But the passers-by reviled him, shaking their heads
The people mocking here are not the priests or the soldiers. They are ordinary travellers on the road, and their sneer raises two questions: why did they throw His own words back at Him, and why did He say nothing in reply?
One writer sets these travellers beside the disciples, and finds the same corruption in both:
Those who passed by were mere travellers along the road, men left in the distance, or as far as they were concerned. They revile Him, venting helpless hatred, like so many Shimeis in the day of David. And disciples, a people brought near and privileged, show the same common corruption. They take part in this scene of shame to man. They heartlessly abandon their Lord in the hour of danger, when He had looked for some to stand by Him.
Their next line misquotes Him. He had said, "Destroy this temple," and He meant something they never guessed:
The Gospel writer's quiet remark settles the meaning of His reply. "He spoke," he tells us, "of the temple of His body."... When first spoken, the Jews thought He was talking about the building they were standing in. Later, on the cross, they taunted Him with His supposed statement: "You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself." They still thought He meant the temple building. So they put into His mouth what He had never said. "Destroy this temple," He did say. "You who destroy the temple," they assumed He had said, so misquoting His words and getting it thoroughly wrong.
The irony is that the very saying they were sneering at stood on the edge of coming true:
His words were turned against Him, not only at His trial, but in His dying moments... How little they knew that His very words were now on the point of being completely fulfilled!
Their ridicule belonged to the sufferings marked out for the Messiah long before:
It is sad that such ridicule from man fell within the appointed sufferings of the Messiah. But it was written of Him, "All who see me mock me" (Ps. 22:7), and the fulfilment of this scripture reached its climax at the cross. He was the Servant whom man despised and the nation abhorred (Isa. 49:7).
They were fulfilling that psalm as they mocked. Why could they not see it?
The gospels note this wagging of the head by those passing by. They also note the very words of the psalm, used by the chief priests with the scribes and elders as they mocked Him. On the surface it might look as if God's rule over events had supplied them with this reproach. In fact it was their own hardness. They had no sense of what they themselves deserved, nor of the holiness and mercy of God. That is what blinded them to the meaning of the scriptures they were so plainly fulfilling.
They wanted Him to use power and save Himself. One writer hears the wilderness tempter behind that demand:
Without knowing it, they use the very language of the tempter himself in the wilderness: "If you are the Son of God." Satan may have been tempting Him again. But he could no more move Him to come down from the cross than to make bread out of the stones or to throw Himself down from the temple.
Behind the sneer lies an assumption about what Sonship means:
Power displayed would in their eyes be proof of His divine Sonship. He gave no reply to their taunt. But because He was God's Son, He stayed on the cross... "Save yourself." Those words showed where their thoughts ran: self, not the Father's will, should be the rule for how people live.
Matthew records no answer from Him to any of it:
There is none to pity in the scene before us. He is alone, cruelly mocked, and He must have felt the reproach as only one who is absolutely holy could feel it. He was reviled but He did not revile in return. Our Gospel does not report a single word from His lips.
- Blindness. Hard hearts, and no sense of what they themselves deserved, kept the mockers from seeing the scriptures they were acting out.
- Misquotation. Blindness twists His words. He said "Destroy this temple," and meant His body; they threw back a saying He never spoke.
- Prophecy. Their blindness still served God's word. Psalm 22 had described those shaking heads long before that day.
- Temptation. "Save yourself" was the wilderness challenge again: power as proof of Sonship. He answered by staying on the cross.
- Silence. Blind mockery met no reply; Matthew records not one word from Him in return.
and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou art Son of God, descend from the cross.
The crowd throws two taunts at the crucified Jesus: a twisted version of His words about the temple, and a dare to come down and prove He is God's Son. Both show how badly they misread Him — and both point at what He was really doing.
These words go back to the start of Jesus' public ministry. The crowd had mangled them on the way. One writer traces the path of the misquotation:
When He first said this, the Jews thought He meant the building they were standing in. Later, on the cross, they taunted Him with what they thought He had said. They still thought He had meant the temple building itself, so they credited Him with words He had never said. "Destroy this temple," He did say. "You who would destroy the temple," they assumed He had said. They misquoted His words, and so got it completely wrong.
Their demand assumes that a real Son of God would break free by force. The truth ran the other way. The same writer shows what being the Son meant:
Power displayed would in their eyes be proof of His divine Sonship. He gave no reply to their taunt; but, because He was God's Son, He stayed on the cross. They linked power with Sonship. He accepted that obedience was part of that relationship. He showed perfect obedience to His Father's will by staying on that cross… "Save yourself." That kind of talk showed the way their minds ran: self, not the Father's will, should guide how a person lives. Without realising it, they were defending the sin of Adam and Eve. They proved they were descended from them, born in Adam's likeness.
Jesus had heard that opening word once before, in the desert. Those who follow Him still hear it:
Here is the echo of the old desert temptation, "If you are the Son of God." And here too is the constant temptation of God's people in every age — if — why? If you are a child of God, why is this allowed to come upon you? If you do trust Him, why are you left in this condition or circumstance?
He could have done what they asked. Power was never what kept Him there:
If it were only a question of power, He might have stepped in. The holy Sufferer could have come down from the cross with ease. It was even part of His suffering at that moment to be challenged by a dying criminal to do so — what did He not suffer? But we must see this: no act of power could atone.
Another writer points to the name He received at birth:
His name, given at His birth, means Saviour… They did not understand the meaning of His name. Because He was Jesus, He could not come down from the cross. If He had come down, He would have given up His name. He would have denied Himself, for He could not have been Jesus any more. If He was to bear that name for ever, He had to die, for only by His death could He be the Saviour of those who lay under death's power.
He answers none of it. And the three days they laughed at turned out to be a timetable:
They revile Him, and He does not revile back. Our Gospel does not report a single word from His lips… He is silent under the cruel and vile mockeries, born in the pit, the very breath of Satan. Once more they hold the old accusation up against Him. They had no idea that they were fulfilling that very word about destroying the temple. The third day, when He would rise as the mighty victor, was not far off.
- Misquoted. The taunt rests on words Jesus never said. He had said, "Destroy this temple" — they turned it into a charge that He would destroy it Himself.
- Mistested. They made raw power the proof of divine Sonship. He made obedience to His Father the meaning of Sonship, and stayed where they told Him to leave.
- Retested. "If you are the Son of God" is the desert temptation coming back. Believers still hear it in hard times: if God is your Father, why this?
- Refused. Coming down was well within His power. But it was outside His purpose. No display of power could atone, and a Jesus who saved Himself would have given up the name Saviour.
- Reversed. The three days they laughed at were the three days He kept. Without knowing it, the mockers announced the resurrection they were laughing at.