Matthew Chapter 27 {Jesus Brought Before Pilate} {Verses 1-32 - Before the Cross} 27:1~~When it was early in the morning {on Wednesday}, all the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled together to plot against Jesus and to execute Him. {Note: This was an attempt to make the night trial of Jesus last night legal under Jewish law.} 27:2~~They tied Him up, led Him away, and handed Him over to Pontus Pilate the procurator. {Note: They could not condemn Him under Jewish law so they turn Him over to the Roman Rulers and try to get them to kill Him.} {Note: A Procurator was the ruler of a third class province. Which is what Judea was in the Roman Empire. The Jews despised Pilate, but swallowed their pride and took Jesus to him because of their great hatred for our Lord.} {Verses 3-10 A short Parenthesis - the Repentance of Judas} {Judas' Suicide} 27:3-4~~Now when Judas, who had betrayed Him {having seen the first three trials}, saw that he received condemnation {by his own standards}, he felt guilty {'repented' - metamelomai} about what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders 27:4~~saying, "I have sinned {confession of sin} by betraying innocent blood." But they said, "That's your own darn business {idiom - literally Greek is 'what to us see thou'}! " {Note: Judas is shocked at how his religious leaders are treating Jesus . . . completely against Jewish law. By Judas' own norms and standards, he has a guilt complex based on his part in the atrocity being committed against Jesus.} {Note: Metamelomai is an emotional word translated repent in the KJV - literally it is 'a change in FEELING' - to feel sorry for something.} {Note: Confession of sin is useless in salvation or before salvation. As an unbeliever, confession of sin to these religious leaders meant nothing. Salvation is Faith Alone in Christ Alone.} 27:5~~So Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself {last act of negative volition}. {Note: Big problem of mental attitude sins - guilt. Pressure builds up and the person blows. Judas also thought money would make him happy. He got money and was not happy and was disillusioned.} {The Business meeting of the Religious leaders} 27:6~~The chief priests took the silver and said, "It is not lawful to put this into the temple treasury, since it is blood money." {Note: Deuteronomy 23 lists the kinds of money that cannot go into the treasury. They refuse BACK their temple money because it violates the Mosaic Law, but they are illegally murdering the Lord of Glory . . . the SUBJECT of the Mosaic Law! Religion concentrates on the petty details and ignores the overall principal of Grace.} {Conclusion of the business meeting} 27:7~~After consulting together they bought the Potter's Field with it {the 30 pieces of silver}, as a burial place for foreigners {for those who can not afford to pay for their own burial - again a 'good deed' - human good and evil}. 27:8~~For this reason that field has been called the 'Field of Blood' to this day. 27:9~~Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the One . . . Whose estimated value had been set by the people of Israel 27:10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me {Zechariah in 516 BC}." {Note: This quote is from Zechariah Chapter 11: 12-13 . . . not Jeremiah. The reason it is said to be Jeremiah is because the scrolls were called by the name at the top and the book of Jeremiah was at the top and book of Zechariah was on the bottom. Secondly, Jeremiah did speak about the prophecy, but it was recorded in the Word of God by Zechariah. Jeremiah talked about Towfit (which had been a field where children had been sacrificed in the Phallic cult) and the 'field of blood'.} {Jesus and Pilate - the First Roman Trial of Jesus} 27:11~~Then Jesus stood before {Pontius Pilate} the procurator, and the procurator asked Him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "Affirmative, it is as you have said {idiom - literally 'You said it'}." {An aside to the Roman Trial} 27:12~~But when He was accused by the chief priests and the elders, He did not respond. {Note: After He walked out on them in the temple, He separated Himself from them (verbally and mentally) even though He would still pay the price for their sins.} 27:13~~Then Pilate said to Him, "Don't you hear how many charges they are bringing against You?" 27:14~~But He did not answer even one accusation, so that the procurator kept on being greatly amazed {at the great poise of the Lord}. 27:15~~During the {Passover} feast the procurator was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd . . . whomever they wanted. {Note: The previous trial, before Herod the great is not recorded here.} 27:16~~At that time they had in custody a notorious prisoner called Barabbas {Chaldean name - 'Son (bar) of the Father (abbas)'}. 27:17~~So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want {thelo} me to release for you . . . Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" {Note: Thelo is the Greek word meaning 'volition expressed through emotion. Bulomi (sp) is the Greek word for volition expressed through rational thinking.} 27:18~~(For he {Pilate} knew that they had handed Him over because of envy/jealousy.) 27:19~~As he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him, "Do not condemn that innocent man, because I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream {a trance} because of Him today." 27:20~~But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the mob for the purpose that they should ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 27:21~~The procurator asked them, "Which of the two do you desire me {from emotion} to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!" 27:22~~Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" They all kept saying over and over, "Let Him receive crucification, let Him receive crucification . . . !" {Note: Why not just stone Jesus? The Jews couldn't stone Him because it was Passover and therefore a holy period that would last the next eight days.} 27:23~~And he {Pilate} asked, "Why, what wrong has he done?" But they shouted more insistently, "Crucify Him, crucify Him, crucify Him!" {Note: A mob is not rational it is emotional. They do NOT answer the question at all. Just give me blood!} {Given Over for Crucifixion} 27:24~~When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this just Man's blood. Observe it!" {Note: Pilate's last try to bring reason to the mob. He was too weak to call out the Roman guard as Roman's usually handle ANY mob!} 27:25~~In reply all the people said, "His blood . . . on us and on our children!" {Note: The law of culpability: the children are not responsible for their parents sins unless they repeat them (Ezekiel 8:2; Jeremiah 31: 29-30; Deuteronomy 24: 16).} 27:26~~Then he released Barabbas unto them. And, after he {Pilate} had Jesus flogged/scourged . . . he handed Him {Jesus} over to receive crucification. {Note: Subjunctive mood indicates Jesus' volition. He could still have refused to go to the cross.} 27:27~~Then the procurator's soldiers took Jesus into the procurator's palace/headquarters {praitorion} and gathered the whole band of soldiers around Him. {Note: Praitorion from which we get the Praetorian Guards means the quarters of the Roman top official. Here it is the headquarters of the Roman procurator - Pontius Pilate.} 27:28~~They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe around Him {mocking Him being the 'King of the Jews'}. 27:29~~And after weaving some thorns into a crown, they put it on His head {see Genesis 3: 17-18 - Jesus is taking the 'curse of man' upon Himself}. They put a reed in his right hand, and kneeling down before Him, they mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 27:30~~They spat on Him {Jesus} and kept on repeatedly punching Him over and over. 27:31~~When they had mocked Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him. {The Crucifixion - The Cross and following -Verse 32 and following} 27:32~~As they kept on coming out {implies a great crowd}, they found a man from Cyrene {a Jew from North Africa} named Simon, whom they forced to carry His {Jesus'} cross {because Jesus was too weak to carry it as a result of being continually beaten}. {Note: Mark 15:21 tells us more about Simon. He had two sons - Alexander and Rufus. Simon was a successful businessman and became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was one of the first martyrs in North Africa. His wife moved to Rome and she is mentioned in Romans 16:13 as being 'another mother to the Apostle Paul'.} {Location of the Crucification} 27:33~~They came to a place called Golgotha {Aramaic word} (which means 'Place of the Skull'). {Note: Calvary is NOT mentioned in the bible. Roman Catholicism brought that in. Per the Bible, the place of the crucifixion was Golgotha . . . the 'Place of the Skull'.} 27:34~~And they offered Jesus cheap wine {'rot gut'} mixed with gall {a narcotic} to drink {to deaden the pain}. But after tasting it, He would not drink it {because He needed a clear mind to express His volition}. 27:35~~When they had crucified Him {at nine o'clock in the morning - Mark 15:25}, they distributed/divided His clothes by throwing dice. {Note: These were well made clothes in good condition and the soldiers lusted for them. They would bring a good price in when sold.} {Note: KJV adds to verse 35 "That it might fulfill that which was written by the prophet, 'They parted my garments among them and on my vesture {kind of a vest} did they cast lots' refers to the prophecy of David in Psalm 22:18." This is true, but the statement was added. It was not in the original manuscripts.} 27:36~~Then they sat down and kept on watching Him there. {Note: The Roman soldiers got their kicks out of watching people suffer. This was their 'enjoyment'.} 27:37~~Above His head they put the judgement/charge against Him that read as follows: "This keeps on being Jesus, the King of the Jews." {Note: John in John 19:20 tells us more. The charge was written in three languages . . . in Latin - the official language of Rome, Aramaic - the native language of the Jews at this time, and Greek - the universal language of the Roman Empire and primary language west of the Adriatic Sea. And it more fully said Jesus 'OF NAZARETH'. Matthew omits 'of Nazareth', because it is erroneous, Jesus was from Bethlehem.} 27:38~~Then two criminals were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 27:39-40~~Those who passed by kept on defaming {blasphemeo} Him, making obscene gestures with their heads {like our 'flipping the bird'} 27:40~~ and saying, "You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" {Note: Blasphemeo from which we get blasphemy does mean to defame someone. To defame the Lord or His Word is blasphemy.} {Note: A real volition issue for Jesus. He could save Himself . . . or save us. He chose to save US . . . Grace! And, we did not earn it or deserve it! It is a GIFT of God, freely given with no strings.} 27:41-42~~In the same way, the chief priests along with the experts in the law and elders were mocking Him, saying repeatedly, 27:42~~"He saved others of the same kind, but He cannot save Himself! If you are the King of Israel, come down . . . come down! And we will believe!" 27:43~~He trusted God {the Father} in the past with the result that He keeps on trusting in Him . . . let God {the Father}, if He wills - and He does will this - deliver Him now . . . because He said, 'I am the Son of God!'" {Note: This is all Satanic inspiration. If He came off the cross there would be nothing to believe in. The Father must JUDGE Him, not DELIVER Him. And the writer Matthew writes that God the Father does will to deliver Jesus but the Father can not and be reconciled with mankind.} 27:44~~The robbers who were crucified with Him also spoke abusively to Him. {Note: Both robbers started out cursing Jesus. But in Luke, we find that one of the robbers repents - changes his mind - and in addressing Jesus calls Him 'Lord' recognizing His deity and is saved by His Faith in Christ. SideNote: The robber was then saved. He did not walk an isle, invite Lord into his heart, be baptized . . . in the name of Jesus or the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. None of these things add to salvation which is Faith Alone in Christ Alone.} Continued ************************************************ This page is sponsored by Kenneth Sidley, CPA, an Orange County California CPA (949) 706-3133. This page also sponsored by Moxxor For Pain Free Living. Moxxor is a highly concentrated Omega 3 product that has reduced inflammation in this writer. Please go to this website to read more about Moxxor.