Matthew 27:55

And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: AND MANY WOMEN WERE THERE BEHOLDING AFAR OFF, WHICH FOLLOWED JESUS, [ eekoloutheesan (G190)]. The sense here would be better brought out by the use of the pluperfect, 'which had followed Jesus.' FROM GALILEE, MINISTERING UNTO HIM. As these dear women had ministered to Him during His glorious missionary tours in Galilee (see the notes at Luke 8:1), so from this statement it should seem that they accompanied Him and ministered to His wants from Galilee on His final journey to Jerusalem....

55._And there were also many women there. _I consider this to have been added in order to inform us that, while the disciples had fled and were scattered in every direction, still some of their company were retained by the Lord as witnesses. Now though the Apostle John did not depart from the cross, yet no mention is made of him; but praise is bestowed on _the women _alone, who accompanied Christ till death, because their extraordinary attachment to their Master was the more strikingly displayed, when the men fled trembling. For they must have been endued with extraordinary strength of attachment, since, though they could render him no service, they did not cease to treat him with reverence, even when exposed to the lowest disgrace. And yet we learn fromLuke that all the men had not fled; for he says that _all his acquaintances stood at a distance. _But not without reason do the Evangeli...

51-56 The rending of the veil signified that Christ, by his death, opened a way to God. We have an open way through Christ to the throne of grace, or mercy-seat now, and to the throne of glory hereafter. When we duly consider Christ's death, our hard and rocky hearts should be rent; the heart, and not the garments. That heart is harder than a rock that will not yield, that will not melt, where Jesus Christ is plainly set forth crucified. The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept, arose. To whom they appeared, in what manner, and how they disappeared, we are not told; and we must not desire to be wise above what is written. The dreadful appearances of God in his providence, sometimes work strangely for the conviction and awakening of sinners. This was expressed in the terror that fell upon the centurion and the Roman soldiers. We may reflect with comfort on the abunda...

Verse 55. _MANY WOMEN_] To their everlasting honour, these women evidenced more _courage_, and _affectionate attachment_ to their Lord and Master, than the disciples did, who had promised to _die_ with him rather than forsake him. _BEHOLDING AFAR OFF_] _At a distance _- απο μακροθεν. Though this expression may be understood to refer, rather to the distance from which they came, (viz. from Galilee,) than the _distance they stood_ _from the cross_; yet, as all malefactors were crucified _naked_, perhaps this may account for the _distance_ at which these modest women stood....

BEHOLDING AFAR OFF - These women were probably not suffered to come near the cross because it was surrounded by soldiers. They witnessed with intense feelings his sufferings from some convenient place as near as they could approach. MINISTERING UNTO HIM - Attending him and providing for his wants. While multitudes of people joined in the cry, “Crucify him!” and forsook him in his trying moments, it does not appear that any of his female followers were thus unfaithful. In the midst of all his trials, and all the Contempt poured upon him, they adhered to their Redeemer. Never did female constancy shine more brightly, and never was a happier example set for all who should afterward believe on him!...

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 MANY WOMEN WERE THERE,.... At the cross of Christ, at some little distance from it; but where was Peter, who had declared he would never be offended, though all men were; and would die with Christ, rather than deny him? and where were the rest of the disciples, who said the same things? None were present excepting John, as can be learnt from the evangelists; but many women, those of the weaker sex, were there, which was a rebuke of the former vanity and confidence of the disciples, and of their present pusillanimity and cowardice: BEHOLDING AFAR OFF; Christ upon the cross, in all his agonies, the chief priests and people mocking him, the darkness upon the earth, the quaking of it, and the rending of the rocks: they were witnesses of all this, being at some little distance, by reason of the crowd of people and soldiers about the cross; and they beheld with an eye of faith, their blee...

Matthew 27:50. _Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost._ Christ's strength was not exhausted; his last word was uttered with a loud voice, like the shout of a conquering warrior. And what a word it was, «It is finished»! Thousands of sermons have been preached upon that little sentence, but who can tell all the meaning that lies compacted, length, and height altogether unmeasurable. Christ's life being finished, perfected, completed; he yielded up the ghost, willingly dying, laying down his life as he said he would: «I lay down my life for the sheep... I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.» Matthew 27:51. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and th

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 DEATH OF JESUS (Mark 15:33 *, Luke 23:44). Matthew 27:48 f. is to be preferred to Mark 15:36. vv. Matthew 27:51 is found only in Mt., and may have as its basis Ezekiel 37:12. AFTER HIS RESURRECTION: a still later insertion to fit the statement that Christ was the first fruits of them that sleep. We can hardly suppose that the original account of the miracle represented them as staying alive in their tombs from Friday afternoon till Sunday morn