Luke 23:41-56 Bible Teaching

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Luke 23.41-end
July 26th 2020
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So, we left off last week with one of the thieves on the cross saying

39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

Let’s continue on with Luke’s account picking it up at verse 40-43:

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.

Verse 40

40 But the other (thief) answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

This robber seems to be telling the other that it was not right for him to rail on Jesus (as the Jewish leaders had and the Romans did).

His rationale was “do you not fear God?” meaning, “God is just, and you are headed to the judgement – do you not see the danger in picking on someone who is on a cross when you are hanging from one as well??

And then he speaks to the reason that they are on the cross, saying

41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

How the thief came to this conclusion we cannot say. Conjecture allows us to believe that he knew this by the Spirit, or that they were on the stand when Pilate cried several times, “I find nothing wrong with this man,” or perhaps he had heard or known of Jesus in life.

We don’t know. All we are told is that he declared him as having done nothing amiss. I tend to think that these thieves were all part of the trial and heard it all, including that Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews – and he, at some point, believed it.

What we can say is whatever the means the thief came to understand Jesus in this way, he received it and humbled himself in the presence of Him – even though he was dying a criminal’s death.

This humility brings us to verse 42:

42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

To say, “remember me,” is akin to a prayer for favor, which was akin to asking him to “allow him into His Kingdom on high.

This implies that he believed Jesus to be who he claimed to be – which implies faith expressed.

So, he says:

“Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

The exact meaning of these words from the thief are hard to explain because we don’t know his level of understanding about Jesus and whether “coming into his kingdom” is a reference to him dying and going to heaven, resurrecting and overcoming all, or actually coming into His kingdom when he brings it back to earth in totality at his anticipated return.

Each position would require a greater and greater understanding on the thief’s part.

But I do think it is fair to say that this thief sided, believed, “had faith in” the fact that Jesus was king of the Jews. (verse 43)

43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

So many fascinating things about this response. First, we note that the thief did NOT confess his sins, say “a sinners prayer,” or “profess with His mouth” that Jesus was Lord.

He could have, and these expressions are omitted from the text – but that would make us wonder why.

Instead, lacking any written proof, it more appears that Jesus knew his heart for him and upon his request to be remembered, Jesus promises the man that on that day, today, he would be with him in paradise – otherwise known as Abraham’s bosom.

The inference also seems to be that the other man would go to “the prison part of sheol” and await for Jesus to return to open that place up before the great white throne Judgment.

It is not probable that the dying thief expected that his prayer would be so soon answered. It is rather to be supposed that he looked to some future period when the Messiah would rise or would return; but Jesus told him that his prayer would be answered that very day, implying, evidently, that his being in paradise would occur immediately at death.

This is the more remarkable, as those who were crucified commonly lingered for several days on the cross before they died; but Jesus foresaw that measures would be taken to hasten their death, and assured him that that day he should receive an answer to his prayer and be with him in his kingdom.

Of course, the word “paradise” is of Persian origins and means a garden, particularly a garden of pleasure, filled with trees, and shrubs, and fountains, and flowers.

In hot climates these gardens were greatly coveted and were typically attached to the mansions of the rich.

The Romans spoke of an Elysium, and the Greeks of the gardens of Hesperides, where the trees bore golden fruit.

The garden of Eden means, also, the garden of pleasure, and in Genesis 2:8 the Septuagint renders the word “Eden” as Paradise.

Therefore, the name in the Scriptures has come to mean a blessed state in the world beyond.

Naturally, the Godly Jews believed that the souls of the righteous would be received into such a place, and those of the wicked cast down to Gehenna until the time of ultimate judgment. Accordingly, they have an abundance of fables depicting this wonderful place.
In fact, they had many fables about this future state which are unnecessary to repeat. But the plain meaning of the passage is,

“To-day thou shalt be made happy, or be received to a state of blessedness with me after death.”

That is all he said – not where it is or anything else about it. So, let’s read from verse 44 to 56 in Luke 23:

44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:
51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

Alright, back to verse 44.

44 And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

So, at around noon, which was the sixth hour to them as they divided their day into twelve increments beginning at sunrise there was darkness over the earth until the ninth hour or three PM.

The cause of darkness? There may have been an eclipse of the sun because the Passover was celebrated at the time of the full moon, which would have made that possible. But some say that this is incorrect.

Luke however says, that “the sun was (meaning specifically) darkened,” which we could take literally, meaning the actual sun’s rays grew dark or they were darkened by clouds, or vapors, or eclipse.

Some receive this.

I am of the opinion that this was an expression of God Almighty. And I see it as a sign that is extremely important as well to the state of our Lord on the cross.

Prior to the darkening, Jesus was referring to the Father as Father – “as in Father forgive them for they know not what they do” which we covered last week.

That at the darkening of the land (and by the way, the King James reads the darkening was over “all the earth,” which from the Greek better means all the country or land and not the whole world) Jesus moved from calling him Father to calling Him His God (saying), “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

In my opinion this was the moment, during these three hours of darkness that our Lord died spiritually – meaning he experienced spiritual death because of our sins and was for that span of time “separated from His father.”

And THAT is what caused him to cry out in wonderment and ask His God why he was forsaken.

The darkness that covered Israel for three hours was recorded by three of the four Gospel writers.

Matthew 27:45 reads: “Now from the sixth hour there occurred darkness over all the land until the ninth hour”

Mark 15:33 reads, “Now when the sixth hour had come, it became dark over all the land until the ninth hour,” And of course Luke says

“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour, the sun failing” (Luke 23:44-45).

Luke’s words, ‘the Sun failed,’ in the Greek literally means, the Sun came to an end.
And some say that this means that the sun itself did not shine which distinguishes it from the mere darkness of dense thunderclouds that can cause near night-time conditions.

There is no mention of rainfall anywhere during this time either.

Some commentators refuse to admit that this was an eclipse too because they say that an eclipse of the Sun only lasts seven and a half minutes and this, of course, lasted three hours.

The idea then is this darkness was a supernatural event during Christ’s final moments on earth. Of which I can accept fully. The period of darkness was prophesied in Amos 8:9 where it says:

“On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the Sun to go down at noon, and darken the Earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasting into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations.”

That passage makes sense relative to the dark, the preparations for the Passover, and the songs that would accompany it.

Finally, there is the supports from non-biblical sources that speak of this darkness.

I believe there was darkness but long story short, most of the non-biblical supports are from several hundred years after the fact.

So, I am only going to cite two:

Phlegon of Tralles was a first century secular Greek historian. He wrote an historical work called, “The Olympiades,” which can be used to date the darkness at noon on the day of Crucifixion.

His work is referred to by Philipon, Julius Africanus, Joannes Philoponus, Malelas, Origen, Eusebius and Maximus.

Second, is Tacitus, a Roman historian, born around 52-54 A.D.

Tacitus stated that Jesus had been crucified by Pontius Pilate, and that Rome was in darkness during the reign of Tiberius the Caesar in AD.33.

And while I am not certain what caused the darkness, but it is strange to me that Josephus says nothing about it.

Verse 45 in Luke:

“And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”

This is a little bit out of order as a number of things happened before the temple veil was rent in two.

After noting the renting of the temple veil Luke adds

46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

BUT MATTHEW fills in the gaps with the following information:

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

This language is not pure Hebrew, nor Syriac, but a mixture of both, called commonly Syro-Chaldaic which many believe is the language Jesus probably
spoke.

The words are taken from Psalm 22:1 by the way and describe intense suffering on his behalf but as I mentioned I think this also speaks to the abandonment, or spiritual death Jesus experienced in those hours.

Matthew adds:

47 Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

In other words, when Jesus called out to His father some thought or mockingly said, that he was calling for Elias, which is the Greek way of calling for Elijah.

Of course, we know from our study of John the Baptist that the Jews believed that Elijah would appear before the coming of the Messiah, and that Jesus explained that this was John, who came in the Spirit of Elijah.

Here, the Jews would have mocked him as though he was on the cross and in a last-ditch effort he called out for Elijah to come and prove he was the promised one.

It is possible that they actually heard him call to his Father but chose to use this moment to alter his words as a means to make fun of him, as if to say, “God who is his father hasn’t helped him, so now he is calling out for Elijah to show up and save him.

Matthews account says:

48 And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

John 19:28 says, that this was in consequence of Jesus saying, “I thirst.”

So, someone took a sponge (which easily absorbs liquid) and “filled it with vinegar,” the common drink of the Roman soldiers, and “put it on a reed,” which John says was a hyssop branch,
And extended it up to Jesus mouth.

Matthew adds:

49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

Meaning, don’t give him anything to drink. Let’s see if Elias will come and save him.

SO BACK TO LUKE WHO WROTE
46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

John 19:30 tells us that what he actually cried with a loud voice was, “It is finished.”

The seven statements of the cross appear to have been, in chronological order, the following:

On behalf of others he said:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke)

On behalf of the thief he said

“Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke)

On behalf of his mother he said

“Woman, behold your son…[Son,] behold your mother.” (John)

On behalf of his condition he said:

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew)

On behalf of his dying body he said:
“I thirst!” (John)

And on behalf of the world he said:
“It is finished!”

All before adding, on behalf of his work for the world for His Father,

“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” (Luke)

I want to step back a moment and talk about the second to the last statement that he made right before committing his Spirit into the hands of His father – “it is finished.”

We live lives of finishing things. We finish dinner, we finish our homework, we finish a project.

Michelangelo finished the Sistine Chapel. Beethoven his fifth symphony. The founding fathers finished the Constitution.

Things small and great typically have a start and a finish. The Greek word means a number of things:

It is “made an end of,” it is paid in full, it has been performed, it is accomplished, it is complete.

What did Jesus mean when he said, “It is Finished?” A whole lot.

In the most personal way, we know that his earthly life was finished. His mortal suffering. His passion was about to end as he would give his spirit up and over into the hands of his father.

What a moment – to have come and lived and ultimately suffered – and to know that it was all seconds from ending once and for all.

We know that he finished living the law of Moses out with perfection, fulfilling it completely, nailing it – through His flesh – to the cross.

God gave the Law and it was perfect, but perfect obedience was not possible among the Nation of Israel. So, He came and lived it completely, utterly and finally fulfilling it.

We know that hand in hand with this that animal sacrifices were now finished.

Millions of animals had been slaughtered and thousands of gallons of blood was shed for the temporary propitiation of sin for the Jews but not one drop of that blood removed sin once and for all.

His death finished the act of animal sacrifice and the shedding of blood because his death finished the need to reconciled human beings, alienated by sin, to his Father.

His work on the cross finished or filled in the separation between God and Man. No more was man separated from God because of their sin, but the world was wholly and finally reconciled to Him once and for all.

So then also finished was afterlife separation – meaning the chasm between heaven and sheol was closed and Satan no longer had the power over sin and death.

This was the beginning of Him being finished. And Hell being finished. And spiritual Death being finished, as alienation from God was finished.

And hard as this is for people to believe this was accomplished by His payment for sin, and therefore, believe it or not, sin was finished.

Why?

Full complete payment made. It doesn’t mean evil and wrong doing don’t still exist, it simply means the heavenly debt for our crimes was paid in full – for the world – done, finished. On the cross.

Colossians 2:13 says, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

In summary, everything that stands in the way of human beings being reconciled to God was taken care of and finished by Christ when He said, “it is finished,” which was code for, “all that my Father sent me to do I have done and nothing remains to be done to bring the world, spiritually, back to the way it was at the creation.

“All the obstacles are finished, out of the way, completely beaten down and the path to choosing to love and to seek and to serve God is clear for all people – if they want it.

What we are reading here is the work of a great God winding up on behalf of the world. And it is at this point that we now hear his last statement on the cross, from Luke 23:46 where he says:

“Father, into your hand I commend my spirit,’ and that he “gave up his Spirit.”

At this point, in Luke’s Gospel, he begins to describe the Centurians response and what the people did around the crucifixion site relative to Jesus burial by Joseph.

But Matthew and others add in some information that is worthy mentioning. So in Matthew 27:51 we read:

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

This veil was what God demanded Moses to have made in Exodus 26:31-33 and it divided the interior of the temple into two compartments – one area that could be accessed by many Jews and the Holy of Holies that could only be accessed by one – the High Priest, and only once a year – on the Day of Atonement.

Because this was the time of day when sacrifice was being offered up in the Holy Place the priests would have witnessed the veil splitting in two, from the top to the bottom, proving it was from the hands of heaven down to earth and signifying the end of separation between God and man and/or the need for any more animal blood.

Josephus describes the veil as being 4 inches thick. Matthew 27:51 says it was rent from the top to the bottom. But he also adds that the earth did shake, which could have been the means that God rent the veil in two.

In sedimentary studies around Jerusalem geologists can prove that there was an earthquake of around 5.5 that shook the ground in and around the year of Jesus death.

Other historians also verify the fact of this earthquake in their writings. Matthew adds the following:

And the “rocks rent,” meaning they were broken apart and then he adds

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

Because Jesus is clearly called the first-fruits of the grave in scripture, the way Matthew writes this, if we were to take it literally, is not possible.

And so, let me read it to you with the fact that Jesus is the first to rise from the grave:

52 And the graves were opened; and (three days later after Jesus rose from the grave) many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The order therefore is that the earthquake at Jesus death not only ripped the veil but broke open a number of sepulchers.

And after Jesus rose from the dead three days later THEN many once dead bodies of the Saints who were in those graves that had broken open, came forward

Matthew 27:53 adds

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

These bodies (or those in them) are not described or identified but it seems like they would have been the recent dead so that people could recognize then and then testify that they had indeed come back from the grave.

So all of that was added by Matthew – let’s jump back to LUKE 23:47 where he says

47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

Matthew adds a bit more to this saying:

54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

We know by now that a Centurion was a captain of a hundred soldiers. He was here placed over the band that attended the crucifixion. And they feared greatly – they were terrified.

After all they were the ones who mistreated and abused Jesus physically and it appears that they regarded these external signs as proof that God was angry.

Interestingly, their profession wrought about by fear was none other than:

Truly this was the Son of God.

They had in all probability heard Jesus make this claim or others and now they were aware that this was entirely possible because of these surrounding events.

And at this point LUKE’s narrative takes us to the body of Jesus, saying:

48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
50 And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:
51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.
55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.
56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

And we will pick it up there next week.

Now Listen, next week, I will be out of town but we are pre-recording the teaching so you can tune in on line if you want to keep up but don’t show up.

We will meet back again here on Sunday August 9th at 10AM and 2:30 PM

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In Wadi Ze’elim, located above the southwestern shore of the modern Dead Sea exists an outcrop of laminated Dead Sea sediment. This sediment outcrop is a distinctive one-foot thick “mixed layer” of sediment that is tied strongly to the Qumran earthquake’s onshore ground ruptures of 31 B.C. (see Figure 2 below).

Thirteen inches above the 31 B.C. event bed is another distinctive “mixed layer” less than one inch thick. The sedimentation rate puts this second earthquake about 65 years after the 31 B.C. earthquake! (31 B.C. + 65 yrs = 33 A.D) There is direct physical evidence in the thin layer of disturbed sediment from the Dead Sea, of an earthquake around 33 A.D. The evidence also shows it likely to have been a magnitude 5.5.

Secular Geologist, Jefferson Williams of Supersonic Geophysical, and colleagues Markus Schwab and Achim Brauer of the German Research Center for Geosciences, researched the Dead Sea and revealed that at least two major earthquakes occurred: A widespread earthquake in 31 B.C. and a seismic event that happened sometime between the years 26 and 36. Thus, this earthquake was clearly the one at Jesus’ crucifixion.

These are powerful evidences for the historicity of the darkness at Christ’s crucifixion, and the earthquake. They were real historical events.