“He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
42. If he is the King, of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe him. For they ought not to embrace as King any one who did not answer to the description given by the prophets. But Isaiah (52:14; 53:2) and Zechariah (13:7) expressly represent Christ as devoid of comeliness, afflicted, condemned, and accursed, half-dead, poor, and despised, before he ascends the royal throne.
He trusted in God,.... That is, he pretended to claim an interest in him, to be high in his favour and esteem, and to have great faith and confidence in him: let him deliver him now; directly, from the cross, and the death of it: if he will have him; or if he is well pleased with him as his own Son, or delights in...
Verses 42,43. He saved others. It does not seem probable that they meant to admit that he had actually saved others, but only that he pretended to save them from death by miracles, or that he claimed to be the Messiah and thus affirmed that he could save them. This is therefore, cutting irony. If he be the King of Israel etc.