God's Messiah Crucified?

May 9th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Matthew 27:38-44 At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. 39 And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, 42 “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43 He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

As Jesus hung on the cross, stripped of His clothing, humiliated, famished, thirsty, and beaten to within an inch of His life, people “were hurling abuse at Him.” The phrase “wagging their heads” is used in Scripture as mockery toward another, shaking one’s head at their misfortunes (cf. Job 16:4; Ps. 22:7; 109:25; Lam. 2:15; Mark 15:29). Their physical mockery was accompanied by verbal mockery, challenging Jesus as to His boast of destroying the temple and rebuilding it in three days. Ironically, Jesus was in the midst of doing that very thing! It was never His intent to destroy the temple in Jerusalem; rather, it was His mission to allow His body (“this temple”) to be destroyed and resurrected three days later (John 2:19-22).

The Son of God did not come to demonstrate the love of God by being crucified and then miraculously jump down from the cross with no scratches. But that is what the crowd wanted to see. Sadly for them, even if Jesus had done such a thing, they would have remained in their unbelief. The chief priests were no different, for they mocked Jesus’ ability to “save others” but His supposed inability to save Himself. Again, they missed the mission of Jesus. He did not come to impress people with His ability to do miracles. He came to die for the sins of mankind.

Just the fact that the religious leaders recognized that Jesus had saved others shows how accountable they were for their rejection of Him. They had followed Him around the countryside observing His miracles. They knew the truth but rejected it because Jesus was a threat to them and their power over the Jewish people. The irony of their statement is that the “others” they said Jesus saved would also include some of their own, for even some of these priests later came to saving faith (cf. Acts 6:7). Most of them, however, continued to reject Jesus, even after His resurrection, inventing the lie that His disciples stole His body from the tomb (Matt. 28:11-15). In truth, Jesus did so much better than just come down from the cross. He died on the cross, was buried in a secure tomb for three days, then He reappeared. But of course they still rejected Him. This reflects Jesus’ teaching in 12:38-45 of how a wicked, adulterous generation seeks for signs in order to believe. They did see the sign in the resurrection but subsequently rejected it.

Verse 38 says that two “robbers” were crucified on either side of Jesus, and v. 44 says that they were “insulting Him with the same words.” Later, however, Luke 23:39-42 says that one of the men had a change of heart, probably from observing Jesus’ upstanding behavior, hearing Him pray, and remain peaceful while dying. So before he died, he asked Jesus to “remember” Him when He came into His kingdom—affirming that Jesus was a King. Jesus responded to this repentant sinner, saying, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43).

Food for Thought
Those that mocked Jesus’ words about rebuilding the temple are just like people today who mock the Bible’s teachings—the very words of God. While they ridicule God for not fulfilling what He said He would fulfill, He is fulfilling it the same way Jesus was fulfilling His words of rebuilding the temple while dying on the cross! How blind the world is to the Truth. We live among people today who are not unlike the people that crucified Christ 2,000 years ago—those whose “intelligence” blinds them to the truth—those who seek “proof” beyond what is already given in the Scriptures and elsewhere. Remember 1 Corinthians 1:18-19: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ ” Certainly that is what God did to the “intelligent” of Jesus’ day. And it is what He will do to the “intelligent” of our day who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.