Matthew 27:35-44

³⁵ Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” ³⁶ Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. ³⁷ And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 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 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Vs. 35 ³⁵ Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Jesus is now crucified by them, and while He is being crucified by them, they divide up His garments amongst themselves, casting lots for them, that the Scripture spoken by the prophet in Psalm 22:18 might be fulfilled, which states: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” The callousness of those there is hard to fathom, and yet their doing so is a perfect picture of the unregenerate human heart, which always covets the least, while being utterly indifferent to the Most Precious.

Vs. 36-38 ³⁶ Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. ³⁷ And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.

The guards then having divided Jesus’ clothing amongst themselves, now sit down at their leisure, totally indifferent to who He is, and why He is suffering and dying on the Cross for them and for all (vs. 36). Instead they place over Jesus’ head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS (vs. 37). This then is the charge that is used to justify Jesus’ Crucifixion death. Now two robbers were also crucified alongside of Jesus, one on the right hand and another on His left (please see Luke 23:39-43), this too was also foretold in the Scripture (see Isaiah 53:12).

Vs. 39-44 ³⁹ And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ⁴² “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 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 Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

Matthew now recalls the horrible callousness of those who observe Jesus’ Crucifixion, who passing by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” (vs. 39-40). Their saying as much then is not so much their own understanding of His Words, but the chief priests, who sought to set the people against Him by misrepresenting His Words to them. However, their passing by Him in such a cruel manner is also symbolic of all who do not believe, who likewise pass by the Gospel of God that could save them, and instead blasphemy Christ on the one hand, while calling for Him to do signs and wonders on the other, so that they may “believe.” All which can be forgiven the moment they (or anyone else guilty of the same attitude) repents and believes.

Vs. 39-44 (cont.) The chief priests then also seeing the Son of Man whom they so despised and hated now suffering and humiliated before them, also begin mocking Jesus along with the scribes and elders who helped them orchestrate this, saying to the crowds: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. ⁴³ He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

The cruelty and the unbelief of the chief priests, and those who mocked along with them is all that they reveal of themselves by saying as much while Jesus is suffering on the Cross for the remission of all our sins. For religious men though steeped in their religion and its practices are not always Godly men, just as men in authority and power are not always righteous or virtuous men. Indeed, mankind as a whole apart from God’s salvation through Jesus Christ and His regeneration of their persons by His Spirit are a most degenerating, debased, and ultimately always become a depraved people. Now of course Jesus could’ve ended His crucifixion, but He did not, instead He choose to remain there so that by His suffering and shed blood unto death He could make the atonement for all our sins and transgressions. For as the Law reveals without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb. 9:22). How little then do these religious leaders know, even though they are the authorities and scholars of the Word of God in their day, yet the very Word of God that foretold and declared that all these events would unfold just as they have, they themselves have only become partakers in fulfilling, while still remaining unbelieving about them.

Scripture Quotations: 

The New King James Version. (1982). Nashville: Thomas Nelson