And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
All Commentaries on Matthew 27:39 Go To Matthew 27
John Chrysostom
AD 407
This is the sign which previously Jesus had promised to give them when they asked for it, saying, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” The sign of Jonah is Christ’s cross, death, burial and resurrection. And again, declaring in another way the efficacy of the cross, he said, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he,” which has this meaning: When you have crucified me and think you have overcome me, then, above all, you shall know my power. For after the crucifixion, the city was destroyed. The Jewish state came to an end. They lost their political order and their freedom. Meanwhile the gospel flourished. The word was spread abroad to the ends of the earth, by both sea and land. Both the inhabited earth and the desert would thereafter perpetually proclaim its power. These are the things Christ pointed to which began to occur at the very time of the crucifixion. For indeed it was much more marvelous that these things should be accomplished when he was nailed to the cross than when he was walking on earth. The Gospel of Matthew, Homily
