Pastor Marco Ambriz

April 6, 2025

Share different ways you have seen Jesus’s crucifixion represented—through movies, artwork, reenactments, and so on. How have you been influenced by those representations over the years?

The Crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23:32–38)

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

Who was Jesus pronouncing forgiveness over here? The criminals to his left and right? The Roman soldiers crucifiying him? The Jewish leaders who arrested and served him up to Pilate? Pontius Pilate? The crowd of people who demanded his crucifixion? Anyone else?

23:33 TWO OTHERS ALSO, WHO WERE CRIMINALS, WERE LED AWAY TO BE PUT TO DEATH WITH HIM. Pilate intended that everybody should see the kind of king the Jews had brought to him, one that belonged among criminals by their own demand. He mocks the Jewish leaders for what a helpless, abject, pitiful figure they were calling a dangerous king (Lenski, 1130). How does Jesus' kingship square with today's popular understanding of powerful leaders?

THE SKULL. In Aramaic, this was Golgotha, and in Latin, it was Calvary. The name was given because it was a round, bare hillock outside Jerusalem (Coleman, 1697). 

THEY CRUCIFIED HIM. Crucifixion was the most feared of all punishments in the first-century world. It was cruel in the extreme and totally degrading (Coleman, 1697).

ONE ON HIS RIGHT AND ONE ON HIS LEFT. This completes Jesus' total identification with sin and sinners. In the past, he has shared his life with them; now he shares their death (Knowles, 500). Do you feel as though Jesus fully identifies with your situation?

23:34 FATHER, FORGIVE THEM. Despite the precedent of Old Testament prayers for vengeance (e.g., 2 Chron 24:22; Ps 137:7–9; Jer 15:15; 17:18; 18:23; 20:12), Jesus prays that God will forgive his persecutors. Those who were executed were supposed to say, “May my death atone for all my sins”; but Jesus confesses instead the sin of those who falsely convicted him, who under Old Testament law were liable for his penalty before God (Keener, Lk 23:33–34). Jesus’s call for mercy reflects his radical call to his disciples to forgive their enemies (6:27–28; Ac 7:60) (Coleman, 1697). How does Jesus flip the script here? Why would Jesus opt to forgive even though everybody involved in his execution knew exactly what they were doing? Why would Jesus forgive them even though they didn't ask for forgiveness?

FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. What exactly is their ignorance? How are they unaware of their actions, their consequences?

23:35 HE SAVED OTHERS; LET HIM SAVE HIMSELF. Ridicule was one of the sufferings inflicted on the naked man hanging on a cross. Ancient writers liked irony; the double irony here is that Jesus does save others, and that the leaders utter lines like Satan’s (4:3, 6–7, 9) (Keener, Lk 23:35). What does 'salvation' usually mean amongst humans? What is 'salvation' in God's eyes?

IF THIS IS GOD’S MESSIAH, THE CHOSEN ONE. To the leaders, the disgraceful death Jesus was experiencing proved that he could not possibly be the Messiah (Coleman, 1697-1698). God's kingdom has often been described as an 'upside-down kingdom.' How so?

Works Cited

Lyman Coleman. Life Connections Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Holman Bibles, 2019.

Craig S. Keener. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993.

R. C. H. Lenski. The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961.

Andrew Knowles. The Bible Guide. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001.