Luke 23 Study Notes

23:32-33 Being executed between two . . . criminals fulfilled the prophecy of Is 53:12, as well as Jesus’s words in Lk 22:37. The place where Jesus was crucified was called The Skull. In Aramaic, the name is Golgotha. The Latin equivalent is Calvary.

23:34 Jesus forgave his executioners because they acted in ignorance of who he really was. Some early manuscripts do not include the first part of this verse. The phrase they divided his clothes and cast lots fulfilled Ps 22:18.

23:35-39 Four different groups (the people in general, the leaders, the soldiers, and one of the criminals being crucified) scoffed at Jesus and challenged him to save himself. None of them believed that Jesus was the King of the Jews . . . the Messiah, even though the official inscription above his head on the cross charged him with posing as “the King of the Jews.”

23:40-43 In the midst of this display of unbelief and mockery, the other criminal came to understand the difference between his own guilt and Jesus’s innocence (this man has done nothing wrong). He also realized that Jesus was the Messiah and asked to take part in his coming kingdom. Jesus assured him that, after death, he would immediately be reunited with him in paradise (eternal life beyond the grave; see 2Co 12:4).

23:44-45 The three hours of darkness at midday (from noon . . . until three) was a sign of divine judgment against sin (which Jesus became on the cross) and the sinners who unjustly executed the Son of God. Matthew 27:51 explains that the splitting of the curtain of the sanctuary (between the holy place and the holy of holies in the temple) was caused by a great earthquake. The torn curtain symbolized open access to God, made possible by the death of Christ (see note at 22:20).

23:46 While expressing faith in God by reciting Ps 31:5, Jesus breathed his last. Jesus was placed on the cross at about 9:00 a.m. (Mk 15:25) and died after only six hours—an unusually short time. Crucifixion victims sometimes lingered for two or three days before death occurred.

23:47 Compared to the parallel accounts, Luke muted the centurion’s confession. Here the centurion merely observed that Jesus was truly righteous (not a criminal in any respect), whereas in Mt 27:54 and Mk 15:39 he is reported as acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God.

23:48-49 Striking their chests could be a sign of grief, though in Lk 18:13 it appears to reflect contrition before the Lord. Significantly, the women from Galilee, who had generously supported Jesus’s ministry financially (see note at 8:1-3), were spotlighted among those who were watching him die on the cross. They stuck with him even after the male disciples abandoned him. The women are named in Mt 27:56 and Mk 15:40.

23:50-53 Even though Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin, he had disagreed with their decision to execute Jesus (22:71-23:1). He was a good and righteous man, but he was also a secret disciple of Jesus (Jn 19:38). Jesus was laid in the tomb of the wealthy Joseph instead of the shallow common grave reserved for criminals. This fulfilled the prophecy of Is 53:9. Matthew (27:65-66) stated that soldiers were assigned to guard Jesus’s tomb and that the stone rolled in front of the tomb was stamped with the Roman seal of authority.

23:54-56 Preparation day (from Thursday sundown to Friday sundown) was the last day before the Sabbath when preparations for the Sabbath were completed. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus did much to prepare Jesus’s body for burial (Jn 19:39-40), but the women disciples from Galilee planned to finish the task (prepared spices and perfumes). They had to wait for the Sabbath to pass before they could carry out their plan.