It is Friday, May 1, and we have come in our reading - thru the New Testament in a year - to Luke 23...the entire chapter. It is very well known by us, but after reading it, come back and we’ll take another look at it to dig up some more things to ponder.
The trial of Jesus took a turn after the Jewish council made their decision that Jesus had committed blasphemy and was to be killed. Of course, it was a puppet trial, since they had already made up their mind to get rid of Jesus as soon as possible. All the trial did was give them some legitimacy before the Jewish population. It is near the beginning of the dawn when the entire council marches off to Pilate’s residence with Jesus bound. They make 3 false charges before Pilate. Jesus was not trying to overthrow Rome, he was not opposed to paying taxes, and he was not trying to become Israel’s earthly King.
Pilate’s question to Jesus is the first words Jesus speaks since he stood before the council, and it was similar to what he said to them. Pilate asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?”, and Jesus replied, “You have said so”. It is a mysterious answer in some ways. “In one sense Jesus was King of the Jews, but in the sense in which Pilate understood the title, He was not. His answer means something like "So you say" (cf. John 18:33-38). From this reply, Pilate concluded that Jesus was no revolutionary (v. 4)." (Reformation study bible notes)
These are Jesus’ first words after his arrest. He will say 4 more things today, and each has its own significance.
Pilate determines that since Jesus is a Galilean, he can pass the buck and turn him over to Herod. Herod, who Jesus once called “the Fox” is delighted to get a chance to see Jesus - hoping he’ll perform some trick for him. Yet Jesus is silent before Herod and with the Jewish leaders clamoring for his execution, Herod sends him back to Pilate...interestingly enough, it gives Herod and Pilate a chance to cement a cordial friendship.
Now Pilate, with Jesus in front of him a second time, says to the Jews - in 3 different ways - “I find no fault” in Jesus. He offers them a Passover Peace offering - releasing a prisoner. Barabbas was put in prison for attempting an insurrection - the charge the Jewish leaders made against Jesus. With shouts to release Barabbas and crucify Jesus, Pilate gives in. Frankly, he doesn’t care. Luke does not record any of the conversations Pilate and Jesus has, but we know that Jesus spoke to Pilate of the Kingdom of God and Truth - which Pilate replied to with “What is truth?” A modern-day response of some to the Gospel of Jesus by some today.
Jesus is led away carrying his own crossbeam that is tied to his shoulders. He has already been scourged by a Roman whip called the “Flagrum” - an instrument made up of leather strands with pieces of bone at various points braided into the leather to inflict maximum damage. They stripped Jesus and began to whip his back, which when struck would lay open the skin , such that after repeated blows the skin was laid open all the way to the bone.
They led Jesus out of the Fortress of Antonio to a pathway through the city, the Via Delarosa, on the way to the place of crucifixion.
Jesus was weakened to the point that he as he walked along, carrying his crossbeam, he could not carry it any further. They conscripted Simon, a man from Cyrene, a city in North Africa, some 800 miles away who had come as a Jew to celebrate Passover. Why the details of his name? Because he would become a believer after this and his sons also. Later we are told they become pillars of leadership in North Africa as the Church is birthed.
Luke alone tells us the first of Jesus’ words as he is marching through the Via Delarosa. I walked this street a few years back. It is part of the narrow streets of Jerusalem...the streets are more like our modern-day alleys...narrow and dark. Jesus speaks to the women who have come to “wail” for him. These are not his followers, but women who are paid to come and publicly mourn for a convicted criminal the Romans are executing.
Jesus turns to them and said, “Don’t weep for me, weep for yourselves and for your children.” It was a prophetic word spoken to remind them and all listening that the future of Jerusalem would be its destruction. The women’s children would become the victims of Rome’s destruction 40 years later.
The Romans had a special place for execution - in English, “the Skull”, in Latin, “Calvaria”. The description of Luke is simple: “When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him, along with two other criminals.” The crucifixion was Rome's way of publicly condemning any who threatened their rule. It was a public execution that heightened the sense of guilt and shame for the accused.
The soldiers laid the crossbeam on the ground and attached it to the top of the post. Each condemned man was placed on top of the wood with arms outstretched and feet pressed flat against the face of the upright beam. A sharp spike was driven through each wrist near the base of the palm, and another through the crossed feet. The soldiers then tilted the cross up and dropped it into a hole. It is startling to realize what happened. Jesus is “numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53).
Luke tells us - remember his writing was done through research, conversations with others - that Jesus spoke 3 more times:
1. First, He asks the Father to forgive his Roman (and Jewish?) executioners, “Forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
2. There are two criminals hung alongside of him. One joins in with the scoffers, demanding that Jesus - if he is who he says he is - save them. The other criminal rebuked him, pointing out that they were getting what they deserved, while Jesus does not deserve this. The criminal turned to Jesus and asked: “Please remember me when you come into your Kingdom”, and Jesus graciously said to him in return: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”.
3. The crucifixion began at 9:00 a.m. Crucifixions by nature could go on for days, but Luke tells us that at Noon (6th hour) to 3:00 pm (9th hour) a darkness descended upon Jerusalem. As Jesus hung on the cross, the temple curtain dividing the Holy place from the Holy of Holies is torn in two. Now Jesus utters his last words: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”, which when he said, he breathed his last breath and died.
Our Savior died for our Sins...and the cruelty of his death should make us stop and worship him... “He who knew no sin, became Sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God”. The Centurion at the scene understood that: “Surely this was a righteous man”.
Romans customarily took the executed and threw them in a common pit - among the decaying bodies of others executed; but in an act of grace, Joseph of Arimathea, a town about 20 miles from Jerusalem, asks Pilate if he can have the body of Jesus to bury him in a proper tomb.
It was late in the afternoon that Friday. They took his body and because Sabbath was to shortly begin, they laid him in the tomb that Joseph owned. The Romans - we know from the other Gospels - rolled a large stone in the front of the tomb and set up a guard. Sabbath was beginning, and obediently, all went to their homes for this Passover - a lamb was slain, and the blood was once again over the doorposts. The lamb of God who is worthy of glory, honor, and praise has suffered “once and for all”. It’s Friday, and Sunday is coming.
Peace
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