The Word Made Fresh
1Then they all rose together and took Jesus to Pilate. 2They accused him, saying, “We found that this man is corrupting our nation by telling us not to pay taxes to the emperor and claiming that he himself is the Messiah, the king.”
3Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?
Jesus answered, “If you say so.”
4Then Pilate told the chief priests and the crowd, “I don’t find any reason to accuse this man.”
5But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people everywhere with his teaching, from Galilee where he started, to here in this city.”
6When they said this, Pilate asked if Jesus was from Galilee, 7and when he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction he sent him to Herod who happened to be in Jerusalem. 8Herod was happy to see Jesus because he had been wanting to see him for some time. He had heard about him, and was hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle. 9He questioned him at some length, but Jesus did not answer. 10The chief priests and scribes were there accusing him. 11Herod and his soldiers also mocked Jesus and treated him with no respect. Then he put a fancy robe on Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. 12Herod and Pilate became friends that day; they had been enemies until then.
13Then Pilate summoned the chief priests and temple leaders and all the people 14and said, “You brought this man to me, saying that he was inciting the people. I have examined him in your presence, and haven’t found him guilty of any of your charges. 15Neither has Herod. He just sent him back to us. He hasn’t done anything deserving the death penalty. 16I’ll have him flogged, and then let him go.” 17It was the custom to release one prisoner for them during the Passover festival.
18But they all cried out together, “Do away with him! Release Barabbas for us!” 19(Barabbas had been arrested for an insurrection that had taken place in the city, and for murder as well.)
20Pilate wanted to release Jesus, so he asked them again, 21but they kept yelling, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” 22He pressed them a third time, asking, “Why? What crime has he committed? I haven’t found any reason to sentence him to death. I’ll have him flogged, and then I’ll release him.”
23But they kept urging him and demanding loudly that he be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24Pilate gave in to their demands for the death penalty, 25and released the man they had asked for, the one who was in prison for insurrection and murder, and handed Jesus over as they demanded.
26As they led him away, they grabbed a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was just coming in from the country, and laid the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A huge crowd followed; there were women also, who beat their breasts and wept aloud for him. 28Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves and for your children. 29The days are sure to come when they will all say, ‘Blessed are the women who have no children, and their wombs that never gave birth and their breasts that never nourished a child.’ 30Then they will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and beg the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31If they do this when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry?”
32Two other men were to be crucified with him. 33When they came to the place known as ‘the skull,’ they crucified Jesus along with the two criminals, one on his right and the other on his left. 34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t understand what they’re doing.” They cast lots to give away his clothing 35while the people stood by, watching. The leaders made fun of him. “He saved others,” they scoffed, “let him save himself if he is God’s chosen one, the Messiah!” 36The soldiers made fun of him as well, offering him sour wine to drink 37and mocking him, saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38They had also attached an inscription over him that read, “The King of the Jews.”
39One of the criminals hanging beside him kept mocking him, saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself, and save us, too!” 40But the other man upbraided him, saying, “Don’t you fear God, since you’re being condemned as well? 41And we have been condemned justly. We’re getting what we deserve for what we’ve done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when you receive your kingdom.” 43Jesus replied, “I tell you truly, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44At about noontime darkness covered the whole land until midafternoon, 45and while the sun’s light was darkened, the temple curtain was torn apart. 46Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, I commend my spirit into your hands,” and then he breathed his last. 47When the centurion saw it, he praised God and said, “Surely, this man was righteous.” 48The crowd that had gathered to see the spectacle began to disperse, beating their breasts as they returned home. 49But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching it all.
50There was a good and righteous man, Joseph, who was a member of the council, 51but had not agreed to their plans and actions. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting, expecting the kingdom of God to arrive. 52He went to Pilate and asked to take Jesus’ body. 53Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in an unused tomb carved in the rock. 54It was the Day of Preparation and the Sabbath was about to begin. 55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was laid. 56Then they went and began to prepare the spices and ointments for burial. But they rested on the Sabbath as the commandment required.
Commentary
1-5: They drag Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor (from A.D. 26-37). He quickly sees through their ruse and dismisses the case. They are insistent, though, telling him that Jesus has been stirring up trouble from Galilee to Jerusalem.
6-12: Pilate jumps at the information that Jesus is a Galilean, and sends Jesus to Herod. This is Herod Antipas, one of the sons of that Herod the Great who had slaughtered the babies of Bethlehem when Jesus was born. He is ruling under appointment from Rome over Galilee and Peraea, a position he will hold until 39 A.D. when the Romans will depose him and send him into exile. Herod makes fun of Jesus and sends him back to Pilate, a gesture that serves to erase their differences. The reader must not miss the irony that Jesus is responsible for the peace that now has come between them.
13-17: Pilate summons the Jews, and for the second time declares Jesus to be an innocent man. He says he’ll give Jesus a good beating and then they can all go home.
18-25: As far as Luke is concerned the blame for the death of Jesus rests squarely on the chief priests and scribes. Pilate insists that Jesus does not deserve to be put to death, and even Herod has declined to punish him. But the chief priests and scribes are so insistent that Pilate gives in to their demands; after all, why should he care about one bedraggled Jew?
26-31: “They,” from now on, is a reference to the Jewish officials. Jesus is paraded directly to the place of execution. He has been so brutally treated that they must grab someone else to carry his cross; only Luke and Mark identify him as Simon of Cyrene. Cyrene was in northern Africa, in what is now Libya, and Simon is probably a pilgrim come to Jerusalem for the Passover. Quite a crowd gathers for the parade to the crucifixion site, and Luke reports an exchange between Jesus and some women as he tells them that more suffering is to come. The saying about the green wood and the dry wood means something like, “If they behave this way while I am with you, what will they do to you after I’m gone?” (See Ezekiel 17:24, 20:47)
32-38: Luke piles on details in no particular order. The place of crucifixion is called The Skull. Jesus is crucified between two criminals. He forgives his executioners. “They” cast lots for his clothes which would have been stripped from him when they nailed him to the cross. A crowd of bystanders watch the proceedings. The leaders mock him, claiming that his suffering is proof he is no Messiah. The soldiers (the Romans have washed their hands of the whole spectacle, but are obliged to keep order at the scene) mock him as well, offering him wine that is soured, and hanging an inscription ridiculing him as “King of the Jews.”
39-43: The two criminals represent the two opposite responses to Jesus: ridicule and belief. The believing thief, like every believing sinner, is welcomed into paradise with Jesus. This is the only occurrence of the word “paradise” in the gospels, but the word does appear elsewhere in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 12:4, Revelation 2:7).
44-49: The three hours of darkness and the tearing of the curtain in the temple (the curtain hiding the “holy of holies” from view) are reported in Matthew and Mark as well as Luke, but only Luke records Jesus’ last words. The centurion is also mentioned in the first three gospels. John’s account is somewhat different, but we’ll get to that. In Matthew and Mark the centurion pronounces Jesus to be God’s Son, but Luke has another agenda: the centurion echoes Pilate’s judgment: “Surely this man was righteous!” Some translations render it, “Surely this man was innocent.”
50-56: Joseph of Arimathea appears in all four gospels to claim the body of Jesus, and the body is shrouded and laid in Joseph’s tomb. “The women” take note of where Jesus is buried (there is no mention yet of the tomb being sealed with a stone). Sundown is approaching. The women prepare for anointing the body with burial spices, and the action stops as the Sabbath begins.
Takeaway
Jesus Christ bore our sins to the cross. All we have to do is acknowledge it, accept it, and give thanks for it.