Luke23

Jesus is brought before Pilate, who finds no fault in him and sends him to Herod, who also finds no cause for death. Despite Pilate's attempts to release him, the multitude demands Barabbas and insists on Jesus' crucifixion. Jesus is crucified at Calvary, where he forgives his persecutors and promises paradise to a repentant malefactor. He dies after a period of darkness, and his body is laid in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathaea.

Jesus Before Pilate

With that, the whole Sanhedrin got up and brought Yeshua before Pilate,

where they started accusing him. “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the Emperor and claiming that he himself is the Messiah — a king!”

Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him, “The words are yours.”

Pilate said to the head cohanim and the crowds, “I find no ground for a charge against this man.”

But they persisted. “He is inciting the people with his teaching throughout all Y’hudah — he started in the Galil, and now he’s here!”

Jesus Interrogated by Herod

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was from the Galil;

and when he learned that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who at that time happened to be in Yerushalayim too.

Herod was delighted to see Yeshua, because he had heard about him and for a long time had been wanting to meet him; indeed, he hoped to see him perform some miracle.

He questioned him at great length, but Yeshua made no reply.

However, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers stood there, vehemently pressing their case against him.

Herod and his soldiers treated Yeshua with contempt and made fun of him. Then, dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

That day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other; previously they had been enemies.

Pilate Condemns Jesus

Pilate summoned the head cohanim, the leaders and the people,

and said to them, “You brought this man before me on a charge of subverting the people. I examined him in your presence and did not find the man guilty of the crime you are accusing him of.

And neither did Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has not done anything that merits the death penalty.

Therefore, what I will do is have him flogged and release him.”

Not present in the manuscripts this translation follows.

But with one voice they shouted, “Away with this man! Give us Bar-Abba!”

(He was a man who had been thrown in prison for causing a riot in the city and for murder.)

Pilate appealed to them again, because he wanted to release Yeshua.

But they yelled, “Put him to death on the stake! Put him to death on the stake!”

A third time he asked them, “But what has this man done wrong? I haven’t found any reason to put him to death. So I’m going to have him flogged and set free.”

But they went on yelling insistently, demanding that he be executed on the stake; and their shouting prevailed.

Pilate decided to grant their demand;

he released the man who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder, the one they had asked for; and Yeshua he surrendered to their will.

The Road to the Cross

As the Roman soldiers led Yeshua away, they grabbed hold of a man from Cyrene named Shim‘on, who was on his way in from the country. They put the execution-stake on his back and made him carry it behind Yeshua.

Large numbers of people followed, including women crying and wailing over him.

Yeshua turned to them and said, “Daughters of Yerushalayim, don’t cry for me; cry for yourselves and your children!

For the time is coming when people will say, ‘The childless women are the lucky ones — those whose wombs have never borne a child, whose breasts have never nursed a baby!

Then They will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’

For if they do these things when the wood is green, what is going to happen when it’s dry?”

Two other men, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him.

The Crucifixion

When they came to the place called The Skull, they nailed him to a stake; and they nailed the criminals to stakes, one on the right and one on the left.

Yeshua said, “Father, forgive them; they don’t understand what they are doing.” They divided up his clothes by throwing dice.

The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at him. “He saved others,” they said, “so if he really is the Messiah, the one chosen by God, let him save himself!”

The soldiers too ridiculed him; they came up, offered him vinegar

and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”

And there was a notice over him which read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS

One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him. “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other one spoke up and rebuked the first, saying, “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same punishment as he is.

Ours is only fair; we’re getting what we deserve for what we did. But this man did nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Yeshua, remember me when you come as King.”

Yeshua said to him, “Yes! I promise that you will be with me today in Gan-‘Eden.”

Death of Jesus

It was now about noon, and darkness covered the whole Land until three o’clock in the afternoon;

the sun did not shine. Also the parokhet in the Temple was split down the middle.

Crying out with a loud voice, Yeshua said, “Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit.” With these words he gave up his spirit.

When the Roman officer saw what had happened, he began to praise God and said, “Surely this man was innocent!”

And when all the crowds that had gathered to watch the spectacle saw the things that had occurred, they returned home beating their breasts.

All his friends, including the women who had accompanied him from the Galil, had been standing at a distance; they saw it all.

The Burial

There was a man named Yosef, a member of the Sanhedrin. He was a good man, a tzaddik;

and he had not been in agreement with either the Sanhedrin’s motivation or their action. He came from the town of Ramatayim, a town of the Judeans; and he looked forward to the Kingdom of God.

This man approached Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body.

He took it down, wrapped it in a linen sheet, and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, that had never been used.

It was Preparation Day, and a Shabbat was about to begin.

The women who had come with Yeshua from the Galil followed; they saw the tomb and how his body was placed in it.

Then they went back home to prepare spices and ointments. On Shabbat the women rested, in obedience to the commandment;

Study Notes for Luke 23

Verse 1

After the religious trial by the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66-71), the Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor, as only the Roman authorities could execute a death sentence.

Verse 2

The charges presented are political (sedition, forbidding taxes) rather than religious, forcing Pilate to treat Jesus as a threat to Roman order.

Verse 3

Jesus’ ambiguous reply, 'Thou sayest it,' affirms his kingship while implicitly reframing it as non-political, thereby neutralizing the charge of sedition.

Verse 4

Luke repeatedly emphasizes Pilate’s conclusion of Jesus’ innocence (v. 4, 14, 22), highlighting that Jesus was condemned not by Roman law but by the pressure of the Jewish leadership and populace.

Verse 7

Herod Antipas was the tetrarch of Galilee. Pilate sends Jesus to him to avoid responsibility and because Herod had jurisdiction over Galileans.

Verse 8

Herod's interest was purely curiosity and a desire for entertainment, illustrating his lack of commitment to justice or truth.

Verse 9

Jesus’ silence before Herod contrasts with his earlier answers to the high priest and Pilate, perhaps fulfilling the suffering servant prophecy (Isa. 53:7).

Verse 12

This political maneuver resulted in reconciliation between Pilate and Herod, showing how dealing with Jesus brought temporary unity among those in power.

Verse 15

Pilate uses Herod’s non-condemnation as further evidence of Jesus’ innocence, establishing a dual Roman acquittal.

Verse 16

Pilate attempts a compromise—scourging (chastisement) followed by release—hoping to satisfy the crowd’s demand for punishment without executing an innocent man.

Verse 17

This parenthetical note explains the custom of releasing a prisoner during Passover, which the crowd exploits to demand Barabbas instead of Jesus.

Verse 19

Barabbas is explicitly identified as a revolutionary (sedition) and murderer, creating a stark contrast: the people choose a political criminal over the innocent Christ.

Verse 25

Pilate officially yields to the popular will, delivering Jesus to be crucified despite declaring him innocent three times (v. 4, 14, 22).

Verse 26

Simon of Cyrene, a man likely traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover, is compelled by the soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross, emphasizing Jesus’ extreme physical exhaustion.

Verse 28

Jesus shifts the focus from his own suffering to the impending judgment and destruction awaiting Jerusalem (fulfilled in 70 AD) due to their rejection of him.

Verse 29

This hyperbolic statement reflects the extremity of the coming suffering, making barrenness a blessing because childless mothers would not witness their children’s destruction.

Verse 31

A proverbial saying: if the innocent (the green tree) suffers such a fate, how much worse will the judgment be for the guilty (the dry tree, representing unrepentant Israel)?

Verse 33

Calvary is the Latin equivalent of the Aramaic 'Golgotha' (Place of the Skull). Jesus is crucified alongside two criminals, fulfilling the prophecy that he would be numbered with the transgressors (Isa. 53:12).

Verse 34

This is the first of Jesus’ seven sayings from the cross, demonstrating radical forgiveness toward his executioners. The plea 'they know not what they do' suggests a degree of culpable ignorance.

Verse 38

The inscription was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew so that all passersby could understand the official charge, ironically declaring the truth of Jesus' identity.

Verse 40

The interaction between the two malefactors is unique to Luke, serving as a powerful demonstration of repentance and faith in Jesus’ kingship even in his humiliation.

Verse 43

The second saying from the cross. 'Paradise' (a term for the Garden of Eden or the abode of the righteous dead) promises the repentant thief immediate entry into blessedness with Christ.

Verse 44

The 'sixth hour' (noon) to the 'ninth hour' (3 PM) was marked by supernatural darkness, signifying cosmic judgment and the gravity of the event.

Verse 45

The rending of the temple veil, which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, symbolizes that access to God is now opened to all through Christ’s sacrifice.

Verse 46

Jesus’ final words in Luke, quoting Psalm 31:5, show his death as a deliberate act of trust and completion, not a defeat.

Verse 47

The centurion’s confession, 'Certainly this was a righteous man,' provides the final Roman testimony to Jesus’ innocence, concluding Luke’s repeated emphasis on his lack of guilt.

Verse 48

The crowd’s reaction (beating their breasts) signals immediate remorse or recognition of the tragic injustice they had demanded.

Verse 50

Joseph of Arimathea is identified as a member of the Sanhedrin ('counsellor') who dissented from the council’s decision, demonstrating that not all Jewish leaders rejected Jesus.

Verse 54

The burial had to be completed quickly because the 'preparation' day was ending, and the Sabbath (beginning at sunset) prohibited manual labor.

Verse 56

The women’s obedience to the Sabbath commandment, despite their grief, sets the stage for their visit to the tomb on the first day of the week (24:1).

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Luke23

Jesus Before Pilate

Jesus Interrogated by Herod

Pilate Condemns Jesus

The Road to the Cross

The Crucifixion

Death of Jesus

The Burial

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