Church Fathers Commentary Mark 15:29-32

"And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ha! Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking [him] among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him." — Mark 15:29-32 (ASV)

Pseudo-Jerome: The foal of Judah has been tied to the vine, and his clothes dyed in the blood of the grape (Genesis 49:11). And the kids tear the vine, blaspheming Christ and wagging their heads.

This is why it is said: And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple.

Theophylact of Ohrid: The passersby blasphemed Christ, reproaching Him as a deceiver. The devil, however, moved them to urge Him to come down from the cross. For the devil knew that salvation was being won by the cross, and so he proceeded to tempt Christ again. If Christ came down, the devil could be certain that He was not truly the Son of God, and the salvation accomplished by the cross might be undone.

But because He is truly the Son of God, He did not come down. If He should have come down, He would not have gone up on the cross in the first place. Since He saw that salvation had to be accomplished in this way, He underwent the crucifixion and many other sufferings until His work was finished.

It goes on: Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking said among themselves with the Scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save.

They said this to dismiss His miracles, as if the works He had done were a mere appearance of power, for by working miracles He had saved many.

The Venerable Bede: In this way, they confess against their will that He saved many. Therefore, your own words condemn you, for He who saved others could certainly have saved Himself.

It goes on: Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.

Pseudo-Jerome: Afterwards, they saw Him rise from the grave, yet they would not believe that He could come down from the tree of the cross. Where, O Jews, is your lack of faith? I appeal to you as your own judges.

How much more wonderful is it for a dead man to rise than for a living man to choose to come down from a cross? You asked for a small sign, even while a far greater one was about to happen. But your lack of faith could not be healed even by signs much greater than those for which you asked. Here, all have gone out of the way, all are become abominable (Psalm 13:3).

Therefore, it goes on: And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.

St. Augustine of Hippo: How can this be, when according to Luke only one reviled Him, and was rebuked by the other who believed in God? We can understand it if we see that Matthew and Mark, who touched only briefly on this passage, used the plural to refer to the singular.¹

Theophylact of Ohrid: Alternatively, both reviled Him at first, but then one, recognizing He was innocent, rebuked the other for blaspheming Him.

1. de. Con. Evan. 3, 16