Matthew 27:36-38 meaning

The parallel gospel accounts of Matthew 27:36-38 are found in Mark 15:22-27, Luke 23:33-34, 38, John 19:16-22.

After alluding to the fulfilled prophecies of Psalm 69:21, Psalm 22:18, Matthew continues his account of Jesus’s crucifixion by describing the physical setting of cross. He includes three details.

The first of these details entails the Roman soldiers.

And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there (v 36).

The they in these verses refers to the Roman guards who were assigned the task of crucifying Jesus. John indicates that there were four soldiers (John 19:23). Matthew’s description suggests that it was after they had nailed Jesus to the cross and raised it, that they began sitting down.

Having performed the cruel task of nailing Jesus to the cross, their duty was to keep watch or guard the cross to ensure that no one came to take Jesus down before He was dead and they had permission to take Him down. This usually meant a long wait of several hours or even days. The cross was designed to be agonizingly slow in its deadly intent.

It was an exhibition of pure agony.

The nails driven through the wrists or hands inflicted excruciating pain, penetrating nerves and bones. The strained posture and the desperate struggle for breath induced physical exhaustion, shock, and an overwhelming desire for the pain to stop. The rough wood scraped against the victim's back, chafing the skin raw. The victim had to lift himself up, grinding his bones against the nails.

Crucifixion resulted in death. The cause of death was typically some combination of hypovolemic shock, suffocation and asphyxiation, and dehydration and exposure.

1.    Hypovolemic Shock
Hypovolemic shock occurs when the body lacks adequate blood to function properly.

The crucifixion process inevitably led to blood loss. Blood leaked from the nail wounds, worsening this condition. Symptoms included a racing heart, plummeting blood pressure, and disorientation.

2.    Suffocation and Asphyxiation
Crucifixion's design aimed to gradually suffocate victims under their own weight. Asphyxiation, resulting from suffocation, involves a lack of oxygen supply to the body's tissues and organs, often due to insufficient breathing.

Breathing, a reflex typically taken for granted, became a significant struggle during crucifixion. The awkward posture and chest constriction rendered inhaling arduous. To draw breath, victims exerted immense effort, pushing up with their legs to expand their lungs. However, this action scraped their wounded back against the rigid wood. Exhaling proved equally distressing, as relaxing the legs intensified the agony in the victim’s wrists or hands.

3.    Dehydration and Exposure
Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluids (primarily water) than it takes in , impairing proper bodily function. Symptoms include thirst, dry mouth, fatigue, and muscle cramps.

Crucifixion did not kill its victims immediately. To be crucified was to die slowly, often in locations where the victim was exposed to the elements. Under the harsh sun or unforgiving rains, dehydration worsened the suffering. It also increased tissue strain in the victim.

These crucifixion agonies were relentless. All three disorders cruelly compounded, intensifying each condition. As victims endured hours or days on the cross, the relief of death loomed close yet remained agonizingly out of reach until their bodies finally yielded.

Jesus suffered all three of these disorders during the six hours He was on the cross (Mark 15:25, 34). 

Matthew’s observation that Jesus’s executioners were sitting down juxtaposes the sheer anguish He was suffering while His enemies were relaxing, watching Him writhe in pain as His strength slowly ebbed away. 

The second detail Matthew offers as he describes the setting of Jesus’s crucifixion concerns the official crime for which Jesus was condemned to death.

To learn more about Roman crucifixion, see The Bible Says article: “Bearing the Cross: Exploring the Unimaginable Suffering of Crucifixion.”

And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (v 37).

It was customary for Rome to post the charge for which the crucified criminal was condemned. Publishing the charge against the crucifixion victim served as a stern warning to others to not break the law as this criminal had done.

The official charge for which Rome crucified Jesus was not the charge of blasphemy—the crime the religious leaders had illegally condemned Him for (Matthew 26:65-66, Mark 14:64, Luke 22:66-71)—but the charge of insurrection.

This was the charge which the religious elites made against Jesus when they first brought Him to the Roman governor Pilate (Luke 23:2). It was the charge Pilate investigated (Luke 23:2) and declared Him to be innocent of when he said: “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4).

But the charge as written was more descriptive than the sterile phrase: “Insurrection.” The charge against Jesus that was put up above His head read: “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

As the Messiah, Jesus was the King of the Jews. But He was not recognized or received by the Jews for the King that He was (John 1:11). More than that, Jesus was rejected by them as their King (John 19:15), and they emphatically called for His blood (Matthew 27:24-25).

Matthew’s inclusion of the charge against Jesus is another way he reminds his audience that Jesus was the Messiah. As King of the Jews—Jesus was the Messianic “king like David” that scriptures foretold (2 Samuel 7:12). There is an irony that the charge placed above Jesus’s head so clearly stated His Messianic identity (in three languages no less—John 19:20) even as His own people and the Romans who crucified Him failed to recognize Him (John 1:10-11). This sarcastic sign was yet another insult and humiliation the Messiah endured.

John’s Gospel informs us that Pilate was the one who ordered the charge to be phrased this way (John 19:19). It seems he did this as a way to get back at the religious leaders who cornered him into crucifying Jesus with their political manipulation of the crowds. Pilate sought to release Jesus, but the Jewish leaders would have no part of it (Matthew 27:24).

The chief priests were unhappy that the charge read: “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:21a). They wanted Pilate to change it to: “He said, ‘I am King of the Jews’” (John 19:21b).

The likely reasons they wanted the charge changed was either because it was insulting to the Jews to say that Rome had crucified their Messiah, or because the charge declared that Jesus was the Messiah, and somehow might cause people to think that Jesus was the Christ. Both reasons probably motivated the chief priests’ request to change the phrasing of the charge.

But Pilate refused to change it (John 19:22).

John’s Gospel also tells us that this inscription was “written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek” (John 19:20b). Greek was the trade language of the day. Latin was the legal and political language of the day. Hebrew was the religious language. And Jewish Aramaic was the common tongue. The Greek text of John 19:20 uses a word “Ἑβραϊστί” (G1447—pronounced: “Heb-rah-is-tee”) which could mean either Hebrew or Aramaic. Whether it was Hebrew or Aramaic, John’s point remains the same: the charge was available for everyone to read for themselves what it said about Jesus.

To learn more about the multilinguistic environment of Jesus’s day, see The Bible Says article: “The Four Languages of Jesus’s Judea.”

Finally, a minor observation which Matthew provides indicates what type of cross Jesus was crucified on.

Matthew states that the charge against Jesus was put up above His head. This detail is important because, even though all four Gospels tell us that Jesus was crucified, none of them explicitly state which type of Roman cross Jesus was crucified on.

The Roman Empire used four basic types of crosses.

1.    “Crux Simplex”
The initial form of crucifixion featured a cross shaped like an "I," comprising a straightforward vertical beam. The individual's wrists were intersected and bound above their head, while their feet were nailed to the beam slightly above a rudimentary wooden platform. This platform allowed the victim to exert force for reprieve, thereby prolonging the agonizing process of death while suspended on the cross. Contemporary archaeological findings indicate instances where Romans would nail each ankle independently, positioning them on either side of the beam.

2.    “Crux Commissa”
The next variant of the cross took the form of a “T,” often referred to as the “Tau cross” due to its resemblance to the uppercase Tau in the Greek language. Termed the “Crux Commissa,” meaning the “connected cross,” its design featured the victim's outstretched wrists affixed to each end of the horizontal beam. Similarly to the Crux Simplex, the “I”-shaped cross, the victim's feet were nailed in a comparable manner.

3.    “Crux Immissa”
Also known as the “Latin Cross,” the third variation of the cross adopted a “t” shape. Renowned for its prevalence in depictions of Jesus's crucifixion, the “Crux Immissa” or “inserted cross" featured the victim's hands extended and nailed to the horizontal beam, known as the “patibulum.” Similarly, his feet were nailed to the vertical beam, referred to as the “stipes,” echoing the method employed in the preceding two cross types.

4.    “Crux Decussata”
The Romans employed a fourth type of cross, fashioned in the shape of an “X,” known as the “Crux Decussata.” Resembling the Roman numeral X, derived from the word “deca” meaning “ten,” this cross variation saw the victim's hands and feet stretched diagonally in opposing directions and secured accordingly.

Church tradition indicates that Jesus was crucified on the third type—the Crux Immissa, or “t” shaped Latin cross.

Matthew's observation provides information suggesting that the traditional account was accurate when he writes: And above His head they put up the charge against Him.

The charge was inscribed on what was known as a “titulus.” The only types of crosses where it could have been positioned above Jesus's head, as Matthew reports, are the first and third types of crosses—1. “Crux Simplex,” “I” cross; or 3. “Crux Immissa,” “t” cross. Further bolstering the traditional perspective is the fact that the crux simplex was predominantly utilized in Italy, while Jesus was crucified in Judea. 

Therefore, it is highly probable, although not certain, that Jesus was executed on a "t"-shaped Latin cross, as is commonly depicted.

The third detail Matthew offers as he describes the setting of Jesus’s crucifixion informs us that Jesus was not the only person to be crucified that day. There were two others crucified with Him.

At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left (v 38).

These two crucifixion victims were robbers—probably highwaymen who hid in wait along the roads in desolate places to attack vulnerable travelers and rob them of their possessions (and sometimes kill them in the process). Jesus described this type of scenario in His “Parable of the Good Samaritan” (Luke 10:30-36).

Matthew informs us that Jesus was crucified between the two robbers. One robber was crucified on the right of Jesus, and one was on the left of Him.

Matthew’s observation that Jesus was crucified between two robbers is a third prophetic fulfillment.

The previous prophetic fulfillments were: 

1.    the mixture of gall and wine offered to Jesus (Matthew 27:34) and Psalm 69:21;

2.    the dividing of Jesus’s garments by lots (Matthew 27:35) and Psalm 22:18.

Matthew’s observation in verse 38 alludes to a prophecy in Isaiah 53 regarding the Messiah’s death.

“His grave was assigned with wicked men.”
(Isaiah 53:9a)

Jesus’s cross, the placement of His death, was assigned between two wicked robbers, one on the right and one on the left. The reason Matthew did not explicitly state this prophetic fulfillment is most likely because he anticipated that his Jewish readers, who were familiar with Isaiah 53, would readily recognize how his observation was a fulfillment of this Messianic prophecy.

Mark’s Gospel, which was primarily written to a Gentile (Roman) audience who did not have this cultural knowledge of Isaiah 53, explicitly states how the fact that Jesus was crucified between two robbers was a fulfillment of prophetic scripture.

            “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors.’"
             (Mark 15:28)

Another Messianic allusion Matthew may have been signaling by observing the fact that Jesus was crucified with two robbers is a reference to Joseph. Joseph’s life foreshadows the Messiah as a Suffering Servant (while King David is a type of Conquering Messiah).

Both Jesus and Joseph were punished with two other men. Jesus was punished with two robbers; Joseph was punished with Pharaoh’s cupbearer and Pharaoh’s baker (Genesis 40:1-3).

Here are ten Messianic parallels between Joseph’s life and Jesus’s. Joseph and Jesus were both:

1.    beloved Sons
(Genesis 37:3, Matthew 3:17)

2.    betrayed by their brothers
(Genesis 37:18-35, Matthew 26:47-50)

3.    faithful servants
(Genesis 39:1-10, Matthew 26:39)

4.    wrongfully accused and punished
(Genesis 39:11-20, Matthew 26:57-68, 27:22-23)

5.    punished alongside two men—one who perished and the other who lived
(Genesis 40:1-3, 40:20-22, Matthew 27:38, Luke 23:39-43)

6.    remained faithful to God through their suffering
(Genesis 39:21-23, Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:7-8)

7.    later exalted to authority at the right hand of the King
(Genesis 41:39-46, Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3, 12:2)

8.    later worshiped and recognized by their brothers 
(Genesis 42:6, 45:3-5, Matthew 25:31-32, 26:64, Philippians 2:10-11) 

9.    showed mercy to their brothers
(Genesis 45:15, 50:21, Romans 11:25-29)

10.    saved their brothers and the world as a result of their suffering
(Genesis 45:7, 50:20, Matthew 1:21, 20:28, Luke 19:10, 1 John 2:2) 

Matthew will later mention how these two robbers were mocking Jesus as the three men were dying on their crosses (Matthew 27:44). Luke tells us that one of these two robbers seems to have repented of his mockery and showed remarkable faith in the crucified Messiah, asking Jesus to remember him in His kingdom (Luke 23:39-42). Jesus’s response to this robber was the second recorded statement He made from the cross.

Jesus said to the penitent robber: “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

To learn more about what Jesus meant by this statement, see The Bible Says article: “Jesus’s Seven Last Words from the Cross—Part Two: A Word of Assurance.”