The Jewish leaders go even
further with their ridicule and in so doing use words of the godless from Ps
21:9 LXX. The words are even more malicious than those of v. 42. There the
Jewish leaders challenged Jesus to save himself; now they speak of God: “He
trusts in God.” God should save him, and he should do it right away! They
thereby expose themselves in their own godlessness. They end by referring also
to Jesus’ divine sonship and state that he claims to be God’s Son. We probably
have echoes here of the mocking words of Wis 2:18: “If the righteous man is
God’s son (υἱὸς
θεοῦ) … , he will deliver him (ῥύσεται αὐτόν).” Matthew is probably thinking of the
way of the suffering righteous man depicted in Wis 2:5. However, for him “God’s
Son” is much more than an exemplary righteous man from the Bible. He is the one
whom God himself has revealed as his only Son (Matt 3:17; 17:5), who is
intimately united with the Father (11:27), whom people confess as their savior
(14:33; cf. 16:16). It is this one
who in the manner of the biblical righteous man goes the way of obedience. Only
when “God’s Son” (θεοῦ
υἱός) is invested with all of the
connotations of the Matthean understanding of Son of God, of which his
obedience to God’s will is only one, does it become clear what it means that
the Son of God, Jesus, does not come down from the cross but goes the way of
obedience. Then it also becomes clear how deep the truth is that the Jewish
leaders in their malicious irony unknowingly state. (Ulrich
Luz, Matthew 21–28: A Commentary [Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical
Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis, Minn.: Augsburg, 2005], 539)
27:41–44 The Jewish leaders
echo the taunts of the crowd (vv. 41–43). They recall Christ’s miracles but
mockingly lament his inability to repeat them now (vv. 41–42), not
understanding that he voluntarily chose not to perform what would have been the
most spectacular miracle to date by saving his physical life. Consistent with
later Jewish polemic, no one tried to deny that Jesus had previously manifested
supernatural power (recall under 12:24). “He’s the King of Israel” is
obviously sarcastic, as is possibly, though not as clearly, “he trusts in God.”
Matthew again alludes to Ps 22, this time to v. 8, and possibly also to
Wis 2:20. The criminals also join in the mocking, so that torment
comes from all sides (v. 44). Luke notes a later change of heart on the part of
one of the two criminals (Luke 23:40–43). Matthew, however, does not wish to
detract from Jesus’ agony. Verse 43 is unique to his Gospel and reflects his
emphasis on the Son of God, also alluding to Ps 22:9. Jesus’ opponents
unwittingly testify to his identity. Precisely because Jesus is the Son of God,
he consciously decides not to come down off the cross. Mounce rightly observed,
“It was the power of love, not nails, that kept him there.” (Craig Blomberg, Matthew
[The New American Commentary 22; Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers,
1992], 418, emphasis added)
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