Matthew 27:42

He saved others. Jesus had saved men from disease, demon possession, and death. Perhaps those mocking Jesus were thinking of the recent resurrection of Lazarus.

Himself he cannot save. Had Jesus now saved Himself He would have forfeited the power to save others. The plan of salvation would have been broken. Though they knew it not, the Jewish leaders gave utterance to a profound truth. Christ’s refusal to save Himself was the supreme demonstration of divine love (see John 15:13). It is precisely because Jesus chose not to save Himself at this moment that He can save others. On the cross Christ gave an example of the principle stated in Matt. 10:39. In the wilderness of temptation Jesus had faced the question of using His divine power for personal benefit, and made the decision that He would not do so.

If he be. He had claimed to be (John 18:33–37). As the inscription above His head announced, He was condemned to death for this claim. Failure to come down from the cross, the speakers implied, would be proof that Jesus was not what He claimed to be, and also that He deserved the fate that had overtaken Him.

We will believe. According to Jewish thinking prosperity was evidence of divine favor, and adversity, of divine disfavor. The lesson exemplified in the experience of Job had not altered their philosophy of suffering (see on Job 42:5; Ps. 38:3; 39:9). At various times during His ministry Jesus had sought to refute their false concept, but without success (see on Mark 1:40; 2:5; John 9:2). This false view of suffering was a device by which Satan designed to darken the minds of those who witnessed the suffering of Jesus upon the cross. To the average Jew it was inconceivable that God would permit the Messiah to suffer as Jesus was suffering; therefore Jesus could not be what He claimed to be.