Luke 23

Jesus is passed from the Jewish council to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate. Three times Pilate declares Him innocent, yet gives Him up to be crucified. On the cross Jesus forgives His killers, promises Paradise to a dying thief, and entrusts His spirit to the Father. A good man, Joseph, then buries Him with care.

Luke 23:1

The Jewish council had questioned Jesus through the night. Now the whole body brings Him to Pilate, the Roman governor, because only Rome could carry out an execution. The leaders of God’s people hand God’s Son over to a pagan court.

BSA: whole (“entire, complete”): Luke stresses how united the leaders were against Jesus.

Luke 23:2

The charges are political, since a religious charge would mean nothing to Rome. They claim Jesus opposes Caesar’s taxes and sets Himself up as king. The tax charge is false (Luke 20:25). The kingship charge is true in a way they do not understand.

BSA: subverting (“perverting”): They say Jesus is bending and corrupting the nation, when in fact He is the one telling the truth.

Greek: διαστρέφοντα (diastrephonta, G1294) — “twisting, turning aside.” It pictures bending something out of its true shape. The accusers twist the facts about Jesus while charging Him with twisting the nation.

See also: Luke 20:25.

Luke 23:3

Pilate goes straight to the one charge that matters to Rome. Jesus’ answer is neither a plain yes nor a denial. He accepts the title, but on His own terms, as a king whose kingdom is not won by the sword.

BSA: King (“ruler, sovereign”): Jesus really is the sovereign ruler, though not the kind of rival Rome feared.

See also: John 18:36-37.

Luke 23:4

After questioning Jesus, Pilate gives his first verdict: no case to answer. The Roman judge sees no crime. Luke wants us to know that Jesus died as an innocent man, not as a rebel.

BSA: charge (“guilty”): Pilate finds nothing in Jesus that makes Him guilty.

Luke 23:5

The leaders do not give up. They widen the charge, saying Jesus agitates the whole country, from Galilee in the north to Jerusalem. They make His teaching sound like a danger to public order.

BSA: insisting (“with growing urgency”): Their pressure on Pilate is rising, and they will not accept his verdict.

Luke 23:6-7

Hearing the word Galilee, Pilate sees a way out. Galilee belonged to Herod Antipas, who happened to be in Jerusalem for the feast. Pilate sends Jesus to him, hoping to be rid of a troublesome case.

BSA: jurisdiction (“subject to”): Jesus’ home region placed Him under Herod’s authority, which gave Pilate his excuse.

Luke 23:8

Herod is delighted, but only as a man curious about a celebrity. He wants a show, not the truth. Earlier he had heard of Jesus and wondered about Him (Luke 9:9). Curiosity without repentance gains nothing.

BSA: miracle (“a sign”): Herod wanted entertainment, but Jesus’ signs pointed to God and were never a performance.

See also: Luke 9:9.

Luke 23:9

Herod asks many questions, and Jesus says nothing. The One who spoke to crowds and healed the sick will not give a performance to a man who has already silenced John the Baptist. His silence is itself a judgment, and it fulfills the picture of the quiet Servant.

See also: Isaiah 53:7.

Luke 23:10

While Herod questions Jesus, the chief priests and scribes stand by and keep pressing their charges with great force. The religious experts of Israel are loud, and the One accused is silent.

BSA: vehemently (“intensely”): Their accusations were driven by strong emotion, not by a calm concern for justice.

Luke 23:11

Herod and his soldiers treat Jesus as a joke. They dress Him in a bright robe as a mock king, then send Him back. They make fun of the very truth Pilate had written into the charge. The true King is in disguise before fools.

BSA: ridiculed (“treated with contempt”): Herod saw Jesus as worthless, someone to look down on.

Luke 23:12

Pilate and Herod had been enemies, but their shared dealings with Jesus make them friends. Luke notes this sadly. People who disagree on everything else can come together when they set aside the Son of God.

BSA: enemies (“hostile”): The two rulers had been openly against each other until Jesus came between them.

Luke 23:13-14

Pilate calls the leaders and the people together and gives his judgment in public. He examined Jesus in front of them and found nothing to support their charge of stirring up rebellion. It is his second declaration of innocence.

BSA: inciting (“leading astray”): The charge was that Jesus was turning the people away from their lawful rulers, and Pilate found it false.

Luke 23:15

Herod agrees with Pilate. He sent Jesus back without any sentence. Two rulers have now looked at the case, and neither finds anything worth dying for. The innocence of Jesus is carefully witnessed.

BSA: deserving (“worthy”): Nothing Jesus had done carried the weight of a death sentence.

Luke 23:16

Pilate offers a weak compromise. He will have Jesus flogged and then let Him go. It is unjust, because an innocent man is to be beaten to calm a mob. Pilate wants to please the crowd without fully giving in. Some manuscripts add a verse 17 about the feast custom of releasing a prisoner.

BSA: punish (“chastise”): The word describes a beating meant to correct, though Jesus had nothing to be corrected for.

Greek: παιδεύσας (paideusas, G3811) — “having disciplined, chastised.” This word usually describes a father’s training of a child. Here it covers a Roman flogging, a cruel use of a word that normally implies correcting a wrong.

Luke 23:18-19

The crowd shouts for Jesus to be removed and for Barabbas to be freed. Barabbas was a rebel and murderer, exactly the kind of man Jesus was falsely said to be. The guilty man goes free, and the innocent man is taken in his place.

BSA: insurrection (“uprising”): Barabbas had truly done what Jesus was falsely accused of.

See also: Acts 3:14.

Luke 23:20

Pilate still wants to let Jesus go and speaks to the crowd again. He sees the truth but lacks the courage to act on it. Knowing what is right is not the same as doing it.

BSA: Wanting (“desiring”): Pilate has a real wish to free Jesus, but a wish alone is not enough to stand against a mob.

Luke 23:21

Pilate’s offer is met with a roar. The crowd demands crucifixion, the cruelest form of Roman execution, kept for slaves and rebels. The repeated cry shows how hard their hearts have become.

BSA: Crucify (“to execute”): They were asking for a public and shameful execution, not just a verdict.

Luke 23:22

For the third time Pilate says Jesus has done nothing deserving death. He asks the question no one answers: what evil has He done? The record of His life, healing the sick and forgiving sinners, offers no answer.

BSA: evil (“harm”): Jesus had done only good and no harm to anyone.

Luke 23:23

The crowd’s noise finally wins over Pilate’s conscience. Justice gives way to pressure. Yet behind this human failure stands God’s plan, in which His Son would be given up for sinners.

BSA: prevailed (“overpowered”): The shouting overpowered the voice of justice and of Pilate’s own judgment.

See also: Acts 2:23.

Luke 23:24-25

Pilate gives the people what they asked for. He frees a murderer and hands Jesus over to them. Luke is blunt: Jesus is delivered up to their will. In this exchange the innocent takes the place of the guilty, and that is the gospel in picture form.

BSA: will (“desire”): Jesus was handed over to what the crowd wanted, not to what the law required.

See also: 1 Peter 3:18.

Luke 23:26

Jesus is too weak to carry His cross, so the soldiers seize a passerby, Simon from Cyrene in North Africa, and make him carry it behind Jesus. Simon, without choosing it, becomes a picture of discipleship, following behind Jesus with a cross.

Greek: σταυρόν (stauron, G4716) — “cross, stake.” This was the upright post or beam used for Roman execution. Carrying it meant walking to one’s own death, which is why Jesus used the same picture for following Him.

See also: Luke 9:23.

Luke 23:27

Not everyone in the crowd hates Jesus. Many follow Him, and women among them weep openly for Him. It was common in that time to mourn a man led to execution. These women show real sorrow and sympathy.

BSA: mourning (“lamenting”): They were crying aloud in grief in a public way.

Luke 23:28

Even on the way to the cross, Jesus thinks of others. He tells the women not to weep over Him, because He goes willingly, but over what is coming upon the city that has rejected Him. His concern is for their lives, not His own.

BSA: weep (“mourn deeply”): He calls for deep, serious sorrow over the coming judgment, not a passing sadness.

Luke 23:29

Jesus warns that days of terrible trouble are coming for Jerusalem. In those days, having no children will seem a mercy, since mothers will not have to watch their little ones suffer. He is speaking of the judgment that fell on the city in AD 70.

BSA: Blessed (“happy”): Normally children are a blessing, so calling the childless happy shows how dreadful the days will be.

See also: Luke 21:20-24.

Luke 23:30

Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea. People will beg the mountains to fall on them, preferring to be crushed than to face what is happening. It is a picture of utter despair when judgment comes.

BSA: Cover (“hide”): The cry is to be hidden from judgment, as people once hid from God’s presence.

See also: Hosea 10:8; Revelation 6:16.

Luke 23:31

This is a short proverb. If the innocent Jesus, a green and living tree, is treated like this, what will happen to the dry, fruitless tree of a people who reject Him? If Rome does this when the fire is not yet lit, how much worse will it be when judgment comes?

BSA: tree (“wood”): The saying plays on wood that is still moist and hard to burn against wood that is dry and burns at once.

See also: Ezekiel 20:47.

Luke 23:32

Two criminals are led out with Jesus. Isaiah had said the Servant would be numbered with transgressors. Jesus is placed among wrongdoers, as He had always been among sinners in life.

BSA: criminals (“malefactors”): The word means men who do evil, sharply marking the difference between them and Jesus.

See also: Isaiah 53:12.

Luke 23:33

At the place called The Skull, which in Aramaic is Golgotha, they crucify Jesus between the two criminals. The place was probably named for its shape or because it was a place of death. The King is lifted up in the center, among sinners.

Greek: Κρανίον (Kranion, G2898) — “skull.” Our word cranium comes from it. The Latin form of the name gives us the word Calvary.

Luke 23:34

Jesus’ first words from the cross are a prayer for His enemies. He asks the Father to forgive the very people nailing Him up. They do not grasp the full meaning of what they do. Meanwhile soldiers gamble for His clothes, as the psalm foretold.

BSA: forgive (“to release or leave, sending away guilt”): Forgiveness means sending the guilt away from the person, as one sends away a burden.

Greek: ἄφες (aphes, G863) — “let go, release, send away.” The word is used for releasing a debt or a prisoner. Jesus asks that their guilt be let go, even as they drive in the nails.

See also: Psalm 22:18; Acts 7:60.

Luke 23:35

The rulers taunt Jesus with the very titles that were true. Christ means the Anointed King, and the Chosen One was a title for God’s Servant. They say He saved others, which is true, but cannot see that He is saving by staying where He is.

BSA: sneered (“ridiculed”): Their contempt was open and meant to shame Him in front of the crowd.

Greek: ἐξεμυκτήριζον (exemyktērizon, G1592) — “turned up the nose at, sneered.” The word paints a picture of turning up the nose in scorn. It echoes Psalm 22, where those around the sufferer mock him.

See also: Psalm 22:7-8.

Luke 23:36-37

The soldiers join in, offering cheap sour wine and repeating the same taunt: save Yourself. They take the title King of the Jews as a joke. The jeers are all about saving Himself, the one thing Jesus will not do, for He is saving others.

BSA: sour wine (“vinegar”): It was the soldiers’ cheap, sharp drink, offered more as an insult than as relief.

Greek: ὄξος (oxos, G3690) — “sour wine, vinegar.” This was the common cheap wine of soldiers and laborers. Its offering here fulfills a line in the psalm about a thirsty sufferer.

See also: Psalm 69:21.

Luke 23:38

A written notice was fixed above His head, stating the charge. Pilate meant it as a jab at the Jews, but the words tell the truth. Even in mockery, the world declares who Jesus is.

BSA: KING (“a sovereign ruler”): The sign names Jesus as a real ruler with real authority, whatever the writer intended.

See also: John 19:19-22.

Luke 23:39

One of the criminals joins the abuse. He wants rescue from pain and death, not from sin. He sneers at Jesus and treats Him as a last chance. His cry shows how a person may call on Jesus and still not trust Him.

BSA: abuse (“blasphemy”): His words were not only rude but spoke against the Holy One.

Luke 23:40-41

The second criminal answers with honesty. He fears God, admits his guilt, and says they deserve their sentence. Then he testifies that Jesus has done nothing wrong. This is real repentance: he agrees with God about himself and about Jesus.

BSA: justly (“receiving what is deserved”): He accepts that his punishment is fair, with no excuses.

Luke 23:42

Though dying beside Jesus, he believes Jesus is a king who will have a kingdom beyond death. He asks for nothing grand, only to be remembered. It is a short prayer of simple faith, with no good works to offer.

BSA: remember (“keep in memory”): He asks Jesus to hold him in mind, as one who cares for him, when the kingdom comes.

Luke 23:43

Jesus gives far more than was asked. Not someday, but today, the man will be with Him. Death is not the end, and being with Christ is the heart of heaven. Salvation comes by grace to a man who has nothing to offer.

BSA: Paradise (“a garden, a place of future bliss”): The word suggests a beautiful garden of joy, the place of God’s presence.

Greek: παραδείσῳ (paradeisō, G3857) — “garden, park.” The word was used for an enclosed royal garden. It recalls Eden and promises a restored place with God.

See also: 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23.

Luke 23:44-45

From noon to three, darkness covers the land, though it was midday. Creation itself seems to mourn as the Son of God dies. At the same time the great curtain in the temple, which hid the Holy of Holies, tears from top to bottom, showing that the way to God is now open.

BSA: darkness (“the absence of light”): The land was left with no light at all, as at a sign of judgment.

Greek: καταπέτασμα (katapetasma, G2665) — “curtain, veil.” This is the heavy curtain that screened off the most holy place. Its tearing shows that the barrier between God and people has been removed.

See also: Hebrews 10:19-20.

Luke 23:46

Jesus dies not in defeat but in trust. He uses words from a psalm of trust and speaks again to His Father. No one takes His life from Him. He gives it up, placing His spirit safely in the Father’s hands.

BSA: commit (“entrust”): He places His life with the Father like a deposit in safe keeping.

Greek: παρατίθεμαι (paratithemai, G3908) — “I entrust, I place in keeping.” It is a banker’s word for leaving something valuable in another’s care. Jesus deposits His spirit with the Father in full trust.

See also: Psalm 31:5; John 10:18.

Luke 23:47

A Roman officer, who had likely seen many men die, is moved by how Jesus died. He praises God and says Jesus was righteous, that is, innocent. A Gentile soldier bears witness when the leaders of Israel would not.

BSA: righteous (“just, innocent”): He says Jesus was in the right, guilty of no crime, which confirms Pilate’s verdict.

Greek: δίκαιος (dikaios, G1342) — “righteous, just, innocent.” The word means both morally upright and not guilty. The centurion may have meant either, and both are true of Jesus.

Luke 23:48

The crowd that came to watch a show goes home in grief. They beat their breasts, a sign of sorrow and guilt. Seeing Jesus die shook them, and Luke leaves us with the picture of a people troubled in conscience.

BSA: breasts (“chests”): Striking the chest was a physical sign of deep sorrow and regret.

Greek: θεωρίαν (theōrian, G2335) — “sight, spectacle.” Our word theater is related. The crowd came as spectators, but the sight turned them into mourners.

Luke 23:49

Those who loved Jesus stand a little way off. The women who followed Him from Galilee are among them, faithful to the end. They cannot help Him, but they do not leave. Luke makes them witnesses, and they will be the first to see the empty tomb.

BSA: distance (“from afar”): Grief and fear kept them back, yet they stayed within sight.

See also: Luke 8:1-3.

Luke 23:50-51

Joseph of Arimathea sat on the same council that condemned Jesus, but he did not agree with them. Luke calls him good and righteous, a man who looked in hope for God’s kingdom. A single honest voice can stand within a corrupt body.

BSA: waiting (“expectantly”): His waiting was a hopeful looking forward, not an idle delay.

See also: Luke 2:25.

Luke 23:52-53

Joseph boldly asks Pilate for the body. Crucified men were often left unburied or thrown in common graves, so this took courage. He wraps Jesus in linen and lays Him in a new rock-cut tomb, as Isaiah had said the Servant would be with a rich man in His death.

BSA: tomb (“sepulcher”): It was a formal burial place, so Jesus was given a proper and honorable burial.

See also: Isaiah 53:9.

Luke 23:54

It is Friday, the day of preparation, and the Sabbath is about to begin at sunset. The burial had to be done quickly. Time was short, and Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb with only the first part of the care it deserved.

BSA: Preparation Day (“Friday”): It was the day before the Sabbath, when work was finished before the day of rest began.

Luke 23:55-56

The women from Galilee follow Joseph and mark where Jesus is laid. They go home to prepare spices, then rest on the Sabbath as the commandment said. Even in grief they honor God’s law, and they are ready for what comes next.

BSA: rested (“ceased from work”): They stopped their work out of obedience, even with their task unfinished.

See also: Exodus 20:8-10; Luke 24:1.