Matthew 27:35

Matthew 27:35. A nd when they had crucified him. Here occurs His touching prayer for the soldiers (Luke 23:34). To all the physical torture described in the note on ‘the cross,' we must in this case add the result of these upon a soul sensitive and capable of suffering beyond all human comparison: the effect of ingratitude, of loneliness, of taunts from those who represented His own chosen people, and above all His state of soul as He consciously bore the sins of men. Men may honestly differ in their statements of the doctrine of the Atonement, but that our Lord then and there so suffered for men, that by virtue of His death we may be at peace with God, who hates our sins, is the only view that accounts for the facts. Hence the cross, the instrument of such torture, the sign of such shame, and on that account in itself a hindrance to the gospel among those who saw in it only this, has become the symbol of honor, blessing, and redemption. Our forgetfulness of its original significance is an evidence of this charge. Even the superstition that bows to it, however to be deprecated, witnesses that the cross is the centre of the Christian scheme.

They parted his garments, casting lots. Those crucified were probably entirely naked, at least their clothes were given to the executioners. John tells why it was necessary to gamble for the coat. There were four soldiers (John 19:23). The rest of the verse is not found here in the oldest manuscripts, but was probably inserted from John 19:24.