He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
All Commentaries on Matthew 27:43 Go To Matthew 27
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him, if He will have Him (Arab, if He loved Him), for He said, I am the Son of God. They used the very words of David ( Psalm 22:8), thus testifying that they were the very persons who were foretold, and that Jesus was the true Messiah, for the whole Psalm speaks of Him. When a man is in the agony of death, all human hope is gone. Confidence in God alone remains, and of this, His last stay, they try to deprive Him. Thou hast vainly put Thy trust in God. Thou hast said falsely that Thou art the Son of God. If He loved Thee, He would set Thee free. But as He will not, Thou art clearly not His Song of Solomon , but an odious impostor. Thus do they revile and seek to drive Him to despair, as the devil who assails men in their last agony. But how fallacious was their argument! For God, as specially loving Christ, wished Him to die on the Cross, that He might afterwards glorify Him in His resurrection, and by Him save many souls. Now Christ knew all this. He heeded not their revilings, but fixed all His hope on God, and thereby gained from Him both of these great ends. He poured forth accordingly, after all these insults, fresh acts of confidence in God, teaching us to do the like. "Thou art He that took Me out of My mother"s womb," &c. ( Psalm 22:10). And Song of Solomon , too, the Martyrs used to say that God would not deliver them, in order that He might give them a better life, and the crown of martyrdom.
The Wise Prayer of Manasseh , speaking in their person, foretold all these insults ( Wisdom of Solomon 2:13), and then added, "Such thoughts had they, and were in error," &c.
Tropologically: Sinners utter reproaches against Christ when they dishonour Him by their sins. S. Bernard (Rhythm on Passion) makes Him thus tenderly appeal to them:
""Tis I who die for thee, to thee who cry,
Thee I exhort on Cross uplifted high;
"Tis I who bare for thee, and open wide
The cruel spear-wound in My sacred side;
My inward and My outward pains are great,
But sadder far to find thee thus ingrate."
Zechariah 13:6 speaks of His being wounded in the house of His friends.
