Matthew27

Matthew 27 details Jesus' condemnation by Pilate, influenced by the chief priests and the multitude who chose Barabbas over him. Judas, repenting, returns the thirty pieces of silver and hangs himself, which money is then used to purchase the potter's field. Jesus is scourged, mocked, and then crucified at Golgotha, where he yields up the ghost amidst supernatural signs. His body is subsequently laid in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathaea, which is then secured by a Roman guard at the request of the Jewish leaders.

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

Early in the morning, all the head cohanim and elders met to plan how to bring about Yeshua's death.

Then they put him in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

The Suicide of Judas

When Y'hudah, who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua had been condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the head cohanim and elders,

saying, "I sinned in betraying an innocent man to death." "What is that to us?" they answered. "That's your problem."

Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself.

The head cohanim took the silver coins and said, "It is prohibited to put this into the Temple treasury, because it is blood money."

So they decided to use it to buy the potter's field as a cemetery for foreigners.

This is how it came to be called the Field of Blood, a name it still bears.

Then what Yirmeyahu the prophet spoke was fulfilled, "And they took the thirty silver coins, which was the price the people of Isra'el had agreed to pay for him,

and used them to buy the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me."

Jesus Before Pilate

Meanwhile, Yeshua was brought before the governor, and the governor put this question to him: "Are you the King of the Jews?" Yeshua answered, "The words are yours."

But when he was accused by the head cohanim and elders, he gave no answer.

Then Pilate said to him, "Don't you hear all these charges they are making against you?"

But to the governor's great amazement, he did not say a single word in reply to the accusations.

It was the governor's custom during a festival to set free one prisoner, whom ever the crowd asked for.

There was at that time a notorious prisoner being held, named Yeshua Bar-Abba.

So when a crowd had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to set free for you? Bar-Abba? or Yeshua, called `the Messiah'?"

For he understood that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over.

While he was sitting in court, his wife sent him a message, "Leave that innocent man alone. Today in a dream I suffered terribly because of him."

But the head cohanim persuaded the crowd to ask for Bar-Abba's release and to have Yeshua executed on the stake.

"Which of the two do you want me to set free for you?" asked the governor. "Bar-Abba!" they answered.

Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Yeshua, called `the Messiah'?" They all said, "Put him to death on the stake! Put him to death on the stake!"

When he asked, "Why? What crime has he committed?" they shouted all the louder, "Put him to death on the stake!"

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, "My hands are clean of this man's blood; it's your responsibility."

All the people answered, "His blood is on us and on our children!"

The Mocking and Scourging

Then he released to them Bar-Abba; but Yeshua, after having him whipped, he handed over to be executed on a stake.

The governor's soldiers took Yeshua into the headquarters building, and the whole battalion gathered around him.

They stripped off his clothes and put on him a scarlet robe,

wove thorn-branches into a crown and put it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. Then they kneeled down in front of him and made fun of him: "Hail to the King of the Jews!"

They spit on him and used the stick to beat him about the head.

When they had finished ridiculing him, they took off the robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away to be nailed to the execution-stake.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

As they were leaving, they met a man from Cyrene named Shim`on; and they forced him to carry Yeshua's execution-stake.

When they arrived at a place called Gulgolta (which means "place of a skull"),

they gave him wine mixed with bitter gall to drink; but after tasting it, he would not drink it.

After they had nailed him to the stake, they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

Then they sat down to keep watch over him there.

Above his head they placed the written notice stating the charge against him, THIS IS YESHUA THE KING OF THE JEWS

Then two robbers were placed on execution-stakes with him, one on the right and one on the left.

People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads

and saying, "So you can destroy the Temple, can you, and rebuild it in three days? Save yourself, if you are the Son of God, and come down from the stake!"

Likewise, the head cohanim jeered at him, along with the Torah-teachers and elders,

"He saved others, but he can't save himself!" "So he's King of Isra'el, is he? Let him come down now from the stake! Then we'll believe him!"

"He trusted God? So, let him rescue him if he wants him!s After all, he did say, `I'm the Son of God'!"

Even the robbers nailed up with him insulted him in the same way.

From noon until three o'clock in the afternoon, all the Land was covered with darkness.

At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, "Eli! Eli! L'mah sh'vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)"

On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, "He's calling for Eliyahu."

Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink.

The rest said, "Wait! Let's see if Eliyahu comes and rescues him."

But Yeshua, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.

The Death and Immediate Aftermath

At that moment the parokhet in the Temple was ripped in two from top to bottom; and there was an earthquake, with rocks splitting apart.

Also the graves were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life;

and after Yeshua rose, they came out of the graves and went into the holy city, where many people saw them.

When the Roman officer and those with him who were keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and what was happening, they were awestruck and said, "He really was a son of God."

There were many women there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Yeshua from the Galil, helping him.

Among them were Miryam from Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya`akov and Yosef, and the mother of Zavdai's sons.

The Burial of Jesus

Towards evening, there came a wealthy man from Ramatayim named Yosef, who was himself a talmid of Yeshua.

He approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body, and Pilate ordered it to be given to him.

Yosef took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen sheet,

and laid it in his own tomb, which he had recently had cut out of the rock. After rolling a large stone in front of the entrance to the tomb, he went away.

Miryam of Magdala and the other Miryam stayed there, sitting opposite the grave.

The Tomb is Secured

Next day, after the preparation, the head cohanim and the P'rushim went together to Pilate

and said, "Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, `After three days I will be raised.'

Therefore, order that the grave be made secure till the third day; otherwise the talmidim may come, steal him away and say to the people, `He was raised from the dead'; and the last deception will be worse than the first."

Pilate said to them, "You may have your guard. Go and make the grave as secure as you know how."

So they went and made the grave secure by sealing the stone and putting the guard on watch.

Study Notes for Matthew 27

Verse 1

The chief priests and elders convened their formal, final decision early Friday morning to condemn Jesus, confirming the illegal night trial (26:57-68). They lacked the authority for capital punishment, requiring Roman intervention.

Verse 2

Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect (governor) of Judea (c. AD 26–36). The Jewish authorities delivered Jesus to him under the charge of treason against Rome (claiming to be King of the Jews).

Verse 3

Judas’s 'repentance' (Gk. *metamelomai*) signifies remorse or regret over the consequence, not true change of heart (*metanoia*). He recognized Jesus’s innocence, but his guilt led to despair rather than restoration.

Verse 5

Judas’s suicide stands as a stark contrast to Peter’s genuine repentance (26:75). He threw the silver into the temple sanctuary, confirming the priests’ rejection of the money.

Verse 6

The priests’ concern with ritual purity (that the money was 'price of blood' and could not enter the treasury) is deeply ironic, as they were the ones who orchestrated the shedding of innocent blood.

Verse 7

The potter’s field was purchased to bury strangers or foreigners, symbolically emphasizing Judas’s alienation and the rejection of the price of the Messiah.

Verse 9

Matthew cites this fulfillment as spoken by Jeremiah, though the source is primarily Zechariah 11:12-13, with thematic echoes of Jeremiah’s purchase of a field (Jer. 32:6-9). This common rabbinic practice blends related prophetic themes.

Verse 11

Pilate’s question focuses on the political threat. Jesus’s response, 'Thou sayest,' is an affirmation that shifts the meaning of 'King' away from Roman political rebellion.

Verse 14

Jesus’s silence fulfills the prophecy of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:7). This dignified refusal to defend himself demonstrated his sovereignty and amazed the Roman governor.

Verse 15

The custom of releasing a prisoner during Passover is attested only in the Gospels, likely a Roman attempt to appease the Jewish crowds during the volatile festival.

Verse 17

Barabbas, whose name means 'son of the father,' was a known rebel or murderer. The choice presented to the crowd was between Jesus, the true Messiah, and a violent political revolutionary.

Verse 19

The warning from Pilate’s wife, coming from a dream, highlights the divine confirmation of Jesus’s innocence and further stresses Pilate’s moral culpability in the judgment.

Verse 24

Pilate washing his hands was a symbolic act, mimicking Jewish tradition (Deut. 21:6), intended to absolve himself publicly. However, since he possessed the authority to stop the execution, the act was meaningless.

Verse 25

This self-curse, 'His blood be on us, and on our children,' represents the crowd’s full rejection of their Messiah. Historically, this verse has been tragically misused to justify persecution against Jews.

Verse 26

Scourging (flogging with whips tipped with bone or metal) was a brutal preliminary punishment, often causing victims to die before reaching the cross.

Verse 28

The soldiers dressed Jesus in a scarlet (or purple) robe, a color associated with royalty, to turn his claim to kingship into a cruel joke.

Verse 29

The crown of thorns and the reed (as a scepter) completed the parody of a Roman emperor’s coronation, intensifying the humiliation.

Verse 32

Simon of Cyrene, a passerby, was forced to carry the cross beam, a common practice when the condemned was too weak. This detail marks the beginning of the physical execution.

Verse 34

The drink of vinegar mixed with gall (a bitter, narcotic substance) was likely offered to dull the pain. Jesus tasted it but refused to drink, choosing to endure the full horror of the cross consciously.

Verse 35

The division of Jesus’s clothes fulfills Psalm 22:18, showing that even the mundane details of the crucifixion were predetermined by divine plan.

Verse 37

The inscription (titulus) stated the official charge: 'THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS,' confirming the treason conviction Pilate reluctantly imposed.

Verse 45

The darkness, lasting from noon until 3 PM (the sixth to ninth hour), was a supernatural event signifying divine judgment and the cosmic seriousness of Christ’s suffering for sin (cf. Amos 8:9).

Verse 46

This cry, quoted from Psalm 22:1, expresses the unique spiritual agony of Jesus as he bore the world's sin and experienced the crushing separation from the Father.

Verse 51

The tearing of the massive temple veil from top to bottom symbolized that Christ’s death had opened a direct, immediate access to God’s presence, ending the necessity of the Old Covenant sacrificial system (Heb. 10:19-20).

Verse 54

The centurion’s confession, 'Truly this was the Son of God,' is the first acknowledgement of Jesus's divinity by a Gentile, contrasting sharply with the rejection by the Jewish authorities.

Verse 57

Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy man and secret disciple, risked his standing by claiming Jesus’s body. His action fulfills the prophecy that the Suffering Servant would be 'with the rich in his death' (Isa. 53:9).

Verse 60

Laying Jesus in a new, unused tomb was important evidence for the resurrection, ensuring that no one could claim his body was confused with another’s remains.

Verse 62

The chief priests and Pharisees, observing the Sabbath rest, nevertheless came to Pilate on the next day (Saturday) to ensure the tomb was sealed, revealing their intense fear of the resurrection claim.

Verse 63

Calling Jesus 'that deceiver' demonstrates their deep hostility. They were aware of his resurrection prophecy and feared its fulfillment, even though they actively denied his power.

Verse 66

Sealing the stone with an official Roman seal and setting a military guard ironically establishes the tomb’s security, providing undeniable proof that the resurrection was not a theft.

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Matthew27

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

The Suicide of Judas

Jesus Before Pilate

The Mocking and Scourging

The Crucifixion of Jesus

The Death and Immediate Aftermath

The Burial of Jesus

The Tomb is Secured

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