Matius 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹  he must deny ²  himself, take up his cross, ³  and follow me.

Matius 20:19

20:19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely ⁴  and crucified. ⁵  Yet ⁶  on the third day, he will be raised.”

Matius 27:31-32

27:31 When ⁷  they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then ⁸  they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

27:32 As ⁹  they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced ¹⁰  to carry his cross. ¹¹ 

Matius 27:40

27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ¹²  If you are God’s Son, come down ¹³  from the cross!”

Matius 28:5

28:5 But the angel said ¹⁴  to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know ¹⁵  that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ¹⁶ 

[16:24]  ¹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ² tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[16:24]  ³ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[20:19]  ⁴ tn Traditionally, “scourged” (the term means to beat severely with a whip, L&N 19.9). BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “The ‘verberatio’ is denoted in the passion predictions and explicitly as action by non-Israelites Mt 20:19; Mk 10:34; Lk 18:33”; the verberatio was the beating given to those condemned to death in the Roman judicial system. Here the term μαστιγόω (mastigow) has been translated “flog…severely” to distinguish it from the term φραγελλόω (fragellow) used in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15.

[20:19]  ⁵ sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman historian Cicero called it “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths.

[20:19]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[27:31]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:31]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[27:32]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:32]  ¹⁰ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[27:32]  ¹¹ sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.

[27:40]  ¹² sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.

[27:40]  ¹³ tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy^[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א² B L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA²⁷ puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[28:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “But answering, the angel said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[28:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “for I know.”

[28:5]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.