Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 27:25

"And all the people answered and said, His blood [be] on us, and on our children." — Matthew 27:25 (ASV)

His blood be on us, and on our children.—The passionate hatred of the people leads them, as if remembering their own Law, to invert a prayer that Pilate's act may have brought to their remembrance. They turn the plea, Lay not innocent blood to Your people of Israel’s charge (Deuteronomy 21:8), into a defiant imprecation. No more fearful prayer is recorded in human history, and a natural response has led many to see its fulfillment in the subsequent shame and misery that were the experience of the Jewish people for centuries.

However, we must remember that only a small fraction of the people were present. Some of the rulers, such as Joseph of Arimathaea, Nicodemus, and probably Gamaliel, had not consented to this act of bloodshed (Luke 23:51). Even in a case like this, it is still true that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father (Ezekiel 18:20), unless he consents to and repeats that iniquity himself.