And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
As He hung suffering on the cross, those passing by reviled Him, wagging their heads in scorn and derision. They dared Him as the one who said He would destroy the temple and build it in three days to prove He was the Son of God by saving Himself and coming down from the cross, distorting His words even while publicizing them, repeating in mock homage the same challenge Satan had used in the wilderness. The chief priests with scribes and elders, rulers, soldiers and the base among the multitude joined the abuse, jeering that He saved others but Himself He cannot save and taunting His trust in God. In blindness those professing to expound prophecy were repeating the very words inspiration had foretold they would utter on this occasion, without perceiving it. The taunts were Satan's own assault through evil men against the champion of truth, yet He bore this shameful death as the substitute for transgression, its curse and guilt, drinking the bitter cup that for a time separated Him from His Father so sinners might be saved. His endurance of sneering insult without seeking applause puts all human self-denial in the shade and gives His followers the pattern and measure for suffering reproach for His sake.
The Mockery at Calvary
Those passing by as Jesus hung suffering on the cross reviled Him, wagging their heads in scorn and derision. They did so while He bore human sin, carrying the guilt and sorrows caused by transgression. His execution outside Jerusalem at the place where felons and murderers were put to death fulfilled His role as substitute suffering for transgression.
Their taunt dared Him, as the one who said He would destroy the temple and build it in three days, to prove He was the Son of God by saving Himself and coming down from the cross. The charge repeated a distorted version of His words about the temple, yet even in misrepresenting it publicized His statement that the temple would be raised in three days, and that statement was being fulfilled. It was offered in mock homage, as though bowing to a king, repeating the same challenge Satan had used in the wilderness.
The accusation THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS was set over His head, and He was crucified between two thieves as if He were the chief of sinners. A vast multitude of all classes followed Him from Pilate's court toward Calvary, and disciples and believers joined the throng. They saw His weak and staggering steps when the cross prepared for Barabbas was laid on His bruised and bleeding shoulders, and showed no compassion but taunted and reviled Him because He could not carry the heavy cross. He fell fainting twice beneath the burden and could carry it no farther, weakened because He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper and had agonized in Gethsemane, endured betrayal and the flight of His disciples, been taken to Annas then Caiaphas then Pilate then Herod then Pilate again, and suffered insult upon insult, mockery upon mockery, and torture by the scourge twice through the night.
The mockery was joined by the chief priests with scribes and elders, rulers and Pharisees, hardened soldiers, the vile thief, and the base and cruel among the multitude, all united in abuse. Priests, rulers and scribes forgot the dignity of their sacred offices and joined the rabble in mocking and jeering the dying Son of God. They jeered that He saved others but Himself He cannot save, challenged Him as King of Israel and King of the Jews to come down so they would believe, and taunted His claim to trust in God and to be the Son of God by daring God to deliver Him.
On His way to the judgment hall and at His crucifixion He was in the hands of a cruel, infuriated mob with coarse jest and cruel mocking, the murderous throng eagerly crying for His blood. He was clothed in an old purple kingly robe and crowned with thorns driven into His temples by smiting with a reed until blood flowed from His brow. He was led away pale, weak and fainting, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through His tender hands and feet, and hung there those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun refused to behold and hid its light. Seeing Him stretched upon Calvary's cross as a malefactor dying as a criminal brought terrible affliction to His followers.
The verse belongs to the full record of His humiliation and suffering: His garments parted and lots cast, two thieves crucified with Him, darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the loud cry of forsakenness, vinegar offered, death with a loud voice, the rent veil of the temple, earthquake, rent rocks, opened graves and risen saints appearing after His resurrection, women watching afar off, and the centurion's confession that He was the Son of God. It belongs to the history of professedly pious Jews recorded in Matthew 27 and 28, to be read together with His commission to His disciples. It shows the Jewish priests and rulers using their influence to make even the Roman governor serve their purpose. The One reviled as prisoner unresisting before Pilate and Herod, crowned with thorns, lacerated by the scourge and laid in Joseph's new tomb, was afterward loosed by heaven's decree and beheld by the Roman guard coming forth glorified.
Meaning, Prophecy and Application
The wagging of heads in scorn at the cross fulfilled words foretold in prophecy. Those who uttered them professed to be expounders of prophecy, yet in blindness they repeated the very words inspiration had foretold they would speak on that occasion, fulfilling prophecy without perceiving it.
He hung there as the substitute who suffered for transgression of God's law and bore its curse on behalf of others, outside Jerusalem where felons and murderers were put to death. His suffering was greater than any human being could suffer, encompassing the parting of His garments and casting of lots, the accusation set over His head, the two thieves crucified with Him, the mocking of chief priests with scribes and elders and of the thieves, darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the loud cry of forsakenness, vinegar offered, death with a loud voice, the rent veil, earthquake, rent rocks, opened graves and risen saints appearing after His resurrection, women watching afar off, and the centurion's confession that He was the Son of God. That mockery fell upon Him while He was bearing human sin and carrying the guilt and sorrows caused by transgression. He bore that shameful death for humanity with nails through His hands and feet, drinking the bitter cup of agony that for a time separated Him from His Father, and though the cup trembled in His hand He did not refuse it, so that through His sacrifice sinners might be saved and He might become a propitiation for a lost world, and through His death people might become partakers of the divine nature. His position shows that trust in God can stand against worldly power and opposition, even when Jewish priests and rulers used their influence to make even the Roman governor serve their purpose.
The abuse was part of satanic opposition against Him, carried out through evil people who rejected the Son of God and forming the assault of the forces of evil against the champion of God and truth. The taunting words were Satan's own, the fallen covering cherub working in human form with his angels, inspiring and voicing himself through high priests, rulers, Pharisees and religious teachers. Those dignitaries stimulated the ignorant mob and instigated the mixed multitude to pronounce judgment against One they had never looked upon, to ask for Barabbas and to cry for crucifixion. Those who chose Barabbas and reviled Christ, though professing piety and love for God and claiming to know the Scriptures, were yoked with Satan and proved to be whited sepulchers deceiving the people by outward sanctity, neither made sons of God nor representing His character. The scene exhibits what humanity does under religious deception, with violence, fierceness, cruelty and implacable hatred fully imbued with the attributes of Satan and without tender compassion, bringing every objectionable feature of lawless liberty, transgression and sin into human character, so that angels beholding the insult saw as never before what rebellion against the law of Jehovah means and knew the changeless law would have kept the priests from such deeds. To spectators with true religion it appeared as if Satan triumphantly shouted blasphemy, linked with men, against the Commander of all heaven who came from heaven to save a perishing world and in whose heart zeal for right and justice and for the glory of God was the highest object.
Angels hovering over the crucifixion and the heavenly host watching were moved to indignation at the derision and wished to rescue and deliver Him and disperse His persecutors. They were not allowed or commanded to do so, because the object of His mission was almost accomplished and He bore that shameful death for humanity.
The reviling warns against demanding a miracle or healing as the price of believing God's messengers, saying show us a miracle and we will believe, and asking if these messengers have the truth why do they not heal the sick. Such demands seek pegs on which to hang doubts and find excuse for rejecting heaven's light in the face of clear evidence. To utter such taunts with His history before them places the speaker in the same position as His murderers and speaks words similar to theirs, not led by God but ignorant of what spirit they are of, surrounded by exulting evil angels triumphing in power to deceive. Closing the eyes to clear light while asking for miracles leads to terrible deception, to rejecting the most evident truth and believing the most foolish errors, because Satan will answer that demand with many false miracles to confirm in error all who seek that kind of evidence.
His endurance of sneering insults, rejection, and treatment as a criminal without seeking applause or fearing the world shows the cost of His sacrifice and gives His followers a measure for their own self-denial. That suffering puts all human self-denial in the shade, demanding undivided affections, entire consecration, separation from the world and a transformed narrow path. It rebukes complaining about hardship and trial in overcoming, and calls the youth not to follow inclination but to accept conflict, self-denial, privation, weariness, toil, anxiety and sacrifice costing everything to win eternal life. That same suffering teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God and preparation for holy work.
His suffering under reproach was greater than any suffering His followers will face when men carry false reports about them and their work. His endurance of that agony and shame is the pattern they are to follow in suffering for His sake. They should keep their eyes fastened on the Lamb of Calvary, refuse to stop their work to listen to reports, refuse discouragement, and press on to win heaven knowing He will uphold and sustain them at every step.
The disciples saw their beloved Master, whom they had expected to reign on David's throne, to deliver Israel and to give hope of eternal life, brought to a criminal's death on the lifted-up cross. They were plunged into bitter disappointment as if their hopes had ended, and their hope that He would deliver Israel died when they witnessed His crucifixion in terrible affliction and agony. In contrast, Jesus passed through the tomb to brighten and lighten it, so that while revilers mocked Him and friends now sympathize with the bereaved, His death gives hope and joy in death and confidence that those who rest in Him and loved ones laid to rest in Jesus will be met again.
Some who taunted Him on the cross could have repented and received forgiveness, as Saul did after persecuting His followers.
As He hung suffering on the cross, those passing by reviled Him, wagging their heads in scorn and derision. They dared Him as the one who said He would destroy the temple and build it in three days to prove He was the Son of God by saving Himself and coming down from the cross, distorting His words even while publicizing them, repeating in mock homage the same challenge Satan had used in the wilderness. The chief priests with scribes and elders, rulers, soldiers and the base among the multitude joined the abuse, jeering that He saved others but Himself He cannot save and taunting His trust in God. In blindness those professing to expound prophecy were repeating the very words inspiration had foretold they would utter on this occasion, without perceiving it. The taunts were Satan's own assault through evil men against the champion of truth, yet He bore this shameful death as the substitute for transgression, its curse and guilt, drinking the bitter cup that for a time separated Him from His Father so sinners might be saved. His endurance of sneering insult without seeking applause puts all human self-denial in the shade and gives His followers the pattern and measure for suffering reproach for His sake.
The Mockery at Calvary
Those passing by as Jesus hung suffering on the cross reviled Him, wagging their heads in scorn and derision. They did so while He bore human sin, carrying the guilt and sorrows caused by transgression. His execution outside Jerusalem at the place where felons and murderers were put to death fulfilled His role as substitute suffering for transgression.
Their taunt dared Him, as the one who said He would destroy the temple and build it in three days, to prove He was the Son of God by saving Himself and coming down from the cross. The charge repeated a distorted version of His words about the temple, yet even in misrepresenting it publicized His statement that the temple would be raised in three days, and that statement was being fulfilled. It was offered in mock homage, as though bowing to a king, repeating the same challenge Satan had used in the wilderness.
The accusation THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS was set over His head, and He was crucified between two thieves as if He were the chief of sinners. A vast multitude of all classes followed Him from Pilate's court toward Calvary, and disciples and believers joined the throng. They saw His weak and staggering steps when the cross prepared for Barabbas was laid on His bruised and bleeding shoulders, and showed no compassion but taunted and reviled Him because He could not carry the heavy cross. He fell fainting twice beneath the burden and could carry it no farther, weakened because He had taken neither food nor drink since the Passover supper and had agonized in Gethsemane, endured betrayal and the flight of His disciples, been taken to Annas then Caiaphas then Pilate then Herod then Pilate again, and suffered insult upon insult, mockery upon mockery, and torture by the scourge twice through the night.
The mockery was joined by the chief priests with scribes and elders, rulers and Pharisees, hardened soldiers, the vile thief, and the base and cruel among the multitude, all united in abuse. Priests, rulers and scribes forgot the dignity of their sacred offices and joined the rabble in mocking and jeering the dying Son of God. They jeered that He saved others but Himself He cannot save, challenged Him as King of Israel and King of the Jews to come down so they would believe, and taunted His claim to trust in God and to be the Son of God by daring God to deliver Him.
On His way to the judgment hall and at His crucifixion He was in the hands of a cruel, infuriated mob with coarse jest and cruel mocking, the murderous throng eagerly crying for His blood. He was clothed in an old purple kingly robe and crowned with thorns driven into His temples by smiting with a reed until blood flowed from His brow. He was led away pale, weak and fainting, stretched upon the wooden cross with nails driven through His tender hands and feet, and hung there those dreadful hours in agony until angels veiled their faces and the sun refused to behold and hid its light. Seeing Him stretched upon Calvary's cross as a malefactor dying as a criminal brought terrible affliction to His followers.
The verse belongs to the full record of His humiliation and suffering: His garments parted and lots cast, two thieves crucified with Him, darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the loud cry of forsakenness, vinegar offered, death with a loud voice, the rent veil of the temple, earthquake, rent rocks, opened graves and risen saints appearing after His resurrection, women watching afar off, and the centurion's confession that He was the Son of God. It belongs to the history of professedly pious Jews recorded in Matthew 27 and 28, to be read together with His commission to His disciples. It shows the Jewish priests and rulers using their influence to make even the Roman governor serve their purpose. The One reviled as prisoner unresisting before Pilate and Herod, crowned with thorns, lacerated by the scourge and laid in Joseph's new tomb, was afterward loosed by heaven's decree and beheld by the Roman guard coming forth glorified.
Meaning, Prophecy and Application
The wagging of heads in scorn at the cross fulfilled words foretold in prophecy. Those who uttered them professed to be expounders of prophecy, yet in blindness they repeated the very words inspiration had foretold they would speak on that occasion, fulfilling prophecy without perceiving it.
He hung there as the substitute who suffered for transgression of God's law and bore its curse on behalf of others, outside Jerusalem where felons and murderers were put to death. His suffering was greater than any human being could suffer, encompassing the parting of His garments and casting of lots, the accusation set over His head, the two thieves crucified with Him, the mocking of chief priests with scribes and elders and of the thieves, darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, the loud cry of forsakenness, vinegar offered, death with a loud voice, the rent veil, earthquake, rent rocks, opened graves and risen saints appearing after His resurrection, women watching afar off, and the centurion's confession that He was the Son of God. That mockery fell upon Him while He was bearing human sin and carrying the guilt and sorrows caused by transgression. He bore that shameful death for humanity with nails through His hands and feet, drinking the bitter cup of agony that for a time separated Him from His Father, and though the cup trembled in His hand He did not refuse it, so that through His sacrifice sinners might be saved and He might become a propitiation for a lost world, and through His death people might become partakers of the divine nature. His position shows that trust in God can stand against worldly power and opposition, even when Jewish priests and rulers used their influence to make even the Roman governor serve their purpose.
The abuse was part of satanic opposition against Him, carried out through evil people who rejected the Son of God and forming the assault of the forces of evil against the champion of God and truth. The taunting words were Satan's own, the fallen covering cherub working in human form with his angels, inspiring and voicing himself through high priests, rulers, Pharisees and religious teachers. Those dignitaries stimulated the ignorant mob and instigated the mixed multitude to pronounce judgment against One they had never looked upon, to ask for Barabbas and to cry for crucifixion. Those who chose Barabbas and reviled Christ, though professing piety and love for God and claiming to know the Scriptures, were yoked with Satan and proved to be whited sepulchers deceiving the people by outward sanctity, neither made sons of God nor representing His character. The scene exhibits what humanity does under religious deception, with violence, fierceness, cruelty and implacable hatred fully imbued with the attributes of Satan and without tender compassion, bringing every objectionable feature of lawless liberty, transgression and sin into human character, so that angels beholding the insult saw as never before what rebellion against the law of Jehovah means and knew the changeless law would have kept the priests from such deeds. To spectators with true religion it appeared as if Satan triumphantly shouted blasphemy, linked with men, against the Commander of all heaven who came from heaven to save a perishing world and in whose heart zeal for right and justice and for the glory of God was the highest object.
Angels hovering over the crucifixion and the heavenly host watching were moved to indignation at the derision and wished to rescue and deliver Him and disperse His persecutors. They were not allowed or commanded to do so, because the object of His mission was almost accomplished and He bore that shameful death for humanity.
The reviling warns against demanding a miracle or healing as the price of believing God's messengers, saying show us a miracle and we will believe, and asking if these messengers have the truth why do they not heal the sick. Such demands seek pegs on which to hang doubts and find excuse for rejecting heaven's light in the face of clear evidence. To utter such taunts with His history before them places the speaker in the same position as His murderers and speaks words similar to theirs, not led by God but ignorant of what spirit they are of, surrounded by exulting evil angels triumphing in power to deceive. Closing the eyes to clear light while asking for miracles leads to terrible deception, to rejecting the most evident truth and believing the most foolish errors, because Satan will answer that demand with many false miracles to confirm in error all who seek that kind of evidence.
His endurance of sneering insults, rejection, and treatment as a criminal without seeking applause or fearing the world shows the cost of His sacrifice and gives His followers a measure for their own self-denial. That suffering puts all human self-denial in the shade, demanding undivided affections, entire consecration, separation from the world and a transformed narrow path. It rebukes complaining about hardship and trial in overcoming, and calls the youth not to follow inclination but to accept conflict, self-denial, privation, weariness, toil, anxiety and sacrifice costing everything to win eternal life. That same suffering teaches self-sacrifice, patience under affliction, solemn consecration to God and preparation for holy work.
His suffering under reproach was greater than any suffering His followers will face when men carry false reports about them and their work. His endurance of that agony and shame is the pattern they are to follow in suffering for His sake. They should keep their eyes fastened on the Lamb of Calvary, refuse to stop their work to listen to reports, refuse discouragement, and press on to win heaven knowing He will uphold and sustain them at every step.
The disciples saw their beloved Master, whom they had expected to reign on David's throne, to deliver Israel and to give hope of eternal life, brought to a criminal's death on the lifted-up cross. They were plunged into bitter disappointment as if their hopes had ended, and their hope that He would deliver Israel died when they witnessed His crucifixion in terrible affliction and agony. In contrast, Jesus passed through the tomb to brighten and lighten it, so that while revilers mocked Him and friends now sympathize with the bereaved, His death gives hope and joy in death and confidence that those who rest in Him and loved ones laid to rest in Jesus will be met again.
Some who taunted Him on the cross could have repented and received forgiveness, as Saul did after persecuting His followers.