Why, what evil hath he done?— So bent were the chief-priests and elders to have Jesus put to death, that though the governor urged them again and again to desire his release, declaring his innocence, and offering there several times to dismiss him, they would not hear him; to such a pitch was their enmity carried against the Lord of life! They insisted upon his crucifixion, as being the most ignominious death; they insisted upon his being sentenced to this death by a Roman governor; and among the Romans it was inflicted only upon the vilest of slaves. To have inflicted such a punishment as this upon any free Jew, would probably have been sufficient to have thrown the whole city and nation into an uproar. But now they were deaf to every thing but the clamour of passion; and in their madness forgot with how dangerous a precedent they might furnish the Roman governor: and indeed it turned dreadfully on themselves, when such vast numbers of them were crucified for their opposition to the Romans during the time of their last war. See on Matthew 27:25 and Inferences on ch. 24:
Related Commentaries of Matthew 27:23
Matthew 27:23
23 And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.