Spectators at a Crucifixion
Luke 23:26-56
John Loftness
February 8, 2009

The topic of this passage is the crucifixion of Jesus.

It’s hard to see what Luke sees in this passage because we bring our pre-conceptions of what happened.

Many of us have the movie “The Passion of the Christ” in mind as we read.

But Mel Gibson’s focus in making the movie would not be the same as Luke’s.

Gibson focuses on the brutality of the event.

Luke mentions the crucifixion event briefly.  Verse 33: “And when they came to the place that is called the Skull, there they crucified him…”

Luke wants you to see something here.  He wants you to see Jesus’ execution through the eyes of those who were there.

Eight spectators at Jesus’ crucifixion.

1. Simon of Cyrene (Verse 26)

What does he want us to see? 

Jesus is a criminal sentenced to death and so weak from his sleepless night, his hostile interrogations, three legal proceedings, the mocking, the beating while blindfolded, and finally the flogging that he cannot carry his own cross.  He wants us to see a man, weak and exhausted.

2. The women of the crowd (verses 27-31)

What does Luke want us to see?  Jesus is more concerned about the judgment others will face than he is about himself in his hour of greatest pain and need.

In verse 31 he compares his present experience of judgment to the burning of green wood and this future judgment to the tinder dryness of dry wood.  When Jesus was with them, the nation still had life in it, it was still green.  But after he leaves, it will become dry and completely lifeless. How much hotter will it burn!  As Darrell Bock writes: “If God has not spared Jesus, how much more will the impenitent nation not be spared when divine judgment comes?”

3. The Executioners (verses 32-33, 36-37)

What does Luke want us to see?  Jesus remains merciful—even to those who have so viciously betrayed him, falsely accused him, executed him.  People who deserve the judgment for the most horrible crime of human history.  He’s quick o forgive and slow in judgment.

4. The Jewish Rulers (verse 35)

The rulers mock him.  They revile three claims to Jesus’ identity:

• “Savior”—And the irony is that by not saving himself, his work of salvation begins.
• “Christ”—And the irony is that it takes the death of the king as a representative of his people for him to exercise his saving rule.
• “Chosen One”—a reference to Isaiah 42, the servant of the Lord, whom the Lord calls, “my chosen one.”  The irony about this chosen one is revealed later in Isaiah 53.  The chosen one has to die as a guilt offering to cover the sins of his people.  He was chosen to die!

What does Luke want us to see?  The rulers see Jesus’ death as a vindication of their claim that Jesus is a phony.  They think that he is under God’s curse for his sins.  But in reality he is under God’s curse for the sins of the world. It’s his death that makes him Savior, King, Chosen One.

5. The Criminals (verses 39-43)

What does Luke want us to see?  Jesus’ death opens the way to heaven.  You can join him by humbly asking.

6. Nature (verses 44-45)

What does Luke want us to see? Nature mourns at the injustice of the crucifixion of the Son of God.

And so should we.

7. The Centurion (verses 46-47)

Luke wants us to see, as he has pointed out repeatedly through Jesus’ trial, that Jesus died an innocent man.  He died the death of a criminal, yet he was righteous; he was innocent.

8. Joseph and the women (Verses 50-56)

What does Luke want us to see here?  Jesus really died.  And those closest to his body after his execution acted just like people do who have to handle a dead body—the sought to give it a proper burial.

He really died. 

If he didn’t, chapter 24—in fact the entire gospel—makes no sense.

Now you know the story.  You’ve seen it through Luke’s eyes, and he wrote it under the inspiration of the Spirit.  So this is how God wants you to see it.  You’ve become a spectator to the crucifixion of Jesus. 

What do you see?

The women on the death march saw a tragic figure, the victim of Jewish injustice and Roman corruption.  The Jewish rulers saw a phony.  The soldiers saw the victim of a cruel irony.

What do you see?

One criminal only could only repeat the taunts of Jesus’ mockers.  The other criminal saw someone who was headed to a heavenly kingdom and he asked Jesus to take him there with him.  The Centurion saw an innocent man.

What do you see?

Here’s what Luke wants you to see: God’s chosen one, chosen to save people from the penalty of God’s wrath: His death for yours, his judgment for what you deserve. 

You’re responsible now.  You’ve got to choose.  What will your reaction be as a spectator to his crucifixion?