[And] in like manner the chief priests also, mocking, with the scribes and elders, said,
At the crucifixion, insults came at Jesus from every side. This verse names the group hardest to explain: the religious leaders of the nation, standing at an execution to mock a dying man in words truer than they knew.
Matthew lists the mockers in layers: the passers-by, then the leaders, then the criminals beside Him. One writer draws out how unusual that is.
Verses 39-44 show us how all classes united in reviling Him as He was dying on the cross. Hardened criminals have had to listen to stern words when they were condemned to death. But we have never heard of even the worst and most depraved being mocked while they died in agony. Yet this is what happened to Him who was perfection itself, Divine as well as human. The only difference was the kind of language used. "Those who passed by" were ordinary people going about their business. "The chief priests … with the scribes and elders" were the upper classes. "The thieves also … threw the same insults at Him." They were the lowest, the criminal class; but they were only following the fashion, in their own crude and vulgar way.
The leaders said He rescued others but could not rescue Himself. That was true, though not in the way they meant.
They wagged the head, saying, "He saved others: himself he cannot save." What words! They admitted that His power had been fully displayed, they rejected what was divine, they declared that they had driven God out from among them! In fact, He could not save Himself, because He could not think of Himself: the love which had saved others went farther and gave Himself for us. Perfect love for His Father, obedience to His commandments, His perfect love to us, hindered His saving Himself. He might have had His twelve legions of angels, but He had come for others, not for Himself.
Their taunt went further: they offered to believe if He came down from the cross. That offer was worthless on two counts. First, it mistakes how faith comes, and what His staying on the cross achieved:
What they add is completely false, for they say, "Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe." Faith comes by hearing, not by sight. Besides, if He had come down from the cross, belief would have been pointless. We would still be in our sins.
Second, their later conduct showed what they would do with proof:
In their wicked glee, they promise to believe in Him if He would come down from the cross and so prove Himself the King of Israel. Sadly, when His resurrection from the dead gave them a mightier proof, they could bribe the Roman soldiers to hide the dreaded truth.
These were the men trained to teach God's word, and the demand they made had no backing in it.
They acknowledged His works done on behalf of others, yet refused to accept the claims those works proved. Those acts showed that He was God's servant, the Christ, as the men who claimed to teach God's word should have known. Yet after all they had heard and seen, they asked Him to settle His claim to be the Messiah by coming down from the cross at once. Power used for the good of others was a proof that He was the Messiah. Power used to save Himself from death on the cross was never predicted as a proof that the King of Israel was on earth.
Worse, they took the words of their sneer straight from a psalm written about this very sufferer:
It is astonishing that these cultured religious men, in their fearful blindness, quoted Scripture as they gazed at Him. David had written Psalm 22 by the Spirit, the great prophetic psalm of the suffering One, and they knew it well. In that psalm the wicked enemies of the great sufferer speak. It even gives the words they would use to revile Him in the presence of the forsaken sufferer: "He trusted in the Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delighted in Him." These very words the sneering chief priests, elders and scribes spoke before the cross.
Seen from outside — by a Roman officer, say — the scene judged the men who staged it.
Think of the Roman centurion watching the leaders of the Jewish nation come out to mock a poor criminal as he died — for that is how it looked. There was the religion and the learning of the nation, busy at this work. The two high priests, the elders and the scribes were degrading themselves, even in human eyes. The enmity expressed was against God Himself; but see how deep its display had sunk poor man!
- Everyone — passers-by, rulers and criminals all mocked Him. Only the language changed with the class; the hatred did not.
- "Cannot" — He could not save Himself because love for His Father and for us held Him there. Twelve legions of angels were His for the asking, and He never called them.
- Condition — "Come down and we will believe" was a promise they never meant. A greater sign came at the resurrection, and they paid to have it hidden.
- Blindness — the men who claimed to teach God's word asked for a proof no prophet ever promised. They mocked Him in the words of the very psalm they were fulfilling.
- Verdict — the religion and learning of the nation stood at a cross and jeered. The shame was not His; it showed how deep man's enmity against God runs.
He saved others, himself he cannot save. He is King of Israel let him descend now from the cross, and we will believe on him.
The religious leaders shouted these words at a dying man to mock Him. Yet commentators say the first half of their taunt is true — so in what sense could the One who saved others not save Himself?
The leaders admitted the record of His life, but refused what that record proved:
They acknowledged His works done for others, yet refused to accept what those works proved. They knew His life on earth, and could speak of His acts of kindness and power. Those acts testified that He was God's servant — the Christ — as the men who professed to explain God's word should have known; yet they asked, after all they had heard and seen, that His claim to be the Messiah should be settled by His coming down from the cross at once.
They wanted a proof no prophet had ever promised. Power shown for others was the sign of the Messiah; power used to rescue Himself was not.
Read as the priests meant it, the second half of the sentence is a sneer at failure. Read rightly, it is His glory:
As has often been the case, the very insult they threw at Him is His glory. It was true in a way their spite never dreamed of: "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." That was not the "cannot" of weakness or inability. It was the "cannot" of divine love.
If it was not weakness, what was it? One writer answers that His own love and obedience made escape impossible:
In fact, He could not save Himself, because He could not think of Himself. The love which had saved others went further and gave Himself for us. Perfect love for His Father, obedience to His commandments, and perfect love for us kept Him from saving Himself. He might have had His twelve legions of angels, but He had come for others, not for Himself... If He was to save others, He could not save Himself.
Every other person dies because death has a claim on them. One writer points out that this was never true of Jesus:
He laid down His life for us. There was no other way we could be saved. More than that, He obeyed the Father at all cost, set on carrying out His will — even our sanctification. In that sense only He could not save Himself. Nothing in the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ made death necessary. All other men must die because of Adam; Christ did not have to... So He says plainly about His death: "I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again" (John 10:18).
His very name settled the matter. Coming down would have meant surrendering it:
He could not have come down from the cross, for His Name was Jesus. Had He come down, as their mocking demanded, He would have had to strip Himself of that Name. No sinner could then be saved, and He would never have done the work God gave Him to do.
The mockers offered a bargain: a miracle in exchange for their faith. One writer separates the true half of what they said from the false:
The chief priests joined the others in mocking the Lord. They said, "He saved others; Himself He cannot save." This was true, little as they realised it. But what they add is wholly false... Faith comes by hearing, not by sight. Moreover, had He come down from the cross, belief would have been in vain. We should still be in our sins.
Their promise was soon tested. Ridout notes that when a far greater proof came — His resurrection from the dead — they bribed the Roman soldiers to hide the truth they feared.
- Cannot — the leaders meant the word as a charge of weakness. Commentators read it as love. He had authority to lay His life down and to take it up again.
- Cause — love for the Father, obedience, and love for us were what held Him there. Not the nails, and not any claim death had on Him.
- Cost — coming down would have meant giving up the name Jesus, and with it every hope of salvation for sinners.
- Condition — their offer to believe if He came down asked for a sign no prophet had promised. Faith comes by hearing, not by sight.
- Consequence — if He had answered their challenge, we would still be in our sins. The taunt they threw at Him is the exact reason we are saved.