Commentary - Matthew 27:33-56

Bird's-eye view

Here, at the climax of Matthew’s gospel, we come to the central event in all of human history. This is not a tragedy; it is a triumph. This is not the execution of a failed revolutionary; it is the coronation of the King of kings. At Golgotha, the place of death, the Lord of life puts death to death. The powers of this world, both political and religious, collude to stamp out the Son of God, and in so doing, they unwittingly fulfill the very plan of God for the salvation of the world. The mockery, the shame, the agony, and the abandonment are all instruments in the hand of a sovereign God, turning the greatest evil man could devise into the greatest good God could provide. The darkness over the land is a sign of the judgment Christ is bearing, and the tearing of the temple veil is the sign that His work is finished. Access to God is now thrown open to all who come by faith in Him. The cross is where justice and mercy meet, where God’s hatred of sin and His love for sinners are both put on full display. This is the enthronement of the true King.

Outline

Context In Matthew

Matthew has been building to this point from the very beginning. Jesus is presented as the son of David, the true King of Israel (Matt 1:1). The Magi from the east came seeking the one "born King of the Jews" (Matt 2:2). Throughout His ministry, Jesus has demonstrated His authority over disease, demons, nature, and even death. He has taught with an authority that stunned the scribes. Now, that authority is displayed in the most paradoxical way imaginable: through weakness, suffering, and death. The crucifixion is not a detour in Matthew's narrative; it is the destination. It is the means by which the King establishes His kingdom. The rejection by the Jewish leaders is complete, and their mockery fulfills the very prophecies they claimed to uphold. Pilate's inscription, meant as a jab at the Jews, is a sovereignly ironic declaration of the truth. Every detail here is freighted with Old Testament significance, showing that this is the fulfillment of all that the law and the prophets anticipated. This is conquering blood, not conquered blood.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull,

They bring the Lord of life to the place of death. Golgotha was the city’s garbage dump, a place of uncleanness and execution. It is fitting that Christ, who was made sin for us, would be executed outside the camp, bearing our reproach. The first Adam brought death into a garden of life; the last Adam brings life into a garden of death, a place of skulls. This is where the head of the serpent would be crushed by the seed of the woman.

v. 34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He did not want to drink.

This was a mild anesthetic, a gesture of mercy offered to the condemned. But Jesus refuses it. He had already told the Father in the garden, "not as I will, but as You will." He would drink the cup the Father had given Him, and He would drink it to the dregs. He would not have His senses dulled. He is entering into our suffering with His eyes wide open, fully conscious of the wrath He is about to bear. He will not shrink from any part of it.

v. 35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.

The act of crucifixion is stated with stark simplicity. But the soldiers, utterly oblivious to the cosmic significance of the moment, treat it as just another day at the office. They gamble for His clothes. In their callous indifference, they fulfill the prophecy of Psalm 22:18, "They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." God is sovereign even over the dice of godless men. They strip Him of His last earthly possessions, but in doing so, they are merely stagehands in God's great drama of redemption.

v. 36 And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there.

They sit down to watch a man die. This is the cold, brutal reality of fallen humanity. But they are also unwitting witnesses. God has placed them there to guard the scene, to ensure that no one can later claim He did not really die. Their watch is a testimony to the reality of His death, which is the necessary prelude to the reality of His resurrection.

v. 37 And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

Pilate wrote this inscription out of spite for the Jewish leaders who had strong-armed him into this execution. He meant it as mockery. But God meant it as the gospel. In three languages, for all the world to see, the Roman governor declares the true identity of the man on the cross. This is His coronation plaque. He is enthroned on a cross, reigning from a tree. The world's greatest act of rebellion becomes God's great proclamation of His Son's kingship.

v. 38 At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left.

He was "numbered with the transgressors," as Isaiah prophesied (Is 53:12). He is placed in the midst of those He came to save. He is not aloof from sinners; He identifies with them completely, taking their place, dying their death. His position between them is a picture of His role as the mediator between God and man. To be saved, you must be on one side of Him or the other.

v. 39-40 And those passing by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

The mockery begins. The taunts are satanic in their logic, echoing the temptations in the wilderness. "If you are the Son of God..." The devil's strategy is always to attack the identity of the Son. The world’s wisdom says that power is demonstrated by self-preservation. "Save Yourself!" But the wisdom of God says that true power, true love, is demonstrated in self-sacrifice. He could not save Himself and save us. He chose to save us. His refusal to come down from the cross is the ultimate proof that He is the Son of God.

v. 41-42 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.”

The religious leaders, the supposed spiritual guides of Israel, lead the chorus of scorn. And in their mockery, they speak a deeper truth than they know. "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." This is the very heart of the gospel. It is the logic of substitutionary atonement, stated perfectly by His bitterest enemies. They demand a sign, a display of power that would suit their carnal expectations. But they would not have believed. They had already seen Him raise the dead and refused to believe. Faith does not come from seeing such signs; faith is a gift that enables us to see the glory of God in the sign of the cross.

v. 43 HE TRUSTS IN GOD; LET GOD RESCUE Him now, IF HE DELIGHTS IN HIM; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’

Here they quote Psalm 22:8 almost verbatim. They are unwittingly identifying Jesus as the righteous sufferer of that very psalm. Their intent is to mock His trust in God, but their words only serve to confirm His identity. They challenge God to show His delight in the Son, not realizing that God's delight is being demonstrated precisely by not rescuing Him from the cross. For it was at the cross that God was reconciling the world to Himself.

v. 44 And the robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

At this point, everyone is united in their contempt. The whole world, Jew and Gentile, religious and irreligious, is represented in this circle of mockers. There is no one righteous, no, not one. The totality of human sinfulness is on display at the foot of the cross, heaping scorn on the only one who could save them from it.

v. 45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour.

This is not a natural eclipse. This is a supernatural sign. For three hours, at the height of the day, the judgment of God comes down. The light of the world is being quenched, and so the world is plunged into darkness. This is the darkness of the curse, the darkness of separation from God, the darkness of hell itself. Christ is bearing the full, concentrated wrath of God against all the sins of His people. God the Father turns His face away, and the creation itself reflects this terrible reality.

v. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

This is the central cry of the cross, the cry from the heart of the darkness. He is quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. This is not a cry of unbelief or despair. It is the cry of the substitute. He who knew no sin was made sin for us. In that moment, He is experiencing the ultimate penalty for sin, which is separation from the favor of God. He is bearing the forsakenness that we deserved. And yet, He cries, "My God." Even in the depths of this dereliction, His faith does not fail. He is praying Scripture, identifying Himself as the one the psalm is about, a psalm that begins in agony but ends in triumphant, global victory.

v. 47-49 And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ... they gave Him a drink. But the rest of them were saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”

The crowd is spiritually deaf. They mistake "Eli" for "Elijah." Their response is a mixture of crude pity and cynical mockery. They cannot comprehend the spiritual transaction that is taking place. They are looking for a magical, external rescue, completely missing the profound, internal rescue that is being accomplished before their very eyes.

v. 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

John tells us this cry was "It is finished." This is not the whimper of a defeated victim. It is the triumphant shout of a conqueror. The debt is paid. The work is done. And then, He "yielded up His spirit." His life was not taken from Him; He laid it down of His own accord (John 10:18). He was in control, even in the moment of His death. He dismissed His own spirit, an act of sovereign authority.

v. 51 And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.

The moment He dies, the cosmos reacts. The effects are immediate and dramatic. First, the veil in the temple, the massive curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, is torn. And it is torn from top to bottom, signifying that this is an act of God from heaven, not an act of man from below. The way into the presence of God is now thrown open. The old system of sacrifices and priests is obsolete. Christ's body was the true veil, and through His death, we now have bold access to the throne of grace. At the same time, the earth quakes. Creation itself convulses at the death of its Creator. This is a sign of judgment, the de-creation that our sin deserved, which Christ has now absorbed.

v. 52-53 And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

The earthquake breaks open the tombs. Christ's death is the death of death. It is so powerful that its effects ripple backward and forward in time. These saints are the firstfruits of the resurrection. Their rising after His resurrection is a pledge and a promise of the great resurrection to come for all who are in Him. His victory over the grave is not just for Himself, but for all His people.

v. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was God’s Son!”

Here is the first harvest of the cross. A pagan, a Roman soldier, an instrument of the state's brutal power, is the first to make the great confession. While the religious leaders were blind, this Gentile saw. He saw the way Jesus died, he saw the darkness, he felt the earthquake, and he responded not with cynicism, but with holy fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The gospel is already going out to the nations, and it begins right here, at the foot of the cross.

v. 55-56 And many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

While most of the male disciples had scattered in fear, these women remained faithful. They had ministered to Jesus in His life, and they are here to witness His death. Their courage and devotion is a quiet rebuke to the cowardice of the men. They are the faithful remnant. And because they are the last at the cross, God will honor them by making them the first at the empty tomb. They are the official witnesses of the central events of our salvation.