life, to the
other of death unto death. See how they compliment Pilate with the
title of Sir, while they reproach Christ with the title of
Deceiver. Thus the most malicious slanderers of good men
are commonly the most sordid flatterers of great men.
[2.] It further sets forth their jealousy; lest his disciples come
by night, and steal him away, and say, He is risen.
First, That which really they were afraid of, was, his
resurrection; that which is most Christ’s honour and his
people’s joy, is most the terror of his enemies. That which exasperated
Joseph’s brethren against him, was the presage of his rise, and of his
having dominion over them
and all they aimed at, in what they did against him, was, to prevent
that. Come, say they, let us slay him, and see what will
become of his dreams. So the chief priests and Pharisees laboured
to defeat the predictions of Christ’s resurrection, saying, as David’s
enemies of him
(Ps. xli. 8),
Now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more; if he should rise,
that would break all their measures. Note, Christ’s enemies, even when
they have gained their point, are still in fear of losing it again.
Perhaps the priests were surprised at the respect shown to Christ’s
dead body by Joseph and Nicodemus, two honourable counsellors, and
looked upon it as an ill presage; nor can they forget his raising
Lazarus from the dead, which so confounded them.
Secondly, That which they took on them to be afraid of, was,
lest his disciples should come by night, and steal him away,
which was a very improbable thing; for,
1. They had not the courage to own him while he lived, when they might
have done him and themselves real service; and it was not likely that
his death should put courage into such cowards.
2. What could they promise themselves by stealing away his body, and
making people believe he was risen; when, if he should not rise, and so
prove himself a deceiver, his disciples, who had left all for him in
this world, in dependence upon a recompence in the other world, would
of all others suffer most by the imposture, and would have had reason
to throw the first stone at his name? What good would it do them, to
carry on a cheat upon themselves, to steal away his body, and say,
He is risen; when, if he were not risen, their faith was vain,
and they were of all men the most miserable? The chief priests
apprehend that if the doctrine of Christ’s resurrection be once
preached and believed, the last error will be worse than the
first; a proverbial expression, intimating no more than this, that
we shall all be routed, all undone. They think it was their
error, that they had so long connived at his preaching and
miracles, which error they thought they had rectified by
putting him to death; but if people should be persuaded of his
resurrection, that would spoil all again, his interest would
revive with him, and theirs must needs sink, who had so barbarously
murdered him. Note, Those that opposed Christ and his kingdom, will see
not only their attempts baffled, but themselves miserably
plunged and embarrassed, their errors each worse than
other, and the last worst of all,
[3.] In consideration hereof, they humbly move to have a guard set upon
the sepulchre till the third day; Command that the sepulchre be made
sure. Pilate must still be their drudge, his civil and military
power must both be engaged to serve their malice; one would think that
death’s prisoners needed no other guard, and that the grave were
security enough to itself; but what will not those fear, who are
conscious to themselves both of guilt and impotency, in
opposing the Lord and his anointed?
(2.) Pilate’s answer to this address
(v. 65);
He have a watch, make it sure, as sure as you can. He was ready
to gratify Christ’s friends, in allowing them the body, and his
enemies, in setting a guard upon it, being desirous to please all
sides, while perhaps he laughed in his sleeve at both for making such
ado, pro and con, about the dead body of a man, looking
upon the hopes of one side and the fears of the other to be alike
ridiculous. Ye have a watch; he means the constant guard that
was kept in the tower of Antonia, out of which the allows them to
detach as many as they pleased for that purpose, but, as if ashamed to
be himself seen in such a thing, he leaves the management of it wholly
to them. Methinks that word, Make it as sure as you can, looks
like a banter, either,
[1.] Of their fears; “Be sure to set a strong guard upon the
dead man;” or rather,
[2.] Of their hopes; “Do your worst, try your wit and strength
to the utmost; but if he be of God, he will rise, in spite of you and
all your guards.” I am apt to think, that by this time Pilate had had
some talk with the centurion, his own officer, of whom he would be apt
to enquire how that just man died, whom he had condemned with
such reluctance; and that he gave him such an account of those things
as made him conclude that truly he was the Son of God; and
Pilate would give more credit to him than to a thousand of those
spiteful priests that called him a Deceiver; and if so, no
marvel that he tacitly derides their project, in thinking to secure the
sepulchre upon him who had so lately rent the rocks, and made the earth
to quake. Tertullion, speaking of Pilate, saith, Ipse jam pro suâ
conscientiâ Christianus–In his conscience he was a Christian; and
it is possible that he might be under such convictions at this time,
upon the centurion’s report, and yet never be thoroughly persuaded, any
more than Agrippa or Felix was, to be a Christian.
(3.) The wonderful care they took, hereupon, to secure the sepulchre
(v. 66);
They sealed the stone; probably with the great seal of their
sanhedrim, whereby they interposed their authority, for who
durst break the public seal? But not trusting too much to that, withal
they set a watch, to keep his disciples from coming to
steal him away, and, if possible, to hinder him from
coming out of the grave. So they intended, but God brought this good
out of it, that they who were set to oppose his resurrection,
thereby had an opportunity to observe it, and did so, and told the
chief priests what they observed, who were thereby rendered the more
inexcusable. Here was all the power of earth and hell combined to keep
Christ a prisoner, but all in vain, when his hour was come; death, and
all those sons and heirs of death, could then no longer hold him, no
longer have dominion over him. To guard the sepulchre against the poor
weak disciples, was folly, because needless; but to think to
guard it against the power of God was folly, because fruitless
and to no purpose; and yet they thought they had dealt
wisely.
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