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Lesson 64

Crucifixion

Luke 23:26-56

Funerals for the most part are not pleasant experiences. Even though we talk about a celebration time for those who have followed Jesus faithfully, it is still a time of separation and loss. The closer to the one who passes from this life are to us the harder it is to accept. The older I get the more I see my own family passing. My mother had eleven brothers and sisters. At this point there are just three of them left.

The saddest thing for a family to experience and I am right in that group is to realize that some of one’s love ones are going out into eternity lost. They cannot change where they are going to be because of decisions made in this lifetime. Knowing that for many in my family, because we are aging, the time was short I tried to share with them the importance of a spiritual relationship with God. Thankfully, I know that my mother is a believer and when she leaves this world she will go to be with Christ. The Bible tells us that He is delaying the return of His Son because He wants everyone who will accept Him to have the opportunity to do so. Being a compassionate God He does not desire for one single person to choose an eternity separated from Him.

Each person in my family has left a legacy of one kind or another. My hope is that what I leave behind in my children and grandchildren is a love for Jesus. The world makes it harder to do so, but I believe that I don’t have to know how God is going to work out their future. The one thing of which I am sure is God is always here if we will just acknowledge Him.

The Church, being the people of God, suffer losses in different ways. For some the departure of a beloved Pastor who is taking a new position somewhere else is a cause of grieving. There are those who mourn the loss of a Sunday School teacher who was so caring and even may have led them to the Lord. Everyone who has been faithful servants leaves a emptiness in the heart of one he or she has touched with his or her life.

The departure can be devastating if preparation has not been done to carry on the work by those remaining. A good leader prepares the church. A faithful servant leaves a legacy in the lives that have been changed. Although we will not look at that aspect in the lesson today, Jesus had prepared His disciples for his returning to the Father. Of course they could not see it in the midst of the grieving they were to experience in the next two days but they were well on the road to carry on His work.

Jesus had said in the Garden that the hour had come. We shall see how that hour truly was in the next two weeks.

Luke 23:26

The trial and brutality of that trial were over. Now Jesus was on His way to Calvary. The procession would have would taken Him and the other prisoners by the longest way possible. There were two reasons to do so.

• To provide an opportunity for someone to step forward and prove the innocence of the condemned

• To act as a deterrent to those who might think about committing any crime.

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By this point Jesus would have been beaten down physically to the point that He would have been unable to carry the cross beam of the cross which would have been strapped to His shoulders. When the soldiers saw that He could not handle the burden they pulled a man from the crowd to carry it the rest of the way to the place of crucifixion. Luke identifies him as Simon of Cyrene which is present day Tripoli, Libya. That may have been his only trip to Jerusalem during the passover and now he wound up carrying the cross of a criminal. There is no way to know for sure but sometime between his conscription and Jesus being nailed to the cross his whole attitude changed. Mark wrote that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21) Later Paul mentioned Rufus in Romans 16:13 calling him a “a choice man in the Lord.” Some scholars believe that Simon was Simeon called Niger. He was one of the founders of the church at Antioch. (Acts 13:1)

1. Why did the Romans march condemned criminals through the streets of Jerusalem the longest way possible? (See above)

2. What was one of the last disgraces a criminal faced? (Having to carry his own cross.)

3. What is important about Simon? (A man taken from the crowd became a follower of Christ, as well as his sons.)

4. How would you respond to be chosen for a demeaning task?

5. What are the things that you admire about Simon?

6. Why did Mark specifically mention Alexander and Rufus? (Evidently they well known in the Christian movement in the early church.)

Luke 23:27-31

Many were following him mourning because of what was about to happen. Jesus turned to them and told them they should be mourning for themselves because their future was to be horrific. Within the life time of those in the crowd, the Romans would completely destroy their way of life. They would experience famine and even resort to cannibalism before Jerusalem was destroyed. It would get so bad that it would be better for families not to even have children.

He finally told them that if the Romans were a party to killing the innocent Son of God, then they would have no problem bringing destruction to people who deserved it. They would face punishment because they defied and rebelled against the Romans who had dominion over them.

1. Why were the people who were following the possession mourning for Jesus? (They continued to admire Him. Many had probably been healed or believed in His teaching?

2. In what ways might they be in mourning for themselves?

3. What lay in the future for the Jews of Jerusalem?

4. Why would the Romans bring such destruction on Jerusalem? (They had rejected the Savior and rebelled against the Roman authority.)

5. How did Jesus compare Himself with the rest of the citizens including the religious leadership.)

6. What would Jesus say to us today if He were to be present with us?

Luke 23:32

Along with Jesus two others were going to be crucified. The difference was they were actually criminals who were to be punished for their illegal activities.

1. Why did Luke mention the two criminals at this point? (They would play a part in Christ’s crucifixion.)

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2. What was the difference between Jesus and those two men?

3. In what ways would you be guilty enough to be judged with the death penalty?

Luke 23:33-34

Luke does not go into a great deal of detail of the actual process of crucifixion. Again He mentioned the two criminals who were on both sides of Jesus. It appears that he believed it was important, because of his intended audience, to share the things that Jesus said on the cross and the actions of those around Him than the physical.

In the four gospels there are seven statements made by Jesus. Here is one of those statements. He prayed that God would forgive those who were crucifying and mocking Him. While He was saying those words the Romans were busy gambling for His clothes. What a contrast between the two.

1. Why did Luke bypass the physical part of the crucifixion? (Theophilus would have been very familiar with the methods used to crucify a person.)

2. What does it say about Jesus that He asked God to forgive those who were killing Him?

3. What were the Romans doing while Jesus suffered?

4. If someone causes you great suffering how would you react to them?

5. What would be the most difficult part of forgiving them?

Luke 23:35-37

Evidently those closest to the cross were His persecutors. They looked up at Him with an air of superiority. The crowd was:

• Sneering at Him

• Challenging Him to save Himself.

The Romans were:

• Offering sour wine which would increased His thirst.

• Calling for Him to save Himself

1. Who were those closest to the cross?

2. What were they saying to Him?

3. How did their words fit the prophecy that the hour of darkness belonged to them?

4. In what ways did the Romans join in to the mocking?

5. How do you handle yourself when the crowd begins to ridicule others?

Luke 23:38

In the face of all the ridicule Luke notes the placard that would have gone before Jesus as He made His way to Golgotha. It read “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Once the cross had been set in place it was now nailed to the cross. According to John the Jewish leadership was offended by the wording on the placard and requested that Pilate change it. It was Pilate’s one moment for revenge and victory over the leaders. He refused to alter what he had written. (John 19:21-22) It is amazing that in his attempt to put the Jews in their place he actually spoke the truth concerning Jesus.

1. How important was the information of the placard? (It identified the crime for which the person was convicted?

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2. Why would the Jews have a problem with the title, King of the Jews?

3. Why did Pilate use the title?

4. In what way did Pilate unwittingly speak the truth?

5. What is sad about what Pilate did? (He was not willing to stand up to the religious leaders when it really meant something.)

Luke 23:39-41

Luke then returned to the two criminals. One of them joined into the abuse of Jesus. The other man however rebuked him. In clear terms he let the man know that they were on the cross because they deserved to be punished for crimes committed. He recognized that Jesus was indeed was innocent.

1. What was the attitude of one of the criminals?

2. What was he to gain by joining in with the abuse?

3. How did the other man react to the first man’s words?

4. What did he recognize about Jesus?

5. What could either of the men expect to happen because of their sins?

Luke 23:42-43

He then turned to Jesus and requested that, Jesus, remember him when He came into His kingdom. He could not have understood the full implication of that request. Beyond his wildest imagination, Jesus promised him what he did not deserve. Upon their death the man would accompany Jesus into heaven. Those very words once again confirmed in the strongest way that Jesus believed Himself to be the Savior of the world and the Son of God.

1. What request did the man make to Jesus?

2. In the mind of the man what could it have meant? (Certainly not eternal life but Jesus remember his kind words.)

3. What did Jesus do that the man could not have expected?

4. What does His actions say to us? (That He provides salvation for all us who do not deserve it.)

5. What claims did Jesus make with His statement?

Luke 23:44-45

The last three hours of Jesus’ time on the cross were accompanied an unusual natural phenomena. The sky was darkened because the sun was obscured. Of religious significance, the veil was torn not from the bottom to the top but from the top to the bottom. God had torn down the curtain that spoke of the separation of man from God and also kept man separate from other men.

1. What was the first thing that took place that Christ’s battle with sin was coming to an end? (The sky became dark.)

2. What was the significance of the curtain being torn from top to bottom? (God did it thus signifying God removing all barriers separating man from Him.)

3. Why was it important for us? (We can now enter into the holy of holies where God resides.)

Luke 23:46

At about three o’clock Jesus spoke three of the last seven statements from the cross. In Luke Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5. His last act of faith is to totally give Himself over to the Father in death. He trusted that His Father

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is going to do all that He has promised and Jesus will rise from the dead. The matter was no longer in His hands. In Matthew Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 concerning the abandonment that He felt by His Father. Finally in victory He said in a loud voice, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) He had accomplished all that God had called Him to do and it was over. He had won and satan had been defeated.

1. What were the last three statements on the cross? (Psalm 22:1; 31:5; John 19:30.)

2. What were the significance of each of them?

3. What does what occurred mean to us?

4. What should His absolute faith in His Father, even in death, mean to us?

5. Who was victorious on the cross? (Jesus and us.)

6. Why do we no longer have to fear the devil?

Luke 23:47-49

There were varied responses brought on by His death. The centurion did something totally out of character. He began praising God for what he had observed and declared the innocence of Jesus. In Matthew and Mark he even when further stating that Jesus was the Son of God. (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39) The crowds that come to watch returned home beating their chests in deep anguish at the loss of the man they believed was the Messiah. The final group who had followed Him loyally stayed at a distance from the cross seeing all of the events unfolding before them. Jesus was dead.

1. How did the death of Jesus affect those within view of the event?

2. Which of them expressed the greatest faith?

3. What did it mean for the crowds who had been watching?

4. What did it mean for the women and others who were His loyal followers?

Luke 23:50-54

Joseph of Arimathea did a brave thing. His actions would have certainly gotten him in trouble with the Sanhedrin. In spite of the possibility of facing ostracism He went and asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Not a one of His followers had a right to claim the body because none of them were citizens of Jerusalem. Without the decision of Joseph who had become a disciple Jesus would have been cast out on the garbage heap to be burned with rest of the trash. Legend has it that Jesus was buried in Joseph’s own tomb. As was customary a large stone was then rolled across the door of the tomb. Luke did not go into the detail describing how the religious leaders demanded that the tomb be sealed and guards placed there to keep the disciples from stealing the body of Jesus.

1. What did Joseph of Arimathea’s actions show about him?

2. What would have happened to Jesus if he had not come forth?

3. Why could His followers not claim His body?

4. What showed Joseph’s real attachment to Jesus? (He buried Him in his own tomb.)

5. Why did they bury Him and not prepare His body for burial? (It was the day of preparation for the Sabbath.)

6. Why did Luke leave out the details that the other writers presented? (He only needed to show that Jesus was dead which Joseph and Pilate knew was a fact.)

Luke 23:55-56

Unlike the disciples who were no where to be seen at this point the women went with Joseph to the

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grave site to see where Jesus was laid. It was important for them to know because they were planning to prepare the spices and perfumes that would be use to give a proper burial for their Lord. The next day being the Sabbath they had to stay in their homes and could do nothing. This means that Jesus would have been dead from Friday until Sunday. To anoint His body at that point would not be a pleasant experience.

1. Why does Luke not mention the disciples at all during this time? (They were hiding away because of fear.)

2. Where would you have been during all this time?

3. What does this episode show about the women?

4. What were they intending to do?

• Consider if someone was walking before you with a placard (sign board) describing who you are. What would it say?

• From the very words of Jesus understand what you deserve and what He has done for you.

• Like the criminal beside Jesus make sure you have repented of your sins.

• Do not let anyone try to convince you that the Bible is not true regarding the death of Jesus. Evidence shows that He truly died for our sins.

• Be a strong witness to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.

• Do not let losses in your life destroy you but be strong to carry on the work begun by those who have gone on before you.

The church is always stronger than one person or group of people. Jesus left the earth with the full assurance that all of God’s promises would be fulfilled through His people. Jesus opened the door for the salvation of God’s people. He also left behind eleven frightened men who in just a short while would have the boldness and courage to take His message around the world. Whenever the Lord removes a person from the local body of His church, He will always provide those dedicated followers who will carry on His work. Sometimes a person may be removed by transfer or other reasons to help others grow. Each of us has a responsibility to prepare the next generation of believers. The last command in Matthew was for disciples to make disciples by baptizing them and above all teaching them God’s word. Jesus did not leave those behind to fail. They did not nor are we to be the generation that does. Luke 9:10 tells us to put our hand to whatever task we are given to move God’s kingdom forward and to not look back. Our faithfulness is the only thing that makes us fit for God’s kingdom.