“If thou be the Son of God, come down,” (Matt. 27:40).
In addition to all the physical torment he suffered, Christ’s passion brought him enormous emotional pain when his fear-filled apostles deserted him at his arrest, the religious leaders mocked and blasphemed him, and his own Jewish people wished him dead. But both Matthew and Luke tell us that the derision did not stop there. For even those who simply passed the cross that day “wagged their heads” in contempt at his marred form hanging between earth and heaven (Matt. 27:39-40, Mark 15:29).
Some of them twisted what he had prophesied about his own death and resurrection in John 2:19, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” into “Ah, you that destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” (Mark 15:29-30). They thought themselves to be clever by daring the Lord to save himself from his imminent death, “If you are who you say you are, then prove it by coming down off that cross!”
Only a few years earlier, when he had been tempted by the devil, Christ heard something similar, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from this pinnacle of the temple and God will give the angels charge over you to bear you up,” (Matt. 4:4-5). So when his enemies at the crucifixion challenge him using the same language, they make it patently clear whose family they belong to. And if it there was any doubt, Christ had already told them, “You are of your Father the devil, for you do as he has done before you,” (John 8:44).
Besides, just how foolish were they to think that Christ was incapable of removing himself from a cross of wood that they themselves had constructed? They failed to realize that this was the very Son of God who chose to take on himself the form of a man and come to earth from the throne of heaven a little more than 30 years previous.
They did not see (because God blinded their eyes) that they were mere dust underneath his footstool for, in truth, the heaven of heavens could not contain him (2 Chron. 2:6). Their taunting behavior demonstrated their complete lack of understanding of who this battered man was, as they really thought a nail driven through each of his hands could hold him to that cross without his consent.
They also had forgotten that he had already escaped their capture on more than one occasion when he disappeared from among those who sought to arrest him (John 10:39), simply because his time to suffer had not yet come.
So clearly, it was not the power of the government officials, nor the orders from the soldiers, nor the insistence of the religious leaders that kept Christ on that cross. Rather, it was his immeasurable love that held him there. Such love turned all his tortures into embraces that only death itself could release him from.
Contemplations:
- O Lord, how much more did you prove yourself the Son of God, against all their tortures, temptations, and dares, by staying on the chariot of your cross and leading captivity itself captive, than by coming down off the cross and saving yourself alone? And how truly, like the sun going forth in its might, did you yet rejoice to run your course, though in blood and torture?
- You are both the altar and the anchor of my soul, Lord. If you will but allow me to serve and trust you, I will ask no more. You have promised to provide all that I need when I seek first your kingdom (Matt. 6:33), and to make all things work together for my best if I am among those who love you (Rom. 8:28). How much better to enjoy all things than by way of your benefits? If I should seek these blessings in my own way, they would become my snare, and those things which might be for my betterment would become an occasion to stumble. Help me truly see that you love and care for me much better than I can do for myself.
- My sins would have surely brought down your vengeance upon me, Lord, had these darings of your enemies caused you to come down off your cross. What they then entertained with shaking heads of derision (your constancy and patience), let us embrace with trembling hearts of devotion, ever magnifying your victorious love towards us, a love so mighty that it prevented you from being swayed against your will and that of your Father’s.
Further References for Matt. 27:40:
Matt. 26:61; Matt. 4:3; Matt 26:63; Matt. 27:42
