The life & killing of Jesus Christ

from the Gospel of Matthew

(Matthew 27:37-44)

The Passion of Christ

Questions to be answered in this study

1. The Bible divides Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and death into three segments of three hours each; what are those segments?
2. What was the difference in the sign placed on the cross of Jesus and that of criminals?
3. What was the difference in the Roman criminal justice system and ours today?
4. Thievery was not a capital crime in the Roman Empire. So, why were thieves crucified with Jesus?
5. Why did the Romans choose to execute criminals just outside the Gates of Jerusalem?
6. What are the vital truths that we learn from the salvation of the thief crucified next to Jesus?

Introduction

Jesus’ death on the cross completed God’s plan of redemption, which was determined before the earth’s creation. From the first chapter of Genesis to Revelation the Bible revolves around the death of Jesus and His resurrection. It has been my purpose in this study to learn every detail possible about the life and killing of Jesus.

Today we come to the most intense episode in the killing of Jesus as he hung on the cross, suffered for six hours, and then gave His life. Why would God allow Jesus to suffer and die in such a way? What did it accomplish? We will attempt to answer those questions as we go forward.

The Bible divides Jesus’ suffering, crucifixion, and death into three segments of three hours each; each segment fulfilled a part of God’s plan. The first segment from 6:00 AM until 9:00 AM was the Roman trial, the scourging, and ultimate rejection of Jesus by His people, the Jews, which fulfilled the prophecy of the Old Testament: “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it unnecessary for Christ to suffer these things and enter His glory?” Luke 24:25-26. “But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled,” Acts 3:18.

From 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM, a total of six hours, Jesus hung on the cross. The number 6 is the number for sinful man for which Jesus is taking their place. The first three hours Jesus suffered during daylight represented the wrath of man and brought on by evil man and are the consequences of sin, which Jesus took in our place. Jesus was treated worse than the criminal Barabbas, who was set free and Jesus condemned in his place; he was mocked, beaten, rejected, and ultimately died, which is the final consequence of sin, not His, ours.

The final three hours of the suffering of Jesus, from 12:00 noon until 3:00 PM, were in darkness, which was Jesus’ separation from God as God turned His back. The darkest part of life is man’s separation from God, for which there is no hope other than faith in Jesus and what He did, taking our place, suffering, and dying for our sins. Without Christ, man must suffer eternal death, separated from God’s love and presence for all eternity.

Finally, at 3:00 PM, Matthew tells us that Jesus gave up the spirit and died. Today we celebrate death with an expensive funeral, flowers, and an elaborate casket. There was no expensive funeral for Jesus and no elaborate casket. During the post-crucifixion three hours, Jesus was taken down from the cross, and His body was wrapped in linen and spices, which was the custom in that day, and His lifeless body was taken to the grave and buried in a borrowed tomb before sundown. Three days and nights later, Jesus rose from the grave victorious over sin and death.

The consequences of sin are death and then separation from God, and Jesus suffered separation and from God and death and for sinners so that they might receive His righteousness and the hope of life as a result. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The man without Christ suffers physical death and spiritual separation from God, but Jesus, was the opposite; first suffered separation from God, then physical death. There is a reason for that that we will take up in a future study, but for now, let us turn our attention to our text beginning with verse 37:

Matthew 27:37, “And set up over his head his accusation written, This Is Jesus The King Of The Jews.”

Today our laws are meant to be a crime deterrent; the same was true in the time of the Romans. It was customary for them to place a sign beneath the cross designating the criminal’s crime for everyone to see. According to Matthew, there was also a sign placed on the cross of Jesus, but it was placed above the cross in defiance of the Jews who had wrongly accused and condemned Jesus, who was innocent. Contrary to what the Jews said that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews, it read, “Jesus the King of the Jews.” Of course, the Jewish leaders complained, but Pilate ignored them and said, “what I have written, I have written.”

Now Matthew moves to the first part of the final major event of Jesus. His first three hours on the cross:

Matthew 27:38, “Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.”

According to Matthew, a thief was crucified on either side of Jesus on the day of His crucifixion. It was the custom of the Romans to have a speedy trial and then the execution of convicted criminals, unlike today, when those convicted of a capital crime might spend years in prison before they are executed. Consequently, the Roman prisons weren’t packed as ours today. Their prison only served as a holding place until the criminal was brought to trial. Our prisons today provide a free life for criminals until they are released into society to commit other crimes. That was not so with the Romans. They did not believe criminals deserved free food and lodging and the expense of guarding them and maintaining a place to keep them. The Romans divided crimes into two categories, minor crimes were punishable by scourging and a fine, and significant crimes were punishable by death. Roman citizens were given a quick death by decapitation, and non-citizens were sentenced to the painful death of crucifixion. 

These men are listed as thieves, but since thievery was not a capital crime in Rome, they must have also committed other crimes. The Greek word used in this instance could also include insurgents, which could designate a rebel or revolutionary. We know this is the case because Josephus, a Jewish historian, used the same word to describe those who tried to overthrow Rome. More than anything else, these men were a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12, that Jesus was numbered with the transgressors at His death.

Matthew further describes the events taking place around Jesus and these thieves.

Matthew 27:39-43, “And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40And 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. 41Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42He 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. 43He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.”

Golgotha, the place Romans chose to execute criminals, was prominent just outside the Gates of Jerusalem. It was here that they would receive the most visibility from people leaving and entering the city. It was just another effort by the Romans to deter crime. At the time of Passover, when millions of people had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast, there would have been multitudes of people coming and going, particularly at that time of day. Many would recognize Jesus or would have heard of His preaching, healing, and miracles.

Some called out to Him, saying He saved others. Now let Him save Himself. Some said He said he could destroy the temple and build it in three days, so they said, let Him save Himself and come down from the cross if He is God. They went by waging their heads and shouting disrespect for Jesus. The religious leaders must have been gloating over their victory in killing Jesus, little knowing they had committed the unpardonable sin and would spend eternity separated from God in hell. There were times that Jesus saved Himself by simply walking through the crowd that were trying to arrest Him. That was before it was time for Him to die for the sins of Man. The fact that He was dying on the cross was proof that He was the Messiah and not His coming down from the cross. The crowds did not understand that Jesus was laying down His life voluntarily. 

Jesus told us why He was crucified in John 10:17-18: “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.”

It was not the nails that held Jesus to the cross. He had the power to come down anytime He pleased, but that was not God’s plan, so Jesus went to the cross as a lamb went to slaughter. By His power, He could die to save those who believe: “O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. 2The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen,” Psalm 98:1-2.

           Satan was there that day, but I don’t think he gloated over his victory of convincing the Jews to kill Jesus. He probably realized that he had aided in his own defeat. He watches Jesus go willingly to the cross to die. Now Satan, must have realized at last that the death of Jesus was part of God’s plan to redeem man from sin. I have known those who blame God when things go wrong in their lives or experiences that they considered inappropriate. God has a plan for our life, including what happens to us other than the things we bring on ourselves out of stupidity. It can be disastrous when we doubt God’s plan and go our way. It has cost the Jews their place in God’s kingdom for nearly 2,000 years, and it will only be at the return of Christ that they realize their mistake and turn to Him as their Messiah and savior. We will suffer the consequences of our sins, but it is not God’s fault; it is our own.

           Even the thieves who were being crucified with Jesus mocked Him:

           Matthew 27:44, “The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.”

These thieves mock Jesus, a condemned man as they, showing no fear for God. The Bible tells us this is a fulfillment of Scripture: Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 prophesied that Jesus the Messiah would die without allies and alone. If you sometimes wonder if you have friends, you are not alone. Remember, Jesus had no friends at this time to help Him in any way. How ironic is it that at that moment, He, who created all life and the universe, had no friends?

There is a positive story that comes out of this. According to the other gospels, one of the thieves quits mocking Jesus at the end of 3 hours; “But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost, not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” Luke 23:40-42.

Never has there been a deathbed confession like this one. While hanging on a cross, this man receives an invitation from God to inherit eternal life and takes it; this proves what the Bible says: salvation is through faith by God’s grace only and not of ourselves; it is entirely a gift from God. Jesus responds to this man’s request as recorded in Like 23:43: “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” This man was the lowest of sinners; he could not follow Jesus in baptism, nor could he do one good work in Jesus’ name proving that salvation comes at the point of repentance and faith in Jesus and not anything else that we do, not baptism and not works. John records these words of Jesus: “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me,” John 6:35-38.

By the Lord’s providence, this man came to Jesus even in a very unusual way. Jesus knew that this man had a repentant heart, and without any hesitation, He readily received Him with the promise that he would be with Him that very day in paradise. That meant that he would be free of sin forever in Jesus’s presence.

Salvation is only by invitation when the Holy Spirit of God comes to a person and invites them into the kingdom of God. Every revelation comes from heaven: When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah and savior, Jesus replied, “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven,” Matthew 16:17.

We learn some vital truths from this man’s experience: We know that salvation is not by works because this man had none. We know salvation is not by baptism because this man could not be baptized. We also know our past does not condemn us; it is the rejection of Jesus as a savior that does. This man had a vile, terrible history, but that did not keep him from being saved. Finally, this man proves it is never too late to be saved as long as there is life and soundness of mind.