27:27–66 · The crucifixion scene begins with Pilate’s soldiers mocking and humiliating Jesus as they dress him in “kingly” fashion (robe and crown of thorns; 27:28–29) and hail him as “king of the Jews” (27:29). They intend these royal accoutrements and words to show Jesus’s messianic pretensions to be ridiculous. Matthew, however, wants his readers to hear irony. What the soldiers ridicule, Matthew shows to be utterly true—Jesus truly is king of the Jews.

The theme of Jesus’s kingship permeates the crucifixion narrative (27:33–56), which takes place on Golgotha (from Aramaic, meaning “skull”)—a location where other executions likely occurred. The charge written atop the cross reads, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (27:37). He is mocked by the Jerusalem leaders, who claim that if h…