Likewise
the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
Matthew 27:41-44
Matthew 27 [38.] Then there were two robbers crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left. Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, 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!”
Matthew 27 [41.] Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.
Matthew 27 [45.] Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 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?”
Meaning:
Jesus hung on the cross between two robbers, and those passing by shook their heads and challenged him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” (Matthew 27:38-40). Now the religious leaders join in. Mark records the same scene: “He saved others. He can’t save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him” (Mark 15:31-32).
- “Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders”
All the groups that made up Israel’s leadership were present. These were the men who should have recognised the Messiah. They had achieved what they wanted, and now they stood at the cross to enjoy their victory. They did not speak to Jesus directly but mocked him to one another and to the crowd, treating him as a defeated fraud.
- “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.”
They meant it as an insult, but they admitted that he had saved others. They could not deny the healings and the lives he had restored. And without knowing it they spoke a deep truth. Jesus could not save himself and also save others. His name means that “it is he who shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). He had the power to come down. When he was arrested he said, “do you think that I couldn’t ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). He stayed on the cross by choice, because love kept him there. “But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
- “let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him”
The leaders asked for one more sign, but they had already rejected many. Jesus had told them that the only sign they would receive was the sign of Jonah, his death and rising after three days (Matthew 12:38-40). He would not come down from the cross, but he would come out of the tomb, and even then many would refuse to believe.
- “He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him”
These words almost repeat Psalm 22, the psalm of the righteous sufferer: “He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him” (Psalm 22:7-8). The mockers were fulfilling Scripture with their own mouths. Their challenge also echoes the devil’s words in the wilderness: “If you are the Son of God” (Matthew 4:3). It was the same temptation: to prove himself by using his power for his own sake.
- “The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.”
Even men dying the same death joined in the insults. Luke tells us that one of them later changed his mind, rebuked the other, and said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus answered, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:40-43). Even at the cross, a mocker could become a believer.
The Significance of Matthew 27:41-44
- The love that stayed
Jesus could have ended his suffering at any moment. He stayed because he came to save others. When we doubt God’s love, we can look at the cross and remember that he did not save himself so that he could save us.
- Faith does not demand proof on its own terms
The leaders said they would believe if Jesus did what they demanded. True faith trusts God’s way, even when it looks like weakness. The power of God was shown not by coming down from the cross but by rising from the grave.
Cross-References:
Psalm 22:8: "He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him." The psalm the mockers fulfilled.
Mark 15:31: "He saved others. He can’t save himself." Mark’s parallel account.
Romans 5:8: "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The love that kept Jesus on the cross.
Luke 23:42: "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." A mocker who became a believer.
Conclusion: The chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and elders mocked Jesus on the cross, saying, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself,” and the robbers joined in. Without knowing it, they spoke the truth and fulfilled Psalm 22. Jesus did not come down, not because he could not, but because he chose to stay and save others, and even one of those robbers found mercy.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible