Matthew 27:25

My Notes

What Does Matthew 27:25 Mean?

Matthew 27:25 records one of the most consequential sentences in history: "Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children." The crowd, pressured by the chief priests and given the choice between Jesus and Barabbas, accepts responsibility for Jesus' execution.

The phrase "his blood be on us" was a legal formula in the ancient world — an assumption of liability. It meant: if this execution is unjust, let the guilt fall on us rather than on the judge. The crowd was absolving Pilate and claiming the consequences for themselves. "And on our children" extended the self-imprecation to the next generation.

This verse has been catastrophically misused throughout history to justify anti-Semitism — centuries of persecution, pogroms, and the Holocaust were partially rationalized by Christians who read this as a permanent curse on the Jewish people. That reading is theologically bankrupt. The crowd in Jerusalem didn't speak for all Jewish people across all time. And the New Testament itself — written almost entirely by Jewish authors — proclaims that Christ's blood speaks better things (Hebrews 12:24). The blood they called down on themselves is the same blood that offers forgiveness to everyone — including them.

Reflection Questions

• 1.How have you seen this verse misused to justify hatred? What responsibility do Christians bear for that misuse?
• 2.The blood the crowd called on themselves is the same blood that offers forgiveness. How does that transform the meaning of their words?
• 3.Jesus prayed 'forgive them' from the cross. How does His prayer apply to the crowd in this verse — and to you?
• 4.Are there any verses you've inherited interpretations of that you need to reexamine? What tools do you use to distinguish between the text and centuries of misreading?

Devotional

This verse has been weaponized for two thousand years, and it needs to be reclaimed from the people who turned it into a license for hatred.

A crowd in Jerusalem — manipulated by their leaders, caught up in mob dynamics, facing a Roman governor who was washing his hands of the whole situation — shouted something they didn't fully understand. "His blood be on us and on our children." They meant it as a legal formula. They couldn't have known they were speaking over the most consequential blood in history.

But here's what centuries of antisemitic theology got wrong: the blood of Jesus doesn't curse. It covers. It atones. It forgives. The very blood the crowd called down on themselves is the blood that was shed for the forgiveness of sins — including theirs. Peter, preaching to a Jerusalem crowd weeks later (Acts 2:36-38), offered them repentance and forgiveness through the same Jesus they crucified. The blood wasn't a curse. It was an invitation.

If you've ever been part of a tradition that used this verse to justify hostility toward Jewish people, repent of it. The text doesn't support it. The theology doesn't support it. And the Jesus who hung on the cross — Himself a Jew — prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). That prayer covers the crowd in Matthew 27. It covers you. It covers everyone who has ever participated in putting Christ on the cross, which, theologically speaking, is all of us.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture