K. Jesus crucified (23:26–49)
K. Jesus crucified (23:26–49)
1. Simon carries the cross (23:26)
It was customary for the condemned criminal to carry either the cross or its cross-bar to the place of execution. Jesus started the journey to Golgotha carrying his cross (John 19:17), but evidently he had been weakened by the scourging that was the normal preliminary to crucifixion, so the soldiers pressed a passer-by to do this service. Luke tells us that his name was Simon, that he was from Cyrene, and that he was at this time coming in from the country. Elsewhere we find that his family was known in the church (Mark 15:21; perhaps Rom. 16:13) and it has been conjectured that he was won that day by the bearing of him whose cross he carried.
2. The daughters of Jerusalem (23:27–31)
This incident, found only in Luke, brings out something of the sympathy felt for Jesus by many, especially among women. We should bear in mind that those who clamoured for Jesus’ execution were not necessarily a great number; they could crowd around the judgment hall. There were still many in Jerusalem who admired Jesus and we now learn of some of these.
27. Many were saddened by the turn of events; Luke speaks of a great multitude who bewailed and lamented. The impression we get is of a noisy demonstration of deep grief. In keeping with one of his interests Luke singles out women for special mention.
28. Jesus greets them as Daughters of Jerusalem, so that it is the citydwellers and not the Galileans who had come up for the feast who made up this group. At this moment, as he goes out to execution Jesus thinks not of himself but of them. He wants their repentance, not their sympathy. He is not saying that they were wrong to mourn over him, but he is thinking with compassion of the doomed city and its inhabitants. His words direct the women to the importance of looking beyond the present moment to the inevitable consequences of the nation’s sins.
29–30. Such trouble will come that it will be regarded as a blessing never to have had children, in contrast to the usual Jewish view that children are God’s good gift (cf. Ps. 127:3). For in that day children will suffer grievously and it will be better accordingly to have no family. In the words of the prophet, people will cry out for death in order to escape the coming wrath (Hos. 10:8; cf. Rev. 6:16).
31. This looks like a proverbial saying. Several possible meanings have been suggested. If the innocent Jesus suffered thus, what will be the fate of the guilty Jews? If the Romans treat thus One whom they admit to be innocent, what will they do to the guilty? If the Jews treat like this Jesus who had come to bring salvation, what will be their punishment for destroying him? If the Jews behave like this before their wickedness reaches its consummation, what will they be like when it does? If grief is aroused by the present events, what will it be when the subsequent disaster strikes? None is impossible, but perhaps the first suggestion is to be preferred.
3. The crucifixion (23:32–38)
Very simply Luke tells of the crucifixion of Jesus, the supreme sacrifice for the salvation of sinners. In this form of execution a person was fastened by ropes or nails to a cross (which might be shaped like our conventional cross or like a T, an X, a Y, or even an I). Jesus’ hands were nailed (John 20:25), and probably his feet also (cf. 24:39), though none of the Evangelists says so in set terms. There was a horn-like projection which the crucified straddled, which took most of the weight and stopped the flesh from tearing from the nails. The discovery of the bones of a man crucified at about the same time as Jesus raises the possibility that the legs may have been bent and twisted, then fastened to the cross by a single nail through the heels.7 Such a contortion of the body would have added to the agony. Crucifixion was a slow and painful death, but it is noteworthy that none of the Evangelists dwells on the torment Jesus endured. The New Testament concentrates on the significance of Jesus’ death, not on harrowing our feelings.
32–33. There were two others crucified at that time. Luke says only that they were criminals, Matthew and Mark that they were thieves. The three were brought to a place called The Skull (in Latin, calvaria, from which we get ‘Calvary’). The reason for the name is not known. It is usually held to be because of the shape of the hill on which Jesus was crucified, but neither Luke nor any of the others speaks of a hill, let alone its shape. All four Evangelists tell us that Jesus was crucified between the other two, evidently a way of bringing out the fact that he was executed as a criminal (cf. 22:37). In his death Jesus was in the midst of transgressors (cf. Isa. 53:12).
34. There is textual doubt about this prayer. It is absent from many of the best MSS and some critics argue that it must be rejected, since it would scarcely have been omitted if genuine. Against that is the fact that other very good MSS do attest it. Early copyists may have been tempted to omit the words by the reflection that perhaps God had not forgiven the guilty nation. The events of AD 70 and afterwards may well have looked like anything but forgiveness. We should accept the words as genuine. It is Jesus’ own spirit that dictates this concern for those who executed him. He does not define narrowly those for whom he prays and his them probably includes both the Jews who were responsible for the crucifixion and the Romans who carried it out (cf. Acts 2:23; 3:17; 13:27f.; 1 Cor. 2:8). It was accepted that the clothing of a crucified person was a perquisite of the executioners. On this occasion it was divided and lots were cast for the seamless tunic (John 19:23ff.; cf. Ps. 22:18).
35. Luke pictures the generality of the people as simply watching. Executions were popular functions and doubtless many attended this one. But it was the rulers, not the people, who mocked (cf. Ps. 22:6– 8). They addressed one another, not Jesus, as they spoke of his saving activities. They used two epithets: the Christ of God and his Chosen One. There is no evidence that Jesus made extensive use of either, so it is something of a mystery why they speak in this way. But both expressions point to God’s special favour and doubtless they were contrasting words that spoke of divine favour with the actual plight of Jesus, there on the cross.
36–37. We read of Jesus being offered drugged wine (which he refused) at the beginning of the crucifixion (Matt. 27:34; Mark 15:23), and of his being given vinegar (i.e. cheap wine) just before his death (John 19:29), but Luke alone tells us that the soldiers used it in connection with some mockery of their own (cf. Ps. 69:21). They called on Jesus to save himself, if he was the King of the Jews.
38. All four Evangelists mention the inscription on the cross. Such a placard would announce the crime for which the condemned man was being executed. The inscription over Jesus’ head is differently reported in all four Gospels, but as the inscription itself was in three languages (John 19:20; the corresponding words in AV, RSV mg. here are not well attested and should be rejected) and we have no means of knowing which any of the Evangelists is following, this is not strange. What is clear is that Pilate was proclaiming that Jesus died as King of the Jews. He was taking a grim revenge on the Jewish leaders who had hounded him. But he was also proclaiming Jesus’ royalty, a theme that meant much to Luke.
4. The penitent thief (23:39–43)
This incident is peculiar to Luke, whereas Matthew and Mark tell us only that the thieves crucified with Jesus abused him. Those Evangelists may be saying in effect, ‘This is the way the criminals reacted’ (perhaps without knowing that one thief repented). Or both men may have begun by reviling Jesus, but one had a change of heart.
39. This is the attitude we see in the other Synoptists. This thief asked, Are you not the Christ? His question presupposes the answer ‘Yes’, but it is bitterly sarcastic. He calls on Jesus to save them all without believing that he can do it.
40–41. His fellow turned on him. Bengel thinks that his situation on an ‘exceedingly hard cross’ may have had something to do with the changed attitude, for ‘Conversion seldom takes place on a soft and easy couch’. His question should be understood as ‘Do you not even fear God?’ (Barclay). He might have done more than fear God, but in view of his plight he should certainly have done no less. The changed thief goes on to make the point that they two are punished justly. They have broken the law and their suffering must be seen in the light of that. Not so Jesus: he has done nothing wrong. Such a recognition of Jesus’ innocence must have been widespread.
42–43. Then the thief asked Jesus to remember him, i.e. remember him for good. The MSS are divided as to whether we should read ‘in your kingdom’ (i.e. in the glory appropriate to royalty; cf. GNB, ‘when you come as King!’), or ‘into your kingdom’ (i.e. when you enter into your royal state; cf. NEB, ‘when you come to your throne’). The former would more naturally refer to the return of the Messiah to the earth in triumph, the latter to his going through death to a kingdom in the next world. Both are well supported in the MSS, but perhaps there is a little more to be said for ‘into your kingdom’. It is not easy to see how fully the penitent thief could have entered into an understanding of Jesus’ Person and work. But these words show that he realized at least that death would not be the end of everything for him and that beyond death was the kingdom. Jesus’ words of reassurance gave him more than he had asked for. Not only would he have a place in the kingdom, whenever that would be established, but that very day he would enter Paradise. Truly marks the following words as emphatic and important (see on 4:24). Today is occasionally taken with the preceding words, but there seems no reason for this. Almost all scholars agree that it refers to being in Paradise. This Persian word meaning ‘garden’ is used in the Old Testament of a number of gardens. Specially important is its use for the Garden of Eden. Perhaps from this the term came to be used of the abode of the blessed in the coming world (cf. 2 Cor. 12:3; Rev. 2:7). It is used in this way here. Jesus assures this man of bliss in the immediate future, a bliss closely associated with himself (with me).
5. The death of Jesus (23:44–49)
Luke’s account of Jesus’ death stresses its peacefulness and its effect on those who watched.
44–45. The sixth hour was noon. The day was divided into twelve parts, beginning with daybreak. An hour varied in length at different times of the year, but the sixth hour was always midday. In John’s account ‘it was about the sixth hour’ when Pilate prepared to sentence Jesus (John 19:14). Mark says ’it was the third hour’ (Mark 15:25). We must bear in mind that the ancients were not as precise in their measurements of time as we are. Before clocks and watches, how could they be? All times of day in ancient documents tend to be approximate. So John will mean that it was late morning when Pilate gave sentence and Luke that Jesus was on the cross about midday. Mark may mean that the crucifixion took place rather earlier, or he may mean that the morning was getting on when it occurred. Obviously the Evangelists are not merely repeating one another, but there is no essential contradiction. Luke goes on to say that for three hours there was darkness over the whole land. He does not say what caused it and those translators and commentators are in error who speak of an eclipse of the sun. An eclipse is impossible at the full moon (which, of course, determined the time of the Passover), and Luke’s language should not be pressed to mean this. He is surely linking the darkness not to astronomical phenomena but to the sad events leading to the death of Jesus. So with the tearing of the curtain of the temple, the curtain that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple (another curtain separated the holy place from the parts where lay people could go, but this seems less likely). It symbolized the separateness, the remoteness of God. The tearing of the curtain at this time gives symbolic expression to the truth that the death of Jesus has made the way open into the very presence of God (cf. Heb. 9:3, 8; 10:19ff.). Perhaps also, as Godet thinks, there is the thought that the temple is no longer God’s dwelling.
46. Jesus’ last words are a beautiful expression of trust as he commends himself to the Father in the words of a Psalm (Ps. 31:5). Matthew and Mark emphasize the terrible nature of the death Jesus died for sinners with the words, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). Luke is not saying this, but he is not denying this insight either. He is stressing that in the terrible death he died, paradoxically, Jesus was at one with the Father; he was doing the will of the Father. The word rendered breathed his last, exepneusen, is not the normal one for saying that someone has died. In fact none of the Evangelists says ‘Jesus died’, which may be part of the way they bring out the truth that in Jesus’ death there was something most unusual.
47. Luke proceeds to the reactions of some who saw Jesus die. The centurion, who would have been in charge of the execution, praised God. This seems to mean that his tribute to Jesus was an unconscious act of praise. Jesus ‘was righteous’ (so, rather than innocent as RSV), that is to say, he was acceptable to God. The implication is that the death of the righteous must accord with the will of God. Robert J. Karris holds that ‘In Jesus’ death the centurion has seen God at work’.8 In recognizing his righteousness the centurion was thus praising God. Matthew and Mark have ‘Son of God’, but the sense in which a Roman would have used that term is better given in Luke’s words. Plummer paraphrases, ‘He was a good man, and quite right in calling God His Father.’
48. The multitudes will be the Jerusalemites who had no great interest in Jesus but who had come to watch the execution. Instead of being entertained they were saddened by it all and went home beating their breasts in grief. Many have seen in this reaction a preparation for the successful preaching on the day of Pentecost when three thousand believed in this city (Acts 2:41). Why so many? Part of the answer surely is that many went home from the crucifixion disturbed and thoughtful.
49. Curiously Luke does not mention the effect on Jesus’ followers. He tells us that some of them were there and characteristically he singles out certain women for special mention. But he tells us only that these people stood at a distance (it may not have been politic to come too close) and saw these things.