Luke 23

Summary. . This chapter details the trial andthe suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ at the hands of His people,Pilate, Herod and the outsiders. Luke 23:1-12. Jesus before Pilate and Herod. The chief priests, the rulers and the multitude take Jesus to Pilate and falsely accuse Him with the purpose of having Him put to death by the outsiders. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod to examine Him and have someone else to be blamed for the decision. Jesus was mocked and treated shamefully at the hands of Herod and Pilate. But both Pilate and Herod, after examining the Lord Jesus, found no fault in Him. Luke 23:13-25. Pilate pronounces judgment on Jesus. Pilate, in front of the chief priests, the rulers and the people, declared that Jesus had done nothing worth deserving death. Pilate desires to punish and release Jesus but the accusers "were crying out, saying, Crucify, crucify Him". Their voices prevailed and "Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted". Luke 23:26-43. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. They led Jesus to be crucified and, on the road, He prophesied to the women who were lamenting for Him. They crucified Him between two criminals at a place called The Skull, but in His great love and mercy, He prays to the Father "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". On the cross, Jesus shows us again His authority and that He is the true King, and He is the only way to heaven and the Father by receiving one of the criminals into His kingdom by saying to him "today you will be with Me in Paradise". Luke 23:44-49. The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Miraculous signs from heaven took placewhen Jesus committed His Spirit into the hands of the Father and breathed His last. Luke 23:50-56. Jesus is buried. Shortly after Jesus' death on the cross, during the day of the Preparation, before the sun set and the start of the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea laid Jesus in his own tomb. The women that followed Jesus from Galilee witnessed where Jesus was laid.

[1] And all the multitude of them rose up, and brought Him before Pilate.

Comments Luke 23:1 As the verse tells, they must do it, they must do the will of the dark, because they followed the orders of their leaders. The people by their own decisions have betrayed the beloved Son of God, and they have surrendered their God to the outsiders. Yes, there is always a choice, but they choose to betray the beloved Son of God and that is why the whole nation has been punished.
See also, Comments Matthew 27:1,2 and Mark 15:1.

[2] And they began to accuse Him, saying, We found this misleading our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and declaring Himself to be Christ, a King.

Comments Luke 23:2 They brought accusations against Him with the purpose of having Him put to death by outsiders; their premeditated plan was to eliminate Jesus in any way possible. As the verse tells us, they are condemning their God by falsifying things about Him. The Lord of life never lifted Himself up, even to be in the position of teacher, the people have lifted Him up and now they come to accuse Him. He never taught anyone to not pay taxes. All His teaching was to give to the one you owe; if the government has laid rules to pay taxes, then you must pay taxes. The Lord always teaches people to listen and obey those the Lord has given authority to rule over them.

[3] And Pilate questioned Him, saying, Are Thou the King of the Jews? And He answered him and said, You say.

Comments Luke 23:3 See Comments Matthew 27:11 and Comments Mark 15:2.

[4] And Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, I find no guilt in this Man.

Comments Luke 23:4 We can notice from the verse that Pilate does not want to be involved in this case, because this is not against the law, it is just against people only, and he does not want to be involved in this.

[5] But they kept insisting, saying, He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, and beginning from Galilee even to here.

Comments Luke 23:5 When it comes to this verse, all readers can see, the accusation is just teaching. The term used here, "teaching", this is not the criminal's action, but teaching only, and they come to accuse Him as the verse before has told as well, that He wants to be a king above all. He is King but not of this world. That is why He never tells us to worship Him as king of this earth; He only teaches by the will of God the Father to do according to God's law and to be pleasing to God; that is all He has done for people.

[6] But when Pilate heard it, he asked whether the Man was a Galilean.

[7] And having learned that He was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in those days.

Comments Luke 23:6-7 The reason Pilate sent Him away to Herod is not because he felt that the beloved Son of God was not guilty, but he wanted someone else to take the blame for the decision; if they will kill the Lord, he could consider himself clean and not guilty.

[8] And Herod having seen Jesus rejoiced exceedingly; for he was of a long time desirous to see Him, because of hearing concerning Him; and he hoped to see some signs done by Him.

Comments Luke 23:8 We can all see clearly from this verse itself that Herod himself has heard many things about the Lord, but he did not have faith, he just wanted to see some show. Even though he had heard many things about the Lord, his purpose was only to see something for fun. He wanted to see some signs for entertainment only.

[9] And he questioned Him in many words; but He answered him nothing.

Comments Luke 23:9 We can all see from this verse that the beloved Son of God knows humans very well.
He sees through the human mind, the Lord Himself has already known what all these questions would be and that He will not build anyone's faith in this place, but it is just for them to talk and gossip among them; that is why the Lord Himself says nothing.

[10] And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing Him.

Comments Luke 23:10 Both these positions serve the living God by duty, but they did not serve Him by heart, but vehemently accusing Him. All readers should pay attention to this, accusing Him, the beloved Son of God had been accused by humans, even though He was only doing good to everyone.

[11] And Herod with his soldiers set Him at nothing, and mocked Him, and arraying Him in gorgeous apparel sent Him back to Pilate.

Comments Luke 23:11 "set Him at nothing ...". As the verse tells clearly, Herod does not consider himself to have faith in the beloved Son of God. They mocked Him, dressed Him up as a clown, and they all disgraced the beloved Son of God, treating Him as not a person but a thing. In their mind, they did not consider Him who He really is, as they have heard, because He did not show miracles to them, and they all make fun of Him now.

[12] And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that day; for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Comments Luke 23:12 Because two black sheep come against the beloved Son of God, even those black sheep do not like each other, but because they both can see that they can have power over the beloved Son of God in human form, this could make two enemies become friends, but this friendship is not a true friendship. If they can make friends by doing wicked things, they will do the same to one another as well.

[13] And Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,

[14] and said to them, You brought to me this Man, as misleading the people. Behold, I have examined Him before you, and found no fault in this Man of those accusations you are bringing against Him;

Comments Luke 23:14 Give attention to what Pilate says, "I have examined Him before you". The rulers of humans examined together, and still have found no fault in Jesus. Every reader should pay attention as well; when the dark has set your mind for something, if your heart is not seeking for the Lord, the truth will not be revealed to your eyes. These people have been blinded, even he found no fault, but because of the fear of popularity, he will not do what he feels is right. Human leaders nowadays do the same as well, they want to do things to please people, but not to please God.

[15] no, neither Herod, for he sent Him back to us. And behold, nothing worthy of death has been done by Him.

Comments Luke 23:15 All readers should give attention as they sent the Lord back because they could not find any guilt. But what this leader wants to do is to keep the people to still like them, so they cannot let Him go without punishing Him even though they all found no guilt in Him. The verse tells us that nothing worthy of death has been done by the Lord Jesus; they said He does not deserve to die, because at that time the death penalty was for criminals. But the beloved Son of God is not a criminal even by their own judgment, but they still will not let Him go free.

[16] I will therefore punish Him, and release Him.

Comments Luke 23:16 The word says clearly, he still wants to punish the beloved Son of God, even though they found no guilt in Him. Before releasing Him, He still must suffer, and this is a way of pleasing the popularity to people.

[17] Now he must release to them at the feast one prisoner.

Comments Luke 23:17 For verses 17 to 25, see Comments Matthew 27:15-26 and Comments Mark 15:6-15.

[18] But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this, and release to us Barabbas, --

[19] one who for a certain insurrection made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.

Comments Luke 23:17-19 All readers should pay attention, the people put in comparison the beloved Son of God with a criminal, but the people's minds still want to choose the criminal. After the deed has been done, repentance of heart for the people themselves can happen as the hearts of people will be impacted by the death of the beloved Son of God, but it will be too late for sorry.
We can all see "But they cried out all together, saying, Away with this," and all agree to do bad to the Lord. But, even nowadays, it is easy to make a group of people do things, even wrong things to someone. If you can put to them the feeling that it is the right thing to do the wrong thing, all will do it even knowing it is the wrong thing to do.

[20] And Pilate spoke to them again, desiring to release Jesus;

Comments Luke 23:20 But Pilate, as a leader has a duty to do, and if in him, he wants to do right one hundred percent, he does not need to wait for people. As a leader, he could just go out and tell them, "I want to do this way", but he did not, instead he wanted the mob to be the one to make the decision. The Lord had let him be a leader, but he failed to do his duty at this point, and the readers can see clearly, what not the leader feels but what the mob feels, that the weak leader will do.

[21] but they were crying out, saying, Crucify, crucify Him.

Comments Luke 23:21 It is easier to lead the mob than one person. In the mob, if one voice shouts out something, the mob hears and will join regardless of right or wrong; at that time, it is not an issue, just to be as one and do things together.

[22] And he said to them the third time, Why, what evil has He done? I have found no cause of death in Him. I will therefore punish and release Him.

Comments Luke 23:22 The verse shows he wants to release the Lord, but at the same time, he wants to punish the beloved Son of God before releasing Him, but for what reason? His intention is not to please God, but all readers can see clearly, he wants to please people by offering to punish Him.

[23] But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that He be crucified. And their voices prevailed, and of the chief priests.

Comments Luke 23:23 According to this verse, His people want the beloved Son of God to be crucified. From within their own will they wanted, and their wish will be granted to them.

[24] And Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted.

[25] And he released him that for insurrection and murder had been cast into prison, whom they asked for; but Jesus he delivered up to their will.

Comments Luke 23:25 We can see from this verse that he delivered the beloved Son of God to the people's will, but in reality, his own will as well, because of fear that the beloved Son of God will have more power than him.

[26] And when they led Him away, they laid hold on one, Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and put upon him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.

Comments Luke 23:26 See Comments Matthew 27:32 and Comments Mark 15:21.

[27] And were following Him a great multitude of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting for Him.

Comments Luke 23:27 These people have a heart for the beloved Son of God, even at His lowest point, being a teacher sitting on a seat high, but now, He has been condemned as a criminal, the punishment is death on the cross. Their tears they shed on this course, the Father Himself has seen it, and their names will be written down in the book of life. Their lament is not wasted, the reward is waiting for them.

[28] But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

Comments Luke 23:28 The beloved Son of God has seen their tears, but also, He has told them, the suffering is not only on Him but on them and their own children will be as well, the Lord has seen it all. The words that He used were to comfort them that He acknowledged they were weeping for Him and that is what they will think about.

[29] For behold, the days are coming, in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never did bear, and the breasts that never nursed.

Comments Luke 23:29 In this verse the Lord has told ahead what will happen to the world after they crucify Him and until His returning. The life of all humans will be suffering. Life for adults is hard, but for the newborn, it will be even harder than all and that is why the verse says "Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never did bear, and the breasts that never nursed".

[30] Then will they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

Comments Luke 23:30 When humans are asking for cover or hiding, this also tells us there is fear of the heart, that all do not want to face what they have done, their own actions condemn them. Not just for people in the past, but for people in the future as well, when they feel the need to repent, that is when they will beg for these things to happen to them. Link this to the crucifixion of the beloved Son of God, the sins which humans committed in the past, now and in the future, all contributed to His death on the cross. The beloved Son of God has been crucified for the sins of the future as well, He has paid for all the sins of the whole world.

[31] For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?

Comments Luke 23:31 In this verse "in the green tree" means prosperity and state of peace. The world in general has peace, but in some portions of the world there is still war, still green tree. When humans do abominable things while the world has peace, what will happen to humans when they do the same things during the hardship of the world that comes upon them? As the verse before has told, hardship and famine will come upon the whole world and that is the time the dry means here.

[32] And there were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.

Comments Luke 23:32 See Comments Matthew 27:38 and Comments Mark 15:27.

[33] And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

Comments Luke 23:32-33 See Comments Matthew 27:33-38 and Comments Mark 15:22-28.

[34] And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Then dividing His garments, they cast lots.

Comments Luke 23:34 See Comments Matthew 27:35 and Comments Mark 15:24.
"And Jesus said, Father, forgive them ...". All believers should notice the loving heart of the beloved Son of God. Even in His most painful time in human form, even as the drops of blood are pouring down from His wounds, in His heart and in His mind, all Jesus wants is for the Father to forgive them all, because they have crucified all Three at this time. The Trinity has been crucified there on that cross.
"Then dividing His garments, they cast lots." The greed of humans never ends, even for the garments of the dead one they cast lots to share, but as they shared the beloved Son of God's garments, they all have shared the sin against God as well. As the verse says, they have shared His garments among them and all who have part in this have equal sin as the one that has pierced the nails into His flesh, the unforgivable sin, they have shared part of it as they have cast lots upon His garments. One begotten Son the Father has, and He has been crucified. They follow orders, but when they share the garments, all responsibility for their own actions falls on them. Taking the garment off His body has exposed the nakedness of His body and brought shame to the dead one and that is no different from piercing the nails into His flesh. As believers, we know as well, the beloved Son of God has been crucified, but He has never truly died. When they have taken His garments off, it is considered to bring shame on Him because the beloved Son of God is always living. If you have disgraced Him in any way, you have done it on the Creator as well.

[35] And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also scoffed at Him saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.

Comments Luke 23:35 See Comments Matthew 27:39-44 and Comments Mark 15:29-32.

[36] And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming near, offering Him sour wine,

[37] and saying, If Thou are the King of the Jews, save Thyself.

Comments Luke 23:36-37 See Comments Matthew 27:48 and Comments Mark 15:36.
When they mocked the beloved Son of God, did they think of whom they had said these things? Every word that is used is blasphemy to the Trinity of God and all readers and believers should think as well how much hurt the God of Three had when the Son has been trampled by the creatures that the Father has created. These verses show they have mocked the beloved Son of God, who they have crucified on the cross. The sin they have committed was not enough for them to think of, see with their own eyes they have crucified the innocent One, and they still continue to mock Him. What they are doing now is not physical damage, by mocking Him they want to make Him hurt deeper than physically. Regardless, even if this is not the beloved Son of God, they are doing this among humans, they torture humans. The work of God has been tortured and now they torture the beloved Son of God who loved them more than their own parents can love them.

[38] And there was also an inscription over Him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS; in Greek and Latin and Aramaic letters.

Comments Luke 23:38 See Comments Matthew 27:37 and Comments Mark 15:25-26.

[39] And one of the criminals that was hanged railed on Him, saying, Are not Thou the Christ? Save Thyself and us.

Comments Luke 23:39 See Comments Matthew 27:44 and Comments Mark 15:32b.

[40] But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same condemnation?

Comments Luke 23:40 All readers can see from the answer of this criminal that he admits to having fear of God even under this condemnation, but many people that consider themselves blessed do not glorify God or even fear God. In their mind, they think only that they deserve all the good things.

[41] And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.

Comments Luke 23:41 This verse is given here for all readers to think, condemned by deed, but the beloved Son of God had no evil deed to be condemned for and even the criminal can realize that.

[42] And he said, Jesus, remember me when Thou come into Thy kingdom.

Comments Luke 23:42 This is the most important verse in all this story, as the criminal beseeches the Lord of life to remember him, even though in that time the beloved Son of God is on the cross with him. This criminal has recognized that the Lord is God of all, and has His own kingdom above, and he wants only the Lord to remember him. He did not ask the Lord of life to take him there because in his heart he already feels he is not worthy to go there, but he is pleased to be recognized and remembered and this shows he has a humble heart.

[43] And He said to him, Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in Paradise.

Comments Luke 23:43 The Bible has taught all humans clearly who can take you to heaven. The beloved Son of God has accepted this criminal into His kingdom and all readers should think of this man's actions and the speech he gave upon his death coming to him.
This criminal has received the best baptism as he has been baptized by the Word of the beloved Son of God Himself who told him that he is worthy to be with Him in Paradise.

[44] And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,

Comments Luke 23:44 See Comments Matthew 27:45 and Comments Mark 15:33.

[45] the sun was darkened; and the veil of the temple was torn in the middle.

Comments Luke 23:44-45 The moment the beloved Son of God departed from the earth, even the sun itself could not shine anymore. In the middle of the day, the sun withdraws to give light because the true light of the earth has departed.

[46] And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit; and having said this, He breathed His last.

Comments Luke 23:46 This is the Lord's second cry as indicated in Comments Matthew 27:50. For this verse see Comments Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37 and John 19:30.
"Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit". The beloved Son of God, in human form, is completely human as everyone else. He has the spirit as humans have, and that Spirit returns here to the Father. All human spirits will return to the Father's hand as well because nothing can be alone without the Father, He the Father Himself is the One that created all things, and all things belong to Him. People that blaspheme God should think twice about how they as created things, do not recognize the Most High God and give thanks and appreciation to Him who created all things.
Remember as well, the Bible has mentioned the Spirit of Christ, the beloved Son of God has a Spirit and that is what this verse has told us. Jesus' Spirit is not the spirit of a commoner. This here is the Spirit of Christ which will return to the Father. The commoner spirits cannot go into the same place as the Spirit of Christ goes.
Clarification notes regarding the comments in Matthew 27:50 and Luke 23:46. During Jesus' life on earth, He was one hundred percent human; the body, soul, and spirit of Jesus couldn't be separated, they were together as unity because He is human. Now Jesus is in heaven in bodily form and by the will of the Father, the beloved Son's Spirit can separate and come to earth for work. The Spirit of Christ is on earth according to the Father's will Himself. The same way as the Holy Spirit works on earth, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father, the beloved Son of God's Spirit also works on earth as well, and this has shown true God and true human; the beloved Son of God has them both.

[47] And when the centurion saw what took place, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous Man.

Comments Luke 23:47 All readers can notice in this portion of the message; this is not one of His people that glorifies the Lord here. From his position, this person had been involved in crucifying the beloved Son of God, but with an open eye he saw all the signs and came to believe; he did not claim Jesus was God, but he claimed that Jesus was a righteous Man. The righteous man was the beloved Son of God and has been proclaimed by this outsider.

[48] And all the multitudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that took place, returned beating their breasts.

Comments Luke 23:48 This multitude is the same group that has shouted out to crucify Him, but when they have seen the way, when the beloved Son was crucified, He received the torture without cursing, and in His peaceful manner He accepted each nail that pierced through Him, and this multitude has been watching the whole procedure that why they are beating now their own breasts, not hitting themselves physically, but the deep feeling of having been hit, from all the things they have witnessed happening.

[49] And all His acquaintances, and the women that followed with Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

Comments Luke 23:49 They stay at a distance from the scene; it is not allowed for spectators to surround the scene when they crucify a criminal and here it is the same since they labeled the beloved Son of God as a criminal, so all people must stay far away. Only the soldiers stayed close.

[50] And behold, a man named Joseph, who was a Council member, a good and righteous man,

Comments Luke 23:50 For verses 50 to 56, see Comments Matthew 27:57-61 and Comments Mark 15:42-47.

[51] he had not consented to their counsel and deed, a man of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God;

Comments Luke 23:50-51 See Comments Matthew 27:57.

[52] this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

[53] And he took Him down, and wrapped Him in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb that was hewn in stone, in which no one had been yet lain.

Comments Luke 23:52-53 This tomb was Joseph's own tomb as written in Matthew 27:60. See Comments Matthew 27:58-60 and Mark 15:42-47.

[54] And it was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.

Comments Luke 23:54 It was the day of the Preparation, in the evening, before the sun set, when Joseph laid Jesus in the tomb. Because the way of the world, we as the gentile, and they, as His people, the day is not the same as counting; this day for them was considered as starting in the evening of the previous day and ending at the sunset of this Preparation day. (See Matthew 26:17 for comments on the days as related to the crucifixion and burial of the Lord Jesus).

[55] And having followed, the women, who had come with Him out of Galilee, saw the tomb, and how His body was laid.

Comments Luke 23:55 See Comments Matthew 27:61 and Luke 23:49. These are the women who witnessed the empty tomb and also the ones who went and told the disciples as well. (See Comments Matthew 28:1-8, Comments Mark 16:1-8 and Comments Luke 24:1-12).

[56] And they turned back, and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Comments Luke 23:55-56 These women witnessed where the tomb was and how the body of Jesus was laid, and they turned back to where they had lodged and prepared spices and ointments and returned on the first day, after the Sabbath, to anoint the Lord, but the Lord had risen, so they never had a chance to use these spices on the body of the Lord. The Bible has mentioned in another place this activity but, all those that followed Him never anointed the Lord's body because by the time they can come to do it, the beloved Son of God had risen already (See Comments Matthew 28:1-8, Comments Mark 16:1-8 and Comments Luke 24:1-12).

Life and Faith Applications. 1) Jesus is the true King and, by faith in Him, we can be part of His kingdom. 2) Jesus suffered greatly at the hands of His people and the outsiders for the sins of the whole world. 3) The Lord's death on the cross is central to our salvation and faith. 4) It is never too late to beseech the Lord of life to forgive us and take us into His kingdom.