Bible Commentaries

The morning saw the plot hatched in the night carried into effect. This is chronicled in the first two verses of the chapter. The picture of Judas in his remorse is very terrible.

Pilate stands out as a warning against the policy of expediency. He was convinced of the innocence of Jesus, and his conscience- perhaps more acute that day than it had been for a very long time- very plainly revealed to him that his duty lay in releasing the Prisoner. However, he endeavored to secure himself and his position, and so flung Christ and conscience away at the same time.

Let us note the persons gathered around the Cross. The soldiers of Rome, for the most part debased, brutalized men. Simon of Cyrene, compelled to bear the Cross, yet surely discovering its message. Chief priests, scribes, elders, filled with malice and envy, and mocking Him, yet even in their mockery uttering, under constraint of God, great truths. "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." Thieves, the companions of His Cross and death, divided then and forever by their attitude toward Him.

A group of women in the distance watching all. That mixed crowd was surely a prophecy. All sorts and conditions of men have been attracted by that Cross, and have been influenced by it according to the manner of their approach. Some have watched. Some have mocked. Some have been healed.

There was not one of His apostles to bury Him! The two men who attended to this sacred service were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:39). Two women watched the burying. If it were not so inexpressibly sad as a revelation of hardhearted unbelief, it would be ludicrous to notice His enemies' foolish attempt to guard the dead body of Jesus. Was the irony of Pilate conscious, one wonders, when he said, "Make it as sure as ye can"?