Matthew 27:32

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. For the exposition, see the notes at Mark 15:16....

32._They found a man, a Cyrenian. _This circumstance points out the extreme cruelty both of the Jewish nation and of the soldiers. There is no reason to doubt that it was then the custom for malefactors to carry their own crosses to the place of punishment, but as the only persons who were crucified were robbers, who were men of great bodily strength, they were able to bear such a burden. It was otherwise with Christ, so that the very weakness of his body plainly showed that it was a lamb that was sacrificed. Perhaps, too, in consequence of having been mangled by scourging, and broken down by many acts of outrage, he bent under the weight of the cross. Now the Evangelists relate that the soldiers _constrained _a man who was a peasant, and of mean rank, _to carry the cross; _because that punishment was reckoned so detestable, that every person thought himself polluted, if he only happened...

31-34 Christ was led as a Lamb to the slaughter, as a Sacrifice to the altar. Even the mercies of the wicked are really cruel. Taking the cross from him, they compelled one Simon to bear it. Make us ready, O Lord, to bear the cross thou hast appointed us, and daily to take it up with cheerfulness, following thee. Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow? And when we behold what manner of death he died, let us in that behold with what manner of love he loved us. As if death, so painful a death, were not enough, they added to its bitterness and terror in several ways....

Verse 32. _A MAN OF CYRENE - HIM THEY COMPELLED TO BEAR HIS_ _CROSS._] In John, John 19:16, we are told Christ himself bore the cross, and this, it is likely, he did for a _part_ of the way; but, being exhausted with the scourging and other cruel usage which he had received, he was found incapable of bearing it _alone_; therefore they obliged Simon, not, I think, to bear it entirely, but to _assist_ Christ, by bearing a part of it. It was a constant practice among the Romans, to oblige criminal to bear their cross to the place of execution: insomuch that Plutarch makes use of it as an illustration of the misery of vice. "Every kind of wickedness produces its own particular torment, just as every malefactor, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own cross." See Lardner's Credib. vol. i. p. 160....

AS THEY CAME OUT - That is, either out of the governor’s palace where he had been treated with such cruelty and contempt, or out of the gates of the city, to crucify him. A MAN OF CYRENE - Cyrene was a city of Libya, in Africa, lying west of Egypt. There were many Jews there, and they were in the habit, like others, of going frequently to Jerusalem. HIM THEY COMPELLED GO BEAR HIS CROSS - John says John 19:17 that Jesus went forth “bearing his cross.” Luke says Luke 23:26 that they laid the cross on Simon, that he might bear it after Jesus. There is no contradiction in these accounts. It was a part of the usual punishment of those who were crucified that they should bear their own cross to the place

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 27:1, MATTHEW 27:2 _Jesus brought to Pilate. _(Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66; Luke 23:1; John 18:28.) MATTHEW 27:1 WHEN THE MORNING WAS COME. This is the early morning of Good Friday, the 14th of Nisan. If the rulers had had special regard to legality, they could not have co

AND AS THEY CAME OUT,.... Of the city; for no execution was made, neither in the court of judicature, nor in the city, but at some distance; as it was at stoning, so at crucifixion h: "when judgment was finished, they brought him out to be stoned; the place of stoning was without the sanhedrim, as it is said, Leviticus 24:14, "bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp".'' Upon which the gloss and Gemara say i, without the three camps; which were these, the court which was the camp of the Shekinah; or the divine presence; and the mountain of the house, the camp of the Levites; and the city, the camp of Israel; so that he that was executed, was had without the city. Maimonides k says, "the place in which the sanhedrim executed, was without it, and at a distance from it, as it is said,...

We are now to read about our Lord before Pontius Pilate. Matthew 27:15. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus wh

CHAPTER 27 1. Delivered unto Pilate.(Matthew 27:1 .) 2. The Suicide of Judas.(Matthew 27:3 .) 3. Before Pilate. (Matthew 27:11 .) 4. The Awful Choice.(Matthew 27:15 .) 5. Crowned with Thorns and Crucified.(Matthew 27:27 .) 6. The Death of the King. (Matthew 27:45 .) 7. The Rent Veil and the Earthquake.(Matthew 27:51 .) 8. The Burial. ...

THE CRUCIFIXION (Mark 15:21 *, Luke 23:26). Mt. still follows Mk. clearly, the chief alterations being (_a)_ gall (Matthew 27:34) for myrrh (this is due to Psalms 69:21, and turns a kindly act into a cruel one); (_b)_ Matthew 27:36; (_c_) the addition of if thou art the SOD of God (Matthew 27:40); (_d)_ Matthew 27:43, from...