See the notes at Mat 27:32.

After Jesus – Probably to bear one end of the cross. Jesus was feeble and unable to bear it alone, and they compelled Simon to help him.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Luk 23:26

Simon, a Syrenian

The Cross-bearer

There is a series of very beautiful pictures in the cathedral at Antwerp, which represent Christ hearing His cross from the Praetorium to Calvary.

These pictures embody the popular idea of Christs weakness and exhaustion. In one He stands calm and erect, in another He is bending under the weight of the cross, and in another He has fallen beneath the load that was laid upon Him. It is at this stage of the proceedings that Simon, who is passing by, is arrested, and compelled to bear the cross after Christ.

I. THIS WAS A COMPULSORY CROSS. Simon had no choice but to bear it. And so it is still. No life without a cross.

1. Suffering is a cross we are compelled to bear. To some life is a perpetual cross-bearing. It may be a physical cross, or a mental cross, or a spiritual cross, but day by day they must bear it.

2. Death is a cross we are compelled to bear.

3. Every attempt to follow Christ and to bear His cross will be a determined struggle.

II. THIS WAS AN UNEXPECTED CROSS. The trials we anticipate in life seldom overtake us, but those we least expect are laid upon us. The cross is often laid upon us at an unexpected time, and in an unexpected place; but there is no escape, it must be borne.

1. Sometimes the cross we bear is self appointed. It is so with much of the physical pain and social distress we see around us. These afflictions come upon us unexpectedly, but they are often the fruit of our own folly and sin.

2. Sometimes the cross we bear is divinely appointed. If Simons cross was unexpected, Christs was foreseen. The cross was not a surprise to Christ. If Simons cross was compulsory, Christs was voluntary.

III. THIS WAS AN HONOURABLE CROSS. To bear His cross. Had not Simon rendered this brief service to Christ, his name might never have been known; but now it shall be held in everlasting remembrance. The cross ennobles man both for time and eternity; it is an honourable cross.

1. This was a cross borne for Christ. We often hear of Christ bearing the cross for sinners, but here is a sinner bearing the cross for Christ. The value of the cross depends upon the spirit in which we take it up.

2. There is something very beautiful in the thought that the cross borne for Christ is borne with Christ. Whether it be His cross or ours, we share His companionship. (J. T. Woodhouse.)

Bearing Christs cross

The memorable thing is, that it is Christs cross which must be borne. You are not to think that every cross is the cross which the Saviour requires you to take up. Many a cross is of our own manufacture; our troubles are often but the consequences of our own sins; and we may not dignify these by supposing them the cross which is to distinguish the Christian. Crosses they may be; but they are not the cross which was laid upon Simon, and which had first been borne by Christ. The cross of Christ is endurance for the glory of God and the futherance of the gospel. This is thankworthy, says St. Peter, if a man for conscience towards God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. But our comfort is, that the cross which we must carry has been already carried by Christ; and therefore, like the grave which He entered, been stripped of its hatefulness. It might almost be said to have changed its very nature, through being laid on the Son of God; it left behind it its terribleness and oppressiveness. And now it is transferred to the disciple; it is indeed a cross, but a cross which it is a privilege to bear–a cross which God never fails to give strength to bear; a cross which, as leading to a crown, may justly be prized, so that we would not have it off our shoulders until the diadem is on our brow. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ–and this is a cross–happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. Together with this memorial, he would show, by a powerful instance, that in religion a temporizing policy is sure to defeat itself; so that, to fly from the cross is commonly to meet it dilated in size, and heavier in material. And he had one more truth to represent at the same time–the beautifully comforting truth, that He has borne what His followers have to bear, and thereby so lightened it, that as with death, which He made sleep to the believer, the burden but quickens the step towards an exceeding and eternal weight of glory; and that He might effectually convey all this through one great significative action, was it ordered, we may believe, in the providence of God, that as they led away Jesus carrying the cross, like Isaac with the wood for the burnt-offering, the soldiers laid hold on one Simon of Cyrene, and compelled him to bear the cross. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 26. Simon, a Cyrenian] See Clarke on Mt 27:32.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

See Poole on “Mat 27:32“, See Poole on “Mar 15:21“.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

26. Cyrenianof Cyrene, inLibya, on the north coast of Africa, where were many Jews who had asynagogue at Jerusalem (Ac 6:9,and see Ac 2:10). He was “thefather of Alexander and Rufus” (Mr15:21), probably better known afterwards than himself, asdisciples. (See Ro 16:13).

out of the countryandcasually drawn into that part of the crowd.

laid the cross“Himthey compel to bear His cross,” (Mt27:32) sweet compulsion, if it issued in him or his sonsvoluntarily “taking up their cross!” It wouldappear that our Lord had first to bear His own cross (Joh19:17), but being from exhaustion unable to proceed, it was laidon another to bear it “after Him.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And as they led him away,…. From Pilate’s hall, and out of the city of Jerusalem, towards Calvary; which was done by the Jews and Roman soldiers, after they had stripped him of his own clothes, and put on him a scarlet coat, and had platted a crown of thorn, and put it on his head, and a reed in his hand, and bowed the knee, and mocked him, saluting him as King of the Jews; after they had finished their sport and pastime with him, and had put on him his own clothes again:

they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian; father of Alexander and Rufus, Mr 15:21,

[See comments on Mt 27:32].

coming out of the country; either out of the country part of Judea, to the city of Jerusalem; or out of the field where he had been about rural business, and was now returning home, and perhaps knew nothing of the matter, what had been doing at Jerusalem:

and on him they laid the cross; on which Jesus was to be crucified, and which he was bearing himself; but finding that he was weak, and languid, and unable to carry it himself, and fearing, should he die by the way, they should be disappointed of glutting their malice, and seeing him in shame and agony on the cross, and of triumphing over him there; and being in haste for the execution of their malicious designs, they put the cross, at least one end of it, upon this man’s shoulders:

that he might bear it after Jesus: either the whole of it, following Jesus; or only one end of it, Jesus going before with the other end on his shoulder; which seems to be the order in which it was carried between them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

      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?

      We have here the blessed Jesus, the Lamb of God, led as a lamb to the slaughter, to the sacrifice. It is strange with what expedition they went through his trial; how they could do so much work in such a little time, though they had so many great men to deal with, attendance on whom is usually a work of time. He was brought before the chief priests at break of day (ch. xxii. 66), after that to Pilate, then to Herod, then to Pilate again; and there seems to have been a long struggle between Pilate and the people about him. He was scourged, and crowned with thorns and contumeliously used, and all this was done in four or five hours’ time, or six at most, for he was crucified between nine o’clock and twelve. Christ’s persecutors resolve to lose no time, for fear lest his friends at the other end of the town should get notice of what they were doing, and should rise to rescue him. Never any one was so chased out of the world as Christ was, but so he himself said, Yet a little while and ye shall not see me; a very little while indeed. Now as they led him away to death we find,

      I. One that was a bearer, that carried his cross, Simon by name, a Cyrenian, who probably was a friend of Christ, and was known to be so, and this was done to put a reproach upon him; they laid Christ’s cross upon him, that he might bear it after Jesus (v. 26), lest Jesus should faint under it and die away, and so prevent the further instances of malice they designed. It was pity, but a cruel pity, that gave him this ease.

      II. Many that were mourners, true mourners, who followed him, bewailing and lamenting him. These were not only his friends and well-wishers, but the common people, that were not his enemies, and were moved with compassion towards him, because they had heard the fame of him, and what an excellent useful man he was, and had reason to think he suffered unjustly. This drew a great crowd after him, as is usual at executions, especially of those that have been persons of distinction: A great company of people followed him, especially of women (v. 27), some led by pity, others by curiosity, but they also (as well as those that were his particular friends and acquaintance) bewailed and lamented him. Though there were many that reproached and reviled him, yet there were some that valued him, and pitied him, and were sorry for him, and were partakers with him in his sufferings. The dying of the Lord Jesus may perhaps move natural affections in many that are strangers to devout affections; many bewail Christ that do not believe in him, and lament him that do not love him above all. Now here we are told what Christ said to these mourners. Though one would think he should be wholly taken up with his own concern, yet he found time and heart to take cognizance of their tears. Christ died lamented, and has a bottle for the tears of those that lamented him. He turned to them, though they were strangers to him, and bade them not weep for him, but for themselves. He diverts their lamentation into another channel, v. 28.

      1. He gives them a general direction concerning their lamentations: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me. Not that they were to be blamed for weeping for him, but rather commended; those hearts were hard indeed that were not affected with such sufferings of such a person; but they must not weep for him only (those were profitless tears that they shed for him), but rather let them weep for themselves and for their children, with an eye to the destruction that was coming upon Jerusalem, which some of them might live to see and share in the calamities of, or, at least, their children would, for whom they ought to be solicitous. Note, When with an eye of faith we behold Christ crucified we ought to weep, not for him, but for ourselves. We must not be affected with the death of Christ as with the death of a common person whose calamity we pity, or of a common friend whom we are likely to part with. The death of Christ was a thing peculiar; it was his victory and triumph over his enemies; it was our deliverance, and the purchase of eternal life for us. And therefore let us weep, not for him, but for our own sins, and the sins of our children, that were the cause of his death; and weep for fear (such were the tears here prescribed) of the miseries we shall bring upon ourselves, if we slight his love, and reject his grace, as the Jewish nation did, which brought upon them the ruin here foretold. When our dear relations and friends die in Christ, we have no reason to weep for them, who have put off the burden of the flesh, are made perfect in holiness, and have entered into perfect rest and joy, but for ourselves and our children, who are left behind in a world of sins, and sorrows, and snares.

      2. He gives them a particular reason why they should weep for themselves and for their children: “Fore behold sad times are coming upon your city; it will be destroyed, and you will be involved in the common destruction.” When Christ’s own disciples sorrowed after a godly sort for his leaving them, he wiped away their tears with the promise that he would see them again, and they should rejoice, John xvi. 22. But, when these daughters of Jerusalem bewailed him only with a worldly sorrow, he turned their tears into another channel, and told them that they should have something given them to cry for. Let them be afflicted, and mourn, and weep, Jam. iv. 9. He had lately wept over Jerusalem himself, and now he bids them weep over it. Christ’s tears should set us a weeping. Let the daughters of Zion, that own Christ for their king, rejoice in him, for he comes to save them; but let the daughters of Jerusalem, that only weep for him, but do not take him for their king, weep and tremble to think of his coming to judge them. Now the destruction of Jerusalem is here foretold by two proverbial sayings, that might then fitly be used, which both bespeak it very terrible, that what people commonly dread they would then desire, to be written childless and to be buried alive. (1.) They would wish to be written childless. Whereas commonly those that have no children envy those that have, as Rachel envied Leah, then those that have children will find them such a burden in attempting to escape, and such a grief when they see them either fainting for famine or falling by the sword, that they will envy those that have none, and say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, that have no children to be given up to the murderer, or to be snatched out of his hands. It would not only go ill with those who at that time were with child, or giving suck, as Christ had said (Matt. xxiv. 19), but it would be terrible to those who had had children, and suckled them, and had them now alive. See Hos. ix. 11-14. See the vanity of the creature and the uncertainty of its comforts; for such may be the changes of Providence concerning us that those very things may become the greatest burdens, cares, and griefs to us, which we have delighted in as the greatest blessings. (2.) They would wish to be buried alive: They shall begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us, v. 30. This also refers to a passage in the same prophecy with the former, Hos. x. 8. They shall wish to be hid in the darkest caves, that they may be out of the noise of these calamities. They will be willing to be sheltered upon any terms, though with the hazard of being crushed to pieces. This would be the language especially of the great and mighty men, Rev. vi. 16. They that would not flee to Christ for refuge, and put themselves under his protection, will in vain call to hills and mountains to shelter them from his wrath.

      2. He shows how natural it was for them to infer this desolation from his sufferings. If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? v. 31. Some think that this is borrowed from Ezek. xx. 47: The fire shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree. These words may be applied, (1.) More particularly to the destruction of Jerusalem, which Christ here foretold, and which the Jews by putting him to death brought upon themselves: “If they (the Jews, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem) do these things upon the green tree, if they do thus abuse an innocent and excellent person for his good works, how may they expect God to deal with them for their so doing, who have made themselves a dry tree, a corrupt and wicked generation, and good for nothing? If this be their sin, what do you think will be their punishment?” Or take it thus: “If they (the Romans, their judges, and their soldiers) abuse me thus, who have given them no provocation, who am to them as a green tree, which you seem to be as much enraged at, what will they do by Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, who will be so very provoking to them, and make themselves as a dry tree, as fuel to the fire of their resentments? If God suffer those things to be done to me, what will he appoint to be done to those barren trees of whom it had been often said that they should be hewn down and cast into the fire?” Mat 3:10; Mat 7:19. (2.) They may be applied more generally to all the revelations of God’s wrath against sin and sinners: “If God deliver me up to such sufferings as these because I am made a sacrifice for sin, what will he do with sinners themselves?” Christ was a green tree, fruitful and flourishing; now, if such things were done to him, we may thence infer what would have been done to the whole race of mankind if he had not interposed, and what shall be done to those that continue dry trees, notwithstanding all that is done to make them fruitful. If God did this to the Son of his love, when he found sin but imputed to him, what shall he do to the generation of his wrath, when he finds sin reigning in them? If the Father was pleased in doing these things to the green tree, why should he be loth to do it to the dry? Note, The consideration of the bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus should engage us to stand in awe of the justice of God, and to tremble before him. The best saints, compared with Christ, are dry tree; if he suffer, why may not they expect so suffer? And what then shall the damnation of sinners be?

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

They laid hold (). Second aorist middle participle of the common verb . The soldiers had no scruples about taking hold of any one of themselves (middle voice). Mark 15:21; Luke 27:32 use the technical word for this process , which see for discussion and also about Cyrene.

Laid on him (). first aorist of .

To bear it (). Present infinitive, to go on bearing.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Laid hold on [] . Compare the peculiar word used by Matthew and Mark. See on Mt 5:41.

27 – 32. Peculiar to Luke. See Introduction, on the gospel of womanhood.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “And as they led him away,” (kai hos apegafon auton) “And as they led him out and away,” from Pilate’s judgment hall, Mat 27:27. It was the Roman soldiers who led Him away, Mar 15:16.

2) “They laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian,” (epilabomenoi Simona tina Kurenaion) They seized. (laid hold on) Simon, a Cyrenian,” Mat 27:32; Joh 19:16. He was from a colony of Jews in Cyrene. They had a synagogue in Jerusalem, Act 6:9; Act 11:20. He had likely come up to the Passover in Jerusalem. Mark speaks of his two sons “Alexander and Rufus,” Mar 15:21.

3) “Coming out of the country,” (erchomenon ap’ agrou) “Who was coming from the country or field,” Mar 15:21.

4) “And on him they laid the cross,” (epethekan auto ton stauron) “They placed on him the cross,” Mat 27:32. Perhaps Jesus thru loss of sleep, the terrible scouring, and loss of blood, was too weak to bear His own cross.

5) “That he might bear it after Jesus.” (pherein opisthen tou lesou) “To carry along behind Jesus,” Joh 19:17. As Jesus left Pilate’s hall He was bearing His own cross, but apparently due to physical exhaustion, Simon of Cyrene was compelled to bear it the rest of the way to Calvary, or to carry the back end of the cross.

THE FATE OF THE MURDERERS

It is proper here to note the fate of the murderers of Jesus. Judas died by his own hand. Pilate was soon recalled, degraded, banished to Gaul, where he committed suicide. The tower from which he is said to have precipitated himself is still standing. The prize for which he staked his soul never became his. Herod died in infamy and exile; Caiaphas was deposed the next year. (Clark.) The house of Annas was destroyed a generation later by an infuriated mob, and his son was dragged through the streets, and scourged and beaten to his place of murder. Some of those who shared in and witnessed the scenes of that day – and thousands of their children – also shared in and witnessed the long horrors of that siege of Jerusalem which stands unparalleled in history for its unutterable fearfulness. They had forced the Romans to crucify their Christ, and had given thirty pieces of silver for their Savior’s blood, and they were themselves sold in thousands for yet smaller sums.

Farrar.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk. 23:26. Simon, a Cyrenian.Rather, of Cyrene (R.V.). There was a colony of Jews in Cyrene, and they had a synagogue in Jerusalem (Act. 6:9; Act. 11:20). Probably he had come up to the Passover in Jerusalem. St. Mark speaks of his two sons Alexander and Rufus, who were evidently well known in Christian society as disciples. Probably Jesus was unable, because of being exhausted by His agony in the garden, and the scourging He had undergone, to bear the cross. This seems to be indicated by the words laid hold upon, or, as St. Mark says, compelled; Simon was impressed to assist in bearing the burden, which would scarcely have been necessary if Jesus had been able to do it. Perhaps Simon showed some sign of commiseration on meeting the procession. Coming out of the country.This might mean coming from work, but scarcely can have that signification here. Perhaps it simply denotes his meeting the procession: he was on his way into the city; they were on their way out of it. Bear it after Jesus.Apparently assist in carrying; Simon bearing the hinder part, Jesus the fore part.

Luk. 23:27. A great company.As is usual at an execution. Women.Not Galilan women (cf. Luk. 23:49), but women of Jerusalem. Their sorrow was evidently that excited by sympathy with a condemned criminal; but, of course, some of them may have been disciples of Jesus.

Luk. 23:28. Daughters of Jerusalem.Inhabitants of a doomed city. For yourselves.No doubt some of them afterwards experienced the horrors of the siege.

Luk. 23:30. Begin to say, etc.A quotation from Hos. 10:8.

Luk. 23:31. Green tree.I.e., if these things are done to one who is innocent, what shall be done to those who are guilty? The idea of dryness suggests fit for burning.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 23:26-31

Two Alleviations of Jesus Sufferings.

I. The strength of a man relieved His body of the burden of the cross.Though He bore His own cross out of the palace of Pilate, He was not able to carry it far. Either He sank beneath it on the road, or He was proceeding with such slow and faltering steps that the soldiers, impatient of the delay, recognised that the burden must be removed from His shoulders. One or two of the soldiers might have relieved Him. Out of a spirit of horseplay and mischief they laid hold of a passer-by and requisitioned his services for the purpose. To the man it must have been an extreme annoyance and indignity. Doubtless he was bent on business of his own, which had to be deferred. His family or his friends might be waiting for him, but he was turned the opposite way. To touch the instrument of death was as revolting to him as it would be to us to handle the hangmans rope; perhaps more so, because it was Passover time, and this would make him ceremonially unclean. It was a jest of the soldiers and he was their laughing-stock. As he walked by the side of the robbers, it looked as if he were on the way to execution himself. This is a lively image of the cross-bearing to which the followers of Christ are called. We are wont to speak of trouble of any kind as a cross; and doubtless any kind of trouble may be borne bravely in the name of Christ. But, properly speaking, the cross of Christ is what is borne in the act of confessing Him, or for the sake of His work. When any one makes a stand for principle, because he is a Christian, and takes the consequences in the shape of scorn or loss, this is the cross of Christ. The pain you may feel in speaking to another in Christs name, the sacrifice of comfort or time you may make in engaging in Christian work, the self-denial you exercise in giving of your means that the cause of Christ may spread at home or abroad, the reproach you may have to bear in identifying yourself with militant causes or with despised persons, because you believe they are on Christs sidein such conduct lies the cross of Christ. It involves trouble, discomfort, or sacrifice. One may fret under it, or sink under it; it is ugly, painful, shameful often, but no disciple is without it. Our Master said, He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me. Apparently this rencontre issued in Simons salvation and in the salvation of his house. There can be little doubt that the connection of his family with the Church (noted by St. Mark), was the result of this incident in the fathers life. Is this not a significant fact, proving that nothing happens by chance? Had Simon entered the city one hour sooner or one hour later, his after history might have been entirely different. On the smallest circumstances the greatest results may hinge. A chance meeting may determine the weal or woe of a life. How much may follow when Christ is revealed to any human soul! The salvation of those yet unborn may be involved in itof children and childrens children.

II. The pain of Christs soul was cooled by the sympathy of women.It was, indeed, a surprising demonstration. It would hardly have been credited, had it not there been made manifest, that Jesus had so strong a hold upon any section of the population of Jerusalem. In the capital He had always found the soil very unreceptive. Yet now it turns out that He has touched the heart of one section, at least, even of this community. It is a great testimony to the character of Christ, on the one hand, and to that of woman on the other. Womans instinct told her, however dimly she at first apprehended the truth, that this was the Deliverer for her. Because, while Christ is the Saviour of all, He has been specially the Saviour of woman. At His advent, her degradation being far deeper than that of men, she needed Him more; and wherever His gospel has travelled since then, it has been the signal for her emancipation and redemption. His presence evokes all the tender and beautiful qualities which are latent in her nature; and under His influence her character experiences a transfiguration. It may be that there was no great depth in the emotion of the daughters of Jerusalem; but this response of womanhood to Christ was a beginning, and therein lay its significance. It was to Him a foretaste of the splendid devotion which He was yet to receive from the womanhood of the world. The sounds of sympathy flowed over His soul as gratefully as the gift of Marys love enveloped His senses, when the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. His words, in response to their sympathy,

(1) reveal Himselfthey show how completely He could forget His own sufferings in care and anxiety for others;
(2) they show the depth and fervour of His patriotism;
(3) they reveal His consideration for women and children;
(4) they contain an exhortation to repentance.

The two incidents are a parable of what men and women can do for Christ still. He needs the strength of menthe strong arm, the vigorous hand, the shoulders that can bear the burden of His cause; He seeks from men the mind whose originality can plan what needs to be done, the resolute will that pushes the work on, in spite of opposition, the liberal hand that gives ungrudgingly what is required for the progress and success of the Christian enterprise. From women He seeks sympathy and tears. They can give the sensibility which keeps the heart of the world from hardening; the secret knowledge which finds out the objects of Christian compassion, and wins their confidence; the enthusiasm which burns like a fire at the heart of religious work. The influence of women is subtle and remote, but it is on this account all the more powerful; for they sit at the very fountains, where the river of human life is springing, and where a touch may determine its entire subsequent course.Stalker.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 23:26-31

Luk. 23:26-46. Outline of The Narrative.

1. The procession to Calvary (Luk. 23:26-32).

2. The crucifixion (Luk. 23:33-38).

3. The time passed upon the cross (Luk. 23:39-46).

Luk. 23:26. On him they laid the cross.The Christians bearing of the cross is like that of Simon.

I. The cross is not chosen willingly, but imposed.
II. It is best borne in a spirit of resignation.
III. There is a reward attached to the patient bearing of it.

Simon and Jesus.

I. The greatness of trifles: accidentally coming up at that moment; catching the eye of the centurion.
II. The blessedness and honour of helping Jesus Christ.
III. The perpetual recompense and record of the humblest Christian work.
IV. The blessed results of contact with the suffering Christ.Maclaren.

Simon the Cross-bearer.

I. The incident.A very singular one. A strange providence in Simons life.

II. Simon bore Christs cross.At first by compulsion. No one was anxious for this task. But the compulsory task became to him a joy and honour. A type of the future power of the cross. Compulsion was changed into delight. The task was a brief one, but it made his name immortal.

III. The lessons.

1. Let us do, in spirit, what Simon did literally. Let us take up our cross and follow Christ. And let us do this willingly.
2. Christ is our pattern Cross-Bearer. Let us seek, in everything, to be conformed to His image.Hutchings.

Luk. 23:27-34. Prophet, Priest, and King.It is remarkable how, in three following sayings, the Lord appears as Prophet, Priest, and King: as Prophet, to the daughters of Jerusalem; as Priest, interceding for forgiveness; as King, acknowledged by the penitent thief, and answering his prayer.Alford.

Luk. 23:27. Women, which bewailed.St. Luke, in whose Gospel the most of the women who stood in connection with Jesus are described, relates to us here how their compassion strewed yet one last flower for our Lord upon His path of thorns.Van Oosterzee.

Lamented Him.Though there were two others led with Him to execution, it was to Him alone that this sympathy was shown.

Luk. 23:28. Weep not for Me.He Himself wept over the city, and did not weep for Himself.

Luk. 23:29. Blessed.The word introduces a fearful woe. Compare for a similar thought to that here, Hos. 9:12-16.

Say to the mountains, etc.It is interesting to see how often David, who frequently hid among the rocks of the wilderness from Saul, calls the Lord His Rock (Psa. 18:2; Psa. 18:46; Psa. 42:9, etc.). Those who have this defence will not need to call on the rocks to hide them.

Cover us.The words found a literal fulfilment at the time of the siege of Jerusalem, for the Jews in multitudes hid themselves in the subterranean passages and sewers under the city.

Luk. 23:31. The green tree.The green tree is Jesus, whom the Jews deliver over to death by the hands of the Romans, in spite of His constant submission to pagan authority; the dry is the Jewish people, who, in consequence of their spirit of rebellion, will draw down upon themselves in a proportionately greater degree the vengeance of the Romans.Godet.

What shall be done in the dry?With these words our Lords teaching closes, and His high-priestly office begins. His first three sayings on the cross are for others. See Luk. 23:43; Joh. 19:26-27.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Butlers Comments

SECTION 2

Impaled (Luk. 23:26-49)

26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28But Jesus turning to them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For behold, the days are coming when they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck! 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

32 Two others also, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 34And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One! 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37and saying, If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself! 38There was also an inscription over him, This is the King of the Jews.

39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! 40But the other rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. 42And he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.

44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,45while the suns light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit! And having said this he breathed his last. 47Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, Certainly this man was innocent! 48And all the multitudes who assembled to see the sight, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.49And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance and saw these things.

Luk. 23:26-31 Empathy: As soon as Pilate turned Jesus over to the Jews with an official edict to have Him crucified, Pilates soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, called the small band on duty together, stripped His clothes off, put a scarlet robe on him, jammed a plaited crown of thorns down on His head, put a reed in His right hand, and kneeled before Him, mocking Him with the words, Hail, King of the Jews (Mat. 27:27-31; Mar. 15:16-20). They spat upon Him and struck Him in the head with a reed. Spitting in a persons face indicated gross contempt (Num. 12:14; Deu. 25:9; Job. 30:10; Isa. 50:6; Mat. 26:67; Mat. 27:30), and when performed by an unclean person it produced defilement (Lev. 15:8). This psychologically demeaning and abusive experience; following the mock trials and the scourging constituted a terrible prelude to the excruciating spiritual struggle and physical torture of the cross.

As they led Him away to be crucified, they seized a bystander by the name of Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus. Jesus probably bore the cross Himself until they neared the gate in the northern wall of the city. It was Roman practice to make the accused bear a 300 pound cross to the place of execution. The accused usually wore a sign announcing his crime. As the accused proceeded through the city bearing his cross he was often flogged by Roman whips and pelted with rocks and other missiles from the gaping multitudes along the way to execution. Apparently Jesus was going too slowly or He may have fallen under its weight. The latter would be more likely when one considers the devastating tortures He endured for hours and hours prior to this experience. The man pressed into service to carry His cross was from North Africa (Cyrene) but he was evidently a Jew (named, Simon). Alexander and Rufus were his sons and probably Christians (Rom. 16:13). Simon may have later become a Christian himself. A scene as this would call forth the natural tender-sympathies of women.

These were women of Judea or Jerusalemnot of Galilee. They were wailing out of pure feminine pity and empathy for Him. The wells of human pity almost always overflow the feminine heart in the presence of suffering. But, almost incredibly, Jesus warned them, Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. He was not spitefully slighting their sympathy but He knew that His death was going to result in something even more terrible for Jerusalem and its inhabitants (cf. Luk. 19:41-44; Luk. 21:3-32). He is repeating, in capsule form, what He had already announcedthe doom of Jerusalem and Judaism. The Romans will crucify Jesus (at the insistence of the Jews) who is The Green Wood but which will not be consumed because there is no real crime in Him. The Romans will destroy the Jewish nation which is The Dry Wood because it is guilty of killing the Son of God. The time will come to these wailing Jewish women when they will wish they had not borne any children.

Evidently these Jewish women were not believersonly sympathizers. They wailed because they took pity on His fleshly torture. His physical weakness is all they saw, however. They had not seen His deity. May we suggest that we too may be overly inclined to show pity only for the physical torture Jesus had to endure and may miss focusing our contrition in the right place. What we should lament is our sin and the injustice of the perfect Son of man having to be made sin on our behalf. If we come to the cross and pity His physical suffering primarily, we have not really grasped the deepest truth concerning His sorrow. As G. Campbell Morgan said: In the last analysis, Jesus is never an object of pity on the part of sinful, condemned humanity. He is the Object of wonder and of true worship, as He is seen moving in regal splendor towards His Cross. It is nothing short of awesome that Jesus, in these hours of severest psychological and physical torture, could take time to show concern and deep sympathy for the Jewish nation and warn them once more of the heinousness of their evil. These are the only words He spoke between Pilates judgment and the cross!

Luk. 23:32-34 Execution: Now Luke tells the story of the crucifixion. Along with the other gospel writers he states the facts with incredible brevity! This brevity is for a purpose. Had the gospel writers gone into great detail about the physical aspects of the crucifixion, it would only have intensified the human inclination to concentrate on the physical and miss the spiritual.

They took Jesus out, His only companions were two criminals (Gr. kakourgos, lit. evil-workers), and proceeded to a place called, The Skull. Matthew and Mark call it in Greek, Golgothan, (Mat. 27:33; Mar. 15:22) which is a transliteration of the Hebrew word, gulegoleth. The Hebrew word means, bald, round, skull-like mound or hill. Luke calls it in Greek, kranion, which is simply, Skull. The KJV in Luk. 23:33 follows the Latin Vulgate and translates, Calvary. The Latin word calvaria is a rendering of the Greek kranion, both of which mean skull. A fourth century tradition says Golgotha was where the Church of The Holy Sepulchre now stands (within the city walls at Jerusalem). The more likely site is Gordons Calvary discovered in 1849, a few hundred feet northeast of the Damascus Gatesometimes known as the Green Hill (outside the ancient walls of Jerusalem). Heb. 13:12 may indicate (unless it is to be interpreted symbolically) Jesus was put to death outside the city. The traditional site for Golgotha was for many years associated with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre marking the spot where Constantine, in dismantling a pagan temple, allegedly found the sepulchre where Christ had been buried. Constantines mother, Queen Helena built a Christian church there in 326330 A.D, Recently, Miss Kenyon, an archaeologist, discovered the ruins of an ancient stone quarry near the Church. The quarry could be dated from 700 B.C. to sometime after 70 A.D. Some have theorized, that a quarry would necessarily be outside the ancient city walls and, therefore, the location of ancient Golgotha may very well have been near where the Church is now (see map on page 471). We prefer Gordons Calvary because of the following reasons:

a.

The place of executing, both with the Romans and the Jews was customarily outside the city or camp (Palutius, a Roman general wrote of this in his Military Glories, 2:4:6; see also Deu. 17:5; 1Ki. 21:13; Act. 7:58; Heb. 13:12; Lev. 24:14; Num. 15:36).

b.

Joh. 19:20 says the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city . . . and apparently where passers-by would be able to see clearly the spectacle . . . even those afar off (Mar. 15:40).

c.

Gordons Calvary is only a few hundred feet northeast of the Damascus Gate.

d.

Prevailing archaeological opinion is that the wall of Jerusalem is now just where it was in Jesus day.

e.

There is only one place around Jerusalem which has borne, and still bears, the name Skull Hill, that is Gordons Calvary.

f.

Gordons Calvary is near where the Tower of Antonia was (Pilates judgment hall) and Gordons Calvary would appear to be the most readily accessible place (away from crowded streets of the city) to carry on the act of crucifixion.

The origin of crucifixion as a method of execution may be traced to the Phoenician, Carthaginean, Persian and Median civilizations. Syrians and Greeks also used this barbaric instrument of death. The Romans adopted the practice because of the unparalleled suffering it inflicted and the spectacle it presented. It was inflicted on vicious criminals and slaves. It proved to be an effective deterrent to widespread crime or sedition. A Roman citizen could choose execution other than by crucifixion. The Jews would impale a dead man to signify a curse upon him (Gal. 3:13; Deu. 21:22-23) but never would they execute anyone by crucifixion. Their profound hatred of Jesus is intensely revealed in their cry, Crucify him! An article in Time magazine, January 18, 1971, brought to light some new and important information on the method of crucifixion by the Romans. In June 1968, thirty-five human skeletons were found by archaeologists in Israel dating back to the first century A.D. near the old Damascus Gate of Jerusalem. Among them the skeleton of a young adult male whose name, Yehohanan (John, in Aramaic), was inscribed on a burial ossuary. The mans heel bones were penetrated by the rusty remains of a seven-inch long nail. The nail had been bent by trying to force it into a knot. The only way to get the body down from its cross was to cut its feet off and remove the entire complexpiece of wood, nail, feet and the rest of the bodyfor burial. This is the first firm physical evidence of an actual crucifixion in the ancient Mediterranean world. It is very significant because: It tends to revise classical artists concepts of the manner of crucifixion.

See article Where Did Jesus Die? by Wm. Palmer in Christian Standard 31978.

The crucified Jesus is usually shown in an erect position, fastened to the cross by nails driven through hands and feet. To some scholars, that interpretation seemed highly implausible. With the bulk of the victims weight suspended from his hands, his body would sag; it would become extremely difficult for the breathing muscles to operate, and death would follow rapidly. The delicacy of the hand-structure would also tend to tear and come loose from the nails supporting all the body weight.

According to a reconstruction of Yehohanans crucifixion by Nicu Haas, anatomist and archaeologist, the nails were driven through the forearms to provide greater support. The victims legs were twisted to one side and folded up, then a nail and a piece of wood forming a cleat were nailed into his feet near the heel bone. This unnatural position served the purpose of the executioners very well: it would have prolonged both the victims life and his agony. Incidentally, Yehohanans skeleton gave evidence that the traditional coup de grace (a blow breaking both legs to hasten the victims death by hemorrhage and shock) had been administered.

Usually an anesthesia was given to the victim of crucifixion, a mixture of wine and myrrh (Gr. smurna, a gum-resin from a tree which grows in Yemenan astringent, antiseptic and stimulant) and also mixed in with this was gall (Gr. chole, which some think may have been a small dosage of reptilian venom). But Jesus refused to be anesthetized! He was determined to drink the cup of Gods wrath upon sin to the full, (see Mat. 27:34; Mar. 15:23).

With cold-blooded detachment the Romans would securely fasten the mutilated body to the cross. The ringing hammer against nail, mingled with shrieks of pain (from many other victims) produced a chilling sensation in the bystanders. With a dull thud and more screams from the victim the cross would be dropped into a hole with the victim nailed to the wood, suspended between earth and sky. All that remained was the wait for death. The pain of tearing flesh and muscle cramps became unbearable. Many victims fainted, revived, and fainted again, often, before death. Severe inflammation of open wounds from scourging and the nails occurred. Exposure to the elements of heat and cold (at night); rain and sunshine; insects and birds pecking at the helpless victims, created agony beyond comprehension. The arteries of the head and stomach were surcharged with blood creating excruciating headaches and stomach cramps plus psychological trauma, Tetanus with attendant convulsions often set in. Death rarely came before thirty-six hours elapsed. Nine days is the longest record of torturous endurance on a cross. This form of execution engulfed the victim not only with pain, but with moral reproach and public humiliation!

It was 9:00 a.m. in the morning (Mar. 15:25 calls it the third hour) when Jesus was nailed to the cross. Placing Jesus between two thieves was intended to humiliate Him further. All manner of derisive, abusive and mocking taunts were probably being hurled at Jesus as He was being nailed to the timbers. There was not one sympathetic, helpful word or touch until the word of one of the thieves. Of course, His mother, other women and John the apostle were there, but they were not allowed near Him. And what was Jesus doing as the Roman soldiers were driving the spikes into His hands and feet? He was praying for the forgiveness of His executioners. The Greek verb aphes is in the imperfect tense meaning Jesus kept on saying, Father suffer them (or, wait for them) for they know not what they are doing Luk. 23:34. This is the first word from the crossthere will be six others. Luke records three of the seven words from the cross, John records three, and Matthew and Mark record the other one. These words are precious revelations of what was passing through the mind of our Savior in these final hours.

The Greek word aphes (forgive) is the same word used in Mat. 19:14, aphete, where it is translated suffer or allow, and in Mat. 27:49 where it is translated wait. Jesus was not asking God for blanket forgiveness here, nor was He praying for the immediate forgiveness of His executioners without their repentance. No where in the scriptures is such a doctrine taught. What Jesus was praying was that God would wait with divine forebearance, put off His wrath upon these who were unaware of their heinous crime, until they might have an opportunity to respond to a better knowledge of what they had done. These Roman soldiers were under military orders, carrying out an assignment given them by their superiors. They would assume Jesus to be guilty, unless they were privy to Pilates statements to the Jews. Paul says if the rulers had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Co. 2:8). Peter said the same thing in Act. 3:17. But now God commands all men everywhere to repentand He has given assurance by raising Jesus from the dead (Act. 17:30-31), After Jesus resurrection these executioners, and all men everywhere (Col. 1:23), did have an opportunity to know for Paul said the gospel was preached to the whole world in his lifetime. At that time they must respond in repentance and obedience to covenant terms (immersion in water) to have the forgiveness Christ prayed they might have opportunity to choose. No man should take sin lightly. Jesus was not praying for indiscriminate forgiveness or universal salvation. Jesus was pleading for time for men who had no opportunity to know of Him as the vindicated, validated Lord of glory.

Pilate had written a placard with the title, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, (cf. Joh. 19:18-22). It was written in the three main languages spoken or read then, Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Pilate probably did it more to express his contempt and spite toward the Jewish rulers than for anything else. It may have been for the sake of the Roman official records since blasphemy of a foreign god would not be a capital crime by Roman law. The Jews objected but Pilate said it would remain that way, so the soldiers nailed the sign to the cross. Next, the soldiers divided His garments (plural). He probably wore a turban, a cape or cloak, a girdle or belt, sandals and the under-garments. They divided these among themselves and decided to cast lots for the seamless tunic (cf. Joh. 19:23-25) which was of extra-ordinary workmanship. This action was foreknown by God and predicted about a thousand years before it occurred (cf. Psa. 22:18).

Luk. 23:35-39 Excoriation: The people stood by watching. The extreme cruelty of crucifixion often left those who witnessed it in speechless shock. The Jewish rulers, however, were so filled with raging malice they were impervious to the inhumanity of it all and scoffed as they heaped verbal abuses upon Jesus. Matthew says they cried blasphemous words (Gr. eblasphemoun, derided) at Jesus (Mat. 27:39), wagging their heads or nodding in the direction of the cross as if sneering at this end for the alleged Messiah. Their taunt, He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One, was a verbal reinforcement of their disbelief and maliciousness. The soldiers mocked (Gr. enepaizon, to play like a child, to sport or jest with) Jesus and so did the Jewish rulers (Mat. 27:41; Mar. 15:31). The rulers affirmed their opinion that God wanted nothing to do with Jesus by saying, He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, I am the Son of God (Mat. 27:43). One of the saddest spectacles about Jesus crucifixion was the conduct of those around the cross. Rather than sit in silence and think or observe, they circled and paced about, spilling out venomous spite and hate like wild animals (bulls, Psa. 22:12) circling around a wounded and dying prey. Note the admission of the rulers in their statement, He saved others . . . that Jesus had done miracles. Perhaps they were remembering the resurrection of Lazarus. Would they have believed had Jesus come down from the cross? Did they believe the miracles they admitted He did? Did they believe after He arose from the dead? Some did (Act. 6:7)!

Matthew and Mark indicate that both the thieves started reviling Jesus (Mat. 27:44; Mar. 15:32). Luke mentions the one because the other repented. Perhaps the thieves felt they were dying before their time and Jesus was the causethey were undoubtedly crucified with Jesus to bring additional shame upon Him. The one thief said much the same as the rulers, If you are the Christ as you allege, save yourself and us from this excruciating death. His concept of the Christ was carnal too. Luke uses the Greek word eblasphemei to describe the thiefs railing at Jesus, Luk. 23:39.

Luk. 23:40-43 Exaltation: Suddenly, one of the thieves began to rebuke the other, Do you not fear God! Then he began to confess his sin, . . . we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. . . . He then added his belief of Jesus innocence, saying, but this man has done nothing wrong. He repented, or changed his mind and actions, from that of blaspheming Jesus to asking for His help. The thief believed Jesus was going to somehow fulfill His claim of Messiahship and come into His kingdom. He surely did not think Jesus would survive death on the cross, so he must have believed in some kind of spiritual or other-worldly kingdom. Jesus would have welcomed such faith in the multitudes to whom He preached so often and so intently. But how could this thief have come to such conclusions about Jesus?

a.

John the Baptists preaching was widely known and heard.

b.

Jesus teachings and miracles were even more widely known and talked about.

c.

If the thief was a Jew, he probably knew something of Old Testament prophecies and rabbinic traditions.

d.

Both these thieves may have heard about the things said at Jesus trials, or they may have been onlookers at the trials.

e.

The one thief was impressed with the divine behavior of Jesus at His crucifixion like the Roman soldier was.

At that moment Jesus spoke His second utterance from the cross: Today, you will be with me in Paradise (Luk. 23:43). The word paradeiso is the Greek translation of a Persian word which originally meant garden or park. It is found only three times in the New Testament (Luk. 23:43; 2Co. 12:4; Rev. 2:7). There is a Hebrew word, parades, in Son. 4:13; Neh. 2:8; Ecc. 2:5 translated forest or orchard. In Jewish Apocrypha the word is used extensively to denote the place of happiness to be inherited by the righteous. Jesus used the word only once. When Jesus spoke to the thief it was no time to use theological words so He used a word of the vernacular, Paradise. No human being knows the location of Paradisebut wherever Jesus went that very day, this thief was with Him, (cf. also Php. 1:21-23; Luk. 16:19-31). The question arises, how could this thief be saved without being baptized?

a.

Obviously Jesus could give salvation to anyone on any terms He wished so long as His last will and testament had not been probated by His death (cf. Heb. 9:16).

b.

While a man still lives he has the right to dispense his possessions as he may see fit (cf. Mat. 9:2-8; Luk. 7:48). But after his death, his property must be dispensed according to the terms of his will (cf. Heb. 9:15-28).

c.

Christs last will and testament was probated (from Latin, probare; to prove or establish) on the Day of Pentecost, A.D. 30, when its divine authority was attested to by His resurrection and subsequent miracles of the Holy Spirit. On that day the Lords executors gave the terms of Christs willrepent and be immersed, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins . . . (Act. 2:38).

d.

Since that time, everyone who wishes to be in Paradise with Christ must obey the terms of His probated will!

Luk. 23:44-49 Exclamation: John records the third utterance from the cross: Woman, behold your son! (the apostle, John); and, Behold your mother! (Joh. 19:25-27). Four women; Mary, Jesus mother; Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James and Joseph (also wife of Clopas); and Salome, mother of the sons of Zebedee (James and John) (also Jesus aunt); and John, the beloved apostle, stood with the crowd around the cross. It was blazing noon-day (Luke calls it, the sixth hour); Jesus had been on the cross three hours. Now is fulfilled Simeons prediction (Luk. 2:35), a sword will pierce your (Mary, the mother) heart also. Jesus is Marys Lord, to be sure, but just now He is her son, the baby who lay upon her breast long ago, the lad of Nazareth, the good, true, holy boy who grew into manhood under her loving eyes. From that hour John the apostle took Mary into his home (Joh. 19:27).

Luke (as well as Matthew and Mark) document for us the fact that there was an unnatural darkness, at midday, over the whole land, which lasted for three hours. Luke, according to the Nestle text, used the Greek word, eklipontos, from which the English word eclipse comes, to describe this darkness. It was, however, no natural eclipse because it was full-moon time (being Passover time). This was a miraculous darkness (Gr. skotos, the word which all three of the Synoptics use to describe the phenomenon). The darkness probably did not cover the whole earth. One pagan historian, however, does discuss it. Phlegon, Roman astronomer, speaking of the fourteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (2930 A.D.) says, . . . the greatest eclipse of the sun that was ever known happened then, for the day was so turned into night that the stars appeared.

The supernatural rending of the veil of the Temple is recorded by Luke (Luk. 23:45) here. Matthew and Mark (Mat. 27:51; Mar. 15:38) place it at the moment of Christs death. A careful examination of Lukes account indicates he is making a summarization for he says that the darkness and the rending of the veil took place sometime, and Luke is not intending to be exact, during the three hours from the sixth hour (noon) until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), The veil was apparently torn in two (from top to bottom, Mat. 27:51; Mar. 15:38) at the ninth hour when Jesus breathed his last (Mat. 27:50; Mar. 15:37; Luk. 23:46). This incident was very evidently a miracle. It was not caused by the earthquake because Matthew says that happened after the veil was rent (Mat. 27:51-53). Edersheim says this veil was 60 ft. long (that is six stories), 30 ft. wide, and the thickness of the palm of a mans hand (about 45 inches). It was a composite of 72 equal squares of material and took scores of priests to manipulate. Rabbinical literature tells of two veils in Herods Temple, one before the doors into the Holy Place, and one before the entrance to the Holy of Holies. The one torn in two was undoubtedly the veil before the Holy of Holies. Heb. 9:1-28 is clearly a reference to this historic event as symbolizing the spiritual reality that was accomplished at the death of Christ. This miracle, witnessed no doubt by many priests, may be part of the reason many priests became followers of Christ later (see Act. 6:7).

Between noon and 3:00 p.m. Jesus made four more utterances from the cross:

a.

Eli, Eli, lama sa-bach-thani? this is Aramaic meaning, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? (cf. Mat. 27:46; Mar. 15:34).

1.

It is the cry of God, Himself, on the cross coming into identification of Himself with the issue of the sin of man.

2.

God interposed Himself with an oath (Heb. 6:17) at the cross, and took mans place.

3.

It is God-man entering into the experience of both at the point where reconciliation must be achieved.

4.

It is the Incarnate God becoming His own curse upon sin and sinners (Gal. 3:13).

5.

It is Him who knew no sin, being made to be sin on our behalf (2Co. 5:21).

6.

It is God being both Just and the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:26).

7.

It is the cry of a soul at the uttermost of sinseparating the soul from its Creator. It is the cry of the agony of absolute estrangement from God and all its consequences.

8.

It is the cry of a soul at the uttermost of sorrowsorrowing over its loss of identity because forsaken by God, the soul is lost even to itself!

9.

It is the cry of the soul in the presence of the Divine silence. God withdrawsdarkness and silence like no one has ever experienced. It is the silence and withdrawal of Hell!

10.

It is a word from the lips of God. God is expressing from the human lips of His Son the fact that the pains and penalties of human sin were HisHe took them for us!

11.

It was all the cries of all the doubts of all humanity at the seeming injustices and incongruities of life and death. My God, why? . . . Is there any answer? Yes! If Calvary raises these questions, Easter morning answers them! God has not forsaken man!

b.

I thirst . . . (Joh. 19:28)

1.

Six hours of physical and psychological torture more severe than any person has ever known is what Jesus has endured thus far.

2.

His tongue probably was swollen, his lips parched and cracked, and his every nerve crying out for the relief of a cooling drink.

3.

Soldiers say that on the battlefield all other agony of torn bodies and severed limbs is forgotten in the agony that exceeds them allthat of thirst.

4.

And someone gave Him vinegar on a sponge, attached to a reed or a limb off an hyssop shrub.

5.

How could Jesus drink the wine-vinegar now after refusing the wine and myrrh at first. Vinegar alone (soured wine) has no anesthetic value, and, now He has tasted to the full His primary cup and it is now finished.

6.

He who is the Water of Life drank the bitter cup of sin for the whole world there so those who believe and obey Him may drink the sweet wine of victory and forgiveness.

c.

It is finished (Joh. 19:30).

1.

He cried it with a loud voice. It was a shout of triumph, not of defeat.

2.

The Greek word is tetelestai, a perfect tense verb meaning, It has been brought to fulfillment with a continuing result of fulfillment. In other words, what Jesus completed on the cross will continue to stand as completed. It will never need to be completed again! (cf. Heb. 9:25-28; Heb. 10:12-14, etc.).

3.

The word of God for the redemption of mankindso far as the Sons part was concernedwas completed.

4.

All the types, symbols and prophecies of the Old Testament pointed to this moment (Dan. 9:24-27; Isa. 53:1-12; Zec. 13:1 ff)FINISHED!

Luke alone records the last utterance from the cross (Luk. 23:46): Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit! The Greek verb, parathesomai, is the same word as its noun form in 2Ti. 1:12 where Paul says he is persuaded God is able to keep that which he has committed to Him. It is a word which means deposited with or entrusted with. Matthew says Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Matthew uses apheken, a Greek word which means Jesus released, delivered, dismissed or yielded up or let go His spirit. Jesus finished His work in the earthly body given Him (see Heb. 10:5-10), dismissed His spirit, and deposited it, along with His redemptive work, with the Father for safekeeping and use as the Father intended it. Jesus was in control all the way. He did not release His spirit until it was finished. He was King. No man took His lifeHe gave it! Matthew records (Mat. 27:51-53) that when Jesus breathed His last, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into Jerusalem and appeared to many.

The centurion (Matthew adds, and those assigned with him) and all the multitudes assembled to see the sight of the crucifixion, saw sights they had not expected. Darkness for three hours, earthquake and other phenomena (about which they all heard) were things which flooded their minds with awe and agitated anxiety (Gr. sphodra, violent restlessness). The women stood at a distance and saw these things (Mat. 27:55-56). The on-lookers returned home beating their chests (Gr. stethe, chestis the word from which the medical term, stethoscope, comes). It was customary to display publicly such emotions as grief, anguish, remorse or shock (see Luk. 18:13). It is still a custom of the people of the Middle East. Perhaps some of the on-lookers, having had time to be away from the mobs shouting, Crucify Him, and having seen His divine behavior, had begun to realize Who this was and what they had done! Luke says the centurion praised God and said, Certainly this man was innocent. Matthew and Mark report that the centurion said, Truly, this man was a Son of God! The Greek phrase in Matthew and Mark is alethos theou huios en houtos. Literally that would be translated: Truly, of a god, a son was this man. The absence of the definite article in Greek constitutes, where the context indicates, the equivalent of the indefinite article in English. We believe the context indicates that here. Furthermore, in Greek, the noun with the definite article identifies, but the noun without the definite article qualifies. In this phrase we have the noun (theos) without the definite article. This centurion was a pagan and probably had no concept of monotheism. Romans often made their emperors and other famous men gods and worshiped them. Especially did the Romans idolize stoic endurance of suffering. The centurion was honest-hearted enough to recognize Jesus innocence (Gr. dikaios, justness). So what he is exclaiming is that Jesus behavior, and the signs he had seen, indicated to him Jesus was probably a son of a god! He knew Jesus was different from any other human beings he had ever known.

John notes that it was the day of Preparation (Gr. paraskeue, Friday), Mark expressly says Preparation was the day before the Sabbath (Mar. 15:42), and the Jews, meticulously careful that no bodies be left hanging after sundown Friday (which would be the beginning of Sabbath), encouraged Pilate to speed up the execution (Joh. 19:31-37). Romans employed a very grim method of hastening execution by crucifixionthey smashed the legs of the victim with an iron hammer. This kept the victim from being able to support himself so his body sagged and cut off his breathing and he suffocated. Also, the utter shock of such treatment usually precipitated immediate death. John emphatically states as an eyewitness that Jesus was dead. John notes that the soldiers did not break the legs of Jesus because He was already dead, (Joh. 19:33). One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear (Joh. 19:34) and at once there came out blood and water. It is very important that we mention Johns eyewitnessed testimony here, for if Jesus did not really die, He was not really raised from the dead. In fact, that is the primary thesis of Dr. Hugh Schonfields celebrated book, The Passover Plot. He theorizes that Jesus did not really die on the cross but He had plotted earlier with some of His friends that they should drug Him while He was being crucified. Then when He appeared dead, they should ask for His body and put Him in a tomb so that He might later come out and appear to have risen from the dead. We prefer to accept the testimony of an eyewitness, John, rather than the theory of someone writing two thousand years removed from the actual event.

Appleburys Comments

The Crucifixion of Jesus
Scripture

Luk. 23:26-49 And when they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus.

27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who 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 which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that 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 the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
33 And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And parting his garments among them, they cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, If thou art the King of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And there was also a superscription over him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39 And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us. 40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, Dost thou not even 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, Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom, 43 And he said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
44 And it was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 the suns light failing: and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46 And Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit; and having said this, he gave up the ghost, 47 And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, certainly this was a righteous man. 48 And all the multitudes that came together to this sight, when they beheld the things that were done, returned smiting their breasts, 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed with him from Galilee, stood afar off, seeing these things.

Comments

Simon of Cyrene.John says that Jesus went out, bearing His own cross; that is, He started to the place of the crucifixion carrying the cross (Joh. 19:17). His agony in Gethsemane and the ordeal of the trial could easily have been the cause of His needing help to bear the heavy burden of the cross. Simon of CyreneCyrene was a country in north Africawas compelled to bear it after Jesus.

Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No; theres a cross for everyone,
And theres a cross for me.

Daughters of Jerusalem.Jesus spoke to the women who were following Him, trying to comfort them in this hour of His ordeal. He reminded them, however, that they were also facing an ordeal that would come at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. The suffering of that day would cause some of them to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. What they were suffering was likened to the green tree; He asked, What shall be done in the dry?

The place called The Skull,The other writers use the Aramaic name Golgotha, which means skull or, when translated into Latin, Calvary.

And Jesus said.Luke gives three of the words Jesus spoke from the cross. The first is found in Luk. 23:34, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

The context seems to suggest that He was speaking of those who were actually nailing Him to the cross. The rulers and others were also there, but He had already indicated on several occasions that nothing but doom awaited them because their rejection of Him was final, and no repentance was to be expected. But, of the crowds who had become involved in their sins, many would reverse their decision and find forgiveness through repentance and baptism in the name of the one who prayed Father, forgive them.

The second, given in Luk. 23:43, is, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

According to Act. 2:27, which is a quotation from Psa. 16:10, Jesus was in Hades while his body lay in the tomb. Paul speaks of Paradise_ and identifies it with the third heaven (2Co. 12:4). He also suggests that being absent from the body means being present with the Lord (2Co. 5:6-9). Jesus had indicated that Hades is the place where both the good and the bad are to be found after death. (Luk. 16:23).

It is correct, then, to say: (1) That Paradise is the place where the righteous dead await the resurrection, and (2) that the dying thief was told that he would be there with Jesus.

The third statement, found in Luk. 23:46, is, Into thy hands I commend my spirit (Luk. 23:46).

He had come from the Father. As He prayed in the shadow of the cross He said, Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was (Joh. 17:5). See also Php. 2:5-11.

Matthew and Mark mention only one saying of Jesus from the cross: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mat. 27:46; Mar. 15:34).

This is a quotation from Psa. 22:1. It reveals the real meaning of the death of Christ. It was more than physical death; it was separation from the Father. The answer to the cry of Jesus is found in Pauls statement, Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2Co. 5:21). As Son of ManHe was also Son of GodGod made Him represent sin. The death that He died, He died unto sin once for all (Rom. 6:10). There will never be another sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:14; Heb. 10:18).

The cross, then, is not only the symbol of Gods love, it is also the symbol of Gods punishment for sin, Let those who would know the meaning of hell look at the death of Him who was made sin on our behalf.

John records three of the sayings of Jesus on the cross. The first, found in Joh. 19:26-27, is: Woman, behold thy son. Jesus committed His mother to the care of John. Then He said to John, Behold thy mother. There is reason to believe that John may have been her nephew. Just why Jesus put His mother in Johns care rather than one of her own sons is not stated.

The second saying is: I thirst (Joh. 19:28). This indicates something of the torture Jesus was suffering as He was dying on the cross.

The third is: It is finished (Joh. 19:30). In His prayer before going to the cross, He had said, I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work thou hast given me to do (Joh. 17:4). That work was finished at the cross. The final sacrifice was made. The new and living way into the refuge which He prepared was opened (Heb. 6:19-20; Heb. 10:19-22).

He saved others.Although they spoke out of malicious wickedness, they spoke the truth. He had saved others, and His death would save the multitude that no man can number of those who wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:9-14). But He had to die in order to do it. In His death, He brought to nought him who has power of death, that is, the devil.

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.John says that the sign over the cross was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Pilate wanted everyone to read the sign and know that Rome had thus disposed of the one who, the Jews said, made himself a king. He refused to change the wording of the sign so as to relieve the Jews of the ignominy of having their king die on a Roman cross. See Joh. 19:19-22.

And one of the malefactors.Two robbers were put to death at the time Jesus was crucified. Three crosses were planted on Calvary. The death of Jesus provided the only possible way of escape from eternal punishment (Act. 4:12). Calvarys crosses dramatize this gospel truth.

he gave up the ghost.that is, He died. The evidence is conclusive: (1) The darkness and the earthquake provided the setting; (2) the temple veil was rent from the top to the bottom, suggesting that something unusual had happened that it should be torn in this manner; (3) the expression of the centurion who saw Him die (Mar. 15:39). A Roman soldier knew death when he saw it. He said, Truly this man was the Son of God. (4) The soldier pierced the side of Jesus body from which there came blood and water. It was the soldiers judgment that He was already dead, but this was done to make sure of it (Joh. 19:33). (5) The enemies of Jesus were concerned only that the body be kept safely in the tomb; they did not question the fact of Jesus death.

And when the centurion.Soldiering was never considered a soft business. Execution of criminalsand, no doubt, many innocent peoplewas all in a days work for Roman soldiers. But there was something different about the death of Jesus of Nazareth. When the centurion heard Him say, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, and saw all the things that were happening, he glorified God and said, Certainly this was a righteous man. Thus he concurred in the judgment of both Pilate and Herod that this man had done nothing worthy of death; He was innocent.

According to Matthew, the centurion said, Truly this was Gods Son (Mat. 27:54). In doing so, he recognized the deity of Jesus.

Some have assumed that a pagan soldier could not mean by this remark that He was anything other than a son of the godspagan gods. But what about the centurion who loved the Jewish nation and built their synagogue? Jesus commended his faith which was unlike anything He had found in all Israel. Cornelius was another exception. God heard the prayers of this devout, God-fearing man even though he was a Gentile (Act. 10:1-4).

There is no good reason to question the meaning of the centurions confession. He believed that Jesus was Gods Son. The resurrection of Our Lord proved him right (Rom. 1:3-4).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

‘And when they led him away, they sequestrated one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus.’

These few words cover a multitude of suffering. Luke omits mention of how the soldiers also engaged in horseplay towards Him (Mar 15:16-20). And then in His bloodied and broken state He would be taken from Pilate’s presence and stood in the midst of four soldiers with His crosspiece over His shoulder and the procession would then move forwards as fast as the prisoner’s condition would allow. Ahead would march a soldier bearing the accusation, ‘This is the King of the Jews’. He would then be led throughout the many streets of Jerusalem as an example from which all should take warning, while the passing crowds looked on, some in pity, others in contempt. But gradually the leaden weight, reacting on His physical weakness and pain, would be too much for Him, and He would sink to His knees. Dragged up again and forced to continue He would seek to do so, until at length it was clear even to the hardened soldiers that He could carry it no more. Outwardly He was a broken man. He seemingly had nothing left to give.

Then the soldiers would glance around, and using the powers granted to them by Rome, would select a passer-by or spectator to bear the cross for Jesus. It just happened that they chose a man from Cyrene in Africa, who probably looked burly and strong, whose name was Simon. And to him they delegated the cross. There is good reason to believe that the man was never the same again, for the mention of the names of his two sons by Mark suggests that he became a Christian (Mar 15:21). And ‘he bore it after Jesus’. We can hardly doubt that Luke had in mind Jesus’ words in Luk 9:23; Luk 14:27. Now all would know what was involved in taking up the cross as never before.

‘Coming from the country’ may suggest that he was a poor man who had come to the Passover and was camped outside Jerusalem, although within the permitted area. Or it may signify that he had arrived late for the Passover because he had been delayed.

But note that Luke expresses this all in a few simple words. There is no thought of drawing attention to Jesus’ sufferings. His concern is with their significance. The Lamb of God is going forward to die (Joh 1:29).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Crucifixion of Jesus (23:26-33).

The moment that this last part of the Gospel has been building up to has now come. Jesus had spoken of His trials and temptations (Luk 22:28), and of the suffering that lay ahead (Luk 22:15), and He had prayed in the Garden that if it was possible within the will of God He might be spared it (Luk 22:42), and now His final trials had begun in earnest. The Jesus of the Upper Room was no more. Instead there was a bloodied and broken physical wreck, and there was more to come. But He was no different underneath. He moved on undaunted, His spirit strong though His flesh was weak. He would not be able to carry His crosspiece for long (Luk 23:26), but He was able to carry the sins of the world, and even as He staggered along He sought to warn and comfort the weeping women, whose tears reminded Him of the terrible judgment soon to come on Jerusalem for what it had done (Luk 23:27-31).

To Luke in what He was doing He was offering up the blood of the new covenant (Luk 22:20). He was being reckoned among the transgressors (Luk 22:37). He was suffering so that men might be altered in heart and mind and receive remission of sins (Luk 24:46-47). He was purchasing His people with His own blood (Act 20:28). Luke is in no doubt about the significance of His act. And all the way through this narrative we are aware of something far beyond martyrdom. No martyr ever faced death with the weight on his shoulders that Jesus is revealed to have had. Here is depicted One who was facing in death something that was unique and applicable only to Him.

Analysis.

a When they led him away, they sequestrated one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the crosspiece, to bear it after Jesus (Luk 23:26).

b And there followed Him a great crowd of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented Him (Luk 23:27).

c But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” (Luk 23:28).

d “For behold, the days are coming, in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck’ ” (Luk 23:29).

c “Then will they begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’, and to the hills, ‘Cover us’. For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?” (Luk 23:30-31).

b And there were also two others, evildoers, led with Him to be put to death (Luk 23:32).

a And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him, and the evildoers, one on the right hand and the other on the left (Luk 23:33).

Note how in ‘a’ a stranger is called on to keep Jesus company and to bear His crosspiece, and in the parallel Jesus is crucified on the cross and two evildoers keep Him company. In ‘b’ the great crowd, and especially the women, wept over Him, and in the parallel two evildoers were led along with Him. (Note in both ‘a’ and ‘b’ the concern of the common decent people contrasted with the evil of His companions). In ‘c’ He tells the women to weep for themselves and for their children, and in the parallel He explains why they need to do so. And centrally He warns that the Jews will as a result bewail the fact that children are born to them (a direct reversal of the usual attitude. Things will have been turned upside down).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Witnesses of Jesus’ Crucifixion ( Mat 27:32-44 , Mar 15:21-32 , Joh 19:17-27 ) Luk 23:26-56 contains four witnesses of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Prophecy to the Multitude Luk 23:26-38

2. Prophecy to Criminal on the Cross Luk 23:39-43

3. Witness of the Centurion (a Roman) Luk 23:44-49

4. Witness of Joseph of Arimathea (a Palestinian Jew) Luk 23:50-56

Crucifixion in the Ancient World – References to impalement and crucifixion in ancient history are too numerous to mention them all. These most cruel forms of punishment were used for perhaps a thousand years, from the sixth century B.C. by the Persians until fourth century A.D. when Constantine abolished its practice throughout the Roman Empire. Perhaps the earliest references to crucifixion and impalement as a form of capital punishments are recorded by the Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 B.C.), who says the Persians practiced it against their enemies and other condemned of crimes. Although the Persians may have not have been the first to use this cruel form of punishment, they certainly appear to be the first to use it extensively. Herodotus makes numerous references to the Persian practice of impalement and crucifixion, with most gruesome event taking place when King Darius of Persian subdued the Babylonians a second time in 519 B.C. by crucifying three thousand chief men among them on one occasion (3.159). [277]

[277] “Crucifixion,” in Encyclopdia Britannica [on-line]; accessed December 21, 2011; available at http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/144583/crucifixion; Internet.

“and with that he took the Magians who interpreted dreams and had persuaded him to let Cyrus go free, and impaled [ ] them.” ( Herodotus 1.128) [278]

[278] Herodotus I, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1920, 1975), 167.

“Having killed him (in some way not worth the telling) Oroetes then crucified [ ] him.” ( Herodotus 3.125) [279]

[279] Herodotus II, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1928), 155.

“When the Egyptian chirurgeons who had till now attended on the king were about to be impaled [ ] for being less skilful than a Greek, Democedes begged their lives of the king and saved them.” ( Herodotus 3.132) [280]

[280] Herodotus II, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1928), 163.

“For he had raped the virgin daughter of Zopyrus son of Megabyzus; and when on this charge he was to be impaled [ ] by King XerxesBut Xerxes did not believe that Sataspes spoke truth, and as the task appointed Mas unfulfilled he impaled [ ] him, punishing him on the charge first brought against him.” ( Herodotus 4.43) [281]

[281] Herodotus II, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1928), 241-243.

“Artaphrenes, viceroy of Sardis and Harpagus who had taken Histiaeus, impaled [ ] his body on the spot, and sent his head embalmed to king Darius at Susa.” ( Herodotus 6.30) [282]

[282] Herodotus III, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1938), 175-177.

“Their captain was the viceroy from Cyme in Aeolia, Sandoces son of Thamasius; he had once before this, being then one of the king’s judges, been taken and crucified [ ] by Darius because he had given unjust judgment for a bribe.” ( Herodotus 7.194) [283]

[283] Herodotus III, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1938), 511.

“Thus was Babylon the second time taken. Having mastered the Babylonians, Darius destroyed their walls and reft away all their gates, neither of which things Cvrus had done at the first taking of Babylon; moreover he impaled [ ] about three thousand men that were chief among them.” ( Herodotus 3.159) [284]

[284] Herodotus II, trans. A. D. Godley, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1928), 193-195.

The Greek historian Thucydides (460-396 B.C.) records the use of impalement during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.) by the Persians, which suggests the introduction of this form of punishment to the Greek by the Persians.

“for the Persians were unable to capture him, both on account of the extent of the marsh and because the marsh people are the best fighters among the Egyptians. Inaros, however, the king of the Libyans, who had been the originator of the whole movement in Egypt, was taken by treachery and impaled.” ( Thucydides 1.110) [285]

[285] Thucydides, vol. 1, trans. Charles Forster Smith, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1956), 185.

The Greek general Alexander the Great adopted crucifixion as a form of punishment against his enemies in his conquests. The Roman historian Curtius Rufus (flourished A.D. 41-54) says Alexander the Great crucified two thousand citizens of Tyre along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea after having conquered them.

“Then a sorrowful spectacle to the victors caused by the wrath of the king, two thousand suffering (his) madness which were killed, fixed to a cross [crux] along the enormous distance of the seashore. He spared the ambassadors of the Carthaginians” (author’s translation) (Quintus Curtius Rufus , Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great 4.4.18) [286]

[286] Quintus Curtius Rufus, Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, trans. William Henry Crosby (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1969), 45.

The Romans adopted crucifixion into their judicial system. The Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 B.C.) describes crucifixion as the worst form of capital punishment that should be reserved for all but Roman citizens, and he condemns those Roman officials who performed it upon their own citizens.

“The Roman people will give credit to those Roman knights who, when they were produced as witnesses before you originally, said that a Roman citizen, one who was offering honourable men as his bail, was crucified by him in their sight.” (Cicero, Against Verrem 1.5) [287]

[287] C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus, the Contemporary of Josephus, vol. 1 (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854), 137.

“The punishments of Roman citizens are driving him mad, some of whom he has delivered to the executioner, others he has put to death in prison, others he has crucified while demanding their rights as freemen and as Roman citizens.” (Cicero, Against Verrem 2.1.3) [288]

[288] C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus, the Contemporary of Josephus, vol. 1 (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854), 154.

“I will produce, also, citizens of Cosa, his fellow-citizens and relations, who shall teach you, though it is too late, and who shall also teach the judges, (for it is not too late for them to know them,) that that Publius Gavius whom you crucified was a Roman citizen, and a citizen of the municipality of Cosa, not a spy of runaway slaves.” (Cicero, Against Verrem 2.5.63) [289]

[289] C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus, the Contemporary of Josephus, vol. 1 (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854), 535.

“Then you might remit some part of the extreme punishment. Did he not know him? Then, if you thought fit, you might establish this law for all people, that whoever was not known to you, and could not produce a rich man to vouch for him, even though he were a Roman citizen, was still to be crucified.” (Cicero, Against Verrem 2.5.65) [290]

[290] C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus, the Contemporary of Josephus, vol. 1 (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854), 537.

The Romans appear to have taken crucifixion to its fullest extent of torment. The Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnasus (60-7 B.C.) tells us that the Romans combined scourging and various forms of torture as a prerequisite to crucifixion.

“And straightway all those whom the informers declared to have been concerned in the conspiracy were either seized in their houses or brought in from the country, and after being scourged and tortured they were all crucified.” (Dionysius of Halicarnasus, Roman Antiquities 5.51.3) [291]

[291] Dionysius of Halicarnasus, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnasus, vol. 3, trans. Earnest Cary, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1940), 153.

“When the plot was revealed, the ringleaders were arrested and after being scourged were led away to be crucified.” (Dionysius of Halicarnasus, Roman Antiquities 12.6.7) [292]

[292] Dionysius of Halicarnasus, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnasus, vol. 7, trans. Earnest Cary, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, c1950), 221.

The Roman philosopher Seneca (4 B.C. to A.D. 65) tells us that the Romans experimented with a variety of methods for crucifying men in an effort to inflict maximum suffering.

“I see before me crosses not all alike, but differently made by different peoples: some hang a man head downwards, some force a stick upwards through his groin, some stretch out his arms on a forked gibbet.” ( Dialogues 6, To Marcia, On Consolations) [293]

[293] Aubrey Stewart, L. Anneaus Seneca: Minor Dialogues (London: George Bell and Sons, 1889), 192.

The Roman historian Appian (A. D. 95-165) tells us that the Roman general Crassus crucified six thousand men in 71 B.C. after crushing a slave rebellion led by Spartacus. He stretched these crosses along the main road leading to Rome so that everyone may see and fear the Romans. [294]

[294] William Bodham Donne, “Spartacus,” in Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 3, ed. William Smith (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1849), 892.

“They divided themselves in four parts, and continued to fight until they all perished except 6000, who were captured and crucified along the whole road from Capua to Rome.” ( The Civil Wars 1.120) [295]

[295] Appian’s Roman History, vol. 3, trans. Horace White, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, 1964), 223-225.

The Assyrian satirist Lucian (A.D. 125-180) reflects the Roman’s passion for the most extreme forms of punishment in his work The Fisherman.

“But how are we to punish him, to be sure? Let us invent a complex death for him, such as to satisfy us all; in fact he deserves to die seven times over for each of us. PHILOSOPHER I suggest he be crucified. ANOTHER Yes, by Heaven; but flogged beforehand. ANOTHER Let him have his eyes put out long beforehand.. ANOTHER Let him have that tongue of his cut off, even longer beforehand.” (Lucian, The Fisherman 2) [296]

[296] Lucian, vol. 3, trans. A. M. Harmon, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, 1960), 5.

The Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) makes many references to the Roman practice of crucifixion against the Jewish people. His description of the thousands of crucifixions that the Romans performed upon the Jews during the siege of Jerusalem is perhaps the most horrific of his many references.

“after they had fought, they thought it too late to make any supplications for mercy; so they were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city. This miserable procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, while they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught moreSo the soldiers out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest; when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies.” (Josephus, Wars 5.11.1)

“Whereupon Eleazar besought them not to disregard him, now he was going to suffer a most miserable death, and exhorted them to save themselves, by yielding to the Roman power and good fortune, since all other people were now conquered by them.” (Josephus, Wars 7.6.4)

The Roman philosopher Seneca (4 B.C. to A.D. 65) gives one of the most vivid descriptions of what a person suffers during a crucifixion in ancient literature:

“But what sort of life is a lingering death? Can anyone be found who would prefer wasting away in pain dying limb by limb, or letting out his life drop by drop, rather than expiring once for all? Can any man by found willing to be fastened to the accursed tree, long sickly, already deformed, swelling with ugly tumors on chest and shoulders, and drawing the breath of life amid long drawn-out agony? I think he would have many excuses for dying even before mounting the cross!” ( Epistle 101.14). [297]

[297] Seneca, vol. 4 , Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, vol. 3, trans. Richard M. Gumere, in The Loeb Classical Library, eds. T. E. Page, E. Capps, and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, 1971), 167.

The Roman jurist Julius Paulus (2 nd to 3 rd c. A.D.) considered crucifixion as the most extreme of all punishments.

“Every one should abstain not only from divination but also from the books teaching that science. If slaves consult a soothsayer with reference to the life of their master, they shall be subjected to extreme punishment, that is to say, to crucifixion; and if those who are consulted give any answer, they shall either be sentenced to the mines, or deported to an island.” ( The Civil Law 5.21.4) [298]

[298] S. P. Scott, The Civil Law (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Central Trust Company 1932) [on-line]; accessed 17 January 2011; available at http://webu2.upmf-grenoble.fr/Haiti/Cours/Ak/Anglica/Paul5_Scott.htm#21; Internet.

The legal reforms of Constantine led to the abolishment of crucifixion and replaced it more humane forms of capital punishment (Eusebius, Life of Constantine 4.26) ( PG 20, cols. 1173-1178). [299]

[299] Albert de Broglie, “The First Christian Emperors,” (130-190). in The Christian Remembrancer (vol. 50 July-Decemeber) (London: J. and C. Mozley, 1860), 169; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 3 (New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), 108.

Luk 23:26-38 Jesus’ Prophecy to the Multitudes In Luk 23:26-38 Luke records the prophetic words of Jesus to the multitudes as He is led to Calvary. Luke the author may have records these words from the eye-witness testimony of Simon the Cyrenian who carried the cross for Jesus Christ.

Luk 23:26 Comments – Jesus apparently was quickly taken to the cross after the trial.

Luk 23:31 Comments – Trees can represent men in the Scriptures. A green tree is a man who has life in him. (Jesus is the green tree in this context, yet all saints throughout the Bible who suffered wrongly are green trees)

A dry tree is a tree with no life, and a lost or wicked person.

So, Jesus is saying, “If this is how the world treats the righteous man and Jesus Himself, the true light, how much sorer punishment will God bring upon the evil man. This fits the context of verses 28-31. Jesus tells the people (women) not to weep over His suffering, but rather weep for their own when God’s vengeance comes upon them. Note Pro 11:31.

Pro 11:31, “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.”

Luk 23:33 “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary” Word Study on “Calvary” Strong says the Greek word (G2898) means, “a skull.” This is the only verse where the word “Calvary” occurs in the New Testament. T he English word “Calvary” is derived from the Latin word “calvariae” using in the Vulgate, which means, “skull, or place of skulls.”

This word is used only four times in the New Testament. Note the other three uses.

Mat 27:33, “And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull ,”

Mar 15:22, “And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull .”

Joh 19:17, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull , which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:”

Comments – There are t w o commonly held views as to how this place received its name. First, Robertson says that Calvary was a place outside of the city, probably what is now called Gordon’s Calvary, a hill north of the city wall, which from the Mount of Olives looks like a skull because of the rock-hewn tombs which resemble eyes.

Others believe that Calvary received its name because there were many skulls of those who had suffered crucifixion and other capital punishments scattered up and down in this place.

Luk 23:34 “Then said Jesus,” – Comments The Greek verb is used in the imperfect tense in Luk 23:34, which tense describes continuous action in the past. Thus, we may translate the phrase as, “Jesus was saying,” or “Jesus kept on saying” In other words, Jesus could have asked the Father to forgive them a number of times.

Luk 23:34 “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” Comments – Jesus predicted His role as Advocate and our Great High Priest when He asked the Father to forgive those who had crucified Him.

Luk 23:34 “And they parted his raiment, and cast lots” – Comments The ancient practice of casting lots was not restricted to the Jewish culture under the Mosaic Law. The books Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, and Nahum provide us with references in the Old Testament Scriptures to the custom of casting of lots by someone other than the people of Israel, being practiced among the Babylonians (Oba 1:11), the Ninevites (Nah 3:10), and among the sailors (Jon 1:7), which Adam Clarke suggests to be Phoenicians based on Eze 27:12. [300]

[300] Adam Clarke, The Book of the Prophet Jonah, in Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database (Seattle, WA: Hendrickson Publishers Inc., 1996), in P.C. Study Bible, v. 3.1 [CD-ROM] (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft Inc., 1993-2000), notes on Jonah 1:3.

Joe 3:3, “And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”

Oba 1:11, “In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.”

Nah 3:10, “Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains.”

Jon 1:7, “And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.”

Eze 27:12, “Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.”

The Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus Christ cast lots at the foot of the Cross (Mat 27:35, Mar 15:24, Luk 23:34, Joh 19:24). The Roman statesman Cicero (106-43 B.C.) makes numerous references to the widespread practice of casting lots among the ancient cultures in his work de divination. [301] The Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) mentions the practice of casting lots among the Roman soldiers who had encompassed the city of Jerusalem under Titus. [302] The Roman historian Suetonius (A.D. 70-130) mentions this ancient practice among Roman leaders by appointing men to tasks by casting lots, as well as casting lots as a form of divination. [303]

[301] For example, Cicero writes, “But what nation is there, or what state, which is not influenced by the omens derived from the entrails of victims, or by the predictions of those who interpret prodigies, or strange lights, or of augurs, or astrologers, or by those who expound lots (for these are about what come under the head of art); or, again, by the prophecies derived from dreams, or soothsayers (for these two are considered natural kinds of divination)?” ( de divination 1.6) Cicero also writes, “What, now, is a lot? Much the same as the game of mora, or dice, l and other games of chance, in which luck and fortune are all in all, and reason and skill avail nothing. These games are full of trick and deceit, invented for the object of gain, superstition, or error.” ( de divination 2.41) See Cicero, The Treatises of M. T. Cicero on the Nature of the Gods; on Divination; on Fate; on the Republic; on the Laws; and on Standing for the Consulship, trans. C. D. Yonge (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1853), 146-147, 235.

[302] Josephus writes, “They also cast lots among themselves who should be upon the watch in the nighttime, and who should go all night long round the spaces that were interposed between the garrisons.” ( Wars 5.12.2)

[303] For example, Suetonius writes, “When later, on his way to Illyricum, he [Tiberius] visited the oracle of Geryon near Patavium, and drew a lot which advised him to seek an answer to his inquiries by throwing golden dice into the fount of Aponus, it came to pass that the dice which he threw showed the highest possible number and even to-day those very dice may be seen under the water.” ( Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Tiberius) Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, trans. Joseph Gavorse (New York: Modern Library, 1931), 130-131.

Luk 23:35 “And the people stood beholding” Comments – How well A. B. Simpson describes the variety of emotions and reactions that people experienced that day as they beheld the Son of God on the Cross. The rulers and soldiers mocked Him. Some soldiers greedily struggled for the spoils of the Master’s belongings. Those women who had followed Him and ministered to Him in love stood afar off weeping in unbelief. Peter must have felt such guilt for having denied Him at the end. Jesus’ mother stood with a broken heart at the death of her son, remembering the words of Simeon, “Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also.” (Luk 2:35) The two thieves responded as differently as the crowd, one mocking and the other repenting. The centurion was confessing that this was certainly a righteous man. Finally Joseph of Arimathaea, realizing that he could do one last deed for this good man dying on the cross, offered his empty tomb. [304]

[304] A. B. Simpson, The Cross of Christ [on-line]; accessed on 25 October 2010; available at http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/e-books/holiness/Simpson/CrossChrist/TCOCindex.htm; Internet, chapter 1.

Today, the response to Christ is the same. When we preach the Gospel and set Jesus before the people, crucified among them, they too mock and jeer. Others will weep in conviction and give their lives to Him. While others remain unmoved, paying very little attention, busy about the cares of this life. Some only see opportunities for greedy gain as those who cast lots for His garment at the foot of the Cross. Yet, these are the very ones that Jesus spoke about when He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Luk 23:39-43 Prophecy to Criminal on the Cross Luk 23:39-43 records Jesus’ prophecy to one of the thieves on the cross, telling him that he would be in paradise with him.

Luk 23:42 Comments – Both thieves had joined in mocked Jesus while on the Cross (Mat 27:44); however, with faith stirred in his heart from his observations of Jesus, one of them recognized that He was genuinely who He claimed to be. Because of his feelings of guilt and condemnation, this thief did not believe he deserved forgiveness of his sins, so he humbly asked for a remembrance. Little did he know the magnitude of grace that was about to be bestowed upon him as Jesus took what little faith this man expressed and guaranteed a place for him in Heaven.

Mat 27:44, “The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.”

Luk 23:43  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Luk 23:43 Word Study on “paradise” Word Study on “paradise” Strong says the Greek word (G3857) (“paradise”) is of Oriental origin. BDAG says it is derived from the Old Persian language and meant, “enclosure.” The Greek historian Xenophon (430-354 B.C.) uses the word to describe beautiful Persian gardens and enclosures ( Anabasis 1.2.7, 9; 1.4.10; 2.4.14). [305] The Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) uses it in the same context to describe the gardens of King David. [306] In the New Testament, it appears to be a synonym for Heaven. This Greek word is only used three times in the New Testament (Luk 23:43, 2Co 12:4, Rev 2:7). All three uses describe a literal place, which we also call Heaven.

[305] William Barrack, Lexicon to Xenophone’s Anabasis for the Use of Schools (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1872), 105.

[306] Josephus writes, “Now Adonijah had prepared a supper out of the city, near the fountain that was in the king’s paradise” ( Antiquities 7.14.4)

Luk 23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise .”

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

Rev 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.”

Comments Perhaps Jesus used the word “Paradise” instead of Heaven in order to contrast their future peace and ecstasy compared to their present suffering on the cross, sparking an image in the mind of the repentant thief of what Heaven is like compare to the sufferings on earth.

Luk 23:44-49 The Witness of the Roman Centurion Regarding the Death of Jesus ( Mat 27:45-56 , Mar 15:33-41 , Joh 19:28-30 ) In Luk 23:44-49 we have the account of the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross through the eye-witness account of the Roman centurion.

Luk 23:44 Comments – What was significant about the ninth hour. We do know that the ninth hour was the hour of prayer for the Jews, which was 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. It was the time when people began to go to the Temple and pray. Note:

Act 3:1, “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”

Luk 23:46 Comments Jesus Christ fulfilled His purpose and destiny upon earth. He now enters into His rest and glorification.

Luk 23:50-56 Witness of Joseph of Arimathea Concerning the Burial of Jesus ( Mat 27:57-61 , Mar 15:42-47 , Joh 19:38-42 ) In Luk 23:50-56 we have the account of the burial of Jesus Christ through the eye-witness account of Joseph of Arimathea, a Palestinian Jew.

Luk 23:53 Comments – Jesus was wrapped and buried in a virgin tomb. Jesus was born of a virgin womb and wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Luk 2:7, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Luk 23:56 Comments The irony of human depravity is seen in Luk 23:56. The Jews broke Law by crucifying Jesus Christ on the Cross, an innocent man, their promised Messiah, the Son of God, then they returned to their homes determined to obey the Sabbath rest. The original purpose and intent of the Law was to teach men how to love God with all their heart, mind, and strength; yet, the Jews were obeying their own depraved nature while pretending to be devout Jews.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Crucifixion, Death, and Burial of Christ.

The sympathy of the women:

v. 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.

v. 27. And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him.

v. 28. But Jesus, turning unto them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

v. 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.

v. 30. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

v. 31. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

See Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:21. In accordance with the decision of Pilate, Jesus was led away from the Praetorium, out to a spot without the walls, where the malefactors were crucified. On the way, the cross of Jesus, which He was obliged to bear as a condemned criminal, became too heavy for Him. The great nervous strain of the last few days, the agony of the evening before, the vigil of the night, the indignities that He had been obliged to endure, all these combined to bring upon Him a weakness of the body which could not sustain the weight of the cross. The soldiers, therefore, laid hold upon, drafted into service, one Simon of Cyrene, a city on the northern coast of Africa. He was a Jew of the so-called diaspora, and had come to Jerusalem for the feast. He probably was later, and may have been at that time, a disciple of Jesus, Rom 16:13. And so this man had the honor of bearing the cross of Christ for Him, to partake of some of the sufferings intended for the Savior. While the soldiers, with Christ and the two malefactors, were slowly making their way out through the narrow streets towards the open space before the walls, there was a great number of people and also of women that followed after. Some of these people may have been present at the governor’s palace, others may have joined the procession from curiosity, but the women were interested out of sincere compassion according to the sympathy of men. Their feeling would probably have been the same in the case of any other person. They beat their breasts and lamented Him; they showed every indication of deep grief. These actions prompted Jesus to turn to them and address an appealing admonition to them. He calls them daughters of Jerusalem; they represented the city, probably many of them had grown up in the very shadow of the great Temple; they should be familiar with the words of the prophets. Not over Him and on His account should they weep and lament, but for themselves and for their children. He hinted with some definiteness at the fate of the city which they loved, and whose final destruction was but a matter of a few years, in accordance with prophecy. In times of great tribulation and punishment it is the mothers that suffer most heavily. The time will come when the sterile and childless women will be happy and fortunate above the others, Luk 21:23. For so horrible will the affliction of those days be that people will not know where to stay for the greatness of the terror upon them. They will call upon the mountains and hills to fall upon them and cover them from the wrath of the almighty God, Hos 10:8; Isa 2:19. For if even the just and holy Son of God must suffer so terribly under the weight of God’s judgment, what will happen to such as are all as all unclean thing and all their righteousnesses as filthy rags? Note: The Lord here indicates that His suffering is the result of sin, which He, the Holy One of God, has taken upon Him, 2Co 5:21. Also: The words of Jesus show wherein true sympathy with the suffering of Christ consists, namely, not in mere external emotion, in tears and wringing of hands, but in true repentance. “Such admonition we should accept as addressed to us. For we must all confess that we, on account of sins, are like an unfruitful, dry tree, in which there is nothing good, nor can any good come out there from. What will it, then, behoove us to do? Nothing but to weep and to cry to God for forgiveness, and to resist the evil, sinful nature earnestly, and not to give it free rein. For there the sentence stands: Since the fruitful tree is thus treated and God permits such severe sufferings to come upon His dear Son, we should certainly not feel secure, but acknowledge our sin, fear the wrath of God, and pray for forgiveness.”

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Luk 23:26-32 . Luke proceeds in a very abbreviating fashion, yet with intercalations of original matter, down to Luk 23:49 . The observation . belongs (as Ebrard at an earlier period also supposed, but now, on Olshausen, Exo 4 , p. 52, questions), as does Luk 23:56 , to the synoptical traces of the working day. See on Mar 15:21 .

The following saying of Jesus to the women is preserved only by Luke, extremely appropriate to the love and fervour at the threshold of death, and certainly from an original tradition.

Luk 23:27 . . ] of women also , not ministering female friends, but other women; and, indeed, according to Luk 23:28 , from the city, as the female sex is accustomed in general to be very sympathizing and tender at executions; ., as Luk 8:52 .

Luk 23:28 f. The address is: that they were not to weep over Him (for He was on His way to meet a glorious future); nevertheless over themselves they ought to weep, etc., for (see Luk 23:29 ) over them was impending a terrible future (the destruction of Jerusalem). The contrast of emphasis lies upon and ; by the position of the one at the end and of the other at the beginning, and the consequent juxtaposition as closely as possible of the two expressions, the emphasis is strengthened.

] The maternal heart, in truth, feels, besides its own suffering, still more keenly the sufferings of beloved children, Eur. Andr. 395. On (see the critical remarks), comp. Aesch. Choeph. 543:

Luk 23:30 . The mountains and hills were to such is the wish of those who are in despair not perchance hide them from the calamitous catastrophe and place them in security (comp. Isa 2:19 ; Isa 2:21 ), but, as the words themselves (comp. with Hos 10:8 ; Rev 6:16 ) indicate, the destructive landslip which covers them was to take them away by sudden death from the intolerable evil.

] an outbreaking of the greatest anguish. The subject is the people in general (the Jews), not the steriles (Bengel).

Luk 23:31 . Reason on which this announcement of evil was based, Luk 23:29 f. “If they thus treat the guiltless and the righteous, what shall happen to the godless (to themselves)?” On the figure of the green (Psa 1:5 ) and the dry tree , comp. Eze 21:3 ; Sanhedr. f. 93. 1. This last saying of Jesus, Luk 23:28-31 , is one great memorial more, at once of His self-denial and of His sinless consciousness, as well as of His certain insight into the counsel of the divine retribution, which now allows itself no longer to be averted, but to be even once more announced with the pain of rejected love, and not to be withheld.

Luk 23:32 . ] defining more closely the . Comp. Luk 23:33 . See Bornemann, Schol. p. 147 f.; Winer, p. 469 [E. T. 665]; Krger, Anab. i. 4. 2.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

4. Calvary (Luk 23:26-43)

a. THE LEADING AWAY TO THE CROSS (Luk 23:26-31)

(Parallel with Mat 27:31-32; Mar 15:20-22; Joh 19:16-17.)

26And 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. 27And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29For, behold, the days are coming [there come days], in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps [breasts] which never gave suck [nourishment10]. 30Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31For if they do these things in a [on, or to, the] green tree [or, wood], what shall be done in [happen to] the dry?

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk 23:26. And as they led Him away.As respects the identity of the present via dolorosa (Haradell-Alahm) with the way of our Lord to the Cross, this is at least doubtful. It is about a league in length, starting from the prtorium, inside the walls of the city, in a northwesterly direction as far as Mount Calvary, The actual way to the Cross was hardly so long, and appears also to have tended more southerly. The spuriousness at least of the so-called Stations, as, for instance, of the place from whence the train set out, where Simon of Cyrene met the Lord, where Mary sank down speechless, and heard a Salve Mater from His mouth, where Veronica handed Him the handkerchief, upon which immediately, in a miraculous way, the features of His countenance impressed themselves, &c., can hardly need any further mention, although, for instance, even Chateaubriand has defended their identity. Even Sepp, 3:536, no longer ventures to take these traditions under his protection, and Lamartine also allowed that he had found here stone-heaps of far later date. In reference to specialities of this sort, the admirable expression of Von Schubert holds good, Reise durch das Morgenland, ii. p. Luke 505: Although it may be that here the childlike devotion of the natives, when it describes to us the individual features of the great picture, sometimes appears similar to a countryman whose cottage stands in the neighborhood of a battle-field, when he, not with the words of an experienced soldier, still less with the certainty of an eye-witness, relates to us what here and there took place upon the greatly-altered spots: still the relation will ever move us to deepest sympathy; for it is at all events an echo of that which his ancestors here really saw and experienced. There is now passing the sixteenth century since Constantine and Helenas times, of those that have edified and spiritually refreshed themselves from the monuments of these mighty recollections. Respecting, however, the identity of Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre, see Lange, Matthew, p. 520, and the there cited authors, with whose results we on the whole can agree.

They laid hold of.A more exact expression, , is found in Matthew and Mark, a word which, with the exception of Mat 5:41, is only found in this passage of the New Testament. That the idea of a military constraint is implied in it is certainly beyond question, wherein, it is true, in respect to the person of the one thus impressed, the form in which the impressment took place, and the occasion why precisely he was chosen in preference to all others, a wide field remains open to the fancy of exegetes for all manner of conjectures. The most important we find in Matthew, ad loc. Unless we assert that the notice of Mark, father to Alexander and Rufus, was written down without any purpose, then the conjecture is obvious that this meeting with our Lord became for Simon and his house an event of great importance, and the occasion of his afterwards bearing the Cross after Christ in a yet higher sense. In this case then, the King of the kingdom of God has, even on His way to the Cross, won a subject, and the well-known fiction of the Basilidians (of whom Epiphanius, Hres. 24, 3, makes mention), that Simon died on the Cross instead of our Lord, acquires then a beautiful symbolical sense. Not in the place of our Lord, but in His fellowship, was, thus, not indeed his body, but his old sinful nature nailed with Jesus to the tree. Comp. Romans 6 and Mat 16:24.

Coming out of the country.Belongs to the Synoptical traces of a working day. Meyer. To this, however, the fact is opposed that we do not learn how distant this field [ ] was from the city, and as little whether he had been working in the country, in which case it must not at the same time be left out of sight that a feast day with the Jews was by no means observed more strictly than the Sabbath; but, on the contrary, less strictly. Very justly, therefore, does Wieseler remark: We Christians [He means, of course: We Continental Christians.C. C. S.] easily mistake the true relation, by comparing the Jewish Sabbath with our Sunday, and then remembering that the feast days to us are holier, celebrated with more Sabbath rest than our common Sundays. The name of the greatest Sabbath, Lev 16:31, [Shabbathon,] is among all the feast and memorial days only given to the great day of atonement; but on the remaining feasts this strict abstinence from all labor is not required as on every seventh day (comp. Lev 23:31 with Luk 23:7; Luk 23:21; Luk 23:25; Luk 23:35, where there is a careful distinction made between labor and servile labor). Even among the present Jews the greater holiness which the weekly Sabbath and the great day of atonement have above all other feasts is among other circumstances visible from this fact, that during the two first-named days, but not during the latter, mourning for the dead is suspended; that on the former they bury no corpses, but they do so on the latter, &c. We do not, accordingly, even hold it necessary for an explanation of the compulsory service imposed upon Simon of Cyrene to assume (Lange) that they were disposed therewith, regarding him as somewhat of a Sabbath breaker, to let him smart a little for it.

On him they laid the cross, .The general expression of Matthew and Mark, must be explained according to this more precise one of Luke. It is no , but , so that our Lord obtains, it is true, some lightening, but not a freeing from bearing the cross. The cross was bound with cords upon the shoulders, and it is hardly probable that they would have lost much time in unbinding it from our Saviour and laying it in His stead upon the back of Simon; it is, therefore, not an entire transfer of the cross that is spoken of, but only a bearing of it with Him, and particularly the hinder part; and if one should even assert that our Lord found His burden hereby much rather aggravated than relieved, since then the fore-part must have pressed so much the more heavily upon Him, it would only follow from this, as often, that the tender mercies of the wicked were cruel. As to the rest, we do not read in any of the Evangelists that our Saviour was about to sink under the load if just at the right time Simon had not supported Him. Here also the Saviour bears the heaviest part of the burden, while the (comparatively) lightest part rests on the shoulders of him who follows after Jesus.

Luk 23:27. Women, which also bewailed.A beautiful trait of genuine humanity, which in the third Gospel is exactly in its place. As customary at public executions, so here also, a great crowd have streamed together, among whom there are also women from Jerusalem. Luke, in whose Gospel the most of the women who stood in connection with Jesus are described, relates to us also how their compassion strewed yet one last flower for our Lord upon His path, of thorns. This phenomenon was the more remarkable because it, at least according to a later Jewish tradition, was considered as entirely unlawful to bestow on a malefactor who was led to the place of punishment any proof whatever of compassion. These women have, however, been placed too high when they have been put on a level with the Galilean friends of our Lord, and again too low when it is asserted that they only showed traces of an entirely superficial sympathy, such as is brought up so easily at the view of any pitiable object. In the last case our Lord would assuredly never have deemed these women worthy of a particular address, and what, moreover, could there be against supposing that at least some were found among them who personally knew Jesus, who had been affected by His preaching, or who, by report, or by their own experience of His benefits, had become engaged in His favor? We do not need, therefore (Sepp), to understand high-minded matrons who had come to a work of love, and bore in their hands a wine drugged with myrrh (which was to be a composing draught for the Saviour). They have no myrrh wine, but tear-water, wherewith they moisten the way to the Cross; but the sincerity of their sympathy becomes for our Lord upon this sorrowful course a refreshment, and He who before a frivolous Herod has kept silence, gives now these sorrowing women to hear His powerful admonitions. It is the last connected discourse of our Lord of any length that is uttered on this occasion; afterwards we shall hear only single interrupted words before His death. Perhaps He uses thereto the moment of delay which the impressment of Simon had occasioned; in this case the difficulty at once disappears, that at this moment we are hardly to presume a witness as present who could have caught up and related any words uttered by Jesus. (Weisse). What our Lord had uttered with composed dignity and intelligibly enough, may very well have been related by a sufficient number of witnesses, and particularly by the women themselves to His disciples.

Luk 23:28. Daughters of Jerusalem.Our Lord undoubtedly does not overlook the fact that the compassion of these women had not the three condemned in equal measure, but Himself personally as its object. Therefore, also, He does not say: Weep not for us,the terrible equalizing of Him with two murderers is only to be made some minutes later by the hands of His executioners,but Weep not for Me, and He directs their look from Himself to their own future by the touching words: Weep for yourselves and your children. The latter certainly not without direct allusion to the imprecation of the Jews, Mat 27:25, whose fulfilment should come upon the children of these women also. Not to elicit new fruitless emotion, He now adds, not a Woe upon those with child, but a somewhat softer Blessed upon the unfruitful, not without a still retrospect, perhaps, to the Blessed which once a Galilean woman had uttered upon His mother, Luk 11:27; yet this prophecy of evil is not, therefore, the less terrible. He foretells days in which the highest blessing of marriage should be regarded as a curse, and on the other hand a sudden, even though a terrible death, as a benefit. Comp. Hos 9:14; Hos 10:8; Rev 6:16. The moment of the outbreak of this desperate condition of things (), which is here drawn entirely after life, can be no other than the point of time at the destruction of Jerusalem, when all hope of deliverance is cut off. It is worthy of note that our Lord now, after His condemnation, no longer warns against this catastrophe, but foretells it as unavoidably impending, without adding even the faintest intimation of any way whatever in which it could be escaped. The day of visitation for Jerusalem is now already passed; nor will our Lord, so near His end, at all assume the guise of being any longer concerned to deliver Himself or the people so as in any way in this moment to excite them even yet to believe on Him as the promised Messiah. The preaching of repentance becomes by this very fact so much the more tremendous.

Luk 23:31. For if they do these things to the green wood.So long as the enemy at his incursion into a land spares the green wood, he will, perhaps, even refrain from destroying the dry; but if he does not even spare the fruitful, how should he not deny compassion to the unfruitful? The image, sufficiently intelligible of itself, is probably taken from Eze 20:47, and places the fate of the innocent Saviour as a prophecy of evil over against that of the guilty Israel. We have here not the contrast between young and old (Bengel), and as little the continuation of the exclamation of the despairing women themselves, Luk 23:30 (Baumgarten-Crusius), who, he supposes, from the fate which comes upon themselves as guiltless, now make inference as to the lot of the guilty; but, on the other hand, a pathetic allusion of our Lord Himself to that which even now is coming upon Him, in which this is given to the women as the standard according to which they were to measure the fate impending over themselves. Comp. Jer 49:12; Pro 11:31; 1Pe 4:17-18. , He does not even say what, in order not to agitate the souls of the women yet more deeply; they were themselves to see it in the moments next succeeding; , Impersonally; it designates neither the Jews nor the Romans alone, but is an indefinite expression of what is here to be accomplished by human hands.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The meeting of Simon the Cyrenian with the suffering Saviour is again one of the most striking proofs of a providentia specialissima, in which the history of His life and suffering is so incomparably rich. It was not merely for Simon himself, but also for our Lord of importance, since it prepares for Him a relief, even though a brief one, on the way to the cross. Simon Peter is not at hand, although he had promised to follow his Master even to death. But from the distant Cyrene must there another Simon appear to lighten the burdened course of the Lamb of God, on the way to the slaughter. The willingness with which Simon takes the burden forced upon him, renders for his character, perhaps for his awakening courage of faith, a favorable testimony. In the women also there is manifested a feeling for our Lord, which we, after all that hitherto had come to pass, should expect least of all in this hour. Now already the first breezes of another temper begin to breathe; the harbingers of the courage of the cross are coming into view. Lange.

2. The address of our Lord to the weeping women causes the light of His heavenly greatness to beam afar through the mists of the way to the cross in surprising wise. In an hour in which all presses in upon Him, and He might have had all occasion to think only of His own suffering, He wholly forgets this in order to occupy Himself only with the salvation of persons who yet really only exhibited for Him an inconsiderable sympathy. While the present with its whole weight rests upon Him, the future stands bright and clear before His unclouded spirit, and His eye already beholds the day that shall extort quite other tears. The feeling of His own innocence and dignity leaves Him not a moment. He knows and designates Himself as the green wood, in the same hour which He is about to end, nailed on the dry wood of shame. No word of bitterness against His murderers is mingled with the tones of love and compassion; even the fate of the children goes to His heart, upon whom their parents have recklessly called down the curse, and as if His own conflict were already endured, He will only have tears shed for Jerusalems fate. Thus does His prophetic character reveal itself in the same hour in which He goes to perform His High-priestly work, and He yet, as the Good Shepherd, seeks that which is lost, while He is already on the way to give His life for the sheep.
3. The difference between this leading away of our Lord and the entry which had only taken place five days before. The place which Calvary occupies as a link in the chain of those mountain-tops which are remarkable in the life of our Lord. An admirable representation of the Cross-bearing Christ, by Ary Scheffer. Another, the Moment Before the Crucifixion, by Steuber.
4. Gods wrath is harder to bear than Christs Cross. Rieger.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Compare here and in the following divisions the Homiletical Hints on the parallels in Matthew and Mark.

The leading away to Calvary: 1. The Victim of wickedness led by the hands of men; 2. the atoning sacrifice of the world led by the hand of the Father to the slaughter.The Via Dolorosa: 1. How far the Saviour alone treads it; 2. how far His disciples must continually tread the same in the following of Him.The way of the cross: 1. Strown with the thorns of malice; 2. moistened with the tears of compassion; 3. illuminated by the light of the greatness of Jesus; 4. ended by the hill of death.The Christians cross-bearing in following Jesus, like that of Simon, a work which is performed: 1. Seldom voluntarily; 2. best with resignation; 3. never without reward.How our Lord now, with His cross-bearing disciples, has taken upon Himself the work of Simon the Cyrenian.Not a single woman in the whole Evangelical history is hostilely disposed towards our Lord.The great contrast between superficial feeling for, and living faith in, the Saviour.Weep not for Me.How much value is to be laid upon emotions such as are not seldom awakened in the hearers by a sermon on the Passion.The view of the cross-bearing Christ calls us to weep for ourselves: 1. Such a suffering have human hands prepared for the most innocent and the holiest One; 2. such a sacrifice was requisite for the atonement of our sins also; 3. such a grace is even yet vainly proclaimed to manyand should we not weep over all this?The fearful punishment of the rejection of Christ: 1. Foreseen with infallible certainty; 2. fulfilled with terrible severity; 3. held up for an example for all Christian nations who do not honor Gods Anointed.Faith or despair; no other choice.How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation! Heb. 2:23.

Starke:God knows the cross-bearers most perfectly.The greatest and most splendid cities have often the fewest to bear the Lord Jesus cross after Him; small places are before them in it.Canstein:It is to be reckoned among the hidden benefits when God, through others, against our own will causes the cross to be imposed on us which we do not like to bear, and which, yet, is so good for us.Rather help thy neighbor to bear his burden than make it heavier, Gal 6:2.All true Christians are cross-bearers.At the Passion of Jesus the disciples, though men, become women, and the women become men.Cramer:The right way to consider Christs Passion begins thus: that we, with our children, bewail ourselves and our sins.Nova Bibl. Tub.:We commonly lament most what we should lament least, and least what we should lament most, Joe 2:12; Psa 119:36.To have no children is in many circumstances happier than to have children.The wrath of God, when it breaks out, is unendurable, Heb 10:31.The righteousness of God must be satisfied; if He did not spare His own innocent Son, how much less will He spare an impenitent sinner.Heubner:Such lamentation, Luk 23:27, is itself a fulfilment of the prophecy, Zec 12:10-14.Christ restraining the weeping ones proved His own high dignity.The Passion of Christ is the most solemn warning for the impenitent.Paternal and maternal lovethe thought of the future fate of their children should move parents to repentance.For every blinded sinner there will come a day when he shall curse his life.Luk 23:31 by no means in conflict with the Evangelical doctrine of Atonement.Arndt:Jesus death-journey to Calvary.F. W. Krummacher:Simon the Cyrenian: 1. The Lord Jesus with the cross of the sinner; 2. the sinner with the cross of the Lord Jesus.The daughters of Jerusalem.Besser:And He bore His cross. The two thieves also bore their crosses, for such was the manner; but He has borne a heavier one than they, outwardly and inwardly.W. Hofacker:The solemn death-journey of Christ to Calvary: 1. As a mirror of wholesome doctrines; 2. as a mine of peaceful consolation; 3. as a ground of obligation to willing following; 4. as a warning picture against guilt and its account.Hagenbach:What temper of mind the celebration of the death of Jesus should awaken in us.

[10]Luk 23:29.Rec.: . apparently an interpretamentum of the original , which Lachmann and Tischendorf, [Meyer, Tregelles, Alford] read, on the ground of B., [Cod. Sin.,] C.1 and 2, D., L., [C.2, D. having .] 4 Cursives, [Versions. It is almost needless to say that . might very easily be substituted for ., but . we may be sure was never substituted for .C. C. S.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

“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?”

I refer to the observations proposed in Matthew and Mark’s Gospel, on the cruelties exercised on Christ’s person, after sentence of death was passed upon him. See Mat 27:27 ; Mar 15:16 . Let the Reader in this place remark the tenderness of the Lord Jesus, in forgetting his own sorrows to regard the sorrows of his people. Luke is the only Evangelist which hath recorded this affectionate address of Jesus to the daughters of Jerusalem. Is it not (for I do not speak decidedly on the subject, as a prophecy of the Lord, in relation to the sorrows hastening upon Zion’s sons in the approaching destruction of Jerusalem? Zec 12:10 . But their weeping at the view of the Lord Jesus, was as might be expected. For who could dry-eyed behold the Lamb of God surrounded thus with hell-hounds, waiting to suck his blood? Nature alone, untaught of grace, hath some remains of feeling to shew that it is not totally void of humanity. It is said of Austin, that before his conversion, he delighted to hear Ambrose speak of the sufferings of Christ, and always wept at hearing the relation. But this may be, and yet not grace, Ezekiel had such hearers. Eze 33:32 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

XXVIII

THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST THE FIRST THREE HOURS

Harmony, pages 207-212 and Mat 27:31-44 ; Mar 15:20-22 ; Luk 23:26-43 ; Joh 19:16-27 .

Upon the execution of Jesus by crucifixion I have one general remark. Far back yonder in Old Testament history, in the days of Moses, is this saying, “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” The one hanged on a tree was lifted up. See particularly the expiatory case of hanging up the sons of Saul. Hence also the typical act of Moses in lifting up the brazen serpent, and our Lord’s application to his own case as antitypical: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” a type that the Saviour of the world was to die by crucifixion. Jesus explained in his lifetime that by being lifted up signified the manner of his death.

The question comes up, Why was Jesus crucified, since the Jewish penalty was death by stoning? They did not crucify they stoned other people. How mighty the spirit of prophecy, so far back in history, to foretell a method of punishing not known to the prophet in his age!

Now we commence on page 207 of the Harmony. I will give first the events leading to the place of crucifixion, and what transpired there. The incidents, in their order, as we see on page 207, are as follows: The first incident is expressed near the top in John’s column: “They took Jesus, therefore; and he went out bearing the cross for himself.” In view of the next incident, it is quite probable that in his fasting and weakness, and his lack of sleep, he was physically unable to carry that cross from the judgment seat to the place of crucifixion, and fainted under it. Hence we come to the second incident, recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke: “And as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon, by name: him they compelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross.” So Christ bore his own cross until they got out of the city, and being unable to carry it longer, the crucifiers took a man that they met coming into the city and compelled him to bear the cross. There is a song we all have heard: Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me. Judge Andrew Broadus, who was once president of the old Baptist State Convention of Texas, once said that when this song was first written, or certainly as they used to sing it in old Virginia, it read thus: Must Simon bear the cross alone, And all the world go free; No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me.

The newspapers reported that when the Pan-Episcopal Council was held in the City of London (the Pan-Council is an all-the-world council) Dean Stanley, dean of the ceremonies, put up to preach in Westminster Abbey a coal black Negro, Bishop of Haiti; and when that Negro got up to preach in the presence of royalty, nobility, and the professors of the great colleges or universities of Oxford and Cambridge, surrounded by “storied urn and animated bust,” he read the scripture about the two sons of Zebedee being presented by their mother for the positions on the right hand and on the left hand in the kingdom of Jesus; and he fashioned his text this way: “Lord, let my son John have the place on thy right hand in thy kingdom, and let my son James have the place on thy left hand in thy kingdom.” Then the Negro said, “Let us pray,” and offered this prayer: O God, who hast fashioned all of our hearts like, and hast made of one blood all the nations of men that inhabit the earth, we pray thee that the sons of Shem who betrayed the Lord may have the place on thy right hand, and the sons of Japheth who crucified the Saviour may have the place on thy left hand; but let the sons of Simon of Cyrene, the African, who bore thy cross, have the place at the outer gate, where some of the sweetness of the song from within, and something of the light of the glory of God in heaven may fall upon them, but where, looking earthward, they may see Ethiopia stretching out her dusky hands to God and hear the footfalls of the sons of Gush coming home to heaven.

That Negro preacher based his thought upon the geography of Simon the Cyrenian. Cyrene is a province of northern Africa, but it does not follow that because he was from Cyrene he was a Negro, and this Simon certainly was not. He was rather the father of Alexander and Rufus, well-known Jews. But, anyhow, that Negro’s prayer, in my judgment, was the most eloquent language ever spoken in Westminster Abbey.

I call attention to a singular sermon. At a meeting of Waco Association many years ago, held with the East Waco church, Rev. C. E. Stephen preached the annual sermon from this text: “Him they compelled to bear his cross,” referring to Simon. Simon, the Cyrenian, him they (the enemies of Christ) compelled to bear the cross of Christ. It certainly was a singular sermon. His thought was this: That if a man professes to be a Christian and will not voluntarily take up the cross of his Lord and Master, the outside world will compel him to bear that cross, or they will advertise him well abroad. “Compelling a Christian to bear the cross,” was his theme. For instance, it is reported that in the days of demoniacal possession Satan took possession of a Christian, and when he was summoned before a saint with power to cast out demons, and asked how he dared to enter into a Christian he said, with much extenuation, “I did not go to the church after him; he came into my territory. I found him in the ballroom and in the saloon, and I took possession of him.” Whenever, therefore, a Christian departs from true cross-bearing; when he leaves the narrow way by a little stile and goes over into the territory of Giant Despair, he is soon locked up in Doubting Castle until he is compelled to bear his cross.

The next incident related is that a great multitude followed. And a great multitude will follow a show, parade, even a band of music, or a hanging of any kind. I once saw 7,000 people assembled to see a man hanged, and since I saw it, I was there myself. Now, here was a man to be hanged on a tree, and a great multitude followed from various motives. In this multitude were a great many women who bewailed and lamented. They followed from no principle of curiosity, no desire to see a show, but with intense sympathy they looked upon him when he fainted under the burden of the cross that he was carrying his own cross. The women wept, and right at that point the great artists of the world with matchless skill have taken that scene for a painting, and we have a great masterpiece of Christ sinking under the cross and a woman reaching out her hands and weeping and crying, dragging up Simon the Cyrenian to make him take the cross.

The next incident is that of the two malefactors also condemned to crucifixion, walking along with him. They had their crosses, and Jesus had his cross with the malefactors. And another incident is that they came to the place of crucifixion, which is, in the Hebrew, or Aramaic, called Golgotha, and in the Latin version it is called Calvary. Golgotha and Calvary mean exactly the same thing, “a skull.” Dr. Broadus rightly says that this was a place where a projection of the hill or mountainside assumes the shape of a skull. You can see a picture of it in any of the books illustrative of the travels in the Holy Land; and there that rocky skull seems to stand out now. That is the place where Jesus was crucified. If you were to go there they would tell you he was crucified where the holy sepulcher is situated; they would show you a piece of the “true cross” if you wanted to see it. They have disposed of enough of the pieces of the “true cross” to make a forest.

Just as they came to the place of crucifixion, Golgotha, they made a mixture of wine and gall. The object of that was to stupefy him so as to deaden the pain that would follow when they began to drive the nails in his hands, just as a doctor would administer ether, laudanum, or chloroform, and Jesus, knowing what it was, refused to drink it. He looked at what was before him, and he wanted to get to it with clear eyes and with a clear brain. Some men seek stupefication of drugs, and others that of spirits, such as alcohol, suggested by still lower spirits of another kind; and they drug themselves in order that they may sustain the terrible ordeal they are to undergo. Christ refused to drink. These are the incidents on the way and at the place.

Now they have gotten to the place, and it is said, “They crucified him.” The word “crucify” comes from crux, meaning “a cross,” that is, they put him on a cross. There are three kinds of crosses. One looks like X, or the multiplication sign; that is called St. Andrew’s cross; another was like a T. This probably was the oldest form. The third form is like a + with the upright stroke extending above the crossbar. This is the most usual form, and is the real form of the cross on which Christ was crucified. Except the cross had been made in this last fashion, there could not have been put over his head the accusation that we will look at directly. The tall beam was lying on the ground, Christ was laid on it, and a hole was dug as a socket into which the lower end of it could be placed after he was fastened on it. Then he was stretched out so that his hands, with palms upward, would come on that crosspiece, and with huge spikes through each hand he was nailed to that crosspiece. Then his feet were placed over each other with the instep up, and a longer spike was driven through the two feet into the centerpiece. When he was thus nailed, they lifted that cross up just as they do these big telegraph poles. They lifted up that cross with him on it and dropped it into its socket in the ground. You can imagine the tearing of his hands and of his feet; but he said nothing.

When they had crucified him, the record says, “And sitting down they watched him there.” When I was a young preacher, in 1869, I was invited to preach a commencement sermon at Waco University, afterward consolidated with and known as Baylor University. So I came up to preach this commencement sermon, and my text was, “Sitting down, they watched him there,” explaining who “they” were; the different people that watched him, and the different emotions excited in their minds as they watched him; the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the elders, the Romans, the curious crowd they watched him, and they watched him there on the cross. Many years afterward, George v. Truett came to my house one day and said, “I would like to see a sermon you preached when a young man.” So I gave him that sermon to look at. He sat there and read it with tears in his eyes, and said, finally, “You can’t beat it now.”

The next thought is: What time of day was it? The record says that it was the third hour, which means, counting from sunup of our time, nine o’clock exactly, when the cross was dropped into the socket. And now is presented the thought that the two malefactors the thieves, or robbers, along with him were crucified, the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. He was crucified between two thieves, and what a proverb that has become -0- “crucified between two thieves!” The sinless man and only holy man by nature and perfect obedience that ever lived crucified as a sinner and between two evildoers. How dramatic how pathetic!

Now for the first time Jesus speaks. On the way to the cross he had spoken just once. He had said to those weeping women: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me: weep for yourselves and for your children.” And then he tells them of the awful doom coming on that city and on that nation, because of their rejection of Christ. He never opened his mouth again until in this first voice, hanging there between those two thieves, and looking at his executioners, he says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Whoever, under such circumstances, prayed such a prayer? The martyrs oftentimes afterward, when they were bound to the stake and burned and the flames would begin to rise, and the Spirit of Christ would come on them, would stretch out their hands through the fire and say, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” That is voice one.

The next incident is that there were right under the cross the four soldiers four were detached at each cross, according to the Roman custom, the executioners who were entitled to the effects of the victim. And they had taken off all his outer garments before they crucified him. Now these four men take various articles of his apparel and divide them: “Now, you take the girdle and I’ll take the turban”; “I will take the inner coat,” and so on. But they came to the outer coat, a seamless coat, and being without a seam, how could they divide that? So they agreed to gamble for it. And there, with Christ, hanging on the cross and dying, the men that impaled him there gamble for his clothes. And the record says that two scriptures were fulfilled thereby. One scripture says, “They parted my garments [vestments] among them, and for my garment did they cast lots.”

In order to see the dramatic effect on many painters, of Christ on the way to the cross, of Christ on the cross, and of Christ being let down from the cross, just go into a good and great picture gallery in Europe, or into a real good one in the United States. There will be seen the great master-paintings of Christ before Pilate, the Lord’s Supper, Christ sinking under the burden of the cross, Christ nailed to the cross, Christ hanging on the cross, or Christ taken down from the cross. Picture after picture comes up before you from the brushes of the great master painters of the world.

The next incident recorded is: They nailed up above his head a wide board on which the accusation against him was written. That was in accordance with the law that if a man be put to death, a violent death, over his head, where everybody could see it, could be read the charge against him. Now, I will reconcile the different statements of that accusation. Mark says, “The King of the Jews”; Luke says, “This is the King of the Jews”; Matthew says, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; John says, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

So we see that Luke prefixes two words, Matthew puts in the word “Jesus,” and John adds the other two words “of Nazareth.” So we take the simple statement first and go to the most complex, the four statements given by the historians, just as it is given above. All tradition is agreed as to “The King of the Jews,” and each one of the historians adds some other thought. As I said in a previous discussion, that accusation was written in Hebrew, or Aramaic, in Greek, and in Latin, and this will account for some variations in the form of the statement. Suppose, for instance, in Aramaic it was: “This is the King of the Jews”; in Latin, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”; in Greek, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”; you can see how each one could have written just exactly as he should read it; and everybody that passed by, seeing a man hanging on the cross would look up and say, “What has he done, this King of the Jews? What has this Jesus, the King of the Jews done? What has Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, done?”

So Pilate wrote on that board that went over the head of Jesus Christ on the cross, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” He had not been able to try him on any other offense than that. When the Jews saw that sign they said to Pilate, “Do not put it, ‘This is the King of the Jews,’ but write it that he said he was the King of the Jews.” Pilate then was petulant and said to them, “What I have written, I have written. You charge him with being King of the Jews, and I write that over his head on the cross.”

I heard Dr. Burleson preach thirteen times on what Pilate said, “What I have written, I have written.” He makes this application of it: “You cannot get away from anything that you have signed your name to: ‘What I have written, I have written,’ ” that you can ofttimes evade a word you have spoken, though the Arabs have a proverb that “the word spoken” is master. Lawyers will tell you: “Say what you please, but don’t write anything; curse a man if you want to, knock him down if you want to, kill him if you want to, but don’t write anything. Whatever you write is evidence, and that is against you; but so long as you don’t write anything we can defend you and get you off under some technicality of the law.” As a famous baron of England once said to a young man he encouraged: “Whisper any sort of nonsense you please in the ear of the girl, but don’t write a letter; that letter can be brought up in evidence against you.” Now we can see how Dr. Burleson made the application in that sermon, “What I have written, I have written.”

Pilate was determined that everybody should see and be able to read it; and so he wrote it in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They were the three languages of the world, and therefore when Conybeare and Howson began to write their Life of Paul , the motto of the first chapter is, “And the title was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin”: in Hebrew, that every Jew might be able to read it; in Greek that every scholar might be able to read it; in Latin that every Roman might be able to read it. Hebrew, Greek, and Latin were the reigning languages of the world, and through the world in the three regnant languages there went this statement of Pilate: To the Jew, who said in his own language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Roman it went, being written in Latin, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” To every Greek it went in his language, “This crucified man is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

The second voice is the next thought for consideration. You are not to suppose that he was up very high, but so that his feet were two or three feet above the ground. Then he had to be up there where everybody could see his face, and as they were watching him he was looking at his mother. In the Temple when he was presented, Simeon, whom God had declared should live until Christ came, turning to the mother, said, “This child is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul.” And the sword comes.

The Romanists have a very beautiful tract called the “Sorrows of Mary.” I have a copy of it, but it is in Portuguese. The seven sorrows of Mary answer to the sword piercing her heart, and one of them was when Christ fell down under the cross, and another was when she saw him hanging on the cross. Now, he is looking at his mother. Joseph, her husband, has long since died. They were very poor when Joseph lived. As you know, they could offer only a pair of turtle doves when they presented him in the Temple. They were not able to offer even a kid or a lamb, they were so poor. And Jesus had no home nowhere to lay his head and his mother and his younger half-brothers would go around with him wherever he went. “Now you take care of the mother, the brokenhearted mother,” he said, as he looked down from the cross upon John. This next voice comes, then, as he speaks for his mother. John is seen as he looks down. So he says, “Mother, behold thy son!” And then he looks at John (who is now talking to his mother), and says, “Son, behold thy mother!” He meant for John to provide for her. Her own sons had no abiding place, no home. John was well-to-do the richest one of the apostles. So he charges John to take care of his mother, and from that hour John took her to his home. Now the Romanists say that this proves that these others were not half-brothers of Jesus that Mary never had but one child. They say, “If her own sons were living, why did Jesus give her over to John, her kinsman?” And the answer is that they had no home. John was rich; he had a home. John was nearer to Jesus than these half-brothers, and John was nearer to Mary than they were. The voices of Jesus, thus far, as he spoke from the cross: first, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; second, “Woman, behold thy son; Son, behold thy mother.” We will now consider the mocking that took place. Let us see who did that mocking.

First class: They that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads and saying, “Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself: if thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Thus spake the passer-by.

Second class: “In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, he saved others; himself he cannot save. He is the king of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusteth on God; let him deliver him now, if he desireth him,” and they belonged to the Sanhedrin. How sarcastic and cutting they were!

Third class: “And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach.” The passer-by; the priests, scribes, and elders and his fellow sufferers, all mock him.

But Luke tells us a different story about one of these men hanging there. In other words, at first both of them mocked him, but one of them, looking at him, reflected about his case, became penitent, and he turned around then, and said to the other, “Dost thou not even fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due rewards of our deeds; but this man hath done nothing amiss.” He rebukes himself and the other malefactor, dying there by the side of Christ. Penitence strikes him when he looks upon the matchless dignity, patience, and glory of Jesus. Twisting his head around toward Christ, he said, “Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” as a hymn so sweetly puts it: Jesus, thou art the sinner’s friend, As such I look to thee; Now in the fulness of thy love, O Lord, remember me.

I heard that hymn sung in a camp meeting when one thousand people wept and hundreds of lips spoke out and said, “O, Lord, remember me.”

We now come to the third voice of Jesus. “Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” “You ask me to remember you when I come to my kingdom. I answer not hereafter, but right now. To-day you and I will enter Paradise together.” What a salvation! No wonder everybody wants to preach on the penitent thief. How gracious to see a man who had been a criminal, his hands stained with blood, being led out to execution, strange to say, being executed by the side of the Saviour, and there, instead of an ignominious death, the thought awaited him of the Paradise of the world to come!

The question arises: Where is Paradise? This question we will discuss in the next chapter (Mat 27:45-56 ).

QUESTIONS 1. What was the general remark on the crucifixion of Christ?

2. What was the first incident cited leading to the crucifixion?

3. What was the second incident, the hymn based thereon and, according to Andrew Broadus, what is the original text of the first stanza?

4. What was the incident of the Pan-Episcopal Council, based on this bearing of Christ’s cross?

5. What singular sermon cited and what is the application?

6. Who followed him to the place of crucifixion, what pathetic incident on the way, and what is the meaning and application of Christ’s little parable in Luk 23:31 ?

7. Where was Christ crucified, what is the description of the place and what is the story of the auctioneer illustrating the traditions of sacred places and things?

8. What anesthetic was offered Christ at the place of crucifixion and why did he not take it?

9. What is the meaning of “crucify,” what are the different kinds of crosses used and upon which kind was Christ crucified?

10. Describe the awful scene of nailing Christ to the cross and the erection of it.

11. Who “watched him there” and what was the effect on each class? (See sermon in the author’s first volume of sermons.)

12. At what hour of the day was the cross erected, and what makes this scene peculiarly dramatic and pathetic?

13. What was the first voice from the cross and how unlike any other saying ever uttered before?

14. What incident at the cross especially emphasizes the depravity of the human heart?

15. What was the dramatic effect of the crucifixion on the world’s artists?

16. What custom prevailed among the Romans in regard to an accusation under which a man was crucified?

17. What were the words so written, as given by the four historians, commencing with the briefest form and going in order to the longest, showing why there is no contradiction?

18. Why would not Pilate change the form of the accusation at the request of the Jews?

19. According to this accusation, under which of the three charges was Jesus executed blasphemy, treason, or sedition?

20. What great preacher preached many times on Pilate’s reply to the Jews and what was the application?

21. In what three languages was Christ’s accusation written, and why?

22. What was the second voice from the cross and why did Jesus commit the care of his mother to John?

23. Who mocked Jesus on the cross and what did each class of mockers say?

24. What was the case of the two thieves, what led to the repentance of one of them, what was his prayer and what hymn is based upon it?

25. What was the third voice from the cross, what was its meaning and what was the significance of the three crosses?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

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.

Ver. 26. See Mat 27:32 ; Mar 15:21 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

26 33. ] HE IS LED FORTH TO CRUCIFIXION. Mat 27:31-34 .Mar 15:20-23Mar 15:20-23 . Joh 19:16-17 . Our account is original containing the affecting narrative Luk 23:27-32 , peculiar to itself.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

26. . ] See on Mark.

. . is peculiar to Luke, and a note of accuracy.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 23:26-32 . On the way to the cross (Mat 27:31-34 , Mar 15:21 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 23:26 . : who led Jesus away is not indicated. It might seem it was the mob, to whose will Jesus had just been delivered. But Lk. does not mean that. He simply continues the story, as in Mk., omitting the mockery of the soldiers (Mar 15:16-20 ), who, that brutal sport ended, led Him out ( , Mar 15:20 ). Lk. omits also the scourging, which even Mt. and Mk. hurry over ( ). : a Greek word substituted for the foreign technical in the parallels (usually takes the genitive in the Gospel, here also in T.R., accusative in W. and H.’ [198] text, vide Act 17:19 ; Act 18:17 ). does not mean that Simon helped Jesus to bear the cross, carrying the end behind Jesus. They laid the whole cross on him.

[198]. and H.’s Westcott and Hort.

Luk 23:27 f. This incident of the women following in the crowd is peculiar to Lk. , and of women ; they are the part of the crowd in which the story is interested. They were mainly women of Jerusalem (Luk 23:28 ). , etc.: they indulged in demonstrative grief by gesture and voice ( ), contrary to rule it would appear (“non planxerunt eductum ad supplicium, sed interius luxerunt in corde,” Lightfoot on Mat 27:31 ), but great grief heeds not rules.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 23:26

26When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

Luk 23:26 “Simon of Cyrene” This was apparently a Jew of the Diaspora. There were many Jews from Cyrene (North Africa) in Jerusalem as the presence of their own Synagogue suggests (cf. Act 2:10; Act 6:9; Act 11:20; Act 13:1). I doubt that this was a black man. Cyrene was founded by Greek traders (seventh century B.C.) and many Greek-speaking Jews migrated to this city. He seems to have been a Jew attending the feast days. He might have later become a very well-known person in the church (cf. Luk 15:21; possibly Rom 16:13).

“coming in from the country” He was probably staying in the suburbs because there was no place in Jerusalem for most of the pilgrims to stay. The surrounding suburbs opened their homes to these annual pilgrims.

“and placed on him the cross” We are not certain of the exact shape of the cross (a little “t,” a capital “T,” or an “X”) nor are we certain what part of the cross was carried by condemned prisoners of the first century. Jesus was so badly beaten (cf. Isa 52:14; Isa 53:3; Luk 22:63; Luk 23:11; Mat 20:19; Mar 10:34; Mar 15:15; Joh 19:1) that He was unable to fulfill this aspect of the crucifixion. The Roman soldiers had the option to solicit civilian aid at any point for any reason.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

And as, &c. Compare Mat 27:31-34. Mar 15:20-23.

laid hold upon. Compare Act 16:19; Act 17:19; Act 18:17; Act 21:30-33.

out of. Greek. apo. App-104.

the country = a field. the cross. See App-162,

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

26-33.] HE IS LED FORTH TO CRUCIFIXION. Mat 27:31-34. Mar 15:20-23. Joh 19:16-17. Our account is original-containing the affecting narrative Luk 23:27-32, peculiar to itself.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Now, Luke supplies some particulars which Mark has left out. Turn, therefore, to the 23rd chapter of Luke and the 26th verse. Luke, also, tells us of Simon.

Luk 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.

Now these are the things which Mark has not put in.

Luk 23:27; Luk 23:29. And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

This was accounted a curse, but their curses should seem blessings unto them when compared with the curse of the dreadful slaughter at Jerusalem.

Luk 23:30-31. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree what shall be done in the dry?

If they do these things while yet the Jewish State is standing, what will they do when that State is broken up? If they do these things to innocent persons, a green tree, what will they do to the unhallowed person, the ungodly and the rebellions, who are like dry, rotten trees? How will the flame lay hold on those branches out of which the sap of virtue has long ago been dried?

Luk 23:32. And there were also two other malefactors,

It should be othersthere should be an s there.

Luk 23:32-33. Led with him to be put to death. 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.

Shall we refuse to take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ? I think not. If any ask us whether we will leave him because of the fears which may be excited by the worlds frowns, this shall be our answerlet us sing itwith regard to the world and all its temptations:

No, facing all its frowns or smiles,

Counting its gain but loss;

Without the camp we take our place,

With Jesus bear the cross.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psa 69:1-21. Mar 15:15-23. Luk 23:26-33.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luk 23:26-38

11. THE CRUCIFIXION

Luk 23:26-38

26 And when they led him away,-Jesus was led away to be crucified; Pilate had given his judicial sentence; the rulers of the Jews were now satisfied; they had won a victory. Luke’s account of the crucifixion is the fullest; Mark describes Simon of Cyrene more fully than do the others. Parallel records may be found in Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Joh 19:16-17. As they led Jesus away, “they laid hold upon one Simon of Cyrene.” He was led out of the city, for the crucifixion took place without the gates of the city. (Lev 16:27; Heb 13:12.) Criminals were executed outside the city, and Jsus was crucified as a criminal. (Lev 24:14; Num 15:35; 1Ki 21:13; Act 7:58.) The four soldiers (Joh 19:23) under the direction of the centurion, who usually rode on horseback, led the procession; the victim to suffer followed. Simon of Cyrene came along as Jesus bore his cross , Matthew and Mark record that they compelled Simon to bear the cross of Jesus. We know nothing further of this Simon , Cyrene was an important city in northern Africa between Egypt and the territory of Carthage; many Jews resided there at this time. Probably Simon with others had come to Jerusalem to the feast; we know that some Jews attended the feast from Cyrene. (Act 2:10; Act 6:9.) We know not the weight of the cross , the cross was in various forms. It was originally a simple stake; afterwards it was made of two pieces of wood crossed like the letter T; sometimes it was in the form of the letter X. The transverse beam crossed the upright beam a short distance from the top.

27 And there followed him a great multitude-This multitude was mingled with friends, foes, and those who were curious to see what was to be done. The women who followed lamented; they evidently were not of the company who shouted: “Crucify, crucify him.” The original conveys the idea that they “bewailed,” literally “beat themselves,” and “lamented,” literally “wept aloud” for him. Luke is the only writer that records this scene. Usually wailing was accompanied by beating the breast in token of grief. Women were the only ones recorded as weeping for Jesus as he marched to the place of crucifixion; women were the last at the tomb and the first at the tomb on the morning of the resurrection.

28 But Jesus turning unto them said,-This shows that the women were weeping for Jesus, and that they were not from Galilee, but Jerusalem. Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed and these women were to suffer untold evils themselves; Jesus in tenderness and lovingkindness foretold these sufferings. He was going to a glorious victory through death, not for himself, but for others, and they need not weep for him. They should weep for themselves and their children because their children would be involved in the destruction of Jerusalem. The sorrow which they were now experiencing was only the beginning of that which would soon come upon them.

29, 30 For behold, the days are coming,-The prediction here admits of application to any times of distress and calamity in the history of the Jews; but it seems to have direct reference to the sufferings that should come upon them in the destruction of Jerusalem. “Blessed are the barren” because, if they had children, they would have to see them suffer the destruction that awaited the doomed city. Such intense sufferings would characterize those days that those who had never borne children would be regarded as fortunate. Among the Jews it was considered very unfortunate for wives to be barren; but the time would come when this would be reversed. The universal dread of barrenness was felt by every Jewish female in ancient days, but the time would come when they would be glad that they were barren. This language seems to have been taken from Isa 54:1.

31 For if they do these things in the green tree,-Jesus here uses a common proverb to convey more vividly the awfulness of their coming sufferings. The green tree is the symbol of the righteousness and the dry tree of the wicked. (Psa 1:3; Eze 20:47.) If an innocent man should so suffer, what would be the fate of the wicked? The green tree is representative of one which bears fruit, while the dry tree represents the one that does not bear fruit, but is ready to be burned. The Jewish people were now rejecting him and leading him forth to the death of the cross; upon them would come fearful judgment. They were more guilty than those who would take no part in the crucifixion. (1Pe 4:12-18.)

32 And there were also two others, malefactors,-“Malefactor” means evildoer; Matthew and Mark call them “robbers” (Mat 27:38; Mat 27:44; Mar 15:27) they were guilty of some crime, probably that of robbing. Some think that they belonged to the band of Barabbas; however, we cannot determine this. We do not know when the malefactors were condemned; it seems that they had been condemned previous to the condemnation of Jesus, and were awaiting their execution. It was prophesied that Jesus should be numbered with the transgressors, but nowhere is he called a malefactor. (Isa 53:12; Luk 22:37.) These malefactors were conducted by the soldiers to the place of execution and were compelled to bear their own cross.

33 And when they came unto the place-The corresponding word for “skull” in the Aramaic or Hebrew is “Golgotha,” while in the Latin it is “Calvary.” It is thought that it was called “skull” because the shape of the mountain or hill resembled a skull. Jesus was crucified between the two robbers and on the cross probably that Barabbas was to have suffered on. The governor was accustomed to crucify criminals at the Passover; it was a suitable time, as it would impress on the multitude the importance of submitting to the Roman law. They nailed Jesus to the cross; it is not known whether he was nailed to the cross before it was erected, or after it was erected; both methods were used at that time. Death did not ensue in most cases until many hours after the victim was thus affixed to the cross.

34 And Jesus said, Father, forgive them;-There are seven recorded statements that Jesus made while on the cross; this is the first one that Luke records. We do not know the chronological order of the seven recorded utterances made by Jesus on the cross; they are called “the seven words.” They are as follows: “Father, forgive them;for they know not what they do” (Luk 23:34); “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luk 23:43); “Woman, behold, thy son!” “Behold, thy mother!” (Joh 19:26-27); “My God, my God, why bast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46); “I thirst” (Joh 19:28); “It is finished” (Joh 19:30); “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luk 23:46).

They were ignorant of the enormous crime that they were committing; this ignorance, though it did not excuse . them, may have mitigated somewhat their sin. (Act 3:17; 1Co 2:8.) “Parting his garments among them, they cast lots”; criminals were crucified naked some think that a linen cloth was bound about the loins; from Joh 19:23-24, it appears that the four soldiers who are engaged in the crucifixion divided some of the garments among themselves, but cast lot for his coat, as it was without a seam and woven throughout.

35 And the people stood beholding.-Both Matthew and Mark speak of the people scoffing him as they pass by; Luke does not deny this, but adds that the “rulers also scoffed at him.” Luke tells us just what they said: “He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen.” The rulers could not let him die in peace; they were not willing for him to have a quiet moment in which to die. They had been compelled to acknowledge his supernatural power in saving others, and should have believed on him;but they now taunt him with having lost that power when he needed it for his own deliverance; they treated him as an impostor. They thought that if he was what he claimed to he he would be able to save himself; they mocked his claim as the Son of God. They sneered at him and heaped all indignities upon him in his dying moments. How great was their sin!

36, 37 And the soldiers also mocked him,-The soldiers joined in the popular excitement and clamor. They were willing in their cruel and crude way to add to the humiliation suffering of Jesus. We are told that they brought him vinegar to drink and derided him;they mocked him and his claims to be King of the Jews. They used almost the same language that the chief priests used. (Mat 27:42.) The rulers derided Jesus as the Christ, while the soldiers jeered him as the King of the Jews. “The Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever” they could against Jesus. (Act 4:27-28.) They meant that Jesus pretended to be a king and that now was the time for him to show his authority;they did not understand the nature of his kingdom.

38 And there was also a superscription over him,-It was the custom to write the crime for which the victim was dying and place it over his head on the cross. Sometimes a public crier announced it; he would follow the victim as he bore his cross and announce to the people along the way the crime for which he was to die. It seems that Pilate had written this inscription. (Joh 19:22.) Sometimes the inscription was written on a white tablet and hung about the neck of the criminal. In some instances all three methods were followed: one would follow or lead and announce the crime, then the victim would have a placard bound around his neck telling the crime, and then another would be placed on the cross. This inscription was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew so that all could read it. All four writers of the gospel give this inscription; they differ as to the wording of the inscription. This difference is accounted for in the fact that it was written in three languages; one writer would give the translation in one of the languages, another in another language. The writers could give only the meaning of the inscription and not the words of it.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

They Crucified the Lord of Glory

Luk 23:26-34

Simons two sons are believed to have become Christians. See Mar 15:21, Rom 16:13. Perhaps this strange interruption in his ordinary experiences led to the whole household becoming Christian. Jesus and he bore the cross together. So later, Symeon of Cambridge, who was much reviled for his evangelical principles, loved to think that he and Christ were suffering together.

Ever more thoughtful for others than for Himself, the Lord seemed to forget His griefs that He might address warnings and entreaties to these poor women, Luk 23:28. He was the young green tree in the forest glade, consumed in the awful heat of divine burnings, while they and theirs were the dry wood, which would soon crackle in the overthrow of their city.

On the cross our Lord became immediately the high priest, pleading for the great world and for His own; and He has never ceased since. See Heb 7:25. Sins of ignorance are placed in a different category from those of presumption; See 1Ti 1:13, 1Jn 5:16. The answer to that prayer, Luk 23:34, was given on the day of Pentecost.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

“With Me In Paradise” — Luk 23:26-43

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. And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 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. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other, malefactors, led with Him to be put to death. 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. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted His raiment, and cast lots. 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. And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself. And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise- Luk 23:26-43.

We have followed our Saviour to Pilates judgment-hall and witnessed His trial; we observed Pilates cowardly conduct, and saw our Lord scourged cruelly and turned over to the soldiers to be put to death. Now we read that they led Him from the judgment-hall to the place which is called Calvary, and then we have the account of His crucifixion. Connected with that is wondrous grace in saving a poor, condemned sinner who hung by His side on one of the other crosses. Notice what is written concerning the journey to Calvary: They led Him away. We are told-not in the Bible but in church tradition-that He staggered and fell beneath the weight of His cross. We do not read that in the Scripture; it may be true, but we have no positive evidence of it. At any rate, it is clear that the soldiers must have observed that the cross seemed heavy for Him to carry after all He had suffered the night before and because of the cruel scourgings He had endured; for we are told that 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. What a privilege this black man had! Simon was from Cyrene, a city of North Africa, and therefore he was undoubtedly a man of dark complexion. How honored was this colored man to be permitted to bear the cross of Jesus! There is another church tradition that Simon became one of Jesus immediate disciples, and that the Rufus, mentioned in Rom 16:13 is the same as the brother of Alexander, Simons son, referred to in Mar 15:21. It seems to me that every colored person should feel grateful that one of his race had the opportunity of helping the blessed Lord as He went out to die upon that cross of shame.

As they pursued their way, there followed Him a great multitude of people: some in sympathy with Him, and others who were ridiculing and reviling Him. Of the sympathetic group there were a number ,of women who bewailed and lamented Him, but Jesus turned to them and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. With prophetic eye He beheld Jerusalem surrounded with the Roman army and undergoing awful horrors, when conditions should become so terrible on account of famine that even tender women would devour their own children. This awful cannibalism had been predicted by Moses (Deu 28:53-57). Our Lord foresaw that all this would come because the people had turned away from God and knew not the time of their visitation. This had been before His mind when He looked upon the city of Jerusalem, saying, 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Luk 13:34-35). It was all this that led Him to say to these women, Weep not for Me. He was only carrying out the will of God. This was the express purpose for which He came into the world. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luk 19:10). Weep for yourselves, and for your children, because of the judgment which they will have to undergo; for 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. This would be far better than seeing their children torn from them in death. He added, Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. He was speaking of Jerusalem. But these same words are used in the Book of Revelation regarding the great day of the wrath of the Lamb yet to come on them that know not God, when the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, (shall hide) themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (and say) to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:15-17.) If men and women refuse the salvation that God offers in Jesus Christ, then they must endure His wrath. And so our Lord warned these people of judgment soon to come upon Jerusalem. He referred to a passage in the Old Testament as He said, For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? In Ezekiel (Eze 20:47) the prophet was told to prophesy against the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. The blessed Lord Himself was pictured as the green tree: In Him was life; and the Life was the light of men (Joh 1:4). Rejecting Jesus and turning away from God, formal, religious Israel was represented by the dry tree. If they refused the only perfectly holy, sinless Man in all Israel and condemned Him to suffer upon the cross, what would be the doom of those who spurned Him, who were living in their sins and ignoring the salvation that He came to bring?

And there were also two other, malefactors, led with Him to be put to death. These were two who, like Barabbas, had been cast into prison for evil. These men were to be crucified with the Lord Jesus: He was numbered with the transgressors. 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. We have to go to each of the four Gospels to get the full account of what took place on Calvary; in fact, I probably should not have used that expression, full account, for we will never know exactly what took place there until we stand in His presence and look upon His blessed face, and then we shall begin to understand what it really meant for Him, the holy One, to put away our sins. But we have to consult each of the four Gospels to get fuller details of what took place. One writer tells some things; another gives additional details, and if we take them all we have a very comprehensive and graphic account. Here we are told of the prayer of the Lord Jesus as He hung on the cross. Think of Him extended there upon the tree: nails driven into His hands; the thorn-crown pressed upon His brow; the soldiers keeping guard around the cross; the multitude reviling and mocking Him, and blaspheming His name, crying out in ridicule, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself. Matthew also tells us they cried out, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. They did not realize the truth of that statement; if He was to save others He could not save Himself; He must endure the suffering in order that we might be delivered from the judgment that our sins deserved. So as He heard them, instead of any resentment in His heart, we hear Him praying, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. In the Old Testament if a man slew his neighbor without intending to kill him, he was to flee to the city of refuge, and there he would be safe from the avenger of blood. For the actual murderer there was to be no escape from death. God said, Whoso sheddeth mans blood, by man shall his blood be shed (Gen 9:6). But He made a distinction between a wilful murderer and one who slew in ignorance. So Jesus by this prayer, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do, put them on the ground of manslaughter rather than of deliberate murder. After Pentecost Peter declared that through ignorance ye did it (Act 3:17). In speaking of the rulers of the Gentiles, Paul said, Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Co 2:8). They did not understand; they did not know who Jesus was; they did not know what they were doing in delivering Him up to death on the cross. The Lord said, as it were, Father, open the door to the City of Refuge, and let them flee from the avenger of blood. And, thank God, all who have fled to Jesus-who is Himself the City of Refuge-have found security from the judgment which sin deserves. Some say the prayer of our Lord was not answered. Yes, it was answered, in this way: God did not treat them as murderers, but He opened up the way of salvation for them. If men deliberately and wilfully spurn the offer of mercy which is through our Lord Jesus Christ, then they put Him to an open shame and crucify the Son of God afresh, and there is no hope for those who persist in rejecting Christ. They are adjudged guilty of the murder of the Son of God. If I am addressing any unsaved ones, any who do not know the Lord Jesus, I plead with you to come now to God through Christ; flee to the City of Refuge which God has provided. Receive Him as your Saviour and thus be assured of a glorious welcome.

The soldiers below the cross parted His raiment, and cast lots. This had been prophesied many years before. In Psa 22:18 we read, They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture. That scripture was fulfilled that day when Jesus died in our stead on Calvary. We read, 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. The Roman soldiers joined with His own people in ridiculing and mocking Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself.

We are told that Pilate caused a superscription to be written and put over His head. In those days when a man was crucified it was customary to write his sentence on a tablet and nail it to his cross. This superscription was written in Greek, the language of culture; in Latin, the language of authority; and Hebrew, the language of religion: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. All passing might see that He was crucified as an insurrectionist, which Pilate knew was not true. The rulers came to Pilate and said, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that He said, I am King of the Jews (Joh 19:21). By this time Pilate was out of patience with them, and he said, What I have written I have written; and he let the tablet stand. The last that those men saw of Jesus was as He hung on the cross with the superscription above Him, proclaiming Him to be King of the Jews: He was Gods King, and God has said in Psa 2:6, Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion. And in time the Jews will gladly own Him as Lord of lords and King of kings.

We read that one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him. Both of them railed on Him at first and said, If Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us. But suddenly divine conviction laid hold of one of those men. As he gazed upon the holy Sufferer on that central cross, possibly as he heard Him pray for His enemies, he seemed to realize who it was who was there being crucified. He rebuked his fellow-malefactor saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss. He seemed to sense the perfect holiness of Jesus, and in vivid contrast he saw the sinfulness and wickedness of his own life and that of his companion. But this Man hath done nothing amiss! What a declaration at such a time! Years before Isaiah asked the question, Who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living (Isa 53:8). Someone has translated that question, Who shall declare His manner of life? Think of the declaration coming from a dying thief, hanging by His side: This Man hath done nothing amiss! He then turned to Jesus as he recognized in that thorn-crowned Sufferer, the One who is the King of glory, and he said, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. It was real faith coupled with genuine repentance. So this man hanging there upon that cross was saved. Jesus said, as it were, You will not have to wait till I come into My kingdom: Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. I know there are some who would like to make us believe that what Jesus said was, Today (not yesterday nor tomorrow) I say unto thee that some day shait thou be with Me in Paradise. That does violence to the text as we have it both in the original and in the English Bible, and it would imply that our Lord did that thing which He condemns in us-used idle words. No; what He said was, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. And He was; for ere that day closed-according to Jewish reckoning of a day, from sunset to sunset-the Lord Jesus had dismissed His spirit to the Father, and the spirit of the thief had gone to be with Christ in Paradise: the firstfruit of His glorious redemptive work. An old writer has suggested that there is great danger in putting off our salvation until the end of life. In the Bible there is one man who was saved at the last moment. There is one, that none might despair; only one, that none might presume. During a series of meetings years ago, an evangelist saw a young man who looked somewhat concerned. The evangelist went to him and asked if he were ready to die, and the lad replied, No; I am not ready; I hope to come some day. Remember the dying thief? The evangelist asked, Which thief? The young man looked up startled and said, Oh, I had forgotten; there were two, werent there? Yes, replied the evangelist; and one went out, so far as we have any record, into eternity closing his heart to the Saviour and was lost forever. The other trusted Him and was saved forever. Which thief are you going to be like? The young man said, Id better come now. And he closed with Christ that evening. Think of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to a dying thief, and remember that salvation is for you if you will fully trust Him.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

they laid: Mat 27:32-44, Mar 15:21-32, Joh 19:16

a Cyrenian: Act 2:10, Act 6:6, Act 6:9, Act 13:1

that: Luk 9:23, Luk 14:27

Reciprocal: Mat 5:41 – compel Mat 16:24 – and take Joh 19:17 – he

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

BEARING THE CROSS AFTER JESUS

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.

Luk 23:26

It is very difficult to define what our cross is; what a cross means. The word, as we generally use it, is of course a metaphor; but, following the metaphor, a cross will be something which carries with it shame, and suffering, and some kind of death. You must look for these three ingredients to combine to make a cross.

Let me imagine one or two cases to which the word more accurately belongs.

I. A naturally proud and shy man is called to make some confession of his religious feelings and his faith, before some man, or some company of men, of irreligious habits and sentiments. He knows what it will entailmisunderstanding, coldness, suspicion, disgrace. To do it is a real pain; and there must be such a victory over self that self is nowhere. These are the three things which make a crossshame, and suffering, and self-mortification. And if he do it, he is really bearing the cross after Jesus. And this ordeal will have to repeat itself again and again. The occasions will be frequent; but it will be the same cross. He will almost every day have to show and declare before persons whom it is very difficult to meet, Whose he is, and Whom he serves. No one knows, but those who have to do it, what a martyrdom that is to a sensitive mind. No physical pain is greater, and no act of heroism is more honourable. It needs the compulsion of a strong, irresistible motive; of a conscience quickened and kindled by the love of God. That is a crossignominy borne, suffering endured, self killed for Christs sake.

II. Or it may be you may have lived much in the world, and for the world; and, for a time, its fashions and its influences are everything. A change has come across your views: your standard and your convictions have risen. You see the incompatibilitythe need of real and deep spiritual religion. You are convinced that to you, at least, it is impossible to unite them. And you make up your mind that you ought to make an entire change and give the world up. But there are things in the world so dear to you that to surrender them is like sundering the cords of life. And you know only too well the penalty you will pay. You will be thought little of where you used to be very much admired. Your worldly prospects will be blasted. No one will understand you. The most unfair construction will be put upon you. You may sacrifice many of your best friends, in a worldly point of view. It will be a cloud upon your path. But, by the same token, it is the cross, and you know it and you feel it. The path to heaven is by that cross. And only if we be crucified with Christ can we hope that we shall be glorified together.

III. Or a man feels he is called to some particular work for God.If he do it, he must abandon a lucrative engagement. It will be hard work to him, mentally and bodily. And he must cut many ties. And every one will call him a fool! But he believes it to be to him a call from God, and he feels God has laid that cross upon him, that he may bear it after Jesus. Happy the man that takes up that cross and asks no questions!

Illustration

There is a mistake into which some persons naturally run, and which very much owes itself to this latent image of the cross. They think that the more painful anything is to them, the more it pleases God; and they carry this theory so far that they very much measure the work and acceptability of any duty by its disagreeableness to their own feelings. They almost show it, though they would not say it, that nothing can ever be pleasing to God but that which is unpleasing to oneself. A most unfilial view! It is the pleasure, not the pain, which a child finds in anything it does or bears which becomes pleasing to God. To bear the pain of the cross would be a great thing; but to rise above the pain to the joy that is in it, and to turn the suffering to happiness, and the shame to glory, and the death of the natural feeling into the very deliciousness of the higher life, that is far greater! On the whole, the cross of Christshame, agony, death, horror, as it was to Himthe cross of Christ was joy to Christ. He delighted in it. Such was His obedience and such His love! And this is the true and the grand view of every cross.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

6

After is from OPISTHEN, and Thayer defines it, “Adverb of place, from behind, on the back, behind after.” It is clear, therefore, that. Simon and Jesus carried the cross together, Simon bearing one end of the instrument but walking after Jesus. See the notes at Mat 16:24.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

WE ought to notice, in this passage, our Lord’s words of prophetical warning. We read that He said to the women who followed Him, as He was being led away to Calvary, “Weep not for me, but for yourselves. 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.”

These words must have sounded peculiarly terrible to the ears of a Jewish woman. To her it was always a disgrace to be childless. The idea of a time coming when it would be a blessing to have no children, must have been a new and tremendous thought to her mind. And yet within fifty years this prediction of Christ was literally fulfilled! The siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army under Titus, brought down on all the inhabitants of the city the most horrible sufferings from famine and pestilence that can be conceived. Women are reported to have actually eaten their own children during the siege for want of food. Upon none did the last judgments sent upon the Jewish nation fall so heavily as upon the wives, the mothers, and the little children.

Let us beware of supposing that the Lord Jesus holds out to man nothing but mercy, pardon, love, and forgiveness. Beyond all doubt He is plenteous in mercy. There is mercy with Him like a mighty stream. He “delighteth in mercy.” But we must never forget that there is justice with Him as well as mercy. There are judgments preparing for the impenitent and the unbelieving. There is wrath revealed in the Gospel for those who harden themselves in wickedness. The same cloud which was bright to Israel was dark to the Egyptians. The same Lord Jesus who invites the laboring and heavy-laden to come to Him and rest, declares most plainly that unless a man repents he will perish, and that he who believeth not shall be damned. (Luk 13:3; Mar 16:16.)

The same Savior who now holds out His hands to the disobedient and gainsaying, will come one day in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those that know not God and obey not the Gospel. (2Th 1:8.) Let these things sink down into our hearts. Christ is indeed most gracious. But the day of grace must come to an end at last. An unbelieving world will find at length, as Jerusalem did, that there is judgment with God as well as mercy. No wrath will fall so heavily as that which has been long accumulating and heaping up.

We ought to notice, for another thing, in this passage, our Lord’s words of gracious intercession. We read that when He was crucified, His first words were, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” His own racking agony of body did not make Him forget others. The first of His seven sayings on the cross was a prayer for the souls of His murderers. His prophetical office He had just exhibited by a remarkable prediction. His kingly office He was about to exhibit soon by opening the door of paradise to the penitent thief. His priestly office He now exhibited by interceding for those who crucified Him. “Father,” He said, “forgive them.”

The fruits of this wonderful prayer will never be fully seen until the day when the books are opened, and the secrets of all hearts are revealed. We have probably not the least idea how many of the conversions to God at Jerusalem which took place during the first six months after the crucifixion, were the direct reply to this marvelous prayer. Perhaps this prayer was the first step towards the penitent thief’s repentance. Perhaps it was one means of affecting the centurion, who declared our Lord “a righteous man,” and the people who “smote their breasts and returned.” Perhaps the three thousand converted on the day of Pentecost, foremost, it may be at one time among our Lord’s murderers, owed their conversion to this very prayer.-The day will declare it. There is nothing secret that shall not be revealed. This only we know, that “the Father heareth the Son alway.” (Joh 11:42.) We may be sure that this wondrous prayer was heard.

Let us see in our Lord’s intercession for those who crucified Him, one more proof of Christ’s infinite love to sinners. The Lord Jesus is indeed most pitiful, most compassionate, most gracious. None are too wicked for Him to care for. None are too far gone in sin for his almighty heart to take interest about their souls. He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. He heard the prayer of the dying thief. He stopped under the tree to call the publican Zacchus. He came down from heaven to turn the heart of the persecutor Saul. He found time to pray for His murderers even on the cross. Love like this is a love that passeth knowledge. The vilest of sinners have no cause to be afraid of applying to a Savior like this. If we want warrant and encouragement to repent and believe, the passage before us surely supplies enough.

Finally, let us see in our Lord’s intercession a striking example of the spirit which should reign in the hearts of all His people. Like Him, let us return good for evil, and blessing for cursing. Like Him, let us pray for those who evil entreat us and persecute us. The pride of our hearts may often rebel against the idea. The fashion of this world may call it mean-spirited to behave in such a way. But let us never be ashamed to imitate our divine Master. The man who prays for his enemies shows the mind that was in Christ, and will have his reward.

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Notes-

v26.-[As they led him away, &c.] Let it be noted, that Luke says nothing about the cruel treatment which our Lord received from the Roman soldiers, after Pilate had condemned Him. His Gospel was specially written for the Gentiles, and he purposely passes over the conduct of the Gentiles at this particular stage of our Lord’s passion.

I cannot admit the justice of Alford’s remark on this verse. He says, “The break between Luk 23:25 and Luk 23:26 is harsh in the extreme, and if Luke had any materials wherewith to fill it up, I have no doubt he would have done so.” I deeply regret the tendency of this remark. I believe that Luke was entirely guided by the Holy Ghost, both in the details which he omits and the details which he inserts. And I believe that the omission of any details of Christ’s passion between the condemnation and the going forth to Calvary, was advisedly and wisely ordered, in order to meet the prejudices of Gentile readers.

[They lay hold upon one Simon, &c.] It would appear that our Lord carried the cross Himself until He was exhausted, and that after this Simon was pressed into the service of carrying it by the soldiers.

Nothing certain is known about this Simon, although the mention of his sons, Alexander and Rufus, by Mark, (Mar 15:21), would lead us to suppose that he was a disciple of Christ when the Gospels were written, whatever he was at the time of the crucifixion. Cornelius Lapide mentions several traditions concerning Simon and his sons, which are not worth repeating.

v27.-[A great company of people and of women.] Who these were we are not told. Some commentators think they were disciples and friends of Christ. Most think that they were persons who were moved to pity by the sight of an innocent person suffering, but had no sense of their own sins, and no faith in Christ. “Melting affections,” says Burkitt, “are not infallible marks of grace, even when they proceed from a sense of Christ’s sufferings.” This last opinion seems most probable, when we consider the tenor of the next two verses.

Burgon quotes a remark, “that no woman is mentioned as speaking against our Lord in His life, or having a share in His death. On the contrary, He was anointed by a woman for His burial;-women were the last at His grave and the first at His resurrection;-to a woman He first appeared when He rose again;-women ministered to His wants;-women bewailed and lamented Him;-a heathen woman interceded for His life with her husband, Pilate;-and, above all, of a woman He was born.”

v28.-[Daughters of Jerusalem.] This expression helps the theory that the people who accompanied our Lord to Calvary were not disciples. We have no account in the Gospels of any women of Jerusalem who believed.

[Yourselves and your children.] Let it be noted, that many of the women to whom our Lord here spoke, might easily have been living forty years after, when Titus took Jerusalem.

v29.-[The days are coming, &c.] These “days” mean the period of the last wars between the Jews and the Romans, and in particular the siege of Jerusalem.

v30.-[To say to the mountains…to the hills, &c.] The expressions of this verse are figurative and parabolical. They signify the intense misery and distress, and the desperate helplessness of all who would be found inside Jerusalem during its siege. See Isa 2:19. Heb 10:27. Rev 6:16.

Some have seen a reference in the words to the caverns and excavations in the rocks under Jerusalem, in which many of the Jews took refuge when the city was taken.

v31.-[A green tree…the dry.] The common opinion of all the best commentators is, that our Lord here contrasts Himself and the Jewish nation. “If the Romans practice such cruelties on me, who am a green tree, and the very source of life, what will they do one day to your nation, which is like a barren, withered trunk, dead in trespasses and sins?”

Bengel maintains that the “green tree” here represents the young, strong, and healthy,-and the “dry tree” the old, feeble, and barren. In support of this view he quotes a passage from Josephus, describing how the Romans, after Jerusalem was taken, slew the old and feeble Jews, but shut up in confinement those who were vigorous and serviceable. In this opinion, however, Bengel stands almost alone.

v32.-[Malefactors led with him.] This, let it be noted, was a literal fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, that Messiah was to be “numbered with the transgressors.” (Isa 53:12.)

v33.-[The place which is called Calvary.] The reason why this place was so called is not known with certainty, and has given rise to many conjectures.

Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius, Epiphanius, Augustine, Cyril, and others, according to Cornelius Lapide, hold the absurd opinion that Calvary was the place where Adam was buried.

Jerome, Bede, Jansenius, and others, hold that Calvary was a place where criminals were executed, and sometimes beheaded, and where skulls and bones of dead men were consequently lying about.

Some have thought that Calvary was a bare, rocky hill, not unlike a skull in shape and appearance, and that hence arose its name.

Let it be noted, that at the time when our Lord was crucified, Calvary was outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was meet and right that our Lord, as the great sacrifice for sin, should suffer without the gate. (Heb 13:12.) At the present day, the place commonly supposed to have been Calvary is within the walls of Jerusalem.

The common opinion that Calvary was a mount or hill is, at any rate, destitute of any foundation in Scripture. All the four Gospel-writers speak of it as ”a place.” Not one of them calls it a “mount.”

v34.-[Father, forgive them.] These words were probably spoken while our Lord was being nailed to the cross, or as soon as the cross was reared up on end. It is worthy of remark that as soon as the blood of the Great Sacrifice began to flow, the Great High Priest began to intercede.

Let it be noted, that during the six hours in which our Lord was on the cross, He showed that He possessed full power as the Son of God, and that though He suffered, His sufferings were voluntarily undertaken. As King and Prophet He opened the gates of life to the penitent thief, and foretold his entrance into Paradise. As Priest, He intercedes, in the words before us, for those who crucified Him.

[They know not what they do.] The principle involved in this saying deserves notice, and requires fencing with two preliminary remarks.

On the one hand, we must beware of supposing that ignorance is not blameworthy, and that ignorant persons deserve to be forgiven their sins. At this rate ignorance would be a desirable thing. All spiritual ignorance is more or less culpable. It is part of man’s sin, that he does not know better than he does. His not knowing God is only part of his guilt.

On the other hand, we cannot fail to observe in Scripture that sins of ignorance are less sinful before God than sins of knowledge, and that, no case is apparently so hopeless as that of the man who sins wilfully against light.

Our lord’s meaning in the words before us appears to be that those who crucified Him did not at the time know the full amount of the wickedness they were committing. They knew that they were crucifying one whom they regarded as an impostor. They did not know that they were actually crucifying their own Messiah, the Son of God.-This is what Peter distinctly asserts, “I wot that through ignorance ye did it.” (Act 3:17.) So also Paul says, “Had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1Co 2:8.) To use the words of Gill on this place, our Lord “does not mention the ignorance of those He prays for as a plea for pardon, but as a description of their state.” As Clarke observes, “If ignorance does not excuse a crime, at least it diminishes the intensity of it.”

The question naturally arises, “Who were those for whom our Lord prayed?”-I cannot, as some do, confine His prayer to the Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross. I rather regard it as applying also to the great bulk of the Jewish people who were standing by, and aiding and abetting His crucifixion. They were mere tools in the hands of the leading Scribes and Pharisees. They were blindly led by blind teachers. They did not really know what they were doing.

Whether our Lord included the Chief Priests and Scribes, Annas and Caiaphas and their companions, who had heard His declaration that He was the Christ, and yet formally rejected and condemned Him, I think more than doubtful. I believe they were given over to judicial blindness, and most of them probably perished in their sins. We never read of any of them being converted. The priests who were “obedient to the faith,” (Act 6:7,) were probably of a different party from those who condemned Christ.

Let it be noted, that the union of clear head-knowledge of Christ with wilful heart-rejection of Him, is the nearest approach that can be made to a definition of the unpardonable sin. Paul seems to teach this in the sixth chapter of Hebrews. Above all, he seems to point to this when he says of himself, “I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.” (1Ti 1:13.)

[Parted his raiment and cast lots.] Let it be noted here, that our Lord was evidently crucified naked. The shame and unseemliness of such a posture in death, must doubtless have added much to the misery of the punishment of crucifixion.

The literal fulfilment of the twenty-second Psalm in this verse and in the following one, ought to be carefully observed. (Psa 22:17-18.) The prophecies about Christ’s first advent to suffer were fulfilled and accomplished in every word. In like manner, and by analogy, we are justified in expecting a literal fulfilment of every word in the prophecies of Christ’s second advent to reign in glory.

v35.-[He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ.] The utter blindness of the Jewish nation on the subject of Messiah’s sufferings is a very remarkable fact. To us those sufferings appear most plainly foretold by David, Daniel, and Isaiah (Psa 22:1-31. Dan 9:1-27. Isa 53:1-12.), and most plainly prefigured and typified by all the sacrifices of the Mosaic law. Yet the Jewish teachers of our Lord’s time could not see them. The idea of Messiah “saving others” by His own death seems never to have entered into their minds. The words before us are a striking proof of the blindness of the rulers. They might have been told most truly, “Because this person before you is Christ, He does not save Himself; and He does not save Himself in order that He may save others.”

v37.-[If thou be…King of the Jews…save thyself.] The difference between the mockery of the Jewish rulers and of the soldiers ought to be noticed. The Jews mocked our Lord as a helpless “Christ,” or Messiah unable to save Himself, and therefore unfit to be a Saviour of Israel.-The ignorant Gentile soldiers, on the contrary, mocked Him as a helpless “King of the Jews,” without a crown, a kingdom, or an army, and therefore only fit to be ridiculed.-The Jew scoffed at His claim to be called the Messiah. The Gentile scoffed at His claim to be regarded as a king. The cross and the apparent weakness, were, as usual, the stumbling stone in both cases.

v38.-[A superscription…Greek…Latin…Hebrew.] All careful readers of the Bible must have observed that the superscription placed over our Lord’s head on the cross is variously given by the Gospel-writers. Each one reports it in a manner slightly different from the other three. This apparent discrepancy has given rise to various explanations.

In order to solve the difficulty, we must remember that the superscription was written in three different languages. Greek was the language best known in the world at the time when our Lord was crucified, and there was a Greek superscription for the benefit of strangers from foreign parts.-Latin was the language of the Romans, and there was a Latin superscription, because the sentence on our Lord was passed by a Latin judge, and executed by Latin soldiers.-Hebrew was the language of the Jews, and there was a superscription in the Hebrew tongue, or in some dialect of the Hebrew, because Jesus was crucified as a Jew, that all Jews might see it. But for anything we know, the superscription in each language may have slightly varied from the superscription in other languages. Matthew may have recorded it as it was in Hebrew,-Mark as it was in Latin,-Luke as it was in Greek,-and John, writing many years after the others, may have given the general substance of the other three.

This solution of the difficulty appears reasonable, and preferable to any other.

[The King of the Jews.] Let it be observed, that our Lord was crucified at last as a King. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom, and as a King He died.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 23:26. When they led him away. See on Mat 27:32; Mar 15:21. (John omits this incident.)

To bear it after Jesus. The hinder part alone was laid upon Simon. The relief was comparatively slight; there is no proof that our Lord was sinking under the load. He who bears the cross after Jesus, bears the lightest end of it.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Section 3. (Luk 23:26-56.)

The Offering up and its Fruits.

In the story of the Cross the peculiar character of Luke is unmistakable. He omits most of the Lord’s suffering from the mere wickedness of men. We do not read of the scourging or the crown of thorns. The mockery round the cross is more briefly given. The darkness falling upon the land is noticed, but there is no cry to One who has forsaken Him. On the other hand, the fruits of His work of atonement are seen all through: in the prayer for the forgiveness of His murderers; in the story of the dying robber; as well as in the rending of the veil of the temple. Even His last words, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit,” have their own significance in this way.

The Gospel of the Manhood is seen also. The centurion’s testimony is to the “righteous Man.” And the lament of the women of Jerusalem is in accordance with this: that human sympathy too simply natural for the Lord, spite of its manifestation of the better side of man’s nature, unreservedly to accept.

1. This lamentation of the women is the first thing here, after the account, given in all the synoptists, of the cross being laid upon Simon: the need of cross-bearing by the disciple being a necessary thing to hold up before us all.

To the women He replies with lamentation for lamentation. They have more cause to weep for themselves and their children than for Him, for the day of their sorrow was near at hand in which the blessing would be theirs who had no children. In the midst of a generation the fire of whose wrath could kindle after this sort in the green and fruitful tree, what must be the lot of those who were like the dry wood, fit fuel for the flame? This is not divine wrath of which He is speaking, though divine wrath indeed might give them up to it, but what they would inflict one upon another. The sufferings of those shut up in the cauldron of that besieged city are matters of common history. The Lord would lead them to consider the state before God in which the nation as a whole was, already putting their hand to that which as the consummation of their guilt would ensure the awful doom that was just at hand.

2. The cross is reached, and He is placed upon it, two malefactors with Him, one on either side. And now He pleads for those who have placed Him there the ignorance in which they have done it: a thing which leaves them yet the possibility of shelter in the city of refuge; and which the apostle accordingly takes up afterward with the people in his pleading with them to repent and turn to God (Act 3:17), as Paul applies it to himself also: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly, in unbelief” (1Ti 1:13). Thus the Lord has fulfilled His own parable (Mar 13:6-9): the barren fig-tree is to be digged about and dunged, in order that it may yet be seen if it will bring forth fruit. This, notwithstanding His sentence pronounced upon it (Mat 21:19), which He will give them still the opportunity to avert, as Nineveh averted theirs. And such is the mercy of God.

Heedless and heartless, they part His garments among them, casting the lot. Luke is briefest of all as to this, of which John will show us another side. The superscription over him in the languages of wisdom-seeking, of empire, of religion; publishes His title to the world.

And now the cry begins to ring out, though in mockery, of salvation. “He saved others” say the rulers: “let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God.” Even the soldiers take it up after their own fashion: “If thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself.” And then one of the robbers makes the impossible conjunction: “If Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us.” Truly impossible to put these things together.

But the rulers know no more of salvation than the soldiers or the robber. A Christ who would save Himself could not be the Christ predicted by the prophets, or the Saviour of others, and Isaiah had pictured exactly what was passing before their eyes. Who could doubt the application of such words as we find here? “Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong: because He hath poured out His soul unto death; and was numbered with the transgressors, and bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:12).

Here was the secret of the Cross unveiled as the mystery of salvation; and for the Jew with his ritual of sacrifice not to understand it seems to us now almost incomprehensible. The veil was upon their heart, as the apostle declares. Pharisaic pride refused the humbling of the gospel. A Christ crucified was to the Jew a stumbling-block.

But it pleased God to give a lesson of salvation which was to accompany the story of the Cross, just in the place where every eye directed to that Cross should see it. Suddenly the voice of one of the malefactors rebukes his fellow. He, a dying man involved in the same sentence, does he not fear God, before whom he is soon going? does he not fear with that sin upon him which had brought them both justly where they were? but here was One who had done nothing amiss.

Then with this guilt upon himself also, and confessing it, he turns with the boldest possible prayer to this confessed Sinless One. “Jesus,” he says, -“Jehovah Saviour,” -he could not be ignorant of the meaning Of the name he uttered -“Jesus, remember me when Thou comest in Thy Kingdom.” Immediately he is answered -more than answered -“Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”

We can imagine many things, of course, as to what had inspired him with a faith like this. Whatever he may have known of the Lord, however, at a former time, both Matthew and Mark assure us that “those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.” The fair meaning of this has been denied without reason. The fact seems mentioned as if for the purpose of cutting off those methods of making faith easier (and therefore less notable) in the dying man, and the grace of God necessarily, at the same time, less conspicuous also. We all are familiar with the saying, that “there was one such case, that none might despair; and there was but one, that none might presume.” Let us rather say that here is a pattern case of salvation, outlined in the sharpest manner that could be imagined, and placed in the most conspicuous place that could be given to it. Without works, except bad works, -without sacrament or ritual of any kind, -by no slow process and by no conditional salvation, -this condemned malefactor is given at once the perfect assurance of a place that very day with his Lord in Paradise.*

{*For the efforts of materialistic annihilationists to break down the evidence, derived from this promise, of the consciousness of souls in the separate state, see “Facts and Theories of a Future State.” Their arguments are briefly, that Paradise is in the new earth, and so not yet existent, although the apostle did not know but that he might have been bodily in it (2Co 12:3-4). Then, as necessitated by this, that we ought to read, “I say to thee today;” or else “today” must mean “in the day of which you speak”!}

Thus the answer of grace goes beyond even the boldness of such a prayer; and when indeed does not grace exceed all possible expectations? Who could have asked or thought that God would give His Son to die for sinners? and He who has done this, “how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” How perfectly does all this suit the peace-offering Gospel! The mockery and insult call forth no response from the blessed Sufferer: He seems all unconscious of it. The need that sought Him, the faith that recognized under such disguise the Lord of glory, drew from the smitten Rock the living waters.

3. The record of divine accomplishment in that hour is told in the briefest way. The darkness that comes over the land is just mentioned, and traced to its cause, the darkening of the sun itself. There follows as connected with it the end of spiritual darkness. With the veil of the temple rent, the sanctuary is open, and God is in the light. This is the characteristic of Christianity, and the result of His entrance into that darkness of which the darkness of nature was but the external sign. Luke places the cause and effect together here, ignoring, as so often elsewhere, the order of time.

But with the cry of “Father,” the darkness is ended: the cry of abandonment has been answered; the cup which alone He dreaded is drained (compare the notes on Matthew and Mark); He has but now in peace to depart. The death lying upon man has still to be taken for the perfecting of atonement: God must be owned in regard to the whole penalty on sin, and Matthew has shown us the resurrection of the saints as connected with this. For doctrinal statements of all that is involved here we must wait for the epistles; but here we have the work itself whose meaning, they explain.

The word used in Luke for His dying is, as in Mark, “He expired” -“breathed out.” It is the simple reality of death as man endures it, quite different from the terms used in Matthew and John. It is passive endurance; in the others activity of will, though in surrender. Here, as true Man; He dies like other men; committing His spirit to His Father, His work accomplished.

4. The faith of the Gentile centurion is recorded in a different form to that which it takes in the other Gospels: “he glorified God, saying, In very deed this Man was righteous.” Righteous He is emphatically, not merely, as with others, in the comparative sense: this all that he has seen attests. Prompt and out-spoken in his confession; the Gentile takes the first place now, as he has since done for many centuries. He is the first sign of the change impending.

But Luke shows us also a multitude of Jews returning heart-smitten from the spectacle of the cross. For Israel also there is hope in this precious death. We have learned also something of the significance of these ministering women who are seen waiting as the darkness lifts. Things are in transition: if the nation has rejected her King, God too is moving; His purposes in connection with His Son are not to be defeated.

5. The intervention of God is seen more evidently in the provision of a sepulchre suited for that incorruptible body: a sepulchre that has never seen corruption. His grave appointed Him with wicked men, He is delivered from it, and is with the rich man after He has died. He is buried by a Joseph from Elkanah’s and Samuel’s city, Ha-Ramathaim, (or Arimathea,) the city of the “two heights”: names which cannot but speak to us of the elevation which is to be His, and to which He is to lift His people, as the true Joseph in the advancement following His sufferings

(See Sam. 1, notes). In this connection the burial of Christ will have for us a deep significance, as the apostle shows us; but it would carry us too far now to speak of it.

The women still are here as watchers; and even though the new day has not shined upon them, they are heralds of it.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

The sentence of death being passed by Pilate, who can with dry eyes behold the sad pomp of our Saviour’s execution? Forth comes the blessed Jesus out of Pilates’s gates, bearing that cross, which soon after was to bear him. With his cross on his shoulder, he marches towards’s Golgotha; and when they see he can go no faster, they compel Simon of Cyrenia, not out of compassion but indignation, to bear his cross: this Cyrenian being a Gentile who bore Christ’s cross, some think thereby was signified, that the Gentiles should have a part in Christ, as well as the Jews, and be sharers with them in the benefits of the cross.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 23:26-27. And as they led him away After he had been barbarously scourged and mocked, as is recorded, Mat 27:26-31, and Mar 15:15-20, where see the notes; they laid hold on one Simon, coming out of the country Who was probably a friend of Christs, and known to be so; and on him they laid the cross Which doubtless was done to put a reproach upon him; that he might bear it after Jesus Lest Jesus should faint under it, and die away, and so prevent the farther instances of the malice which they designed. See on Mat 27:32. And there followed him a great company of people Especially of women. These were not only his friends and well-wishers, but many others of the common people, who were not his enemies, and were moved with compassion toward him, because they had seen, or at least heard of, his wonderful works, and what a wise, holy, and benevolent man he was, and had reason to think he suffered unjustly; this drew a great crowd after him, some of whom were influenced by pity, others probably by curiosity; but they also, as well as those that were his particular friends, bewailed and lamented him So that, though there were many that reproached and reviled him, yet there were some that valued him, were sorry for him, and sympathized with him in his sufferings. Observe, reader, the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus may move the natural affections of many who are strangers to devout affections; and those may bewail Christ who do not savingly believe in him, and truly love him.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

We divide this piece into three parts: the way to the cross (Luk 23:26-32); the crucifixion (Luk 23:33-38); the time passed on the cross (39-46).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

CXXXIII.

THE CRUCIFIXION.

Subdivision A.

ON THE WAY TO THE CROSS.

(Within and without Jerusalem. Friday morning.)

aMATT. XXVII. 31-34; bMARK XV. 20-23; cLUKE XXIII. 26-33; dJOHN XIX. 17.

a31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the bpurple, arobe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who can measure the grace of God or the depravity of man?], d17 They took Jesus therefore: bAnd they lead him out to crucify him. aand led [722] him away to crucify him. dand he went out, bearing the cross for himself, a32 And as they came out, cwhen they led him away, athey found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: bone passing by, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, ahim they claid hold upon {bcompel acompelled} to go with them, that he might bear his cross. cand laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. [Cyrene was a flourishing city in the north of Africa, having in it a large Jewish population, and Simon shows by his name that he was a Jew. The Cyreneans had one or more synagogues in Jerusalem ( Act 2:10, Act 6:9, Act 11:20). There were many Cyreneans afterwards engaged in spreading the gospel ( Act 13:1), and since the sons of this man are spoken of as well known to Mark’s readers it is altogether likely that Simon was one of them. This Rufus may be the one mentioned by Paul ( Rom 16:13). The Roman soldiers found Simon entering the city, and because he was a stranger and they needed a man just then, they impressed him after the manner mentioned on Luk 19:43, Mat 24:15), Jesus refers to the sorrows which the Romans were to bring upon the Jews, and the meaning may be, If the fiery persecution of Rome is so consuming that my innocence, though again and again pronounced by the governor himself, is no protection against it, what will that fire do when it envelopes the dry, guilty, rebellious city of Jerusalem? Or we may make the present and the future grief of the women the point of comparison, and interpret thus: If they cause such sorrow to the women while the city is like a green tree, how much more when, like a dry, dead tree, it is about to fall.] 32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. b22 And they bring him unto the place dwhich is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: bwhich is, being interpreted, {athat is to say,} The place of a skull [Where this place was, or why it was so called, are matters of conjecture. All that we know certainly is that it was outside of, yet near, the city– Heb 13:12, Joh 19:20], c33 And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, a34 they gave {boffered} him wine ato drink mingled with gall: {bmyrrh:} but {aand} when he had tasted it, he would not drink. bhe received it not. [This mixture of sour wine mingled with gall and myrrh was intended to dull the sense of pain of those being crucified or otherwise severely punished. The custom is said to have originated with the Jews and not with the Romans. Jesus declined it because it was the Father’s will that he should suffer. He would not go upon the cross in a drugged, semi-conscious condition.] [724]

[FFG 722-724]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

CHAPTER 27.

JESUS LED TO CALVARY

Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. And they took Jesus, and led Him away, carrying His cross. Mark: And when they mocked Him, they divested Him of His purple robe, and put on Him His own raiment, and led Him away, that they may crucify Him. You see the crown of thorns was not taken off but remained on His brow throughout His crucifixion. They compel Simon, a certain Cyrenian along with them, having come from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he may bear His cross. As the city of Cyrene stood on the northern shore of Africa, there is at least a probability that this was a stout, muscular colored man, who enjoyed the honor of carrying the cross, which proved too much for the fainting Jesus after a night of sleepless harassment and terrible suffering, attended by the loss of much blood.

Luk 23:27-32. And a great crowd of people followed Him, and of women, who continued to weep and bewail Him. And Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bring forth, and the breasts which did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. These words of our Savior describe the horrific sufferings which came on those people forty years from that date, the Roman wars lasting five years, and resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of a million, the slavery of another million, the exile of the little remnant, and the annihilation of the Jewish polity. All this He saw in vivid panorama before His eyes mountains of the dead, rivers of blood, and the desolation of the city and the land.

Because if they do these things in the green tree, what may be done in the dry? This statement is metaphoric; e. g., If, while Mercys door is wide open, the Holy Ghost wooing, Jesus and His apostles and evangelists preaching, and everything prosperous and auspicious, they reject and crucify Him who came from heaven to save them, killing their own Christ for whom they had waited two thousand years, what will they do when the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and God has turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind, to believe lies and be condemned? Thus the green tree emblematizes the mercy and grace abounding in the days of Jesus; and the dry, the horrific spiritual dearth coming on the land because they insulted God, slew His Son, and outraged the Holy Ghost.

And there were also two others, malefactors, being led, along with Him to be put to death. Mat 27:33-34 : And having come into the place called Golgotha, which is denominated the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; and tasting it, He did not wish to drink. This was a soporific potion, conducive to the lulling of the nerves to insensibility and the obtundification of the feeling, so as to mitigate the awful severity of the pain, somewhat corresponding with the modern chloroform. You see that Jesus declined to drink it, preferring to enjoy the clear and unclouded exercise of His intellect and the full acumen of His nerves. So when physicians want you to take chloroform, or some kind of a nervous sedative, which might probably render you unconscious of your suffering, you have the example of Jesus declining all artificial relief when passing through the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, enjoying the normal exercise of nerves and brain. Calvary is not far from Pilates judgment-hall, the ascension beginning in the city about one square from the hall, and continuing really to the summit of Calvary, passing northward through the Damascus Gate, then turning somewhat eastward, the mountain being one of the peaks of Bezetha, and within the angle formed by the road to Jericho, leading east, and the way to Damascus leading north, as the Romans were in the habit of crucifying their criminals in the most public and conspicuous places, so as to present the greatest possible terror to evildoers. Heb 13:12, locates it without the gate. Calvary is Greek, and means skull, because the hill has the shape of a human skull. When I first came to Jerusalem, with nothing but the Scripture for my guide, I recognized Calvary before any one pointed it out to me.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 23:26-32. The Journey to Calvary.To the incidents of Simon of Cyrene and the two malefactors (Mar 15:21-27*, Mat 27:32-38*), Lk. adds that of the women of Jerusalem. Note that the people of the city are here sympathisers. The episode recalls Zec 12:10-14, but need not be based thereon. Other OT reminiscences are Jer 22:10, Isa 54:1, Hos 10:8, Eze 20:47.

Luk 23:32. An a fortiori argument to be interpreted by the context. The women weep for Jesus while the tree is still green; they should weep for what will happen when it is dead and dry. If while there is still life in the nation such deeds are possible, what will happen when that life is withered and the hour of doom arrives?

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 26

Coming out of the country; that is, they met him as they were going out of the city. At first Jesus bore the cross himself. (John 19:17.)

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

23:26 {7} 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.

(7) An example of the outrageousness and disorder of the soldiers.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

F. The crucifixion of Jesus 23:26-49

Luke’s account of the crucifixion includes a prophecy of the fate of Jerusalem (Luk 23:29-31), more emphasis on the men who experienced crucifixion with Jesus (Luk 23:39-43), and less stress on the crowd that mocked Jesus. It climaxes with Jesus’ final prayer of trust in His Father (Luk 23:46) and the reactions of various people to His death (Luk 23:47-49).

"In this version of the story we may see an accent on the way in which Jesus died as a martyr, innocent of the charges against him, trusting to the end in God, and assured of his own place in paradise. The whole scene vindicates the claim that he is the Messiah of God." [Note: Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 862.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. Events on the way to Golgotha 23:26-32

Luke omitted reference to the Roman soldiers’ mockery and flogging of Jesus (Mat 27:27-30; Mar 15:16-19). Perhaps he wanted to connect the Jews’ call for Jesus’ crucifixion and the crucifixion itself as closely as he could. This arrangement of the facts has the effect of heightening the innocence of Jesus and the guilt of those who demanded His execution.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The example of Simon of Cyrene 23:26 (cf. Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21)

Luke probably chose to insert this apparently insignificant incident because it provides such a good example of an ideal disciple (cf. Mar 15:21; Rom 16:13). Jesus had taught His disciples to forsake all, take up their cross, and follow Him (Luk 9:23; Luk 14:27). That is precisely what Simon did. It involved laying aside his personal plans, becoming associated with Jesus publicly in His humiliation, and following in His steps as His servant. However, we wonder where was the other Simon, Simon Peter, who professed such devotion to Jesus?

Cyrene was in North Africa. Normally criminals condemned to crucifixion had to carry the large crosspiece of their own cross to their place of execution. [Note: Creed, p. 285.] Apparently Jesus’ severe beating had made it impossible for Him to carry it the whole way to Calvary.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)