Luke 23: How close are you willing to get to Jesus?

We read Luke 23 straight through, sitting with Jesus’ trial, crucifixion, and burial instead of saving it for one week a year. We also look at the “side characters” Luke includes and ask what their words and choices reveal about what they really think of Jesus. 
• why we tend to avoid the crucifixion and why we should not 
• Pilate’s repeated finding of innocence and his eventual compromise 
• Herod’s shallow curiosity and Jesus’ silence under accusation 
• Barabbas released and the crowd’s demand for crucifixion 
• Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross and what it models for discipleship 
• Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness and the criminals’ opposite responses 
• the repentant thief and Jesus’ promise of paradise 
• darkness, the torn curtain, the centurion’s confession, and the crowd’s regret 
• Joseph of Arimathea’s courage in burial and the women’s faithful witness 
• the question we cannot dodge: what do we think about Jesus right now 

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Transcript

Why We Should Not Skip This

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Hey, welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Podcast. This is Mike. Today we're going to be reading Luke chapter 23, which covers Jesus' trial and crucifixion and his burial. And this is a section of scripture that's often read around Easter, especially Good Friday. And I don't know about you, but uh the rest of the year I tend to just kind of avoid it, not even intentionally, but I certainly don't go to like, ooh, let me go read this. And it's really only through reading some books like this all the way through that we end up getting to it. And even then I'm like, and yeah, and then he died. And maybe that's just me. I think it's a shame, because uh this is so core to our Christian faith. This is what the whole Old Testament has been leading up to. That this sacrifice of a spotless lamb to save the lives of others. The whole theme of the Old Testament points to this moment, and I I think it would be an injustice to skip it or to just leave it only for Good Friday and Easter time. So let's read it today, and like I mentioned a couple episodes ago, let's preach the gospel to ourselves. Let's remind ourselves of the faith that we have. Let's let the reading of God's Word today drive us to gratitude for what Jesus has done. And we get to read Luke's special take on it today, a couple of details that we don't see in the other gospel accounts of this story. So let's get into it here in Luke chapter 23 in the New English Translation. Then the whole group of them rose up and brought Jesus before Pilate, and they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding

Jesus On Trial Before Pilate

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us to pay the tribute tax to Caesar, and claiming that he himself is Christ, a king. So Pilate asked Jesus, Are you the king of the Jews? He replied, Well, you say so. Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no basis for an accusation against this man. But they persisted in saying he incites the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here. Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean, and when he learned that he was from Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who also happened

Herod Mocks Jesus In Silence

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to be in Jerusalem at that time. And when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had longed to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign. So Herod questioned him at considerable length. Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the experts in the law were there vehemently accusing him. Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, dressing him in elegant clothes, Herod sent him back to Pilate. And that very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, for prior to this they had been enemies. Look at that, Jesus bringing people together. Well then Pilate called together the chief priests, the leaders, and the people, and said to them, You brought me this man as one who's misleading the people. When I examined him before you, I didn't find this man guilty of anything you accused him of doing. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he's done nothing deserving death. I'll therefore have him flogged and release him. But they all shouted together, Now take this man away, release Barabbas for us. This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.

Barabbas Freed And Jesus Condemned

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Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept on shouting, Oh crucify him, crucify him! A third time he said to them, Why? What wrong has he done? I found him guilty of no crime deserving death. I will therefore flog him and release him. But they were insistent, demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted, and he released the man they asked for, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he handed Jesus over to their will. As they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country. They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus.

On The Road To The Cross

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A great number of the people followed, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For this is certain, the days are coming when they will say blessed are the barren, the womb that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed. And then they'll begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills cover us. For if such things are done when the wood is green, what will happen when it's dry? Two other criminals were also led away to be executed with him, so when they came to the place that's called the skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on

Forgiveness, Mockery, And Paradise

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his right and one on his left. But Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing. Then they threw dice to divide his clothes. The people also stood there watching, but the leaders ridiculed him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself if he's the Christ of God, his chosen one. The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, Well, if you are the king of the Jews, save yourself. There was also an inscription over him This is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us But the other rebuked him, saying, Don't you fear God? Since you're under the same sentence of condemnation? And we rightly so, for we're getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom? And Jesus said to him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, because the sun's light failed. The temple curtain was torn

Darkness, Jesus’ Death, And Witnesses

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in two, and then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit and after this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he praised God and said certainly this man was innocent. And all the crowds that had assembled for the spectacle when they saw what had taken place returned home, beating their breasts, and all those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things. Now there was a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. He had not consented to their plan and action. He was from the Judean town of Arimathea,

Burial And Sabbath Rest

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and he was looking forward to the kingdom of God. And he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock where no one had yet been buried. It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they returned and prepared aromatic spices and perfumes. On the Sabbath day, they rested according to the commandment. Well, as you can tell from Luke's story here of the crucifixion, Luke brings in a lot of other, I guess call them side characters in this story. A number

Side Characters Reveal The Heart

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of people in the orbit of Jesus as this monumental, historical event is going down. But of course they don't know how monumental and historical of an event this is. And that demonstrates their character or lack thereof. I mean, think of it, if they knew that this story of this man's death was going to be recorded and remembered for all of history, don't you think people would be on their best behavior? Don't you think they would act differently? But when they just think that there's really no consequences for actions, every word they say is just between them and the small group of people there, if anybody, then we get to see what they're really like by their words and by their actions. Herod proves himself to be shallow and narrow minded. Pilate shows himself to be wishy-washy, succumbing to pressures from Rome and from the people. One thief on the cross shows himself to just be like everyone else in the crowd going along with it, and of course there is many uh religious leaders and other city officials who are egging this on to try to work out their own purposes to eliminate some threat to their comfort. But of course, we also, on the other hand, see some little heroes, some side heroes to the story. Of course, Jesus is the hero of the story by far, but we see Simon of Cyrene, who, as far as we know, didn't really plan on being involved in this. He kind of got dragged in to carry the cross of this man, and he did so. I don't think you realize what a privilege it was to carry the literal cross of Jesus and follow him. What a great example for us to follow today. We also see Joseph of Arimathea, who, man, what a great epitaph this would be, a good and righteous man who was looking forward to the kingdom of God. And the other thief on the cross, who we know nothing about his life and never would except for the fact that he recognized the innocence of Jesus and placed his faith in him to save him even in that most dire state in the last minutes of his life. This event revealed to us what these people thought about Jesus. So the question is, what do you think about Jesus and what are you going to do about it? We can't wait for the monumental moment to happen for us to decide what we're going to do and what we're going to say. We have to decide now. What does our relationship with Jesus compel us to do now? Are you picking up your cross and following him now? Are you living a good and righteous life and looking forward to the kingdom of God, pursuing the kingdom of God like it says in Matthew 6.33 now? Do you recognize your sin and your need of Jesus to save you now? If we're going to be a person like Simon of Cyrene, then we need to make our sacrifices now to kill things, put them on the cross, and follow Jesus. If we're going to be like Joseph of Arimathea, then we need to be living a good and righteous life now and look forward to the kingdom of God and separating ourselves from the other people around us who have their own agendas that do not line up with the Bible. And invest in kingdom work now with the resources that we have. If we're going to be like the thief on the cross who did go to heaven, then we need to be repenting now and recognize our shortcomings, repent of our sins, recognize that God, you are perfect, and I am not. We'll throw in another one, the centurion who watched all of this and recognized, wow, this man is the Son of God. Are we watching for what Jesus is doing around us? Are we watching for signs of Jesus showing up in our life and in other people's lives and connecting the dots to strengthen our faith in him to be able to trust him for what he's going to be doing next? That's our responsibility, or else moments are going to go by and we're going to miss it. We don't want to be like these people who were just kind of on the fringe and then when they saw all this go down, they went home beating their breast, just in going home in regret. There will come a moment, probably many moments, that will reveal what you have already been thinking about Jesus. Can we make those decisions now to start living the life of the kind of person who can step up in those moments when the time comes? Who do you relate to in the story? Who do you wish you could relate to more? How close to Jesus' suffering are you willing to get? That's a thinking out loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here in this reading of Luke twenty three. Join us next time as we finish up the book of Luke and check out the resurrection of Jesus. We'll see you then.