Context No. 3357 of 4322 · Matthew
Context · Reflection
Matthew 27:32-37: in context
32As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross. 33When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull,” 34they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink. 35When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, 36and they sat and watched him there. 37They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
The account of the crucifixion is told with stark restraint. A stranger, Simon of Cyrene, is pressed into carrying the cross. The wine mixed with gall is offered and refused. The soldiers gamble for his clothing and then sit down to watch. And above his head hangs the charge against him: this is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
What was meant as mockery states a truth deeper than the mockers knew: he truly is the King, reigning from a cross. The soldiers who sat and watched saw only an execution; they did not know they were watching the King of the world lay down his life for them, the very ones casting lots for his robe. The restraint of the telling lets the weight of it land. Here, on a criminal's cross, under a sign meant to ridicule, the King reigns and the salvation of the world is being accomplished, while those nearest to it see nothing but a dying man.
When I look at the cross, do I see, beneath the mockery and the shame, the King of the world laying down his life for me?
Sources
- Matthew 27:35: "When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots."
- Matthew 27:37: "They set up over his head the accusation against him written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
- Matthew 27:32: "They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross."