Image: “Christ Carrying the Cross” by Titian (dated circa AD 1565)

Starter

What causes are worth ​suffering for?

CONTEXT

The darkness was having its way with ​Jesus. But according to Jesus, this was ​the way it had to be – his tragic destiny ​was part of God’s redemptive plan. The ​Old Testament had prophesied that the ​suffering of God’s Servant would atone for ​the sins of God’s people. After Jesus’ ​arrest, Luke tells the story of how Jesus’ ​chief disciple, Peter, denied knowing his ​master three times. Then Luke narrates ​the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin – ​the Jewish ruling body that handled ​internal Jewish affairs. Jesus’ trial may be ​set in the Hall of Hewn Stone in the ​temple, with the council sitting in a ​semicircle and the high priest seated in ​the middle. Their interrogation focuses on ​the identity claims of Jesus. Luke’s ​narrative of the Messiah’s final hours is ​drenched with irony that is both ​disturbing and profound.

THe King’s Trial

22:63 Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. 64 They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65 They also said many other things against him, reviling him. 66 When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. Then they led Jesus away to their council 67 and said, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I ask you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

70 So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” He answered them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “Why do we need further testimony? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”

The Sanhedrin wanted to execute Jesus, ​but they did not possess the power to ​exercise capital punishment. Seeking his ​life, they took Jesus’ case to the Roman ​governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate.

23:1 Then the whole group of them rose ​up and brought Jesus before Pilate. 2 ​They began to accuse him, saying, “We ​found this man subverting our nation, ​forbidding us to pay the tribute tax to ​Caesar and claiming that he himself is ​Christ, a king.” 3 So Pilate asked Jesus, ​“Are you the king of the Jews?” He ​replied, “You say so.” 4 Then Pilate said ​to the chief priests and the crowds, “I ​find no basis for an accusation against ​this man.” 5 But they persisted in saying, ​“He incites the people by teaching ​throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee ​and ended up here!”

Pilate wanted Jesus out of his hands. After ​discovering that Jesus was under the ​jurisdiction of Herod Antipas, the Roman ​client ruler of Galilee, Pilate transferred ​his case to Herod. Luke says that Herod ​questioned Jesus “at considerable length,” ​but “Jesus gave him no answer.” (Luke ​23:9) Then Herod and his soldiers mocked ​Jesus, dressed him in elegant clothes – ​likely an insult for his claim to kingship – ​and sent Jesus back to Pontius Pilate.

13 Then Pilate called together the chief ​priests, the leaders, and the people, 14 ​and said to them, “You brought me this ​man as one who was misleading the ​people. When I examined him before ​you, I did not find this man guilty of ​anything you accused him of doing. 15 ​Neither did Herod, for he sent him back ​to us. Look, he has done nothing ​deserving death. 16 I will therefore have ​him flogged and release him.” 18 But ​they all shouted out together, “Take this ​man away! Release Barabbas for us!” 19 ​(This was a man who had been thrown ​into prison for an insurrection started in ​the city, and for murder.) 20 Pilate ​addressed them once again because he ​wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept ​on shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” 22 A ​third time he said to them, “Why? What ​wrong has he done? I have found him ​guilty of no crime deserving death. I will ​therefore flog him and release him.” 23 ​But they were insistent, demanding with ​loud shouts that he be crucified. And ​their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate ​decided that their demand should be ​granted. 25 He released the man they ​asked for, who had been thrown in ​prison for insurrection and murder. But ​he handed Jesus over to their will.

The King’s Execution

32 Two other criminals were also led ​away to be executed with him. 33 So ​when they came to the place that is ​called “The Skull,” they crucified him ​there, along with the criminals, one on ​his right and one on his left.

Luke’s original audience needed no ​explanation of what this meant. ​Crucifixion was a punishment for slaves, ​bandits, and revolutionaries. It was, “The ​most painful and degrading form of ​capital punishment in the ancient world... ​A person crucified in Jesus’ day was first ​of all scourged (beaten with a whip ​consisting of thongs with pieces of metal ​or bone attached to the end) or at least ​flogged until the blood flowed. This was ​not done just out of cruelty but was ​designed to hasten death and lessen the ​terrible ordeal. After the beating, the ​victim was forced to bear the crossbeam ​to the execution site in order to signify ​that life was already over and to break the ​will to live.” In Jesus’s case, someone else ​was seized to carry his cross, perhaps ​because of Jesus’ exhaustion or the ​severity of his beating. “A tablet detailing ​the crime(s) was often placed around the ​criminal’s neck and then fastened to the ​cross. At the site the prisoner was often ​tied (the normal method) or nailed (if a ​quicker death was desired) to the ​crossbeam. The nail would be driven ​through the wrist rather than the palm, ​since the smaller bones of the hand could ​not support the weight of the body. The ​beam with the body was then lifted and ​tied to the already affixed upright pole. ​Pins or a small wooden block were placed ​halfway up to provide a seat for the body ​lest the nails tear open the wounds or the ​ropes force the arms from their sockets. ​Finally the feet were tied or nailed to the ​post. Death was caused by the loss of ​blood circulation and coronary failure. ​Especially if the victims were tied, it could ​take days of hideous pain as the ​extremities turned slowly gangrenous; so ​often the soldiers would break the victims ​legs with a club, causing massive shock ​and a quick death. Such deaths were ​usually done in public places...”

Excerpt from Grant Osborne, “Cross, Crucifixion,” ed. ​Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary ​(Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 368–369.

34 … Then they threw dice to divide his ​clothes. 35 The people also stood there ​watching, but the leaders ridiculed him, ​saying, “He saved others. Let him save ​himself if he is the Christ of God, his ​chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also ​mocked him, coming up and offering ​him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are ​the king of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 ​There was also an inscription over him, ​“This is the king of the Jews.” 39 One of ​the criminals who was hanging there ​railed at him, saying, “Aren’t you the ​Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But ​the other rebuked him, saying, “Don’t ​you fear God, since you are under the ​same sentence of condemnation? 41 ​And we rightly so, for we are getting ​what we deserve for what we did, but ​this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 ​Then he said, “Jesus, remember me ​when you come in your kingdom.” 43 ​And Jesus said to him, “I tell you the ​truth, today you will be with me in ​paradise.”

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 because the sun’s light failed. The temple curtain was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And after he said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things.

The tragic story ends with Joseph – a ​member of the Sanhedrin who disagreed ​with the council – asking Pilate for Jesus’s ​body. Joseph “wrapped it in a linen cloth, ​and placed it in a tomb cut out of the ​rock” (Luke 23:53). Some of Jesus’ female ​followers wanted to prepare his body for ​burial with perfumes and spices. Since the ​Sabbath day was drawing near when Jews ​were supposed to rest, the women ​planned to return to Jesus’ tomb after the ​Sabbath.

In light of Jesus’ fate, consider the ​following teaching from earlier in Jesus’ ​ministry:

9:23 [Jesus] said to them all, “If anyone ​wants to become my follower, he must ​deny himself, take up his cross daily, ​and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to ​save his life will lose it, but whoever ​loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 ​For what does it benefit a person if he ​gains the whole world but loses or ​forfeits himself?

What does this story teach about Jesus?

What does this story teach about us?

PREVIEW

Jesus’ corpse lay lifeless in a tomb. The ​darkness had its way with him. His ​followers were left devastated and ​dismayed, as the story of Jesus comes to a ​disastrous, heartbreaking end. Or so it ​seems. There would be no such thing as ​“Christianity” if the story of Jesus ended ​here. It would not have captivated the ​hearts and minds of millions around the ​world, nor would you be studying it now. ​This crucified King changed the course of ​history precisely because his story didn’t ​end with his burial. The next and final ​study considers the epic conclusion to ​Luke’s Gospel.

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The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.