27聽Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor鈥檚 headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around him.聽28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,聽29and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, 鈥楬ail, King of the Jews!鈥櫬�30They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head.聽31After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32聽As they went out, they came upon a man from Cyrene named Simon; they compelled this man to carry his cross.聽33And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull),聽34they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.聽35And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots;聽36then they sat down there and kept watch over him.聽37Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, 鈥楾his is Jesus, the King of the Jews.鈥�
38聽Then two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.聽39Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads聽40and saying, 鈥榊ou who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.鈥櫬�41In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him, saying,聽42鈥楬e saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.聽43He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to; for he said, 鈥淚 am God鈥檚 Son.鈥澛犫�櫬�44The bandits who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
45聽From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.聽46And about three o鈥檆lock Jesus cried with a loud voice, 鈥楨li, Eli, lema sabachthani?鈥� that is, 鈥楳y God, my God, why have you forsaken me?鈥櫬�47When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, 鈥楾his man is calling for Elijah.鈥櫬�48At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink.聽49But the others said, 鈥榃ait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.鈥櫬�50Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.聽51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.聽52The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.聽53After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.聽54Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, 鈥楾ruly this man was God鈥檚 Son!鈥�
55聽Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him.聽56Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
Transcript
As is typical, Matthew parallels much of Mark鈥檚 narrative. Major differences enter in, though, at the moment of Jesus鈥� death. After the curtain of the Temple is torn, an earthquake uncovers nearby tombs and the dead enter into the city after Jesus鈥� resurrection. This is Matthew鈥檚 way of saying that the death and resurrection of Jesus are significant for everyone. He illustrates this with a sort of anticipatory mini-general resurrection of the dead.
Unlike in Mark鈥檚 Gospel in which the centurion perceived Jesus鈥� identity after seeing the way he died, in Matthew the centurion and his companions are led to the same insight by seeing the earthquake. This corresponds to an episode at the very beginning of the Matthew Gospel. In chapter 2, the Gentile magi had sought out the 鈥渒ing of the Jews鈥� after observing a stellar natural phenomenon. Here the Gentile Romans discover the truth about the king of the Jews after witnessing a tectonic natural phenomenon.