THE GLORIOUS CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
Luke 23:1-56
Key Verse 23:34a
“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”
In last week’s passage, we learned that Jesus took the cup of suffering and death in order to obey God’s will to become a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus was arrested, mocked, insulted, denied, and betrayed in our places. Because of our sins, we should have been the ones to suffer, but Jesus suffered for us. Thank you Jesus!
In today’s passage, let’s prayerfully study each precious event surrounding the crucifixion, death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This passage is the core of the gospel, as the gospel is the core of the Bible. If you’re a newcomer today, you picked the right time. In Luke chapter 23, the historical details of this chapter might lead some people to incorrectly focus on the sorrow and pain that are expressed in Jesus’ crucifixion, causing them to feel depressed. However, the real meaning of this passage shows that Jesus’ crucifixion is glorious. Through the events in this passage, we will see that Jesus stood before spinless men, prayed for women, forgives us, welcomed a condemned man into Paradise, and changed the heart of a hardened centurian. What beautiful and amazing things happened through and because of Jesus’ crucifixion. Let’s think about the glory of the cross as we study today’s passage.
First, Jesus stood before spineless men, Pilate & Herod (1-25).
In Rhoel’s message last week from chapter 22, we learned that Jesus was arrested and mocked by soldiers, betrayed and denied by his disciples, and accused by the religious council. Thus Jesus’ suffering and humiliation as the sacrifice for our sins had begun. The council of religious leaders, who conspired against Jesus, accused him of blasphemy, but had no power to sentence him. So they brought him before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to pursue a death sentence. Let’s read verses 1-4, “1Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.’ 3 And Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ And he answered him, ‘You have said so.’ 4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, ‘I find no guilt in this man.’” The religious leaders trumped up false political charges against Jesus, since Jesus’ spiritual claim did not warrant the death penalty in Rome. They charged him of misleading the nation, forbidding tribute to Caesar, and making himself king. Jesus’ confession that he was the Christ, a king, was a religious issue, not a political one. He was not a political king, but a spiritual king, whose kingdom is not of this world. The long-awaited Christ, who was written about in many Old Testament prophecies, came to reconcile people to God, not to interfere in the political intrigues of the Roman Empire. Pilate determined that Jesus was innocent, but because the crowds would not accept his verdict, he sent Jesus to be tried by Herod, the King of Judea. However, Herod sent him back again to Pilate. Pilate tried to free Jesus by offering to follow a custom which would release one prisoner. However, the crowd chose Barrabbas, an insurrectionist and murderer, to be released, shouting at Jesus, “Crucify him! Crucify him!.” Finally, Pilate was forced to choose between pleasing the crowd and standing on the side of truth. Pilate was a judge, who had no basis by Roman law to crucify Jesus. But out of fear for his reputation among the people, he caved in to their demand. Pilate was a spineless man who compromised the truth for his public image. However, Jesus was different. Jesus did not despair in this horrible situation. Instead, Jesus stood firm in truth, confident of himself before God, confessing his true identity as the Christ, and accepting death rather than caving into to the pressure of the situation. In what looks like the greatest travesty of justice in history, Jesus’ trial was not a tragedy because it reveals the glory of God. Jesus’ trial reveals Jesus’ strength to stand on the side of God and truth, while spineless men, Herod and Pilate, collapsed.
Like Pilate, it is easy to compromise in tough situations, especially before temptation, rather than stand firm on the side of God and truth. I recently heard an example about peer pressure. A sixth grade teacher took two students out of a room. The teacher arranged for the other fifty students to vote that it was right for a boy to steal a CD at the mall. When the two students returned to the room and saw fifty students voting to steal the CD, it was almost impossible for them to vote against the rest of the class, even though the right choice was obvious. By our own strength, we cannot stand up against peer pressure, especially the pressure to compromise with the culture of immorality and violence. But thank Jesus who stood up for us when we failed.
Second, on the way to crucifixion, Jesus prayed for weeping women (26-31).
As they led Jesus away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and made him carry the cross behind Jesus. And a great multitude of people followed. Some women were mourning and lamenting for him. Let’s read verses 28-31, “28But turning to them Jesus said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us,” and to the hills, “Cover us.” 31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’” Jesus told the women not to weep for him because there was no tragedy in his crucifixion. Jesus’ death was not a defeat or an accident. It was God’s will for Jesus to die on the cross for the sin of the world. Jesus accepted God’s will for him, and through the cross Jesus victoriously defeated the power of sin and death. However, Jesus told the women to weep for themselves and their children. If such evil as the crucifixion of innocent Jesus was done when the wood of Israel was green with Immanuel God’s presence among them, it would certainly be even worse when the nation was dry of spiritual blessing. Forty years later, in 70 AD, the nation of Israel was destroyed by the Romans, and women and children would suffer the most.
Third, Jesus forgives us at great cost to himself (32-38).
Let’s read verses 32-38, “32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’ 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ 38 There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” As mentioned earlier, Jesus accepted his crucifixion as God’s will for a reason. Jesus did it to forgive our sins. Jesus said in verse 34a, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…” Jesus asked God to forgive the soldiers who were crucifying him, as well as the insane crowd which demanded his death. But the Jews and the Romans were not the only ones who killed Jesus, it was the sins of the world that put Jesus on the cross, including your sins and my sins. Each of us has broken the law of God and broken the heart of God. Each of us has desired to have what belongs to God rather than desiring to know and love God himself. Some of us have rebelled against God through flagrant independence and lawlessness. Others of us have rebelled against God through self-righteous religion and attempts by our ‘good’ behavior to manipulate God to give us whatever we want. Our sins are not mere misdemeanors, they deserve eternal death and separation from God. But in spite of all this, Jesus forgave us. We all have a breaking point after which we cannot forgive others anymore, but Jesus showed the full extent of his love by showing forgiveness which drove him all the way to the cross. Ephesians 1:7 says, “7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Thank Jesus for his amazing grace of forgiveness. Jesus’ forgiveness was not easy or free. It is easy and free for us to receive. But it was at great cost to Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”
According to verse 32, Jesus was put to shame by being crucified between two criminals. In this way, “they made his grave with the wicked” according to the prophecy of Isaiah 53:9. In addition to being shamed, Jesus was mocked by the soldiers who gave him sour wine. They also gambled below the cross to get Jesus’ clothes. Jesus was also scoffed at by the rulers who said, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” According to Matthew 26:53, Jesus had the power to call more then twelve legions of angels to rescue him, that’s 72,000 angels! But Jesus did not save himself so that he could save us.
Fourth, Jesus welcomed a condemned man into Paradise (39-43).
Let’s read verses 39-43, “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” There are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those like the first criminal next to Jesus who mocked Jesus and died in his sins. And there are those like the second criminal on the other side of Jesus, who confessed his sins and received Jesus’ grace to enter paradise. The second criminal well depicts Jesus’ grace. This man had done nothing good to merit entering paradise. He also had no time to do any acts of restitution for his sins. Yet Jesus gave him a comforting promise that he would enter paradise only by Jesus’ grace of forgiveness. This criminal responded to Jesus’ words of grace and forgiveness with belief in his heart which resulted in his confession of faith. Though he was about to die, he believed that Jesus has the power of resurrection. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Like the dying criminal on the cross, there is nothing we can do to save ourselves from our sins. But we can have hope to enter Paradise when we have faith that Jesus is Lord and believe in his sacrificial death on the cross.
Fifth, through Jesus’ death, a hardened centurion saw God (44-56).
Jesus’ death was preceded by two amazing events. The sun’s light failed at midday, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The darkness showed nature’s grief over the death of God’s Son. The curtain of the temple which kept people out of the most holy place was now torn symbolizing that Jesus’ death brought reconciliation between man and God. Let’s read verses 46-47,
46Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. 47Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, "Certainly this man was innocent!" In the midst of the darkness and grief as Jesus died, another glorious thing happened: a hard-hearted centurion was changed. The Roman centurion was a military leader over one hundred soldiers. He was a hardened man who had witnessed many deaths and inflicted much torture. He had been involved in brutality every day. But when this centurion looked up and saw how Jesus died, and how Jesus forgave those who crucified him, his hardened heart was melted. The light of Jesus brightened his dark heart, and he could confess “Certainly this man was innocent!” According to the NIV translation he said, “Surely this was a righteous man!” Many people have been gloriously changed when they looked at Jesus on the cross. John Newton was a heartless slave-trader in eighteenth century Britain. But when the gospel of the crucifixion of Jesus came into his heart, he was changed to become a noble hymn-writer and abolitionist. He wrote the famous hymn “Amazing Grace”.
Jesus was buried in a new tomb, which Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Councel, had prepared, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:9 which says he was “with the rich in his death”. The burial of Jesus proves that he had fully died. But the ultimate glory of Jesus’ death is that he would rise again. We will learn about that in next week’s message.
Today we studied the events surrounding the crucifixion, death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes we feel depressed when we think about the pain and sorrow of Jesus’ crucifixion. However, the real meaning of this passage shows that Jesus’ crucifixion is glorious. Jesus’ trial reveals Jesus’ strength to stand on the side of God and truth, while spineless men, Herod and Pilate, collapsed. Jesus stood firm in truth, confident of himself before God, confessing his true identity as the Christ, and accepting death rather than caving into to the pressure of the situation. Next, Jesus prayed for the women not to weep for him in tragedy, but to know that Jesus accepted God’s will for him, and through the cross Jesus victoriously defeated the power of sin and death. Jesus endured being mocked and shamed and died in order to bear the penalty of our sins. This great cost to himself opened the way for sinners to freely come and be forgiven by God. While on the cross, Jesus welcomed one condemned criminal into Paradise. This man who had done nothing righteous received Jesus’ grace of forgiveness and the promise of entering Paradise. Finally, Jesus’ crucifixion changed the heart of a hardened centurian. He was hardened by the brutality of execution, but Jesus’ righteousness and grace shone into his heart enabeling him to have a clear confession of faith in Jesus. What beautiful and amazing things happened through and because of Jesus’ crucifixion. But that’s not all. Stay tuned for next week’s message by Art Miranda, when we will study how Jesus rose from the dead in power and victory.
Study Questions:
1. Read verses 1-5. Who brought Jesus before Pilate and what were their charges? What was Pilate’s assessment of Jesus? What was Jesus’ confession? What was the nature of Jesus’ kingship? Read verses 6-16. Why was Jesus sent to Herod and what did Herod do?
2. Read verses 18-25. What was Pilate’s plan to release Jesus? What did the crowd demand? What kind of person was Barabbas? Why would Herod and Pilate be described as spineless men? How is Jesus’ glory and strength revealed in the midst of this travesty?
3. Read verses 26-31. On the way to his crucifixion, describe how Jesus prayed for weeping women. Read verses 32-39. What was Jesus’ attitude toward those who crucified him? What is the extent of Jesus’ forgiveness? What did it cost Jesus to forgive others?
4. Read verses 40-43. What was the second criminal’s confession and request? What was Jesus’ word of promise to him? How does this event reveal the grace of Jesus.
5. Read verses 44-56. What kind of man was the centurion? How did Jesus’ death change him? Who was Joseph and why is his role important?