Matthew 27:38-44: a reflection

38Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left. 39Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads 40and saying, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” 41Likewise the chief priests also mocking with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, 42“He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.

As Jesus hangs on the cross, the mockery pours in from every side. Passersby jeer, the religious leaders sneer, even the criminals crucified beside him join in. And the taunt they hurl again and again cuts to the heart of it: He saved others; he cannot save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe. To them it seemed the ultimate proof of his failure: the one who had helped so many was helpless to help himself.

Notice how the mockers spoke deeper truth than they knew. He saved others; he cannot save himself, they jeered, thinking it an accusation of weakness. But it was, in the profoundest sense, exactly right, and it was not weakness but love. He could not save others and save himself both; the two were mutually exclusive. To save others, he had to not save himself, to stay on the cross rather than come down, to bear the death that was ours rather than escape it. His refusal to save himself was precisely how he saved us.

That is the heart of the gospel, hidden in a taunt. He saved others; he could not save himself, because he chose to save us instead. Had he come down from the cross, he would have proved his strength and saved his own life, but we would have been lost. He stayed, and bore the death that was ours, and so saved others at the cost of not saving himself. When you consider the cross, hear the mockers' unwitting truth, and let it move you: he could have saved himself, and did not, so that he could save you. That is love; receive it with wonder.

Lord Jesus, the mockers jeered, he saved others; he cannot save himself, not knowing they spoke the deepest truth. You could not save others and save yourself both, and you chose to save me. You could have come down from the cross and saved your own life, but I would have been lost. Instead you stayed, and bore the death that was mine, saving others at the cost of not saving yourself. Let that love move me to wonder and to worship. Thank you that you did not save yourself, so that you could save me.