GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
On the Way to the Cross
Chapter 27:32-36
All four Gospels contribute details about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, and we will include them all in this study, i.e., the text of Matthew and Mark 15: 21-25, Luke 23:26-33 and John 19:16-18.
We distinguish some notable events along the path from the judgment hall of Pilate to the crucifixion at Calvary (Greek kranion or skull).
Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
The soldiers mocked Jesus, changed His garments back into His own and led Him away to crucify Him. Probably weakened by loss of blood due to scourging, the blows of the soldiers and the crown of thorns, Christ was carrying the cross with difficulty. The soldiers therefore forced a man named Simon to carry it for Him, walking behind Him.
Simon came from Cyrene, a province in North Africa bordering Libya, and was arriving in Jerusalem, probably to take part in the Passover feast in Jerusalem. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21), and this clarification made to the original readers of Mark's Gospel indicates that possibly they all became Christians later.
It could be that this Simon was one of the men of Cyrene who preached the Gospel to the Greeks in Antioch (Acts 11:20), and later appeared among the prophets and teachers in this church, being called Niger due to his dark skin (Acts 13:1).
Some commentators conjecture that Rufus is perhaps the same one mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13, "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine": he lived in Rome, and Paul considered his mother (who would therefore, be the wife of Simon) as his mother in the faith.
If so, the heavy and humiliating labour of carrying the cross of a condemned man became for Simon, after he was converted, a special privilege for personally carrying the cross of his Saviour.
The prophecy about the massacre of Jerusalem
Behind Jesus Christ came a large crowd of people and of women who bewailed and lamented Him. It is curious that, in the account of the Gospels, women always sympathized with the Lord Jesus - none was antagonistic.
He turned to the women and told them not to weep for Him: He did not want their compassion (just as He does not want our compassion for His suffering). He went through everything voluntarily, being the price He had to pay in order to satisfy God’s justice and forgive our sins.
Instead, they should mourn the future that was in store for them and for their children, because terrible things were to come. The women who had children were considered blessed (i.e. Luke 1:25,36), but when these things came to happen, the barren and those who did not have children would be considered blessed, and many would wish that the mountains would fall on them and the hills would cover them. To be buried alive would be better than the punishment they would suffer.
He added, "For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:31). Green wood is difficult to burn, and compares with the innocent. Dry wood burns easily, and is a symbol of the culprits. Reportedly, in ancient documents, this was a common saying in those days, and had several applications.
This time it is understood that, if they condemned Christ, innocent as He was, to crucifixion, what would be the punishment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, when their day came? We know that a revolt in Jerusalem forty years later brought its complete destruction by the Roman army, and the death or enslavement of its inhabitants, fulfilling the prophecy of the Lord Jesus.
The refusal to drink wine
The place for the crucifixion, whose name translates "skull", was outside the walls of Jerusalem. The execution of the death penalty had to be done outside the city according to Roman and Jewish law (Numbers 15: 35-36 and 1 Kings 21:13).
The bodies of sacrificed animals, symbols of Christ, were burned outside the camp of the Israelites, and He also, "that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate" (Hebrews 13: 11,12).
When they reached the “place of a skull”, the Lord Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall or myrrh. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy in Psalm 69:21, though it is unlikely that someone was thinking about it at that time.
As death by crucifixion is largely caused by dehydration, water could not be given to the convict. The mixture offered to the Lord by compassionate souls would not satisfy His thirst, but would act as an anaesthetic, reducing His sufferings. Both wine and myrrh (or gall) have narcotics and narcotic effects. However, He refused to drink after tasting it (to show that He knew what it was).
It was necessary that He suffered all the wrath of God willingly, without artifice to alleviate suffering, for He was taking our sins upon Himself.
The division of His Clothes
At nine o'clock in the morning before the first day of Passover, the Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, in full view of all by Roman soldiers, thus fulfilling the prophecy that He had announced: “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John 3:14).
Four soldiers forming a square, with the condemned in the centre, conducted those sentenced to execution by crucifixion. Before being nailed to their crosses, the convicts were stripped, nakedness being covered only by a narrow strip of cloth. Once hung on their crosses in the place already prepared for them, the soldiers shared between them the clothes of the condemned.
The Jews at that time typically used five pieces of clothing: sandals or shoes, turban, belt, a piece of underwear and a coat. That was what the Lord was using, and that now the soldiers divided among themselves. The coat would be the most valuable item, and having distributed the rest, the soldiers cast lots to see who would get it (John 19:23, 24).
It was a small detail, but unknowingly they were fulfilling another prophecy in Psalm 22:18: “They divide my garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." This psalm, written by King David centuries before, describes in detail the suffering of the Messiah in death by crucifixion. It is remarkable, because crucifixion was not used when the psalm was written, having been introduced much later in the Roman Empire.
R David Jones
32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.
33 And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull,
34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
35 Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: "THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS."
36 Sitting down, they kept watch over Him there.
Matthew chapter 27, verses 32 to 36
21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
22 And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
23 Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.
24 And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.
25 Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.
Mark chapter 15, verses 21 to 25
26 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'
30 Then they will begin 'TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, "FALL ON US!" AND TO THE HILLS, "COVER US!" '
31 For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
Luke chapter 23, verses 26 to 33
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.
John chapter 19, verses 16 to 18