Matthew 27
1 Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.
2 They bound him, led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
3 Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that Jesus was condemned, felt remorse, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
5 He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.”
7 They took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.
8 Therefore that field was called “The Field of Blood” to this day.
9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him upon whom a price had been set, whom some of the children of Israel priced,
10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “So you say.”
12 When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
13 Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many things they testify against you?”
14 He gave him no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly.
15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the multitude one prisoner, whom they desired.
16 They had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas.
17 When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?”
18 For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.
19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him.”
20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus.
21 But the governor answered them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate said to them, “What then should I do with Jesus, who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let him be crucified!”
23 But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
24 So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it.”
25 All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
26 Then he released to them Barabbas, but Jesus he flogged and delivered to be crucified.
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him.
28 They stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him.
29 They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
30 They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.
31 When they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, and put his clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.
32 As 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.
33 They came to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, “The place of a skull.”
34 They gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.
35 When they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots,
36 and they sat and watched him there.
37 They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
38 Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left.
39 Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads,
40 and 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!”
41 Likewise the chief priests also mocking him, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said,
42 “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. He is the King of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.
43 He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
44 The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?” That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.
49 The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”
50 Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.
51 Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
55 Many women were there watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him;
56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself also was Jesus’ disciple, came.
58 This man went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up.
59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out in the rock. He rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed.
61 Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
62 Now on the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate,
63 saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’
64 Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest perhaps his disciples come by night and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead;’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.”
66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.
Matthew 27 Commentary
Overview
Matthew 27 records the condemnation, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus. The chapter moves through several settings—the temple, Pilate’s court, the governor’s residence, Golgotha, and a borrowed tomb—but one truth remains constant: Jesus is treated as guilty while the narrative repeatedly declares or displays his innocence. Judas calls his blood innocent, Pilate recognizes the leaders’ envy, Pilate’s wife calls him righteous, and the governor publicly washes his hands. The innocent King nevertheless gives himself into the hands of sinners.
The chapter also exposes the failure of every surrounding institution. Religious leaders guard technical rules while spending blood money. Judas feels remorse but does not return to Jesus for mercy. Pilate knows what justice requires but yields to pressure. Soldiers turn authority into cruelty, passersby turn suffering into entertainment, and even the condemned criminals join the mockery. Matthew does not allow readers to locate sin only in one group; the cross reveals a world in rebellion and the depth of the salvation that world needs.
At Golgotha, accusations meant to shame Jesus unintentionally announce his identity. He is called King of the Jews, the One who would destroy and rebuild the temple, the Savior of others, and the Son of God. His enemies demand that he prove these claims by coming down from the cross. Matthew’s Gospel answers that Jesus proves them by remaining there. His kingship is expressed through sacrificial obedience, and his saving mission requires that he refuse to save himself from death.
Jesus’ death is accompanied by darkness, his cry from Psalm 22, the tearing of the temple veil, an earthquake, opened tombs, and the confession of the centurion and those with him. The chapter then slows to identify faithful women, Joseph of Arimathea, the burial place, the stone, and the guard. These details establish both the reality of Jesus’ death and the known location of his tomb, preparing for the resurrection account in Matthew 28.
Key Themes
The chief priests and Pharisees remember Jesus’ prediction of resurrection and request a guard. Their effort to secure the tomb becomes part of Matthew’s case that the empty tomb cannot be dismissed as a casual mistake. Human authority seals the stone and posts guards, but these precautions cannot prevent God’s action in Matthew 28.
The women who followed and served Jesus watch his death, and Joseph of Arimathea courageously requests the body and places it in his new tomb. Their presence establishes faithful witnesses to both death and burial. Joseph’s honorable burial may recall the servant being with a rich man in death in Isaiah 53, while the identifiable tomb prevents confusion about the burial place.
The centurion and those guarding Jesus respond with fear: “Truly this was the Son of God.” Mockers had used that title as a challenge; Gentile soldiers now confess it. Their words anticipate the Gospel’s movement to the nations and show that obedient sonship is revealed at the place where human judgment declared Jesus defeated.
The earthquake, split rocks, opened tombs, and appearance of raised holy people announce that Jesus’ death shakes creation and begins death’s defeat. Matthew says they enter Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection, preserving his resurrection as the decisive turning point. Because few details are given, their identities, later lives, and the exact nature of their appearance should not become grounds for confident speculation.
When Jesus yields his spirit, the temple veil tears from top to bottom, emphasizing divine action. Whether Matthew means the inner veil or another prominent curtain, the event signals a decisive change in access to God. Through Jesus’ death, the barrier associated with the sanctuary order is judged and opened, a truth developed in Hebrews 10.
Darkness covers the land from noon until three, recalling prophetic judgment such as Amos 8. Jesus then cries the opening of Psalm 22. The words express genuine abandonment and anguish, yet the psalm moves toward vindication. Even in darkness Jesus says “my God,” bringing forsakenness into the language of faithful prayer.
“He saved others, but he can’t save himself” is the central irony. The speakers assume saving power must be proved through escape. The Gospel reveals the opposite: Jesus does not save himself because he is saving others. His apparent powerlessness is voluntary faithfulness, and the cross becomes the means of forgiveness and covenant life.
Jesus is crucified between robbers and numbered among transgressors, following the pattern of Isaiah 53. Mockers repeat the old challenge, “If you are the Son of God,” prove yourself by spectacular rescue. Jesus refuses. Sonship is demonstrated not by avoiding obedience but by trusting the Father through suffering.
The soldiers divide Jesus’ garments by lot, echoing Psalm 22. Above him they place the charge, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Rome intends ridicule and warning, but Matthew lets the inscription proclaim truth. The crucified Jesus is King, and his elevation reveals a kingdom unlike violent empire.
Simon of Cyrene is compelled to carry the cross, but Matthew does not describe his thoughts, so a conversion story should not be invented. At Golgotha Jesus refuses wine mixed with gall after tasting it. He consciously faces the suffering accepted in Gethsemane. The scene also gives concrete form to Jesus’ command that disciples take up the cross and follow him.
Scourging severely injures Jesus before crucifixion. Soldiers then stage a cruel parody of royal honor with a scarlet robe, thorns, a reed, kneeling, spitting, and blows. Their mock coronation unknowingly speaks truth: the humiliated prisoner is King, and his thorned crown shows his reign confronting the curse and violence of the fallen world.
The crowd’s statement, “His blood be on us and on our children,” accepts responsibility in that moment; it does not authorize collective racial guilt or later hostility toward Jewish descendants. Matthew’s own Gospel is rooted in Israel, and Jesus’ blood is ultimately proclaimed as covenant blood poured out for forgiveness, not as a pretext for hatred.
The choice between Jesus and Barabbas is filled with irony: a notorious prisoner is released while the innocent King is condemned. The guilty man walks free because Jesus receives the sentence. Pilate’s handwashing cannot remove responsibility, since he knows what justice requires and has authority to act. Public gestures, political pressure, and majority opinion cannot cleanse deliberate wrongdoing.
Pilate asks whether Jesus is King of the Jews. Jesus’ restrained answer neither denies the title nor accepts Pilate’s political assumptions. His kingdom is real but does not arise through armed revolt or manipulated crowds. His silence before accusation recalls the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. It is deliberate obedience, not helplessness.
The priests refuse to put the coins into the treasury because they are “the price of blood,” though they paid that price themselves. Their scruple displays selective morality: ceremonial procedure is protected while an innocent man is destroyed. Religious precision becomes hypocrisy when detached from justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
The silver and potter’s field fulfill a prophetic pattern. Matthew names Jeremiah, while the wording most directly echoes Zechariah 11 and recalls the potter and field imagery of Jeremiah 19 and Jeremiah 32. He appears to combine related themes: God’s appointed shepherd is rejected, blood brings defilement, and a field becomes a sign of judgment and hope.
Judas experiences remorse when he sees that Jesus has been condemned. He confesses that he betrayed innocent blood, returns the silver, and kills himself. His grief acknowledges wrongdoing but does not turn toward God for mercy. Peter also failed grievously in Matthew 26, yet his story continues because failure drives him back toward Christ rather than into final isolation.
The leaders deliver Jesus to Pontius Pilate because Roman authority controlled execution. Matthew presents overlapping responsibility: certain Jerusalem leaders seek Jesus’ death, Pilate authorizes it, soldiers carry it out, and a crowd demands Barabbas. This must never become blame against Jewish people as an ethnic group. Jesus, his disciples, the women, Joseph, and the earliest believers were Jewish; the cross finally exposes humanity’s sin.
Important Verses
Verse 4 records Judas’s confession: “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” Even the betrayer testifies that Jesus does not deserve condemnation. The tragedy is that Judas brings his guilt to leaders who answer with indifference rather than to the Savior whose mercy he had witnessed.
Verse 24 shows Pilate washing his hands before the crowd. The act dramatizes the human desire to appear innocent without doing justice. Responsibility is not removed by ceremony, majority pressure, or a claim that someone else forced the decision.
Verse 37 places the accusation above the cross: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” What Rome writes as a criminal charge becomes Matthew’s royal announcement. Jesus reigns through self-giving love, and the cross exposes the difference between his kingdom and rule sustained by coercion.
Verse 46 preserves Jesus’ loud cry from Psalm 22. Christian faith does not deny the horror of the cross or pretend that Jesus’ suffering was emotionally unreal. The Son enters the deepest human anguish and brings even the language of forsakenness into faithful prayer.
Verse 51 says that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus’ death changes the way sinners approach a holy God. Access rests not on human achievement or privileged location but on the sacrifice God himself provides.
Verse 54 records the centurion’s confession: “Truly this was the Son of God.” A Gentile executioner sees what many religious observers refused to acknowledge. The cross, which appears to disprove Jesus’ identity, becomes the place where his obedient sonship is most powerfully revealed.
Practical Applications
Bring guilt to Christ rather than allowing shame to drive you into isolation. Remorse can recognize the damage done and still remain trapped in despair. Biblical repentance tells the truth, turns from sin, seeks appropriate repair, and entrusts even grievous failure to the mercy purchased by Jesus’ blood.
Reject selective righteousness. The priests worried about where blood money could be deposited while ignoring how it had been obtained, and Pilate performed a cleansing gesture while committing injustice. Examine whether religious habits, public statements, or procedural correctness are being used to avoid mercy, courage, and costly obedience.
Do not surrender conscience to a crowd. Pilate knew the verdict was wrong but valued political peace and self-preservation above justice. Faithfulness may require resisting popular pressure, institutional convenience, or fear of consequences when an innocent person is being harmed.
Look at the cross before using power. Jesus receives mockery and violence without abandoning his saving mission, while soldiers and rulers use authority to humiliate and protect themselves. Christian leadership should be measured by truthful service, protection of the vulnerable, and willingness to bear cost rather than by domination.
Let suffering become honest prayer rather than silent unbelief. Jesus’ use of Psalm 22 shows that anguish can be spoken directly to God. Faith does not require cheerful denial of darkness; it continues addressing God, remembering Scripture, and entrusting the unanswered “why” to the Father.
Stand near Christ with persevering loyalty. The women remain, Joseph acts when discipleship is dangerous, and the sealed tomb seems to leave no reason for hope. Their faithfulness reminds believers that obedience is still meaningful when God’s victory is not yet visible. Matthew 27 ends with a guarded grave, but the story is not finished.