27:3-7:
Matthew provides a great illustration of the chief priests as bad shepherds in their interaction with Judas. Here is a man who is despondent and crushed by guilt, and how do they respond? They say it's none of their business! And these are the guys who are supposed to be mediators between the people and God. If their was ever a time for some counsel and mediation, it was right then. But the truth is, they just didn't care; they had no love for Judas. This is an illustration of "tying up heavy burdens" on people but "refusing to raise a finger" (Mt. 23:4). Perhaps if they had done their job he wouldn't have committed suicide.
27:15-24
For the record: Pilate is not a good guy! Sometimes you hear stories of the trial of Jesus and people feel sorry for Pilate because he wants to let Jesus go, but Pilate is a coward. He, who has all the power in this situation, just doesn't want to do the unpopular thing for whatever reason. He takes the easy road and caves in to the crowd's wishes. But his washing of his hands is a sham; he shares in the blame for Jesus' death.
27:25
This verse has been used innumerable times by anti-Semites. But this trial is taking place in Pilate's headquarters (the praetorium), so this would not be a huge crowd who takes the "blood-guilt" for Jesus' death on themselves. It would be high ranking leaders in Jerusalem. Furthermore, their "blood-guilt" has already been named by Jesus in 23:35-36, "Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth . . . all this will come upon this generation." The point is that it is the leaders of Israel, in Jerusalem (and indeed the city itself will be judged), who are implicated here, not the Jewish people at large.
27:37-38
The title nailed on Jesus' cross points to the fact that Jesus was executed for being a political threat. He wasn't killed because he was a religious teacher with new ideas; he was killed because his message was a threat to those in power. This is a reminder that faith is not just about interior things or "spiritual" things, but about dealing with the concrete realities of life. In verse 38, we see more political issues, as Jesus was crucified between "bandits": these aren't petty thieves, they are insurrectionists; they are political prisoners.
27:40
When the crowd taunts Jesus they say to him "If you are the Son of God . . .". When have we heard that before? That's right- that's exactly what the Devil says to Jesus in 4:1-6! This is of course not a surprise or a coincidence, but a statement that Matthew intends to make about who the crowd is serving at this point. Satan claimed to have the power to hand over the kingdoms of the earth, and it appears he is in control of the kingdom of Judah at this point.
27:50-54
As Jesus dies we see all sorts of crazy things happen! Let's look at them one by one . .
1. The Temple curtain is torn. When I was growing up people made a big deal of this saying that it meant that the way was open to God's presence. While that may be true, the Temple had two curtains: one separated the courtyard from the "Holy Place", and the other from the "Holy of Holies". Only the priests would have seen the curtain in front of the Holy of Holies (which more likely would be the curtain that indicated the way to God's presence was open), but the torn curtain was probably the exterior one, which people would have seen. Probably the best interpretation of this is a sign of judgment- a sign that Jesus' words, "your house is left to you desolate" has come true.
2. Other people are resurrected! This one is strange in that Matthew has them waking up in their tombs on Friday but not appearing until Sunday. Probably the underlying point is that the created order is being overturned by Jesus' death . . . death itself is being undone.
3. Rocks split . . . this must be another sign of the overturning of the created order (the earthquake). The issue of darkness in 27:45 can also be chalked up to a sign of the same thing. The prophet Amos spoke of (symbolically) darkness and earthquakes the day of Israel's destruction at the hands of the Assyrians (Amos 8:8-9) as a physical image of what was happening spiritually.
4. Finally, the centurion, the BAD GUY, the Roman/Gentile oppressor declares Jesus to be God's Son! This is the ultimate inversion of how things ought to be: the torturer and executioner recognizes the Messiah (in the end) but the leaders and people of Jerusalem don't.
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