What is the meaning of Matthew 27:33? And when they came • Matthew records, “And when they came…”—a simple phrase that marks the final steps of the journey that began in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36). • The soldiers, having mocked and beaten Jesus, now escort Him to the execution site (Matthew 27:31). Mark 15:21-22 adds that Simon of Cyrene carried the cross part of the way, while John 19:17 notes, “carrying His own cross, He went out to the place called The Place of the Skull.” • This deliberate movement fulfills prophecy: Isaiah 53:7 pictures the Suffering Servant “led like a lamb to the slaughter,” and Psalm 22:16 foretells, “They have pierced My hands and feet.” • The wording also echoes the Old Testament pattern of sacrifices being taken outside the camp; Hebrews 13:12 draws the connection: “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to sanctify the people by His own blood.” to a place called Golgotha • All four Gospels name the site: Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:17. The consistency underlines its historical reality. • Golgotha lay just outside Jerusalem’s walls, near a well-traveled road. This allowed many to witness the crucifixion, aligning with John 19:20, “Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.” • Being outside the sacred precincts also points back to Leviticus 16:27, where the sin offering was burned outside the camp—prefiguring Christ, “our sin offering” (2 Corinthians 5:21). • Mount Moriah, where Abraham offered Isaac (Genesis 22:14), sits in the same ridge system. Centuries of God’s redemptive story converge here. which means The Place of the Skull • Matthew pauses to translate for his readers: “which means The Place of the Skull.” • The name may reflect: – A skull-shaped hill visible from a distance. – A place associated with death and executed criminals. – God’s sovereign symbolism: the location visually announces humanity’s mortality while showcasing the One who will conquer it. • Luke 23:33 simply calls it “The Skull,” emphasizing stark reality—this is where death claims its victims. Yet Colossians 2:15 celebrates what happened there: Christ “disarmed the powers and authorities…triumphing over them by the cross.” • The mention of a skull subtly recalls Genesis 3:15, where the promised Seed would crush the serpent’s head. At Golgotha, that crushing blow is delivered. • From this grim place flows life: 1 Corinthians 15:54 proclaims, “Death has been swallowed up in victory,” a truth secured on the very ground named for death. summary Matthew 27:33 sets the stage for the crucifixion by noting the arrival (“And when they came”), the location (“to a place called Golgotha”), and the sobering meaning of the site (“which means The Place of the Skull”). The verse highlights fulfilled prophecy, the sacrificial pattern of being outside the camp, and the stark contrast between death’s symbol and Christ’s victory over it. Golgotha, once only a place of execution, becomes the epicenter of redemption where the Lamb of God turns a skull-strewn hill into the doorway of eternal life. |
    |