God's Perfect Sacrifice
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Guiltless
Guiltless
Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.”
Pilate had twice denied any guilt in Jesus (23:4). Pilate, Herod, the thief on the cross, and the centurion will all declare him innocent The way our Lord was treated stands in stark contrast to the way David respected Saul. “David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” (1 Sam. 26:9).
The Importance of Jesus’ Sinlessness
The Importance of Jesus’ Sinlessness
Simul Justus et Peccator
Simul Justus et Peccator
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
A Murderer or the Savior
A Murderer or the Savior
But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted.
Who was Barabbas?
Who was Barabbas?
ישוע בר אבא Yeshua Bar ʾAbbaʾ, literally "son of the father”Some ancient manuscripts name him “Jesus Barabbas”.
The “Jesus” part of his name was not accepted by Origen who said that such an awful person could not have such a holy name and that a heretic must have added “Jesus” to the text recording his name.
However, there is definitely a contrast which we are to make between Barabbas and the true Son of the Father.
Life Giver—life taker; insurrectionist—Righteous Servant; guilty—innocent; released—Condemned.
Another Jeshua on Trial
Another Jeshua on Trial
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
The Road to the Cross
The Road to the Cross
And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For 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!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Crucified With the Ungodly
Crucified With the Ungodly
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 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. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
And 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!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament Luke 23:32–43
The offer of “sour wine” (oxos) in 23:36 is reminiscent of Ps. 69:21 (68:22 LXX), where the gift of “sour wine” or “vinegar” is an act of mockery and insult.
There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
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.”
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament Luke 23:32–43
Jesus’ reply in 23:43 promises fellowship with him “in paradise” (en tō paradeisō), a term that the LXX uses to translate the Hebrew gan, “garden” (Gen. 2:8: “a garden in Eden” [LXX: paradeison en Edem]; Gen. 13:10: “the garden of God” [ho paradeisos tou theou]; for paradeisos in Gen. 2–3 LXX, see Gen. 2:8, 9, 10, 15, 16; 3:1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 23, 24). The term “paradise” also echoes texts such as Isa. 51:3; Ezek. 28:13; 31:8–9 (cf. T. Levi 18:10–11; T. Dan 5:12; Pss. Sol. 14:3; 1 En. 17–19; 32:3; 60:8; 61:12; cf. 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7), in which paradeisos is understood as an eschatological image of new creation, a place of expected bliss, the abode of the righteous after death (see TDNT 5:765–73; Fitzmyer 1981–1985: 1510–11; Bock 1994–1996: 1857).
Jesus’ Death
Jesus’ Death
It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.
In later rabbinic tradition Ps. 31:5 was used as part of the evening prayer: pious Jews ask God to care for them and protect them during sleep in the descending night (cf. b. Ber. 5a; see Fitzmyer 1981–1985: 1519). As this prayer fits the evening before sleep, it fits the evening of life before death, as sleep was regarded as the threshold of death (Marshall 1978: 876). There is no evidence in Jewish texts that Ps. 31 was interpreted messianically
Jesus’ Burial
Jesus’ Burial
Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.
Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament Luke 23:32–43
Luke highlights the fact that, from his perspective, confirming again Jesus’ suffering as that of a righteous person by an allusion to Ps. 22 in 23:34–35, the crucifixion “seals the identity of Jesus as the Messiah and king who accomplishes the divine purpose precisely as the suffering one” (Green 1997: 819).