Matthew 27 is a record of Jesus suffering. Jesus experiences the human experience. He was a baby, totally helpless in and of Himself. He had to be bathed and such. He was a refugee. He was a working man.

In this chapter He suffers humiliation, mocking, beating, being stripped of His clothes. He has been through it. You are not alone in your suffering. Jesus has gone through it and is going through it with you.

A man is compelled to carry Jesus’ cross. We’re not asked to bear our cross alone. Yes, we’re told to pick up our cross. We make the choice, like Jesus did, to lay down our lives, to give up the right to our own lives, but we aren’t left to carry the burden alone. Jesus will carry it for us as we walk with Him.

Give your burdens to Him. You aren’t meant to shoulder them alone.

We have more examples in this chapter of Jesus not defending Himself, to the amazement of the governor. Jesus chooses not to save Himself.

In the wilderness temptation, Satan says, “If You are the Son of God…” We hear that taunt again in the crowd. The crowd wasn’t the enemy. Satan was the enemy that day. The battle is never with flesh and blood.

Jesus made His choice. He chose the Father’s will. He chose obedience unto death.

Jesus yielded up His spirit. No one took His life away. He laid it down. No one can take the life of a saint. We lay down our lives and trust them into the Father’s hands.

Even though it pleased the Father to bruise the Son, He didn’t enjoy His death. He made His feelings known with a darkened sky and massive earthquake. He also showed immediately the impact of His death, tearing the curtain that separated God from man.