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Scripture Reading: Luke 23:26-56
In this message we shall consider the crucifixion of the Man-Savior (Luke 23:26-49). Throughout the last nineteen centuries there have been many studies of the Lord’s death. For what purpose did the Lord Jesus die, and who actually put Him to death? In other words, why did He die, and who killed Him? Even certain Jewish scholars have been seeking answers to these questions. Even genuine and faithful Christians, those who truly believe in the Lord Jesus, may not have a full knowledge of the purpose of His death and of who killed Him. I am concerned that some among us, both young and old, do not know who killed the Lord Jesus.
How would you answer the question concerning who killed the Man-Savior? Some may say that we killed Him and others, that God killed Him. Others may say that the Lord was put to death by religion and politics, or that He was killed by our sin. We should not try to answer this question by our imagination. Instead, we need to come to the honest and accurate record of the Scriptures, especially the record in the Gospel of Luke. As Luke himself says, he “followed all things accurately from the first” (1:3). Therefore, Luke’s account may be regarded as reliable.
As we read the record in this Gospel, we see that the Lord Jesus was put on the cross by man. He was accused by the religious leaders, sentenced to death by Roman rulers, especially Pilate, and then put on the cross by the Roman soldiers.
In Luke 23:26-43 we see that on the cross the Man-Savior suffered the persecution of men. He was mocked and ridiculed by both the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers. “And the people stood by, looking on. And the rulers were even sneering and saying, He saved others, let him save himself if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One! And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him and offering Him vinegar” (vv. 35-36).
The Lord Jesus was put on the cross at nine o’clock in the morning and remained there until three o’clock in the afternoon. This means that He was on the cross for six hours. These six hours may be divided into two groups of three hours each: the first from nine o’clock until noon, and the second from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon. During the first three hours, the Man-Savior suffered the persecution of men. The religious people ridiculed Him, and the Roman soldiers mocked Him. Even “one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (v. 39). Therefore, during the first three hours on the cross, the Lord was a victim of human persecution, and He suffered this persecution as a martyr.
In Luke 23:44-49 we see that, during the second period of the six hours on the cross, the Man-Savior suffered the judgment of God for sinners to accomplish the vicarious death for them. Therefore, in 23:26-49 we see two aspects of the Lord’s death: the aspect of man’s persecution and the aspect of God’s judgment. First the Lord Jesus suffered man’s persecution, and He suffered this as a martyr, not as the Redeemer. Then, as the Redeemer, no longer as a martyr suffering persecution, He suffered God’s judgment for us, the sinners.
Luke 23:44 and 45a say, “And it was already about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun’s light failing.” Instead of “The sun’s light failing,” some manuscripts read, “And the sun was darkened.” The sixth hour mentioned in verse 44 was, according to our way of reckoning time, twelve o’clock noon.
According to Matthew 27:45, darkness was over all the land from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, that is, from twelve o’clock noon until three o’clock in the afternoon. Who caused darkness to come over the land? Of course, the high priest, Pilate, and the Roman soldiers were not able to do this. The only one who could cause darkness to come at noon was God.
This darkness was an indication that the righteous God had come in to judge the Lord Jesus as our Substitute and Redeemer. He was the unique, universal Substitute for mankind. From nine o’clock until noon, He was persecuted by the Jews and Romans as a martyr. But from noon until three o’clock He was dying not as a martyr, but as the Substitute for sinners. Because God recognized Him as our Redeemer, God came in to judge Him. This means that during the last three hours the Lord was on the cross, He was judged by God for the accomplishment of our redemption. It was during this time that God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin (Isa. 53:10). Darkness came over all the land because our sin and sins and all negative things were being dealt with. God even forsook Him (Matt. 27:46) because of our sin.
Actually the Lord’s persecutors did not kill Him. While He was under their persecution, He was still alive. After the Lord suffered this persecution for three hours, God came in to put Him to death. The darkness that came over the land was a sign of God’s coming in. Luke tells us that the darkness came over the whole land, not merely over Jerusalem or Mount Zion. God caused the sun’s light to fail.
Furthermore, 23:45 says, “The veil of the temple was torn down the middle.” Matthew 27:51 tells us that the veil of the temple was torn in two “from the top to the bottom.” This tearing of the veil signifies that the separation between God and man was abolished, because the flesh (signified by the veil) of sin, of which Christ had taken on the likeness (Rom. 8:3) had been crucified (Heb. 10:20). “From the top to the bottom” indicates that the rending of the veil was God’s doing from above.
In Luke 23:44 and 45 we see two matters accomplished by God: darkness coming over the whole land and the veil of the temple being torn. These are signs proving that from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, that is, from noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, God came in to judge the Redeemer, who was dying as our Substitute. His death was not for Himself; it was for us. Therefore, we may call His death a vicarious death. This death was accomplished by Him for us on the cross and under God’s judgment.
During the hours from noon until three o’clock, God put all our sins upon the Lord Jesus. In the words of Isaiah 53:6, “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The darkness signifies that God had put our sins upon Him. Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God made Him to be sin for us. Hence, God not only put our sins upon Him; He even made Him to be sin on our behalf. This took place during the second period of three hours.
It was also during these hours that God forsook the Man-Savior (Mark 15:34). Because the Lord is God’s beloved Son, God always delighted in Him. But because God regarded Him as our Substitute, as the One who bore our sins and was made sin for us in God’s sight, God forsook Him. In the sight of God during those hours the Lord was a totality of sin.
This understanding of the Lord’s death is not guesswork. On the contrary, this understanding is according to the study of the accurate record in the Bible.
All our sins were put on the Man-Savior. The root of our sins is the sin that came into mankind from Satan. This sin indwells us. When our sins were put on the Lord Jesus, He was made the very sin that indwells us. Therefore, both the root — indwelling sin — and the fruit — our sins — were put upon Him. As such a One, He was judged by God according to His righteousness.
First Corinthians 15:3 says, “Christ died for our sins.” First Peter 2:24 tells us that He Himself “carried up our sins in His body onto the tree.” These verses indicate that Christ bore our sins and died for them. Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ was “once offered to bear the sins of many,” and verse 26 in the same chapter says, “He has been manifested for the putting away of sin by His sacrifice.” Both sin and sins were dealt with by His death once for all. Therefore, we may call His death an eternal death, a once-for-all death.
When the Lord Jesus was bearing our sins and was made sin on the cross, He was considered by God to be the Lamb of God. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). In this verse the “world” refers to mankind, to the human race. The Lamb of God took away the sin of mankind. The problem of sin has been solved by His vicarious death for us.
When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God’s judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being. Nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically. We have seen that Christ was conceived and born of the Holy Spirit essentially. The Holy Spirit was one of the essences of His being. As the Lord Jesus grew up and lived on earth, He had the Holy Spirit within Him essentially. Later, when He was baptized, He had the Holy Spirit as an essential part of His being. However, when He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him economically. This means that the Lord Jesus had the Holy Spirit as one of the essences of His being essentially, and also that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him economically. This does not mean, of course, that there are two Holy Spirits. It means that the one Holy Spirit has two aspects — the essential and the economical. The essential aspect was for the being, the existence, of the Lord Jesus, and the economical aspect was for His work, His ministry.
Now we need to see that when the Lord Jesus was on the cross dying for our sins, God was in Him essentially. Therefore, the One who died for our sin was the God-man. But at a certain point the righteous God, while judging this God-man, left Him economically. God’s forsaking of Christ was an economical matter related to the carrying out of God’s judgment.
Let us now consider a few other matters covered in 23:26-49. Luke 23:26 says, “And as they led Him away, they laid hold of Simon, a certain Cyrenian, coming from the country, and they placed the cross upon him to carry it behind Jesus.” Cyrene was a Greek colonial city, the capital of Cyrenaica in North Africa. It seems that Simon was a Cyrenian Jew.
A great multitude of people followed the Man-Savior, and the women were mourning and lamenting Him (v. 27). “But Jesus turned to them and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over Me, but weep over yourselves and over your children. For behold the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bare, and the breasts which did not nourish. Then they will 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 will happen in the dry?” (vv. 28-31). A “green tree” refers to wet wood, full of sap. This signifies the Man-Savior, who is living and full of life. The dry wood signifies the dead people of Jerusalem, the people who were devoid of life juice.
Verses 32 and 33 say, “And two others also, who were criminals, were led away with Him to be executed. And when they came to the place called Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.” In Matthew 27:33 this place is called Golgotha, a Hebrew name (John 19:17) which means skull (Mark 15:22). Its equivalent in Latin is Calvaria, anglicized into Calvary. It does not mean a place of dead men’s skulls, but simply skull.
When one of the criminals blasphemed the Man-Savior, “the other answering rebuked him and said, Do you not even fear God, since you are in the same judgment? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we did; but this Man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40-41). The Greek word for “wrong” also means “out of place.” This criminal then said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (v. 42). The Lord said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise” (v. 43). This record of salvation, from verse 40, is unique to this Gospel. It shows the effectiveness of the Man-Savior’s vicarious death and the highest standard of morality of His salvation.
In 23:43 “Paradise” denotes the pleasant section in Hades, where the spirits of Abraham and all the just are, awaiting the resurrection (Luke 16:22-23, 25-26). The Lord Jesus went to Paradise after His death and stayed until His resurrection (Acts 2:24, 27, 31; Eph. 4:9; Matt. 12:40). It differs from the paradise in Revelation 2:7, which will be the New Jerusalem in the millennium.
