Luke 23:50-56

Behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was also waiting for the Kingdom of God: this man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. He took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut in stone, where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near. The women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid. They returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Here we see that it is inaccurate to assume that no one with wealth could ever be saved. The man who buried Jesus was a wealthy man. He had a special burial place cut right out of stone that was completely unused. I understand that it was common for families to be buried together, but this man had an entire tomb empty and waiting. He was also a public official. I would venture to guess that standing up for Jesus after He had been crucified as a criminal was not a good thing to put on His resume.

Many would have considered the use of the tomb a waste because a criminal was given a rich man’s burial. The reason this happened was because God planned it that way. There was a prophesy that had to be fulfilled by the Messiah.

Isaiah 53:9

They made his grave with the wicked,
and with a rich man in his death;
although he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah had written this prophesy hundreds of years before Jesus’ death which indicated that the Messiah would have his grave made as a criminal, but would also be with a rich man in His death. That would have been very confusing to understand and very difficult to fake but it actually ended up working out. He was killed as a criminal and probably would have been naturally thrown out where the bodies of other dead criminals went, but He ended up being buried in a rich man’s tomb instead. This prophesy is a miracle in itself.

Luke 23:44-49

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.

When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.” All the multitudes that came together to see this, when they saw the things that were done, returned home beating their breasts. All his acquaintances, and the women who followed with him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

Here we read that, at the sixth hour, it got dark unnaturally. This would have been a pretty obvious and scary thing to all of those who were mocking just moments before. Also, the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place in the temple tore in half by itself. This wasn’t just a strange event, it was a symbolic one. The veil was there to separate God from mankind. No man was allowed into the Most Holy Place without special preparation and were only allowed to go in at appointed times. There was a serious chance of not being prepared correctly and being struck dead by a Holy God. The Ark of the Covenant was in this part of the temple and the Bible records that even accidentally touching this would kill a man on the spot as well.

The symbol we see in the tearing of the veil is that Jesus’ death tore down the barrier between God and mankind. Where once men were required to have special preparation to keep God from striking them dead in His presence, they were now free to walk right in to the Most Holy Place! Jesus provided the final preparations that would purify all of mankind, ending God’s wrath against us forever if we accept it.

Apologetics: If there was ever a time for Jesus to stop pretending to be the Son of God it would have been at this point and it was at this point that He called on His Father. I think this is a strong confirmation that Jesus was not lying. I think it’s safe to assume that this centurion had seen many crucifixions. He had probably heard many liars confess as well. Since it is pretty clear that Jesus wasn’t lying, that leaves two other possibilities to consider. Either He was crazy or He was the Son of God. If you were thinking that He might be crazy, then the supernatural events that took place might convince you otherwise. A crazy man can’t arrange for supernatural darkness and veil tearing. This and all of the miracles that Jesus performed make it clear from the evidence that He was really was who He said He was. It is no wonder that the centurion was convinced when he witnessed what happened as God made the evidence clear to him.

Luke 23:39-43

One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!”

But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

There are only two kinds of people in the world and we see both of them portrayed here. They are represented by the two men on either side of Jesus. Both groups are made up of condemned criminals and according to the Bible, all of us are. The only difference between the two groups is how they relate to Jesus.

As criminals in God’s court, we have a choice to make. We can either hang on to our pride and mock Jesus as we slowly move toward our death or we can recognize and admit that “we receive the due reward for our deeds” and ask Jesus for His mercy.

Just as both groups are unable to help themselves because they were tied to crosses, so we are unable to stop our own inevitable death. We cannot get off of our cross and start doing good deeds. We can’t offer Jesus anything because we have no ability to do anything that could change our own condition.

Fortunately, the whole reason that Jesus died was to save criminals like us and asking Jesus for His help was the only thing that was required. In fact, any effort to save ourselves would corrupt the free gift that God holds out to mankind through Jesus. Notice that this man didn’t pray a long prayer or list all of his sins, although it is obvious he admitted to them. He didn’t even ask Jesus into his heart. Instead, he just asked the only one who could help him to remember him. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah by recognizing Jesus as the having the Kingdom. That is all that we must do to be Christians: we must believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the only one able to save us.

A Christian isn’t any better than any other criminal. The difference is that a Christian has found favor from Jesus because he believes that he deserves his punishment and that Jesus is who He says He is.

Luke 23:32-38

There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”

The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

In an amazing display of selflessness, as Jesus was being tortured to death, He prayed for those who were killing Him asking that God would give them forgiveness. Here we can see how evil we are, because that is not how “normal sinners” act when being tortured. We are more prone to act like the soldiers were. We see here that Jesus’ clothes became pretty valuable, evidentially more valuable than Jesus. This behavior is much more like what I see around me.

Rather than helping the poor and needy, we are more likely to mock them as we see the people doing to Jesus here. This mocking demonstrates a wicked pride that is lodged securely in the heart of mankind. Jesus frequently pointed out sin and called it what it was. It is very likely that these people didn’t like to hear about their sin and when given the opportunity, they decided to fight back by mocking. When Jesus was in a weak position, they were eager to take advantage of the situation. Even the sign that was placed over his head communicated shame for Jesus and His people.

God has allowed events like these to continue to happen around us. Some good people suffer and others mock, but God will not forget. These things will be brought up before Him on Judgment Day and those who have not come to Jesus for forgiveness will be given a much worse punishment than we can imagine.

Luke 23:26-31

When they led him away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it after Jesus. A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”

First of all, I’d like to say that it is good for us to protect the rights of the common man as we are supposed to do in the United States. Here we see that Rome had the right to take over a person’s life on the spot like they did here with Simon of Cyrene. It is interesting that he was a country boy. He probably didn’t know that this thing he was being forced to do would be one of the biggest blessings of his life. I need to remember this when I am forced to do something I don’t want to do. God is always the one in control and all things work out for the good of those who love God and are called by Him.

What Jesus says here continues the theme of what He had been saying before He was captured. The worst for Israel was yet to come and I believe that this is still true today. Not only is the worst to come for Israel but for all of the nations of the earth. Here’s what it says in Revelation:

Revelation 6:12-17

I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood. The stars of the sky fell to the earth, like a fig tree dropping its unripe figs when it is shaken by a great wind. The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places. The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”

It will be bad when stars are really falling! It says that every mountain and island will be displaced! That’s one big worldwide earthquake. The strange thing is that instead of wanting to be free from it all, people will be asking for the rocks to fall on them. It is hard to imagine a time so bad, but that is what Jesus says is coming upon a world that rejects Him. Notice that in Revelation it is “the Lamb” who will be taking out His wrath on the earth, and that Lamb is this same Jesus that was warning these people.

Luke 23:22-25

He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no capital crime in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.” But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed. Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done. He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will.

It is such a sad thing to see the weak and poor being abused. Even though we know that Jesus was neither weak nor poor, He made Himself this way when He came before Pilate. Jesus knew that those He came to serve were not getting justice and He knew that simply being silent before Pilate would result in His death.

As Christian leaders who have been given the wisdom of God and the power of His Holy Spirit in their lives, we have the opportunity to completely reverse this horrible condition. We can stand up for those who have no voice in government no matter what the loud voices say. That’s what our Lord Jesus expects of us. As leaders, we may risk our positions, but the poor are being killed. A true hero would save even one of these people who are so weak and poor that they have no voice.

It is true that the Jewish leadership was wicked to the core, but the Roman leadership was corrupt and incapable of giving out justice. Jesus’ righteousness displayed in His death continued to highlight the depths of the evil of all of those around Him both of the “good” and the bad.

Government: If you are a United States citizen, you may be tempted to think that you are at the mercy of the leadership. Don’t be fooled. In this great country, we have a constitution that reserves rights for the people. We are the leadership and that means we have the responsibility to serve those who have no voice. How do we lead? We lead by doing our research and voting for those who will serve the weak and the poor by bringing them justice, not money. We can also use our income to serve those who are in need. Both the elderly and children are easy targets for corrupt politics. It is horrifying that this is exactly what we see when governments support abortion and euthanasia.

Luke 23:13-21

Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and see, I have examined him before you, and found no basis for a charge against this man concerning those things of which you accuse him. Neither has Herod, for I sent you to him, and see, nothing worthy of death has been done by him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.”

Now he had to release one prisoner to them at the feast. But they all cried out together, saying, “Away with this man! Release to us Barabbas!”— one who was thrown into prison for a certain revolt in the city, and for murder.

Then Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus, but they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!”

As we read here, Pilate is trying pretty hard to get Jesus released, but like many political leaders he really isn’t doing what the job actually requires. As Jesus told the disciples earlier in Luke, leadership is a job for a person who makes himself a servant. It isn’t really supposed to be an opportunity to protect your own power and position and as we see here, this was one of those times to stand up and protect the weak.

It appears that Pilate knew that Jesus didn’t deserve any punishment, but he offered the Jewish leaders the option to have Jesus beat and released. This may be considered by some to be a “compromise,” but in reality, it was a plain case of injustice in order to appease a crowd.

Leaders need to stand up for the law and for the poor and weak. The poor and weak have no other voice, and this is what God expects from leaders in their position. Jesus knows what it feels like to fail to receive justice and someday He is going to be the one dealing out justice. We can trust in Him because He knows what it is like and is committed to bring justice to the poor and the weak.