27:27- 66 The crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus
Matthew, following Mark, works with two themes: the irony of his condemnation and mockery as the “King of the Jews” and the fulfillment of Scripture. The mocking is seen in the soldiers having their way with Jesus, the placard on the cross together with the taunting of the passersby to show what he was made of and come down from the cross. The ironic fool has much to laugh about and much to learn.
The scourging and mockery (27:27-31)
The exact location of the praetorium (the Governor’s residence in Jerusalem) the number of soldiers (a cohort would be 600 soldiers) and whose soldiers they were is unknown. It begins the need to make a public example of the condemned and fires up the soldiers for a killing. The soldier’s scarlet cloak, the throne-crown and the read scepter create an ironic image to match the charge “king of the Jews”. Jesus has already been flogged.
The crucifixion (27:32-44)
Simon of Cyrene, of whom Mark makes much, is pressed into carrying the crossbeam – for whatever reason. The location of “Golgotha (Latin calvaria) is unknown. The reference to those who “passed by” (27:39) fits with a road side or crossroads where the public example could be maximized. When the Roman soldiers got into the swing of things, they would crucify victims on door lintels or on windows or anywhere. The “green hill” is indeed far, far away! The offer of wine mixed with gall continues the theme of mocking; drinking a narcotic or a poison is another easy out,
A watch is set over the crucified as one will set over the tomb. The practice of breaking the legs to hasten the process of suffocation is not mentioned here. It was not done for humanitarian reasons. A spear thrust would end the suffering, breaking the legs makes it worse.
“If you are the Son of God” echoes the tests put to Jesus in chapter 4. Both sets have three members – the rule of three lives on. (OK. There are three tests in chapter 4 and here in chapter 27 but it is a well established rule of storytelling to uses sets of three characters or three incidents.) “He has trusted in God” possibly alludes to Psalm 22:8.
The death (27:45-56)
The cry beginning “Eli, Eli, …” is fittingly ambiguous. It could be a cry of abandonment, a a cry of the pious one quoting the first verse of the Psalm of the Righteous Sufferer (Ps. 22:1) that put the whole Psalm on the table, so to speak. Who would not know that this was a cry to God but be able to confuse it with a cry to Elijah? In what world would such a confusion work? Is it a Hellenistic pun? I think it works better as a Semitic pun where “my God” is confused with “Yahweh is God”.
A major cause of the death would have been suffocation but the human body was not designed to cope with the gross trauma inflicted by the whole process of crucifixion. As Jesus takes his last breath the lights go out in nature and events associated with the end of the age give the color and force to the story – the sky turning black, the exposure of the Temple, the tombs opening . This is not the death of just anyone but the death of everyone: “this one is the Son of God”.
The burial of Jesus (27:57-66)
That the body was taken down from the cross before it was mauled by wild animals is extraordinary enough; that is was buried, with necessary haste and loving care in a cave tomb is a fitting end to the story of the one who has been associated with Abraham, David, Moses and who at his death has (once again) be acclaimed by the Gentiles. Like John the Baptist, Jesus’ body is gathered up by his disciples and buried. In contrast to Moses, the burial place of Jesus is known. It is guarded by a Roman (or is it a Jewish) watch and watched over by women disciples.
[Now that we are into Easter, we will go back and pick up the story with the (so-called) "Sermon on the Mount". I haven't forgotten chapter 28 but will return there when we have finished the story.]
