Matthew 27
The crucifixion narrative unfolds with each element fulfilling prophetic pattern: the thirty silver coins thrown into the temple and used to buy the Potter's Field (Jeremiah 30 and Zechariah 11), the governor's marvel at Jesus' silence, Barabbas released in Jesus' place, the soldiers' mocking coronation (crown of thorns, purple robe, hail king of the Jews), Simon of Cyrene compelled to carry the cross, the wine offered and refused, the nails and the cross with its charge (this is Jesus, the king of the Jews), the divided garments, the two robbers, the passersby taunting, the darkness from noon to three o'clock. The cry of dereliction — my God, my God, why have you forsaken me — is Psalm 22:1, and the crowd misunderstands it as a call for Elijah. Jesus gives up his spirit, and the curtain of the temple tears from top to bottom, the earth shakes, the rocks split, and tombs open — the centurion and those with him confess, truly he was the Son of God. The women watch from a distance; Joseph of Arimathea wraps the body in clean linen and seals the tomb; the chief priests and Pharisees secure a Roman guard to prevent any theft of the body.
Matthew 27:16
And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Barabbas — the notorious prisoner whose notoriety made him the obvious contrast to Jesus — is the figure through whom the substitution of the Passover release will become the enacted parable of the atonement: the guilty one released in the place of the innocent one.
Matthew 27:33
And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull. Golgotha — the Aramaic word for skull — is the place of execution outside Jerusalem's walls. Hebrews 13:12 applies this specifically: Jesus suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Matthew 27:1
When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. The morning consultation of the Sanhedrin formalizes the night's verdict: the chief priests and elders take counsel to execute the death sentence. The morning timing communicates the completion of the night trial and the beginning of the day's legal proceedings.
Matthew 27:2
And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor. The delivery of Jesus to Pilate: the bound Jesus is led to the Roman governor, since the Sanhedrin lacked the authority to execute the death sentence (John 18:31: it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death). The Roman execution that follows is both the Sanhedrin's legal workaround and the fulfillment of Jesus' prediction of death at Gentile hands (Matthew 20:19).
Matthew 27:3
Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. Judas' remorse: seeing the condemnation that his betrayal produced, Judas changed his mind and returned the silver. The changed his mind (metamelomai) is remorse rather than the repentance (metanoia) that transforms — the grief of one who regrets the consequence rather than the transgression.