LUKE - CHAPTER 23
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2001 James Melough
23:1.
“And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.”
Pilate means close pressed
(as a piece of felt), and if ever there was a man whose life demonstrated
the propriety of his name, it was he, for he ultimately found himself close
pressed between his conviction of Christ’s innocence, and the need to deliver
himself from the charge of treason against Caesar, see Jn 19:12,16, “And from
thenceforth Pilate sought to release him; but the Jews cried out, If thou let
this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king
speaketh against Caesar.... Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be
crucified.”
23:2.
“And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the
nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is
Christ a King.”
Unable to bring any just
charge against the Lord, they had to invent one, a charge refuted by His own
words in 20:25, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s,
and unto God the things which be God’s.”
“... perverting the nation” is
literally “inciting sedition,” the imagined basis for this false charge being
the Lord’s truthful claim that He was God’s anointed King.
23:3.
“And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered
him and said, Thou sayest it.”
Whether He was the King of the
Jews was the crucial question, yet the Lord’s affirmative answer made no
difference. Pilate may have been willing to accept it, but the Jews weren’t,
for ignoring all the evidence which supported the Lord’s claim, they were
determined to put Him to death anyway.
23:4.
“Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in
this man.”
This was the only honest
judgment rendered that day. The Lord was guilty of no wrong.
23:5.
“And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching
throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.”
Without a shred of evidence to
support their false charge, the chief priests and the multitude continued to
accuse Him of stirring up sedition against Rome.
23:6.
“When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.”
23:7.
“And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent
him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.”
Pilate was desperately seeking
a way out of a very awkward situation, and the decision to send Christ to
Herod seemed the perfect solution. As the sequel shows, however, it wasn’t.
No man can evade responsibility for the decision he makes in regard to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He must either be accepted now as Savior, or met at the
great white throne, as the Judge Who must consign unbelievers to the eternal
torment of the lake of fire.
23:8.
“And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see
him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to
have seen some miracle done by him.”
This Herod incidentally, was
the one who had had John beheaded, he himself being the son of the Herod who
had slain the children at the time of the Lord’s birth. The pleasure with
which he anticipated meeting Jesus quickly turned to spiteful disappointment,
for the Lord neither answered the king’s questions, nor would He perform any
miracle. A greater disappointment, however, awaits Herod, for he will meet
Christ again, but this time it will be the Lord Who interrogates the one-time
king, and Who displays His power, not in a spectacular miracle, but in His
consigning to the eternal torment of the lake of fire, the guilty wretch who
once dared to mock the Son of God.
23:9.
“Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.”
The Lord wouldn’t dignify
Herod’s questions with an answer. He knew that His hour had come, and that
nothing He might say would change Herod’s mind, as He knew also that if men’s
souls were to be redeemed He must die as foretold in Scripture.
23:10.
“And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.”
Christ’s refusal to respond to
the king’s questions evoked even more ardent accusations from the Jewish
leaders, who may have been afraid that the Lord’s silence might have led Herod
to conclude that He was innocent.
23:11.
“And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed
him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.”
Many since then have also
esteemed Christ as of little worth, and many since then have also mocked Him
“and sent him again to Pilate.” How different it will be on that day when
their worth is estimated by Christ, and He dismisses them as worthless
rebels, into the lake of fire, because on earth they failed to comprehend both
His worth, and that of their own souls! They in their folly arrayed Him in
mockery in a gorgeous robe, never realizing that their rejection of Him will
result in their standing naked before Him, because they refused to accept the
robe of righteousness He bought for them at such cost that day at Calvary.
23:12.
“And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they
were at enmity between themselves.”
What paltry gain! He who that
day might have been reconciled to God, emerged from the test of his life with
nothing but the worthless friendship of the dissolute Herod, with whom he has
now spent two thousand years in hell, and will yet spend another thousand
years awaiting the resurrection of damnation, and consignment to the lake of
fire, in company with all who have preferred the friendship of the world to
the friendship of God.
23:13.
“And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and
the people,”
23:14.
“Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the
people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in
this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:”
Having carefully examined the
Lord, Pilate was compelled to confess, “I have found no fault in this man.”
23:15.
“No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is
done unto him.”
Herod likewise had failed to
find fault in Christ, and it might have been supposed that acquittal by two
high officials of Rome would have settled the matter; but it didn’t, for the
Jews weren’t interested in justice: they were bent on murder, and wouldn’t
rest until they had killed an innocent Man, their Messiah, their King, the Son
of God, God manifest in flesh!
23:16.
“I will therefore chastise him, and release him.”
What a travesty of justice!
In spite of having been found innocent by two different tribunals, Christ was
nevertheless, to be flogged! For what? In any ordinary Roman court, Pilate
himself would have been found guilty of a gross breach of the law for flogging
a man who had been acquitted of all charges brought against him.
Pilate clearly was trying to
save Christ’s life, and undoubtedly thought that this expedient would satisfy
the Jews, but he very much underestimated the intensity of their blood lust,
and the wickedness of their evil hearts. Nothing would satisfy those sons of
Satan but the death of the Son of God. Such is the depravity of the heart of
the natural man!
23:17.
“(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)”
23:18.
“And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto
us Barabbas:”
23:19.
“(Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into
prison.)”
It was strange irony that they
should demand the release of one who was guilty, not only of the very crime
with which they had falsely charged Christ: sedition, but who was guilty also
of murder. With what dread must those same men await their own arraignment
before the Lord at the great white throne, their guilt compounded by their
rejection of Him Who had been willing to save them had they but believed Him!
Barabbas, incidentally means
son of father, but I can’t see any special significance connected with
that meaning.
23:20.
“Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.”
Pilate’s good intentions were
all nullified when he had first compromised with the mob, instead of standing
firm on his conviction that they had brought no proof of Christ’s guilt. The
fear of man is a terrible snare. It cost Pilate his soul, as it has also many
another too cowardly to confess Christ as Savior.
23:21.
“But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.”
The governor’s willingness to
compromise simply encouraged the multitude to press their demand for Christ’s
death, no matter how unjust the demand might be. It is never otherwise.
Cowardly compromise only encourages the opponent to make ever more outrageous
demands. That crowd cared nothing about justice. They were determined to
have the Lord crucified.
23:22.
“And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have
found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him
go.”
His very willingness to flog
an innocent man told the crowd in unmistakable language that Pilate was afraid
of them, and armed with that knowledge they pressed their murderous demand.
How much greater must be the fear in Pilate’s heart today as he contemplates
his own fate to be pronounced at the great white throne!
23:23.
“And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be
crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.”
Cornered by his own cowardice
Pilate saved his life, but at what cost! His soul! He is one of millions who
by saving their lives have lost them, as it is written, “For whosoever will
save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mt
16:25-26.
23:24.
“And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.”
The sentence given wasn’t the
demand of law but of Jewish blood lust for Christ’s life, Pilate little
realizing that in pronouncing it he was sounding the death knell of his own
soul.
23:25.
“And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into
prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.”
What a blot on the page of
Roman law was Pilate’s release of Barabbas, and his consignment of the
innocent Christ to the will of the murderous mob! But in the release of that
guilty man from the death demanded by Roman law, because Jesus Christ
willingly accepted an unjust sentence, God bids us see the deliverance made
available to all men from the death demanded by His holy law, because His Son
was willing to die in their place, for their sins, as it is written, “For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God,” 1 Pe 3:18.
23:26.
“And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming
out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it
after Jesus.”
Simon is the Greek form of
Simeon, and has the same meaning: harkening; and while the meaning of
Cyrene is uncertain, it is thought to be supremacy of the bridle.
John 19:17 informs us that the
Lord went forth carrying the cross Himself, so the obvious conclusion to be
drawn is that He became too weak to carry it all the way: hence Simon’s being
compelled to carry it behind the Lord. This has led some, rightly I believe,
to see in this a symbolic picture of the believer’s proper place here on
earth: walking in the footsteps of the Master, and taking up the cross and
following Him, see Mt 10:38;16:24; Mk 8:34;10:21; Lk 9:23;14:27. The very
names confirm the significance of the symbolic picture, for hearkening
speaks of obedience, while supremacy of the bridle points to the truth
that the path to glory is found in submission to the easy yoke of Christ, as
it is written in Mt 11:29-30, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Why the mob should have
singled out Simon to carry the cross is no where revealed. It may be that he
just happened to be passing by, though as we know, with God nothing just
happens by chance. In view of the symbolic picture presented in Simon’s
bearing the cross behind the Lord, we can’t reject the possibility that God’s
overruling providence had him there at that exact moment just because the
meanings of his name and country would enable spiritual minds to see more
easily the spiritual picture being presented.
23:27.
“And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also
bewailed and lamented him.”
It was a mixed multitude that
followed the Lord out to Calvary. There were some at least who disapproved of
what was being done, and they, with sorrowing hearts may still have hoped that
He Who had wrought so many miracles for the good of others, would yet perform
one for Himself and take Himself out of the hands of His foes. Not even those
who loved Him understood then the necessity of His death if men were to be
delivered from hell and fitted for heaven. The Lord could have saved Himself,
but because He loved sinners He wouldn’t. He would die willingly in their
guilty stead to make atonement for their sins, giving Himself as the spotless
Lamb which every believing sinner could offer to God by faith for the
remission of his sins.
23:28.
“But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me,
but weep for yourselves, and for your children.”
Only He knew what a terrible
harvest rebel Israel would reap from that day’s monstrously evil sowing.
Their rejection of Him as their Savior Messiah would result in their becoming
the objects of the fierce wrath and judgment of the God Whose Son they mocked
and taunted even in His dying agony.
23:29.
“For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are
the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave
suck.”
The Lord could see beyond
Calvary the slaughter-house which Jerusalem would become just thirty-eight
years hence, as the Roman legions spilled Jewish blood like water in the
streets - God’s recompense in part, of the Jews’ arrogant words to Pilate,
“His blood be on us, and on our children,” Mt 27:25. The blood that flowed in
Jerusalem in AD 70, however, was just the beginning, for Jewish blood has
flowed in torrents during the past twenty centuries, and will flow yet more
copiously in the fast approaching Tribulation era.
23:30.
“Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills,
Cover us.”
That this has reference to the
Tribulation period is certified in Isa 2:19; Ho 10:8; Re 6:16; 9:6. There is,
however, only one Hiding Place from the wrath of God, as it is written, “A man
shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,” Isa
32:2. He Who staggered out to Calvary that day was that Hiding Place, though
the sin-blinded eyes of His enemies perceived it not. Believers should never
cease to thank God for the love, and kindness, and grace, and mercy that
caused them to hear the Gospel which opened their blind eyes and enabled them
to see in the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior, man’s only Hiding Place from the
wrath and judgment of a Holy God against Whom they in their folly had once
rebelled.
23:31.
“For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?”
“These things” refer to what
they were doing to Him, for clearly He is the “green tree,” that is, the One
in Whom was life. Israel was the “dry tree,” a nation without spiritual
life. Their unjust and cruel treatment of Him was a foreshadowing of what
God’s just judgment of them would be like.
With God there is no neutral
ground. We are either His friends or His enemies, for Him or against Him,
loving Him (because He first loved us) or hating Him. What that mob did to
Christ is nothing less than the tangible evidence of what every unbeliever
would also do to Him, for to reject Him is to approve the mob’s rejection and
mistreatment of Him. How can those in sympathy with such men expect mercy!
Remember, we are either with Him, or with them, and God’s eternal treatment of
us will be according to our association. Nor should it be forgotten that the
foremost of His enemies were the religious leaders of Israel. There are many
today occupying similar high religious positions, and many respected members
of churches, who, because they have never been born again, are nonetheless
seen by God as standing with His enemies, and being therefore the heirs of
judgment. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already.... He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of
God abideth on him,” Jn 3:18-36.
23:32.
“And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.”
His being led to execution
with these two criminals had been foretold by the prophet, “He was numbered
with the transgressors,” Isa 53:12. This was the place assigned Him by man.
God’s estimate of His worth is very different, as it is written, “Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth: and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,” Php
2:9-11.
23:33.
“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they
crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on
the left.”
Calvary, meaning a skull,
is the Greek form of the Hebrew Golgotha, and in spite of several popular
traditions purporting to explain the reason for this meaning, none is
supported by evidence. It is to be noted also that the scriptural references
do not indicate that it was a hill, as is generally believed, nor is the exact
location known.
Inasmuch as the skull encases
the brain, the choice of Calvary as the place where man crucified the Son of
God, ought to remind man perpetually of the folly of human wisdom which led
man to kill his Creator.
23:34.
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And
they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”
This is grace beyond human
comprehension.
Since garments represent
righteousness, the removal of the Lord’s clothing speaks of man’s attempt to
strip Him of His righteousness, a thing impossible of course, since His
righteousness was inherent. But spiritual wisdom sees in the gambling for the
Lord’s garments the folly of the world relative to the righteousness made
available to men through Christ’s death. They were satisfied to make
possession of His garments dependent on mere chance, and the attitude of the
world remains the same in regard to the righteousness (of which garments are
the biblical symbol) without which no man can hope to enter heaven. Apart
from the few who have been born again, the rest of humanity are content to
leave to chance the matter of whether they will be in heaven or hell
eternally; whatever hope they have being based on the teaching of their
particular religious system, the one thing common to all being their
uncertainty as to their future state. I cannot recall ever having met an
unconverted man willing to state that he was certain beyond all doubt that he
would be in heaven. Only those who have been born again have that assurance.
Inasmuch as that seamless robe
represents the righteousness of Christ, its becoming the possession of just
one of the soldiers serves to remind us that salvation is a personal thing
which cannot be shared. No one can believe for another. Each man, by faith,
must make the righteousness of Christ his own personal possession.
23:35.
“And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him,
saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of
God.”
How true were the Lord’s
words, “... they know not”! For all their religious knowledge, those proud
Jewish leaders knew not that had He responded to their taunting, and come
down, they and all men must have perished eternally, for there is no salvation
for men apart from the vicarious death of Christ. What they in their
blindness didn’t know was that it was only by His remaining on the cross that
salvation would be made available to men.
23:36.
“And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar
(sour wine).”
Its being said that the
soldiers “mocked him” by offering Him vinegar seems to imply that they held
the liquid close to His lips but without allowing Him to drink it. What
cruelty to a dying Man suffering the torment of thirst as declared in Ps
22:15, “... my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the
dust of death”!
23:37.
“And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.”
The soldiers were as faithless
as the Jews. They too mocked His claim to be the Messiah; and there may
perhaps be detected in their taunt the implied impossibility of anyone’s
overcoming the might of Rome, for this was Israel’s expectation, that the
Messiah would break the Roman yoke, and set them free. The soldiers’ taunt
may have had subtle application also to the Jews. If the One Who claimed to be
their King couldn’t even save Himself from the cross, what hope was there of
His delivering the nation from the dominion of Rome?
What neither Jew nor Gentile
understood was that it was only by Christ’s remaining on the cross, that men
could be delivered from a far more terrible thraldom than that imposed by
Rome: the fatal bondage to sin, Satan, and death, in which all men lie bound
because of Adam’s sin.
23:38.
“And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and
Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Greek was the language of
learning; Latin, the language of mighty Rome; and Hebrew, the language of
religion. The Greek points to man’s intellect; the Latin, to man’s will; and
the Hebrew, to man’s emotion: the three parts which constitute man as having
been created in the Divine image. (For a fuller discussion of this topic, see
the author’s book Genesis - Verse by Verse, chapters 1 and 3). In its
three languages therefore, the superscription was the declaration that
intellectually, volitionally, and emotionally, man rejected and hated his
Creator, so much that he would kill Him if he could.
23:39.
“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou
be Christ, save thyself and us.”
Even with only an hour or two
left to live, the unrepentant malefactor used his remaining breath to join the
Jews and the soldiers in blaspheming Christ. Unregenerate man’s hatred of God
is no passing thing. It is inherent, inveterate and lifelong, though often
very cleverly disguised under the mask of religion.
23:40.
“But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing
thou art in the same condemnation?”
It is strange that the
circumstances which evoke blasphemy in one heart, produce repentance in
another. The second malefactor, also with only an hour or two left to live,
wisely pondered the fact that at the end of that brief time he was going to
have to meet God, and that prospect made him afraid, for he knew that he
wasn’t prepared to stand in that holy Presence. He is a wise man who engages
in the same reflection while there is time to avail himself of God’s remedy,
it being emphasized that that time does not embrace the whole span of one’s
life. For each man there is a divinely allotted time in which to repent and
accept God’s pardon and gift of eternal life; but salvation not accepted
within that time is lost forever, God’s warning being, “Behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” 2 Cor 6:2.
23:41.
“And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this
man hath done nothing amiss.”
This same confession of guilt
must be made by every man who would be saved, yet strangely it is the one most
men refuse to make. The vast majority, like the Scribes and Pharisees, refuse
to admit that they are utterly sinful; and clinging to the filthy rags of
their religious self-righteousness, they cut themselves off from God’s
salvation.
23:42.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
How deceptive are outward
appearances! To the multitude, that malefactor was no different from his
companion, but how different he had become through faith. Though there was no
visible change, he had become a saint about to enter paradise, while his
companion remained a sinner about to enter hell. And it was faith that made
the difference! Faith enabled him to see beyond the mutilated form of Jesus
Christ, the form of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. How simple God
has made salvation! A man has only to confess himself a sinner fit only for
hell, and have the faith to believe that Jesus Christ whom the world despises,
is the Son of God Who loved sinners so much that He has been willing to die in
their stead for their sins, so that they might be forgiven, saved from hell,
and fitted for heaven.
23:43.
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me
in paradise.”
Not one of the mocking rabble
would have changed places with that dying man, but could they have been given
a glimpse of the place to which he was going, and also the place to which they
were going, all would have rushed to take his place. God, however, has drawn
a vail over the unseen world, so that salvation might be by faith; but were
men able to see that world, there wouldn’t be an unbeliever on earth. It is
only on earth that there are unbelievers. There are none in heaven, nor are
there any in hell, but for the latter their belief has come too late, and it
has come as a result of their experiencing the awful torment of hell’s
unquenchable flame, rather than of believing before seeing and feeling.
That day which must have
dawned as the darkest and most hopeless of that man’s misspent life, was
transformed into the happiest any man could ever know. He was leaving a
sinful condemned world to go to paradise (see notes on 16:23) with His Savior,
and in another three days to be transported by that same Savior into the
eternal glory and bliss of heaven, to await there the completion of his
salvation, the resurrection and glorious transformation of his body. If
believers dwelt more on the blessings that are theirs through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, they would celebrate with greater joy the day of their
spiritual birth.
Many others have pointed out
that salvation is independent of works or sacraments. That man was unable to
do any works, good or bad, neither was he baptized, nor did he eat the Lord’s
Supper. Whenever possible believers should be baptized, and should eat the
Lord’s supper on the first day of each week according to Scripture, and
certainly they ought to do good works as an expression of gratitude for
salvation already received, but salvation itself precedes, and is independent
of all these other things.
In regard to the two
malefactors, another has pointed out that only one was saved, so that none
need despair; but only one, so that none should presume. It is very great
folly for any man to presume that he has plenty of time in which to be saved.
He may not have another minute, for his present heartbeat could be his last;
or he could, without knowing it, cross over that invisible line which
separates God’s mercy from His wrath, which marks the boundary of the time
appointed by God during which salvation is made available. A man may live
many years beyond that time, but he cannot be saved. One second beyond the
Divine time line is eternally too late.
23:44.
“And it was about the sixth hour (twelve noon), and there was a darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour (three in the afternoon).”
Small wonder that the sun
refused to shine when the Light of the world was being put to death, and by
the creatures whose sins He was expiating, remission of sin being impossible
apart from the shedding of His precious blood.
The hours mentioned are also
significant, for six is the number of man, sin, weakness, imperfection, etc.,
being one short of God’s perfect number seven. The ensuing darkness reminds
us that as the natural man dwells in spiritual darkness, so will he, unless
saved, dwell for all eternity in “the blackness of darkness for ever,” Jude
13.
But nine is the Biblical
number of resurrection (its factors are 32), and significantly the
coming of the ninth hour saw the light restored, the truth symbolically
declared in this being that the man who has experienced resurrection out of
spiritual death through the new birth, has passed from darkness into light,
and at the end of life’s journey will pass from this world’s darkness into the
glorious light of heaven where there is no night, no darkness.
43:45.
“And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”
It was during the three hours
of darkness apparently that the veil of the temple was torn in two, thus
signifying the opening of a new and living way by which men could approach
God, see Heb 10:19-22, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an
high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water (the Word of God - Eph 5:26).”
23:46.
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”
The loud cry appears to have
been that recorded in Mt 27:46, and also uttered about the ninth hour, “My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” See also Mk 15:34. Apparently there
was just a brief time between that awful cry of agony, and His dismissal of
His spirit. The change from “My God,” when He was suffering wrath and
judgment due to us, to “Father,” when the work of atonement was complete,
reminds us of what a terrible thing it was for Christ the Holy One to be made
sin, and therefore to experience how dreadful it is to become the object of
God’s wrath.
23:47.
“Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly
this was a righteous man.”
Matthew and Mark record the
confession of the centurion as being that Christ was without question the Son
of God. It is a sad commentary on the hardness of the hearts of the Jewish
leaders that they should have been unmoved, while this Roman soldier,
doubtless inured to the sight of violent death, should have been moved to make
such a confession, and to glorify God.
23:48.
“And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things
which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.”
Matthew indicates that it was
the earthquake which climaxed the crucifixion, that produced this fear in the
hearts of the onlookers, but it isn’t indicated how many, if any, were led to
trust the Savior that day. It is one thing for a man to be afraid: quite
another for that fear to result in salvation. Felix, for example, trembled,
but it isn’t recorded that he was ever saved.
23:49.
“And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood
afar off, beholding these things.”
The callous multitude might
return to the city, but those who loved the Lord lingered still, though “afar
off.” Their remaining at a distance seems strange, since, with the crowd
gone, it might have been expected that they would have approached closer to
look, for what they were sure would be the last time, at the body of the Lord
before it was placed in the tomb. Undoubtedly there was a reason for their
standing “afar off,” but that reason isn’t given, and I regret being unable to
suggest one.
23:50.
“And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good
man, and a just:”
23:51.
“(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of
Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of
God.”
23:52.
“This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.”
Joseph means let him add;
and Arimathaea, a high place. John informs us that this man was a
disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews. The Lord’s death,
however, had apparently banished Joseph’s fear, for in Mk 15:43 we read that
he “went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.” No man
can remain long a secret believer. The new life cannot be kept pent up
indefinitely, as the Lord Himself said, “But whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” Jn 4:14.
The water of a spring cannot be indefinitely confined. There is no such thing
as a secret believer, as it is written, confession is an essential part of
salvation, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness: and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” Ro 10:9-10.
24:53.
“And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that
was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.”
From Mt 27:60 we learn that
the tomb was Joseph’s, and from Jn 19:41 we learn that it was in a garden in
the vicinity of the crucifixion site. Man would assign Christ the place of a
felon, and had things gone man’s way He would have been buried in a
malefactor’s grave, but God saw to it that His Son was given an honorable
burial. Man would strip the Lord of His garments and suspend Him naked on a
cross, but with the work of atonement completed, His body was reverently
swathed in linen, the Biblical symbol of righteousness. It is to be noted
incidentally, that the linen was not in the form of a long flowing garment as
depicted by artists, but rather, consisted of long strips wound around the
body as in the case of mummies. As Joseph and Nicodemus applied those
bandages they also applied the resinous mixture of myrrh and aloes to Christ’s
body. It is this that adds additional miraculous character to the Lord’s
resurrection, for those grave clothes were left in the tomb in the same form
as when they had enveloped His body, leaving His enemies to explain how He
could possibly have emerged from those wrappings.
23:54.
“And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.”
“The preparation” was the term
commonly used to describe not only Friday, the day before the Jewish sabbath,
but also the day before any special feast day.
23:55.
“And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and
beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.”
23:56.
“And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath
day according to the commandment.”
It isn’t difficult to imagine
the sorrow with which those women witnessed the Lord’s body being placed in
Joseph’s tomb, and the sorrow with which they went away to prepare the spices
and ointments for the anointing of it in preparation for final burial. That
tomb must have seemed to them the burial place of all their hopes. It is
written, however, that “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the
morning” (Ps 30:5). What transformation came with the dawning of the first
day of the new week, when their tears were turned to joy!
[Luke 24]