Jesus Is Condemned and Crucified

27:1 When it was early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people plotted against Jesus to execute him. 27:2 They tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor. 27:3 Now when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders, 27:4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!" 27:5 So Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself. 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." 27:7 After consulting together they bought the Potter's Field with it, as a burial place for foreigners. 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 price had been set by the people of Israel, 27:10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me." 27:11 Then Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You say so." 27:12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he did not respond. 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 governor was quite amazed. 27:15 During the feast the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd, whomever they wanted. 27:16 At that time they had in custody a notorious prisoner named Jesus Barabbas. 27:17 So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ?" 27:18 (For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.) 27:19 As he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man; I have suffered greatly as a result of a dream about him today." 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. 27:21 The governor asked them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas!" 27:22 Pilate said to them, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?" They all said, "Crucify him!" 27:23 He asked, "Why? What wrong has he done?" But they shouted more insistently, "Crucify him!" Jesus is Condemned and Mocked 27:24 When Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood. You take care of it yourselves!" 27:25 In reply all the people said, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them. But after he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified. 27:27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's residence and gathered the whole cohort around him. 27:28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe around him, 27:29 and after braiding a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: "Hail, king of the Jews!" 27:30 They spat on him and took the staff and struck him repeatedly on the head. 27:31 When they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. The Crucifixion 27:32 As they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced to carry his cross. 27:33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means "Place of the Skull") 27:34 and offered Jesus wine mixed with gall to drink. But after tasting it, he would not drink it. 27:35 When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes by throwing dice. 27:36 Then they sat down and kept guard over him there. 27:37 Above his head they put the charge against him, which read: "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews." 27:38 Then two outlaws were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 27:39 Those who passed by defamed him, shaking their heads 27:40 and saying, "You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God's Son, come down from the cross!" 27:41 In the same way even the chief priests - together with the experts in the law and elders - were mocking him: 27:42 "He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down now from the cross, we will believe in him! 27:43 He trusts in God - let God, if he wants to, deliver him now because he said, 'I am God's Son'!" 27:44 The robbers who were crucified with him also spoke abusively to him. Jesus' Death 27:45 Now from noon until three, darkness came over all the land. 27:46 At about three o'clock Jesus shouted with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 27:47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "This man is calling for Elijah." 27:48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 27:49 But the rest said, "Leave him alone! Let's see if Elijah will come to save him." 27:50 Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. 27:51 Just then the temple curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split apart. 27:52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. 27:53 (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.) 27:54 Now when the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, "Truly this one was God's Son!" 27:55 Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and given him support were also there, watching from a distance. 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus' Burial

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Matthew 27:1-56 shows Jesus being handed over to Pilate, mocked, crucified, and dying under dark signs from God. The leaders, crowd, soldiers, and Pilate all act unjustly, yet Matthew shows that Scripture is being fulfilled and that Jesus is revealed as the innocent Messiah and true Son of God.

Early in the morning, the chief priests and elders made their plan to kill Jesus. They bound him and handed him over to Pilate.

Judas then saw that Jesus had been condemned. He admitted that he had sinned by betraying innocent blood. But his sorrow did not lead him to seek mercy from God. Instead, he threw the silver into the temple and went out and hanged himself. This is a serious warning that guilt and grief are not the same as repentance.

The chief priests took the silver and used it to buy the Potter’s Field. Matthew says this fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet. Even this betrayal money fell within God’s announced plan. The leaders were careful about temple rules, yet they were willing to push an innocent man toward death. Their outward concern for procedure could not hide their injustice.

Before Pilate, Jesus was asked whether he was the king of the Jews. Jesus answered briefly, but he did not defend himself against the many accusations. Pilate could see that the leaders acted out of envy, and even his wife warned him about Jesus in a dream. Still, Pilate gave in to the crowd. He washed his hands, but that did not make him innocent. He knew Jesus was innocent and still handed him over to be crucified.

The crowd chose Barabbas instead of Jesus. The guilty prisoner was released, and the innocent one was condemned. Then the soldiers mocked Jesus as a false king. They dressed him in a scarlet robe, put a crown of thorns on his head, and bowed before him in scorn. Their words were meant as insult, but Matthew lets us see the irony: Jesus really is the King.

As Jesus was led away, Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry his cross. At Golgotha, Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall, but he would not drink it. The soldiers crucified him and divided his clothes. Above his head they placed the charge, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” Again, what was meant as mockery was also true.

Jesus was crucified between two outlaws. Passersby, the religious leaders, and even the men crucified with him mocked him. They challenged him to come down from the cross if he was truly God’s Son. But the cross was not proof that Jesus was false. It was the place where his saving work was being carried out. The taunts only showed how deeply people misunderstood him.

From noon until three, darkness came over the land. Then Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew gives the words in Aramaic and then their meaning. This cry is a real cry of suffering, and it also echoes Psalm 22, the psalm of the righteous sufferer. Jesus was not crying out in empty despair. He was suffering in the place where Scripture had already pointed.

At his death, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook. Rocks were split. Tombs were opened. Matthew treats these as real signs of great spiritual meaning. They show that Jesus’ death was not an ordinary execution. It carried judgment, salvation, and deep temple significance. The torn curtain likely points both to new access to God and to judgment on the old temple order.

When the centurion and those with him saw the earthquake and what had happened, they were terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!” That confession is striking because it comes from Roman soldiers at the cross. The same title used in mockery is now spoken in awe. Matthew closes this section with that confession and with the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and watched from a distance. They remain faithful witnesses to his death.

This passage makes several truths clear. Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned by guilty human beings. Judas, the chief priests, the elders, the crowd, Pilate, and the soldiers all share responsibility. At the same time, Matthew shows that none of this happened by accident. Scripture was being fulfilled. The mocked King on the cross is the true Messiah and the true Son of God.

• Jesus was innocent, yet he was condemned by guilty human agents.
• Judas’s sorrow shows that remorse is not the same as true repentance.
• Pilate knew Jesus was innocent but still gave in to pressure.
• The mockery of Jesus as King and Son of God ironically reveals who he truly is.
• Jesus stayed on the cross because God’s purpose was being carried out there.
• The signs at Jesus’ death show that his crucifixion had judgment, salvation, and temple significance.

• Do not treat Judas as an example of saving repentance simply because he confessed sin.
• Do not regard Pilate as morally innocent because he washed his hands.
• Do not use Matthew 27:25 to justify hatred of Jews or a perpetual curse on all Jews.
• Do not reduce the torn temple curtain to only one meaning; it likely signals both access to God and judgment on the temple order.
• Do not speculate beyond what Matthew says about the raised saints, but do affirm the event as real and significant.

Matthew shows that even the betrayal money, the silence of Jesus, the mockery, and the signs at his death all fit God’s foretold plan. The cross is not a surprise to God. It is the place where Scripture is fulfilled and where the Messiah’s true identity is revealed.

Be careful of religious concern that coexists with injustice. Do not confuse feeling sorry for sin with true repentance. Do what is right even when pressure is strong. Do not demand that Jesus prove himself on your terms. Trust that God can use patient suffering for his saving purpose.

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