Matthew 27:32-44 Come Down from the Cross
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: September 18, 2019 Matthew 27:32-44
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.
(Understanding the Text) Matthew seems to be giving the steps of the process in order here. On the way, the Roman soldiers made Simon of Cyrene carry the cross for Jesus. It does not say why. The site of the crucifixion was next to a well travelled road. The Romans wanted the people to understand what it meant to go against Roman authority.
Once they reached the site of the crucifixion, Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall to drink. At this time, His hands might not have been tied. He was thirsty so He accepted the cup, but as soon as He tasted the drugs in it, He refused any more. He needed His senses clear to deal with the trials that He was facing. Then, the Roman soldiers crucified each of the prisoners. The process involved removing their clothes so that they were naked and nailing them to the wood and raising the wood up. For Jesus, they nailed a sign above His head that said that He was the King of the Jews. Even in mockery, truth prevailed. Jesus was in the middle with the two robbers on either side of Him. Once the soldiers finished their job, they sat down to divide the clothes among themselves. They gambled to see who would get what. Now, the soldiers’ only job was to keep watch to make sure that no one tried to rescue the men from the crosses.
People travelling by on the road mocked Jesus. Some of the mockers were from the priests themselves. They are probably the ones who gave the specific charges of destroying the temple and that He called Himself the Son of God. The priests and their group were definitely the ones who taunted Jesus to come down from the cross and save Himself. The Romans probably didn’t participate in this scene. They had already gotten their mockery out in the privacy of the Roman garrison. To mock now would be to show solidarity with Jews, which they would hate. As they saw the Jews’ cruelty, did they become convicted that their own cruelty was wrong?
Jesus probably dealt with all of this in the same way He had been dealing with Pilate. He was probably silent for the most part, not answering back to the catcalls from the watchers or from the two thieves who hung on crosses near Him. He did not respond to threats, only to appeals. It’s interesting that the only one that we know of defending Jesus at this time was the “good” thief. The supporters around cried and hated what was going on, but we are not told that they defended Jesus. The Roman soldiers may have been a deterrent, or the supporters were just too confused to know what to say. Most of the supporters there were the women who had followed Jesus, so maybe they had been trained not to fight with men of power in public. Were any disciples there besides John, watching from hiding? We are not told.
Matthew seems to abandon his chant of fulfilling prophecy here. He lists a bunch of events in one location that are all direct fulfillments of OT prophecy, and he doesn’t list one OT verse to show how this was a fulfillment of prophecy. Were the events to painful for him, and he just wanted to write them down and leave it at that?
(Revelation of God) Throughout this narrative Matthew shows how even in their rebellion, various humans stated vital truths about Jesus. The mob said that Jesus’ blood would be on them and on their children. The mockers spoke of destroying and rebuilding the temple. The priests said that Jesus could save others but He could not save Himself, which was true. If He saved Himself, others would not be saved. It was only by giving Himself up to the punishment of sin and the control of Satan that He could save those that He had created. They spoke of Jesus trusting in God and Jesus being the Son of God. Even the Romans’ sign of mockery acknowledged that the poor man from the backwater town of Nazareth was the King of the Jews.
(Application / Prayer) My application for myself is that even when events seem to be going according to Satan’s plan or according to no plan, they are actually progressing towards a final climax that will resolve the issues of human cruelty and brokenness. We will be healed and glorified, but before the resurrection came the cross. Before our glorification and healing, we must endure life on this world at war. We know the result of the war, but the present battles hurt and bewilder us. I just need to trust You that the plan of salvation is progressing and that it all has purpose and that Your truth will shine out even from the enemies’ lips.