Matthew 27:38-44

The taunts of the people:

v. 38. Then were there two thieves crucified with Him, one on the right hand and another on the left.

v. 39. And they that passed by Revelation led Him, wagging their heads

v. 40. and saying, Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself.

If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

v. 41. Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said,

v. 42. He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.

v. 43. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.

v. 44. The thieves also which were crucified with Him cast the same in His teeth.

Christ was numbered with the criminals, with the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12. On either side of Him were suspended men that had committed crimes worthy of death. And here the sinless Son of God, by His obedience to the will of the Father for the redemption of the world, was guilty with them, yea, a thousand, a millionfold more guilty than they. The pains of the cross were intensified by the taunting remarks of the people that thronged out from the city to see the spectacle, most of them still in a bloodthirsty mood, some brought by morbid curiosity, some few in a feeling of sincere affection and sympathy. The large majority improved the occasion after the manner of similar mobs the world over: They shook their heads, not merely in disapproval or in malignant joy, Psalms 22:7; Job 16:4; Psalms 109:25; Isaiah 37:22, but as over one whose sound intelligence one is inclined to doubt; they quoted His prophecy concerning the temple of His body, in its garbled form, a prophecy which was even then being fulfilled before their eyes, and urged Him to save Himself and to step down from the cross. To this blasphemy of the members of the mob was added the mockery of the leaders of the Jewish Church, who on this occasion so far forgot their dignity and fear of pollution as to come out and enjoy their supposed triumph, the tortures of Him whom they foolishly considered their victim. They concede that He saved others, they blasphemously conclude that He cannot save Himself. Let Him prove His claim of being the Messiah by stepping down from the cross, whereupon they would gladly believe on Him. They were totally blind in not understanding that such an attempt, if undertaken by Jesus, would utterly frustrate the entire work of redemption. It was necessary for Him to suffer to the end, if full atonement should be made. Even the criminals, the murderers on the other crosses, joined in the maledictions heaped upon Christ, until one of them was led to repentance by the influence of the Lord's patience, Luke 23:40-John :.