Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:
(Luke 23:32) And there were also two others, malefactors, led with Him to be put to death.
In the first part of chapter 23, Jesus had been sentenced to death by crucifixion and was being led to the place where it was to be performed. Simon of Cyrene followed behind Him bearing His cross. There were two other men who were indeed criminals that were being led to their crucifixion, as well. Imagine our sweet Lord being treated as a common criminal! But it fulfilled prophecy in Isaiah 53:12 which said in part that "He was numbered with the transgressors."
(33) And when they had come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
They came to the place where the crucifixion was to be done; it was called Calvary. The original word translated as Calvary was "kranion." It is very similar to our word cranium, and it indeed meant skull. It was called that because of the many skulls of the executed which lay there. Jesus was raised up on the cross in the middle of the two criminals.
(34) Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Amazingly, Jesus showed compassion for the unsaved souls who were torturing and mocking Him and He prayed to His Father that He forgive them because they did not realize they were crucifying the Messiah, their only source of salvation. The soldiers divided up Jesus's garments and cast lots for them, also fulfilling prophecy in Psalms 22:18, "They part My garments among them and cast lots on My vesture."
(35) And the people stood watching. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is Christ, the chosen of God."
The people just watched. Rulers among them contemptibly mocked Jesus saying that if He was truly the Christ, He could save Himself, as He saved others. They had no idea that He could have chosen to do that, but that all the world would die in their sins if He did. He chose not to save Himself so that He could save others! They called Jesus the "chosen of God." He was not really chosen by God, but He was God, but of course, they did not understand that.
(36) And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him and offering Him vinegar, (37) And saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
The soldiers also mocked Him with the same taunts, that if He really was the King of the Jews, He should save Himself. Vinegar, or sour wine, was a common drink of the Roman soldiers, so the offering of that in itself was not necessarily part of the mockery. It may have been meant to arouse Him or numb the pain so that they could watch Him save Himself if He could.
(38) And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew, "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
An inscription was written over Jesus on the cross. The account in John stated it was Pilate who wrote the inscription displaying the accusation against Jesus. Here it states he wrote it in three different languages that all people might see why Jesus was being put to death. Unbeknownst to him, Pilate was being used by God to profess the truth about Jesus to all.
(39) And one of the malefactors who were hanged railed on Him, saying, "If You are Christ, save Yourself and us!"
One of the criminals who were being crucified along with Jesus, also took part in the taunting, and said if He was really Christ, He should save Himself and also them.
(40) But the other answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation?"
The other criminal rebuked him who was taunting Jesus. He asked him if he even feared God, seeing that he was acting as barbaric as the Roman soldiers. And he was in the same condemnation as Jesus and could be treated just as contemptibly, so how could he egg this on?
(41) "And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this Man has done nothing amiss."
The second criminal went on to add that each of them was receiving what was due them for their actions, but that Jesus had done nothing to deserve that punishment. I'm sure he was being drawn by the Holy Spirit to see Jesus for who He was, but actually with only the crime of "King of the Jews," what had He done to deserve crucifixion?
(42) And he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."
What an amazing conversion! This criminal came to see Jesus for who He really was and asked that He remember him when He came into His kingdom.
(43) And Jesus said to him, "Verily, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise."
Jesus told the criminal that he would indeed be with Jesus in paradise. Paradise may mean heaven, or some think it is a peaceful place where souls wait to be resurrected at the judgment, that all souls must be judged before they ascend into heaven. Whatever the case, this criminal was indeed saved and would be with Jesus in eternal life.
(44) And it was about the sixth hour and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
The Jews started counting the hours of their day at about sunrise at 6:00 in the morning, so their sixth hour would have been noon. There was a darkness over all the earth from noon until 3:00 in the afternoon. This fulfilled a prophecy in Amos 8:9, "...I will cause the sun to go down at noon and I will darken the earth in the clear day."
(45) And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
The sun was darkened. Many have called it a solar eclipse, but that would have been impossible at the time of the Passover and the full moon. The sun was supernaturally darkened because the Light of the world was being extinguished. At the same time the veil of the temple was supernaturally torn in two. That represented the veil separating God from the people. Because of what Jesus was doing bearing all our sins on the cross, all people now had access to God. You would think these awesome miraculous happenings would have brought the whole lot of people who were observing to their knees begging for forgiveness.
(46) And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit," and having said that, He gave up the ghost.
Jesus then cried out in a loud voice to the Father that He was presenting His spirit to Him, and then He breathed His last breath and died.
(47) Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"
The Roman centurion guard at Jesus's cross observed all that had happened with the darkening of the sun, the earthquake and rocks being torn apart as told in the account in Matthew, and even the manner in which Jesus died, apparently by His own will. This Roman, a Gentile, saw the truth about Jesus and he glorified God.
(48) And all the people who came together to that sight, beholding the things that were done, struck their breasts and returned.
All the people who had witnessed what had happened beat their breasts in deep emotion. Usually the people of that time struck their breasts in mourning or sorrow, but whether it was sorrow and regret for what they had done to Jesus, or sorrow and fear for themselves, it's hard to know for certain. However, it did affect them deeply and then they returned home.
(49) And all His acquaintances and the women who followed Him from Galilee stood afar off, beholding these things.
Those people who knew Jesus personally and were familiar with Him and also the women who had followed Him from Galilee stood a distance away watching all that had taken place.
(50) And behold, a man named Joseph, a counsellor, a good and just man, (51) (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them), of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself also waited for the kingdom of God.
There was there a man named Joseph, of Arimathea, a good and just man who looked forward to the kingdom of God. Being a counsellor, he may have been on the council of the Sanhedrin, but he did not go along with the council's decision to put Jesus to death.
(52) He went to Pilate and begged for the body of Jesus.
This good man, Joseph of Arimathea, went to Pontius Pilate and asked for Jesus's body.
(53) And he took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone where no man had been laid before.
Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a new sepulchre that had been hewn out of stone. I can't help but notice the way Luke wrote about Jesus's body. He called it "it," not "Him." Jesus's spirit was no longer with His body and Luke seems to recognize that His body was not Him. However, Joseph showed great love and respect for Jesus's body, taking care of its burial.
(54) And that day was the Preparation and the Sabbath drew near.
That day was the preparation for the Sabbath which was drawing quite near by this time. Jesus had died about 3:00 in the afternoon and the Sabbath would have begun at 6:00 in the evening, so Joseph would have worked quickly to get permission and then to bury Jesus's body.
(55) And the women also who came with Him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulchre and how His body was laid.
The same women who had been watching from afar all that took place at Jesus's crucifixion followed after Joseph to see where Jesus's body was laid. The other Gospel accounts tell us they were Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of James and Joseph, the wife of Cleophas and the sister of Mary, Jesus's mother; and Salome, the mother of James and John, Zebedee's sons.
(56) And they returned and prepared spices and ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.
The women returned to their homes and prepared spices and ointments for Jesus's body, but then rested before bringing them back to His body because the Sabbath had begun, and it was the law that they should rest and do no work which included anointing the dead. They did not realize at this time that Jesus had fulfilled that ceremonial law thus abolishing the need for it, as He would be our Sabbath rest. That is not to say one shouldn't observe the Sabbath for it was commanded for our own good and well-being. However, there was no more need for all the legalistic rules of it. As Jesus had demonstrated, He was Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8), and said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath," and it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:12).
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