Luke 23:32-43 comments: To day shalt thou be with me in paradise

23: 32 ¶  And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 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. 34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 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. 36  And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37  And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38  And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39  And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be

Christ, save thyself and us. 40  But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41  And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42  And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Two condemned men are crucified next to Jesus, one on the one side and one on the other. Matthew 27:58 and Mark 15:27 refer to them as thieves. There were many more crimes for which you could receive capital punishment under Roman rule than we would allow for today. Rome was essentially a military society almost constantly at war with someone and justice was harsh. Jails were places to keep a person awaiting execution. Executions were public and the suffering imposed on the condemned was particularly brutal. They were also public spectacles, entertainment in a world without television or movies.

The penalty for any crime depended mainly on your citizenship status and social class. Non-Roman citizens (Paul was a Roman citizen as revealed in Acts), lower class Romans, and non-citizens had the most brutal and painful forms of execution reserved for them. In criminal cases the governor, Pilate, had sole authority. And while Roman citizen Paul could appeal to Caesar non-citizens like Jesus and the Apostles had no right of appeal. This is one clear reason for God’s plan of allowing this to happen in His plan for redeeming mankind to Himself in this culture and at this time. Pilate was forced into his decision by political necessity and his own lack of moral courage and once the command was given there would be no appeal.

For verse 34 please note this cross-reference;

Psalm 22:18  They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

God’s plan was unfolding and His executioners had no idea what their part in that plan was. Think of Joseph talking to his brothers in Genesis acknowledging that when they sold him into slavery there was a higher will than their wicked intentions toward him.

Genesis 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Men and women make a choice to do evil or good yet have no control over how far their choice will take them or what greater purpose they will serve or be used for.

Matthew 18:7  Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Jesus, God in the flesh, hanging on a cross, is mocked by the Jewish rulers and the Roman soldiers. For verse 36 note this cross-reference;

Psalm 69:21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Pilate himself mocked the Jewish rulers in the placement of a placard calling Jesus king of the Jews in three languages; Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Hebrew was for the Jews. Greek was the dominant language of the culture of the Roman world which is why Paul refers to Gentiles as Greeks. Latin was the official language of Rome. Our Bibles are mainly rooted in these three languages from the Old Testament Hebrew, the New Testament Greek, and the first complete Bible containing Old and New Testaments in the middle of the second century, the Old Latin Bible. Of course, this does not make these sacred languages as Bible writing can be found in Aramaic and scholars tell us that Christian and Jewish writings were made in every language of the age and area and were translated from one into the other and then back again. See H.C. Hoskier’s Concerning the Genesis of the Versions of the New Testament.

Now a curious thing happens. Here is a man, a bad guy, a condemned prisoner who has never been to church, never prayed a 1-2-3 repeat-after-me prayer in front of a preacher and a congregation or been baptized, appealing to Christ, who promises that this very day the man will be with Him in paradise. Where is Paradise?

The same word is used by Paul and John to describe something that is in Heaven above.

2Corinthians 12:4  How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

There is a great gulf between Heaven and Hell that no man can cross and yet in the world of the spirit those suffering in one can understand the joy of the other. See;

Luke 16:19 ¶  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and

send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into

this place of torment. 29  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Now on a side note and bear with me a moment here, the Greeks received a great deal of second-hand knowledge of Hebrew belief over the previous thousand years from the mouths of slaves they had taken of the Hebrews in war. The Greeks, as merchants and mercenaries, were everywhere in the Ancient Near East. Greek words and roots are found in the main languages from that influence as well as Alexander the Great’s empire later in the dominant Hellenistic culture that his conquests spread. But, the Greeks were always there. They even fought on both sides of battles such as Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Necho of Egypt’s Battle of Carchemish, historical writers tell us.

The Greeks were Javan, a word used seven times as Javan and also used for Greece and Grecia. Javan was a son of Japheth from Genesis 10.

Zechariah 9:12 ¶  Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee; 13  When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

Jeremiah 46:2  Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.

Joel 3:6  The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border.

Later, Christian Greek writers insisted that while Plato was uncertain of where Greek myth came from that it grew partly as a mixture of Hebrew belief with, for instance, based on his story, Hercules being a combination of Samson and Jonah. In the same respect the Greeks’ version of Hell, which they called Hades, consisted of a place of the damned and one of the blessed not far from each other.

Christian writers used this reference to Hades as the root word from which our Hell is translated as the Bible uses words and concepts already understood from Greek culture to explain concepts that have a definite difference in meaning. A study can be made of different Greek words translated for wine or love that, in the context, have basically the same meaning in the Bible. But, the Greek mythology of the detail and story of Hades is a cultural creation and while perhaps based on Hebrew understandings went, like Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodoxy way beyond any clear statements of the Bible. In other words, Greek mythology was created for cultural and political reasons using, in part, the Bible stories told by Hebrew captives and from Greek interaction with Hebrew culture as a foundation.

This brings me to my point that perhaps Paradise was taken to Heaven by Christ. Many evangelicals claim this, that Paradise and Hell were side by side in the heart of the earth, as the Greeks would perhaps admit, but that after Christ preached He took Paradise to Heaven. The text does not explicitly say this, though. It is assumption based on assumption and presumption. It may be true but you would have a hard time arguing it from the revelation of the text itself just like you have a hard time arguing Calvinism and Arminianism, that people are created to go to Hell or Heaven and have no choice or that people can gain and lose their salvation repeatedly. The text doesn’t say so and can even seem contradictory if you stick to an “ism” when interpreting it so be careful coming up with a structure of thought about what the Bible is saying between the lines and then forcing the Bible to back up what you are saying.

The text says that by this thief’s acknowledgement that Jesus is Lord He is promised that he will be in Paradise that day with Jesus. This reminds me of Jesus’ activity in healing. As healing was an immediate response to faith so here in Luke 23 so is salvation.

Luke  8:48  And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

Luke 17:19  And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Luke 23:26-31 comments: Jesus' prophesies about the fall of Jerusalem again

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. 27  And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28  But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 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. 30  Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31  For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Simon, who is forced to carry at least part of the cross that Jesus was to be crucified on as writers often talk about the execution victim having to carry the crossbar to the place where it would be nailed to the stake that went into the ground, is a Cyrenian. Cyrene' was an ancient Greek then Roman city in modern day Libya on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Likely a Jew and not a Roman citizen and there at Jerusalem for the feast he is noted as being the father of Alexander and Rufus in Mark 15:21. This suggests that the two youngsters may have become notable Christians as did, perhaps, their father after this experience.

The name Alexander is mentioned later but there is no indication that it ever refers to this Alexander. However, Paul salutes a Rufus who may or may not be this one. It is important not to do too much arguing when the Bible is silent on something in spite of traditions and extrabiblical references in writings of questionable authenticity.

Romans 16:13  Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

From verse 28 it seems clear that Jesus is talking about the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple that has figured so prominently in His prophecies previous to this. Read my comments on 19:41-48 & 21:5-19 where I repeat them in part.

Quote “19:41 ¶  And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42  Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. 43  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, 44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. 45  And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; 46  Saying untothem, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. 47  And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him, 48  And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.

Here is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70. Josephus, a Jewish general who went over to the Romans, gave us the history of that event if we can believe what he wrote. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem was the main event of the First Jewish-Roman War that ended not only in the disaster to the city but the destruction of the Temple, as well.

What was called Herod’s Temple, the Second Temple with the first destroyed by the Babylonians hundreds of years previously, will be destroyed. The Jews will suffer for rejecting their Messiah and for fabricating a false religion, a house of cards built on the Mosaic Law, not too different from what many Christians have done.  It seems to be a character trait of mankind, making it up as they go along. But, some historical writers say that the destruction of Jerusalem marked the great shift away of Christianity from its Jewish roots.” unquote

It is certainly understandable to play this forward to the events of the end of human history in Revelation but it is also important to keep in mind the immediate context of prophecy. There is a context the first readers would have understood and then there is a future context which we are constantly debating about. One of the problems with the Preterist philosophy, those who believe that this defines even all of the events of Revelation, is that Christ did not return to assume control of all of the kingdoms of the earth as Revelation 11:15 declares.

Again, let’s review my comments previously about this singularly great disaster in Jewish history.

Quote “21:20 ¶  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22  For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26  Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Here is a clear distinction between the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple versus the end of history. Read 20-24 to the comma before until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. There is a couple thousand-year gap in that comma.

Paul wrote about the period of Israel’s blindness over the last two thousand years;

Romans 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Notice Paul’s until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Notice also that God is not done with the Jews but their apostasy turned to our salvation and we are to be witnesses for them, not their persecutors.

Now, back to the comma and the two thousand plus year gap. Here is another example of that type of handling of time in the Bible. Read this prophecy in Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1 ¶  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Now, read up to the comma after to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. Jesus refers to this passage in His early ministry.

Luke 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

He stopped where that comma is for us. Before that comma is His first advent and after that comma the day of vengeance of our God holds the second advent as related in the Book of the Revelation. There is a long time in between, two thousand years so far.

From the point at the end of Luke 21:24 and onward we have the events of the end foretold. There was some question about how long that gap might be. If the council had, as related in Acts 7, when they were addressed by Stephen, acknowledged, as he said in verse 52, that they had had the Messiah killed by the Romans, like David killed Uriah by the Ammonites (2Samuel 12:9), that gap may have been much smaller than two thousand years.

Acts 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Christ was ready, perhaps, to receive the repentant Jews. In Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1; and Hebrews 10:12 He is said to be seated on the right hand of God but in the following He might have been prepared, as an example to us, to receive the Jews if they had been repentant and acknowledged who He is and what they did.

Acts 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

They had used the sword of Roman justice to murder the Innocent One (Psalm 94:21; Matthew 27:4) but Peter said they did it out of ignorance.

Acts 3:17  And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

Confirming what Jesus said from the Cross.

Luke 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

And the Law provided a way to deal with the rulers’ sin from ignorance as per Leviticus, chapter 4. But, it was not to be. The Jews had rebellion against God on their spiritual hearts.

Matthew 27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

John 19:15  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

And so, we have the age of the Church until the times of the Gentile domination are over. Israel still has to deal with the Gentiles and their very existence, from a temporal and strictly earthly point of view, depends on the support of powerful nations, the holding back of their enemies, and a very, very shaky geopolitical situation with another holocaust from the Beast and Satan’s fury coming. But, when Christ returns to rule Gentile domination is over.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Verses 25-27 summarize the events of the Book of Revelation. For 27 see;

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Finally, as in verse 28, we are told to be expectant of Christ’s return, of His calling us out as the church, His body on earth being removed or translated from here to Heaven.

1Corinthians 15:51 ¶  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 1Thessalonians 4:13 ¶  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

    21:29 ¶  And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30  When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 37  And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38  And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

See here in Jesus’ closing statements how with the age of the Christian church not revealed that the two prophecies of events at least two thousand years apart appear to be conflated. This confuses the Preterist who say the events of Revelation were fulfilled in 70AD, which is nonsense.

First, it must be understood that the events of the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple will happen so close in time that the generation hearing Christ will have many who will witness them. With the First Jewish-Roman War less than four decades away this generation will experience it.

But, He includes in His closing remarks something more, that the whole earth will experience, the coming of the kingdom of God physically on earth at Christ’s return. Without the two thousand years of the Church Age in between it appears confusing to some. But, look at the disaster the Jews faced in 70AD as a type and a portent of what the end of human history will look like. The signs of Jerusalem’s fall and the signs of the time before Christ’s return will be similar and Christians will be delivered from both sets of horrors involved in those signs.”unquote

Think of it, if the Jews do these things when Christ is present with them what shall be done when He is not. From another perspective Josephus would write about how even the old and feeble were slaughtered by the Romans in the siege of Jerusalem. So, there are probably several ways to compare a green tree with a dry.

It is tempting to think of all of the sermons that could come from this passage. As an example, if American Christianity is so weak as a moral force when there is very little oppression of faith in the country what shall become of it when in a future time our faith is outlawed? I am sure you can think of many ways of looking at this prophecy and relating it to us today.

Luke 23:13-25 comments: Pilate surrenders to the will of the mob

23:13 ¶  And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 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: 15  No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. 16  I will therefore chastise him, and

release him. 17  (For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.) 18  And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: 19  (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.) 20  Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. 21  But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. 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. 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. 24  And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. 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.

Pilate has determined that Jesus is not guilty of sedition. He is no threat to Rome, as Pilate sees it. The only threat to the civil order is coming from the chief priests and the rulers. However, Pilate is cognizant of the fact that there are times when not giving a mob what they want is more dangerous to public order than resisting them. The Jews were very fractious and there were often riots and disturbances. As a Roman official Pilate needed to maintain order not worry about the rights of an innocent man. Of course, if Jesus had been a Roman citizen He would have been entitled to certain legal rights as we will see later in Luke’s writing about Paul.

Notice that, according to custom, Pilate will release a prisoner for Passover as an act of magnanimity to show, obviously, the beneficence of Roman rule. Perhaps this is a clue as to why Herod wanted to keep Peter locked up in Acts 12:4 and not bring him out to the people until after the feast, which would also be the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion. If Herod operated under the same custom as Pilate and released a prisoner at Passover perhaps he did not want Jesus’ followers demanding his release. It is hard to say. Considering how Herod handled John the Baptist I doubt he would have worried about Peter being killed but be more concerned about him being forced to release him by a crowd of supporters. We know from that passage that he arrested him to please the Jews so it seems likely that he wanted to ensure there was no chance for a demand to release Peter.

The crowd demands that someone who has been found guilty of sedition AND murder be released over someone who the authorities have found innocent. This shows us clearly the threat to the Jews, not the Romans at this time and in this place, that the Lord Jesus Christ presented.

The crowd, spurred on by the chief priests and rulers, demands that Jesus be crucified. Pilate asserts his finding of Jesus’ innocence three times as Peter denied Jesus three times. Pilate gives in. As different eyewitness accounts of any event give one a clearer picture of the event I recommend taking the time to read John 18 and 19 about Pilate’s dilemma and his capitulation to the crowd.

Luke 23:1-12 comments: Pilate and Herod

23:1 ¶  And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 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. 3  And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. 4  Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. 5  And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. 6  When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. 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. 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. 9  Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. 10  And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. 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. 12  And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

Jesus is then brought before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate is known outside of the Bible from the Pilate Stone, a mention by the historian Tacitus, Philo of Alexandria, and the historian/Jewish general turncoat Josephus.

Jesus is accused of perverting the nation, which we can understand as an accusation of corrupting the people in their thinking, which is, of course, their opinion. They have accused Him of forbidding to give tribute to Caesar which we know is not true.

Luke 20:20 ¶  And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. 21  And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: 22 

Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? 23  But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? 24  Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar’s. 25  And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.

In another incident as recorded in Matthew we see;

Matthew 17:24 ¶  And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? 25  He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? 26  Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. 27  Notwithstanding,

lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Here we also see in this accusation that the Jews understood that the Messiah, the Christ, was to rule. I remember how Satan tried to tempt Christ as reported in Luke 4 to take the Crown before the Cross. But, many Jews would believe in two Messiahs. As I stated in my comments on Luke 7:19, I read in a book entitled A History of Messianic Speculation in Israel from the First through the Seventeenth Centuries by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver that there was an expectation of two messiahs at times, one; Messiah ben Joseph and, two; Messiah ben David. One is a conqueror and one suffers for the people of Israel and dies fighting the enemies of God and Israel. The Jews understood clearly that Christ would rule but did not understand when that would physically take place.

As Isaiah noted;

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And even King Herod was told;

Matthew 2:3  When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5  And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, 6  And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

A reference to this prophecy from Micah;

Micah 5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

And now here remember how Jesus handled the question of His messiahship before the Jewish leadership in the last passage?

67  Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68  And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 70  Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.

In other words, you just said it. So, He does the same to Pilate.

3  And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.

The high priests and their entourage, a now unruly mob, then begins to, when Pilate perceives this is no threat to Rome and asks Christ if He is the Jews’ king, perhaps sarcastically, accuse Jesus of seditious behavior but calls Jesus a Galilean. Pilate the politician and civil servant of Rome perceives this as a way of shoving this problem onto Herod’s back as Galilee is Herod’s jurisdiction. This not Herod the Great who finished rebuilding the Temple but his son who had beheaded John the Baptist.

Luke 3:1  Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,

Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, who regards Christ as some kind of novelty, but Jesus does not acknowledge Herod’s authority over Him by not answering his questions in any way. He is then humiliated further and sent back to Pilate. In this we learn that Herod, who is a puppet of the Romans and Pilate, a Roman governor, now find common cause. It is true that people who have been enemies before hand will unite in their hatred of Christ and Christians.

Matthew Henry pointed out that the cause of the controversy between Pilate and Herod may have centered around Pilate’s execution of Herod’s subjects.

Luke 13:1 ¶  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

In any event, Jesus is sent to Pilate which makes a strong statement that Herod regards this as an issue for Rome to deal with. Pilate has dismissed the Jews’ charge against Christ of fomenting sedition and Herod has regarded Christ as some kind of diversion. The high priests and Jewish rulers take Him as a threat to their position, though. They will now give Pilate an immense problem and he chooses to satisfy the bloodlust of the mob.

Luke 22:63-71 comments: under interrogation Jesus makes it clear that He is the Son of man, the Son of God, the Messiah

22:63 ¶  And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. 64  And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? 65  And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. 66  And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, 67  Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68  And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69  Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 70  Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71  And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.

We believe and have faith that Jesus Christ was God walking in human flesh.

John 1:1 ¶  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  The same was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

It is astounding to think of the creator of all things being subjected to such treatment by the things He created. Not only that but subjected to this maltreatment at the hand of the special people He made out of the nations of the earth.

John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Mocking and making sport of is a characteristic trait of the wicked when they have power over someone and that person appears helpless. Mocking a helpless enemy is a terrible sign of a spiritual weakness and evil. It has been a common thing throughout history.

Judges 16:25  And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars.

Jesus acknowledges that He is the Messiah and in 69 and 70 we see that the phrase the Son of man with a capital S and the Son of God with a capital S are synonymous as understood by the Jews of this time. This clears up any questions on that issue as to why Jesus used that title often as reported in every gospel. The Son of man is the Son of God as Jesus was fully man and fully God, the Messiah, God in the flesh.

Note the prophetic importance of that title in Daniel.

Daniel 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

The Jews understood Jesus’ claim to being the Christ, the Messiah.

John 5:18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

It is not politically convenient for them to believe Him so they do not, having accused Him of blasphemy. Christ has validated His claim to being the Messiah by the miracles and healings He has performed. He also has done it by the prophecies concerning His death that are littered throughout the gospels. Some people have claimed that He was simply a great moral teacher, such as Thomas Jefferson, an early president. But, either Jesus was God or He was crazy or He was evil. You must decide what you believe about Him because the Bible clearly says that if you do not believe what He said about Himself then God’s wrath abides on you.

John 3:36  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.

Jesus said that He was the only way to God the Father.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

He said to have seen Him was to have seen the Father.

John 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

He declared, as He did in this passage in Luke, that He was the Son of man, the Son of God, the Messiah and Christ. Notice this passage in John.

John 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26  Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

The Bible says that you must believe in a physical resurrection to be saved from Hell and ultimate destruction in a lake of unquenchable fire in eternity.

Romans 10:9  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. 10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 ¶  For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [general term for non-Jews in Roman culture]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Do you believe?