Luke 23 – Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Luke 23:1-12: Jesus before Pilate & Herod

A. Find Out:

1. Where was Jesus taken next? v.1
   • Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate.
2. Of what did they accuse him? v.2
   • And they began to accuse him, saying, ‘We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king.’
3. What did Pilate ask him and with what reply? v.3
   • So Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ ‘You have said so,’ Jesus replied.
4. What was Pilate’s judgement, so what did they say? v.4,5
   • Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, ‘I find no basis for a charge against this man.’ 5 But they insisted, ‘He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.’
5. What did this prompt Pilate to do? v.6,7
   • On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
6. Why did this please Herod & so what did he do? v.8-10
   • When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort. 9 He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him.
7. What did Herod do finally? v.11,12 
   • Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That day Herod and Pilate became friends – before this they had been enemies.

B. Think:

1. How had the basis of accusation against Jesus changed?
2. Why do you think that was?
3. How are these accusations seen to fail?

C. Comment:

The Sanhedrin has just declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy which deserves death, but they do not have the authority to execute someone, only the occupying Romans do, so they take him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Once there (presumably) they realise that the accusation of blasphemy will not wash with this unbelieving Gentile, so they accuse Jesus of undermining the Jewish nation, of opposing paying taxes to Rome and of claiming to be the Messiah.

The first two were patently untrue and could not be substantiated so Pilate doesn’t even bother with them. Instead, he asks Jesus if he is the King of the Jews and gets a positive answer, but this doesn’t bother Pilate – there had been other rebel leaders and this one doesn’t look like a challenge – and Pilate had probably heard all about Jesus from his own people anyway.  

As soon as Pilate hears Jesus came from Galilee, he sees a way out and sends him to the Jewish governor of Galilee, Herod, who happens to be in town, probably for the Passover feast. Herod can’t get anywhere with Jesus and so after abusing him they send him back to Pilate. Neither Pilate nor Herod could find a just cause to condemn Jesus, because he is innocent! Yet the farce continues with the religious leaders determined to get rid of this thorn in their side. 

D. Application:

1. Gentile & Jewish authorities declared Jesus innocent.
2. He was innocent, yet we killed him. This is our sin.

Passage: Luke 23:13-25: Before Pilate again

A. Find Out:

1. Who did Pilate speak to and what did he tell them? v.13-15
   •  Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, ‘You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
2. What did he say he was going to do? v.16
   • Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.’
3. But what response did he get? v.17-19
   • But the whole crowd shouted, ‘Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!’ 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
4. Yet what did he do and what response came? v.20,21
   • Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’
5. What did he declare yet again? v.22
   • For the third time he spoke to them: ‘Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.’
6. Yet what happened? v.23-25
   • But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

B. Think:

1. What 3 groups of people are standing against Pilate?
2. What was Pilate’s clear judgement?
3. Yet what was the outcome?

C. Comment:

These verses may be some of the most shameful in history. Jesus has come back from Herod and so Pilate now speaks to the religious leaders, the secular leaders of Israel, and the general crowd that has gathered there. Every aspect of Judaism is represented here! Pilate wants them to know that they have no grounds to put Jesus to death. He repeats this a number of times. He is quite clear about this.

The whole crowd will have nothing to do with this. They seek to make use of a local law that said that at Passover the governor had the prerogative to release and pardon one prisoner being held. The crowd call for Barabbas, a revolutionary murderer to be released instead, and then chant for Jesus to be crucified. Three times Pilate appeals to them – this is a sign of his sureness of the wrongness of what is happening, but eventually, for the sake of expediency, Pilate gives way and agrees to their demands: Barabbas will be released and Jesus will be crucified.

What a clear travesty of Justice. Jew and Gentile together are guilty of the greatest travesty of justice in history! The account is so clear – he is innocent, yet at the demand of the leaders of the land, Jesus is going to be executed by one of the most horrible forms of execution ever devised. This is purely because the leaders are fearful of this man who shows up their deadness. This man IS life and they are going to extinguish it!

D. Application:

1. Let’s be perfectly clear – Jesus was totally innocent.
2. Jesus died as a spotless lamb for your Sin. Thank and praise him.

Passage: Luke 23:26-34: Jesus Crucified

A. Find Out:

1. Who carried Jesus’ cross? v.26
   • As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
2. Who followed Jesus doing what? v.27
   •  A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him.
3. What did Jesus tell them to do? v.28
   • Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
4. Why? v.29-31
   • For the time will come when you will say, “Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!” 30 Then ‘“they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’”  For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?’
5. Who were crucified with Jesus? v.32,33
   • Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left.
6. What did Jesus pray? v.34
   • Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

B. Think:

1. What do many in the crowd obviously feel about Jesus?
2. How does Jesus twice express his concern in this passage?
3. How does this show Jesus awareness of God’s purposes?

C. Comment:

The bare facts of what happened are these: Jesus is taken off to be crucified, because he is obviously weak from being beaten and being up all night, they get another to carry his cross, many follow him weeping, he is taken to the place of execution and crucified there alongside two thieves who are also being executed. This simple account omits Jesus’ words which reveal his awareness of much bigger issues.

First, in his words to the weeping women, he is giving them a warning of what will yet happen to Jerusalem – it was destroyed in AD70. He wants them to be aware and be prepared. On that day there will be anguish when mothers will wish they’d never had children who were now suffering all that was happening.

Next, as he prays on the cross, he is aware that the greatest injustice of history is being acted out which, if God’s justice was to be upheld, would result in the destruction of everyone involved in it. As we pray, we should be speaking out God’s will, and that is exactly what Jesus is doing. This is a sinful act by mankind, yet one which the trinity had planned long back, using man’s sinfulness. It deserved the judgement of heaven but was in fact the judgment of heaven being brought on itself. God took our punishment. That was what this staggering event was all about. How incredible.

D. Application:

1. Even in the midst of trial Jesus is concerned for people.
2. Nothing can hold back the love of God being expressed!

Passage: Luke 23:35-43: Jesus on the corss

A. Find Out:

1. What did the rulers say? v.35
   • The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.’
2. What did the soldiers do and say? v.36,37
   • The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.’
3. What notice was put above Jesus? v.38
   • There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
4. What did one of the two thieves say? v.39
   • One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’
5. What did the other say? v.40-42
   • But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42 Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
6. What was Jesus’ answer to him? v.43
   • Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’

B. Think:

1. How did different people abuse Jesus on the Cross?
2. How was there one person different from the rest?
3. How was he rewarded?

C. Comment:

Jesus is hanging on the Cross enduring the most excruciating physical agony and now to that is added the put-downs of the various people there. First there are the rulers, those in authority in Judaism who has put him there. Having taken the brunt of his teaching that showed them up badly, they now get their own back and taunt him. Then there are the hardened soldiers who see death regularly and they too mock him for his inability to do anything.

Finally there is the criminal who is also hanging there who, in his agony, lashes out at Jesus for his inability to help them. Yes, that is what comes out with these three sets of people: the inability of Jesus to do anything about his situation. When we see Jesus in the Gospels, completely in control of his circumstances, fulfilling God’s will, it makes the contrast here even more awful. This is a self imposed inability to change what is happening. He willingly took this terrible experience for you and me.

Then there is the second criminal, who shows us that circumstances do NOT dictate how we must act. He faces the truth about himself and believes in Jesus, and is thus accepted by Jesus. He is an example of a “death-bed” conversion. How wonderful. It just required an open heart and salvation was immediately there! It didn’t require action, just belief. That was enough.

D. Application:

1. Do we let circumstances dictate and deny truth?
2. Will we use circumstances to soften our hearts to face the truth?

Passage: Luke 23:44-49: Jesus dies

A. Find Out:

1. What time was it and what happened in the sky? v.44
   • It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,
2. What happened in the temple? v.45
   • for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
3. What did Jesus cry out and then what happened? v.46
   • Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.
4. What did the on-looking Centurion declare? v.47
   • The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’
5. What did the general onlookers do? v.48
   •  When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.
6. But what did the women with Jesus do? v.49
   •  But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.

B. Think:

1. What manifestations, according to Luke, accompanied the Cross?
2. How did Jesus’ last words even have effect?
3. What are you feeling at this point in the Gospel?

C. Comment:

The Jewish day was reckoned from our 6.00am so at midday the sky turned black. Presumably thick clouds covered the sky and for three hours, accompanying Jesus’ last hours, the scene was one of utter gloom. Other Gospel writers record other things happening but Luke limits himself to noting that the very thick curtain in the temple was torn in two.

As his Gospel started with supernatural events so it draws to a close with more such events. The sky is unnaturally dark and an invisible hand opens the way into the Holy of Holies in the temple, the innermost place where God was said to reside. The open curtain perhaps indicates that the way is now open to God, through Jesus’ death on the cross. Alternatively the open curtain shows there is no sign of God. This is a moment when the Son of God is being excluded from his world and the Father is not there for him! He has to walk this path alone. This is a most poignant picture.

Jesus, still in complete control, releases his life to death. There is no out-of-control anguish in this. It is a total control thing. The centurion who is overseeing the executions is impressed by the remarkable way that Jesus dies. Even in his death, Jesus speaks into someone’s life. The on-looking crowd acknowledge it is all over and leave, suddenly aware of the awfulness of what is happening they beat their breasts.

D. Application:

1. He is gone. Without him the world is empty. How terrible.
2. Humanly this is the end. We threw God out of His world.

Passage: Luke 23:50-56: Jesus Buried

A. Find Out:

1. Who was Joseph? v.50
   • Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man
2. How was he different from the other leaders? v.51
   • who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God.
3. What did he do? v.52,53
   • Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. v.53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.
4. When was all this happening? v.54
   • It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
5. Who was watching what was happening? v.55
   • The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and ow his body was laid in it.
6. What did they do and why? v.56
   • Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

B. Think:

1. What sort of man was Joseph?
2. What did he ensure happened?
3. What problem was there about it all?

C. Comment:

Jesus is dead! Of that there was no question. These Roman executioners knew their job and it was more than their lives were worth to allow there any mishaps – especially with the body of this Galilean trouble maker who has prophesied resurrection! Normally the bodies from crucifixions would be put in common graves but, amazingly, a member of the Sanhedrin steps in and asks the governor for the body.

Obviously not all the leaders had been in agreement about Jesus death, and Joseph, who comes from Arimathea is clearly a righteous and godly man. His voice had not been able to prevail in all that had happened previously but at least now he can do the decent thing and give Jesus a proper burial. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that it was Joseph’s own tomb that had been recently cut into the rock. For such a burial the body would be wrapped up and have spices and perfumes poured all over it.

However, there is a problem – time is running out. The Jewish day ended at 6.00pm. Jesus had died at 3.00pm and therefore there was very little time left in the day to take the body down, transport it to the grave and properly prepare it – because in 3 hours time the Passover Sabbath started when no work should be done. Thus they put Jesus in the tomb with some of the work yet to be done after Sabbath. A stone is placed over the entrance. The scene is set. Watch this space!

D. Application:

1. Apparently unimportant events often have major repercussions.
2. In our daily lives, all events are significant. Think on that.