Luke 23 Commentary
He came down to experience the pain of false accusation like He didn’t know it. He came to experience the pain of deception like He had no idea how it felt to be the victim of deception.
How else was He going to write a report to the Creator God about deception, false accusation, and the love of money, without experiencing the same pain and suffering that humans inflict on themselves?
Indeed, like He didn’t know. Long before we were born, He said, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”. Exodus 20 verse 16. Even before Moses’ two tablets of stone, in the Garden of Peace and Tranquility, the Creator God (Jesus) dwelt with Adam and Eve in perfect existence until one Satan introduced deception. Probably the LORD came down to see for Himself the extent of the damage – like He needed to.
Every deception, every false accusation pains God more than it pains you and me. We sin against God before we sin against each other. We become bad fuel in an otherwise smoothly running engine. You understand why we deserve to be thrown away. But God’s love isn’t like that. He came down to refine the bad fuel. And what a way to do it!
The chief priests, the Pharisees, the elders, and the scribes scheme and lie against Jesus. They are clearly in breach of Commandment number 9. They probably don’t care about God’s honor.
At what point did Jesus oppose taxes to Caesar? Not many days ago, he told the people to “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”
And what earthly king moves with an army of 12 unarmed men? King Herod should have been more concerned since his throne was directly under threat by Jesus’ claims.! But Herod found it laughable and no treason charges were brought against Jesus. He simply mocked Jesus for such claims and set him free.
This man is innocent, Pilate concluded.
But there is nothing logical about deception. It is another point the LORD Jesus must include in His report! Satan isn’t to be stopped by Jesus’ innocence. Jesus is handed over to be crucified.
Countless things happen during this process. Satan and team have no idea.
Humanity needs the blood of the Passover lamb to be saved from the angel of death – from God’s decree to punish sin by death. The land needs healing from the curse pronounced against it when Adam sinned.
Jesus dies in place of an insurrectionist and murderer – Barabbas; the innocent in place of the sinner. The rulers are ironically right. He cannot save himself, before or now, otherwise, humanity remains in slavery.
Darkness covers the whole land until the time of the evening sacrifice, at three in the afternoon – the time when the sin offering for humanity is sacrificed. History brings its pages into one event as Jesus breathes His last. Could the darkness simulate the conditions that existed pre-creation? Is the Creator Jesus once again making the statement that “Let there be light” by His death?
“Surely this was a righteous man,” observed the centurion – a neutral Roman soldier probably at the center of the crucifixion events. Who has observed these events from a neutral point of view and what is your conclusion?
It is never possible to capture, even in part, the significance of the representations of these events. Who can fit into his or her imagination such infinitely huge events? Can we even start? What a blessing it is to discover that all these events are for you and me and our salvation. Indeed, we can be free.
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