Matthew 27:27-44

Matthew 27:27-44 NIV

Then the governorʼs soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he canʼt save himself! Heʼs the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

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After Pontius Pilate gave orders for the crucifixion of Jesus, our Lord was in the hands of Roman soldiers, known for their brutality. The Roman army was a force to be reckoned with. Through force of arms, superior strategy and iron will, the Romans conquered the west and much of northern Africa. Rome ruled the entire Mediterranean, without question, and most of Europe and parts of Arabia. It's one of the greatest empires in human history and their contribution to culture in the west is unparalleled. They were able to influence the world in this way precisely because of their military.

The Roman soldiers mocked and abused Jesus, placing a crown made of thorny vines or thin branches around His head. They beat Him and mockingly bowed before Him, hailing Jesus as king of the Jews.

After they'd had their cruel fun, they led Jesus to the cross on Golgotha, the place of the skull. On the way the forced Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus' cross. At Golgotha, the soldiers offered Jesus wine with poison to shorten His suffering, a standard practice. Jesus refused knowing the wine contained poison. He chose not to take the easy way out, nor corrupt His body. Even as He faced death Jesus was obedient to God and kept Himself pure. The soldiers cast lots for his clothing. The mockery, the gambling for His clothes, and the wine and gall are all fulfillment of scripture.

You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you. Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
Psalm 69:19-21 NIV

All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord ,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
Psalm 22:7-8, 18 NIV

Jesus was hung on the cross with two thieves on either side of Him. The NIV holds out the possibility that these men were revolutionaries by referring to these condemned men as rebels. The Greek word (lestes) is derived from another Greek word (leizomai) that means "to plunder". The Holman Christian Standard bible refers to these condemned men as criminals, but the translation footnotes the alternative revolutionaries.

What does it mean that Jesus died between these two men? They mocked and insulted Him hatefully just like the priests and the teachers of the law. Remember that James and John's mother asked Jesus to allow her sons to sit at His left and right when He came into His kingdom? Her hope was that her sons would have the most favored positions in the kingdom of heaven, but Jesus told them plainly it wasn't for Him to decide who would be to His left and right. It was the Father God's choice alone. And God chose two thieves to be in the positions of highest favor.

The mercy of God is wide! His forgiveness is complete. No one is left out. If the Lord chose two criminals, who hatefully mock, to take the favored places as Jesus came into His kingdom, then how much more will you be welcomed? How much more will you be forgiven? Do you ever think you've done something unforgivable? Do you have trouble forgiving yourself? Consider God's mercy. It is greater than you can ever imagine. Trust in the complete salvation offered us through the cross of Christ.

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting peopleʼs sins against them.
2 Corinthians 5:19a NIV