Page 85 - Demo

MATTHEW 
24* i When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” 25And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” 26Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged,* he handed him over to be crucified. Mockery by the Soldiers. 27j Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium* and gathered the whole cohort around him. 28They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak* about him. 29k Weaving a crown out of thorns,* they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30l They spat upon him* and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. 31And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him.
The Way of the Cross.* 32m As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. The Crucifixion. 33n And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull), 34o they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall.* But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. 35p After they had crucified him, they divided his garments* by casting lots; 36then they sat down and kept watch over him there. 37And they placed over his head the written charge* against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. 38Two revolutionaries* were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. 39* q Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads 40r and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!” 41Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, 42“He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel!* Let him come down
27:29
The soldiers mock Jesus with signs of kingship: a red mantle, a crown, a scepter. The irony of the scene is palpable: Matthew reminds us that Jesus is a king
like no other.
27:39
In the Passion narrative, Matthew emphasizes the ful llment of Old Testament writings. The reaction of bystanders echoes the book of Wisdom: “if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him / and deliver him from the hand of his foes. / With violence and torture let us put him to the test / that we may have proof of his gentleness / and try his patience. / Let us condemn him to a shameful death; / for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”” (Wisdom 2:18-20).
* [27:24–25] Peculiar to Matthew. Took water.blood: cf. Dt 21:1– 8, the handwashing prescribed in the case of a murder when the killer is unknown. The elders of the city nearest to where the corpse is found must wash their hands, declaring, “Our hands did not shed this blood.” Look to it yourselves: cf. Mt 27:4. The whole people: Matthew sees in those who speak these words the entire people (Greek laos) of Israel. His blood. . .and upon our children: cf. Jer 26:15. The responsibility for Jesus’ death is accepted by the nation that was God’s special possession (Ex 19:5), his own people (Hos 2:25), and they thereby lose that high privilege; see Mt 21:43 and the note on that verse. The controversy between Matthew’s church and Pharisaic Judaism about which was the true people of God is re ected here. As the Second Vatican Council has pointed out, guilt for Jesus’ death is not attributable to all the Jews of his time or to any Jews of later times.
* [27:26] He had Jesus scourged: the usual preliminary to cruci xion.
* [27:27] The praetorium: the residence of the Roman governor. His usual place of residence was at Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast, but he went to Jerusalem during the great feasts, when the in ux of pilgrims posed the danger of a nationalistic riot. It is disputed whether the praetorium in Jerusalem was the old palace of Herod in the west of the city or the fortress of Antonia northwest of the temple area. The whole
cohort: normally six hundred soldiers.
* [27:28] Scarlet military cloak: so Matthew as against the royal
purple of Mk 15:17 and Jn 19:2.
*[27:29] Crown out of thorns: probably of long thorns that
stood upright so that it resembled the “radiant” crown, a diadem with spikes worn by Hellenistic kings. The soldiers’ purpose was mockery, not torture. A reed: peculiar to Matthew; a mock scepter.
* [27:30] Spat upon him: cf. Mt 26:67 where there also is a possible allusion to Is 50:6.
* [27:32] See note on Mk 15:21. Cyrenian named Simon: Cyrenaica was a Roman province on the north coast of Africa and Cyrene was its capital city. The city had a large population of Greek- speaking Jews. Simon may have been living in Palestine or have come there for the Passover as a pilgrim. Pressed into service: see note on Mt 5:41.
* [27:34] Wine. . .mixed with gall: cf. Mk 15:23 where the drink is “wine drugged with myrrh,” a narcotic. Matthew’s text is probably an inexact allusion to Ps 69:22. That psalm belongs to the class called the individual lament, in which a persecuted just man prays for deliverance in the midst of great su ering and also expresses con dence that his prayer will be heard. That theme of the su ering Just One is frequently applied to the su erings of Jesus in the passion narratives.
* [27:35] The clothing of an executed criminal went to his exe- cutioner(s), but the description of that procedure in the case of Jesus, found in all the gospels, is plainly inspired by Ps 22:19. However, that psalm verse is quoted only in Jn 19:24.
* [27:37] The o ense of a person condemned to death by cruci xion was written on a tablet that was displayed on his cross. The charge against Jesus was that he had claimed to be the King of the Jews (cf. Mt 27:11), i.e., the Messiah (cf. Mt 27:17, 22).
* [27:38] Revolutionaries: see note on Jn 18:40 where the same Greek word as that found here is used for Barabbas.
* [27:39–40] Reviled him. . .heads: cf. Ps 22:8. You who would destroy. . .three days; cf. Mt 26:61. If you are the Son of God: the same words as those of the devil in the temptation of Jesus; cf. Mt 4:3, 6.
* [27:42] King of Israel: in their mocking of Jesus the members of the Sanhedrin call themselves and their people not “the Jews” but Israel.
i. [27:24] Dt 21:1–8.
j. [27:27–31] Mk 15:16–20; Jn 19:2–3.
k. [27:29] 27:11.
l. [27:30] Is 50:6.
m. [27:32] Mk 15:21; Lk 23:26. n. [27:33–44] Mk 15:22–32;
Lk 23:32–38; Jn 19:17–19, 23–24. o. [27:34] Ps 69:21.
p. [27:35] Ps 22:19.
q. [27:39] Ps 22:8.
r. [27:40] 4:3, 6; 26:61.
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