Bible Study series: Luke 23:44-49. His crucifixion and death ratified the New Covenant.
Friendly greetings and a warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together.
I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click here:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Luke 23:44-49
44 And it was already the sixth hour, and darkness came on the whole land until the ninth hour 45 when the sun grew dark, and then the curtain in the temple was torn in the middle. 46 Jesus cried out loudly and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit!” [“s. 31:6] On saying this, he expired. 47 When the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “This man was righteous!” 48 And all the crowds coming together at this sight and observing what happened turned and beat their chests. 49 All of his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee had been standing from a distance and saw these things. (Luke 23:44-49)
Comments:
44-45:
You have two options to interpret these events: literally or symbolically.
Nature was bowing in reverence. The sixth hour was noon (12:00), and the ninth hour was at three in the afternoon (15:00). Some identify the darkness with a solar eclipse in A.D. 33 (BTSB), yet Jesus was crucified, more likely, in A.D. 30 (he was born in 4-6 B.C. and he began his ministry when he was about 30 years old, says Luke 3:23). So this event was a supernatural occurrence. However, the eclipse around that time appeals to me because the times when Jesus began his ministry and its duration are approximate.
The sun “grew dark”: the Greek literally reads: “failing,” as if the sun itself was faltering and not doing its normal created purpose–shining its light.
On the other hand, you can interpret the sign in the sky as symbolic—the sun grew dark or gave out when the Son of God was just about to expire. In the OT, when a major eschatological change happens, like the judgment on nations, the cosmos or creation reacts apocalyptically. They do not react literally. For a list of the Scriptures, click on this link:
Cosmic Disasters = Apocalyptic Imagery for Judgment and Major Change
Whichever way you take the cosmic sign and the curtain tearing, the significance is the same as just described. A massive eschatological shift just happened. The world would never be the same—it would get better, but only when people hear and receive the gospel.
A small local earthquake happens, and apparently it is strong enough to tear the curtain in two (or see below for the divine passive). It either refers to the curtain separating the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (where a priest entered only once a year and where the ark of the covenant was housed, and other items). This is called the second (or inner) curtain in Heb. 9:3. Or it could be the outer curtain which separated the temple from the Holy Place. Garland: “It most likely refers to the inner curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. Priests could have reported this event at a later time [see Acts 6:7 for numerous priests converting]. The passive voice ‘was split’ … suggests a divine passive; it is God’s doing” (comment on 23:45-46). A divine passive comes from the passive form of the verb, and in some context, as here, it is an understated way of saying God was behind the scenes do his work of tearing the veil.
In his commentary on Matthew’s Gospel, Keener writes:
But some rabbinic sources may report a garbled account of a similar tradition, though the evidence is not clear. Josephus may know a related tradition about a heavy gate to the inner court opening by itself presaging Jerusalem’s destruction, though he or his source place it closer to the latter event (Jos. War 6:293-96); likewise, the priestly aristocracy would certainly not have publicized a rending of the inner veil at Jesus’s death (which they might regard as a coincidence … but early “leaks” to the Christians unconfirmed by the hierarchy would be possible (Acts 6:7). (A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, [Eerdmans, 1999], p. 687).
The tearing for sure relates to this teaching in Hebrews.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment … (Heb. 9:23-27, NIV).
This tearing symbolized that the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place was now accessible for Jesus’s followers, spiritually speaking. Jesus entered the heavenly tabernacle by means of his once-and-for-all sacrifice. Old Judaism was ending.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb. 10:19-22, NIV)
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he opened the curtain, so that we can have complete access to God. We can enter the Most Holy Place. We enter through the curtain, that is, through his body.
46:
Now that nature was bowing in reverence, Jesus gave up or entrusted or commended his spirit to his Father. Jesus didn’t allow himself to be a victim of natural causes, like suffocation. He had complete control over his death. He declared when it was over.
Calling out to his Father expresses the fact that he did not believe the Father abandoned him completely, but at a certain time he must have felt abandoned. He was referencing Ps. 31:5: “Into you hands I commit my spirit” (ESV). The psalm describes the righteous sufferer, and this fits Jesus’s death on the cross.
When we die, our spirit is entrusted to our Father. It is not a ghost or goes into a soul sleep (see the comment on v. 43). If we are converted, saved and redeemed, then our spirit goes to heaven. If we are not saved, converted or redeemed, our spirit goes to hell waiting the final resurrection when our transformed bodies are reunited with our soul / spirit and go through final judgment. But there is some unclarity about what this hell is. Is it outer darkness? Fire? How can fire and outer darkness coexist? Whatever it is, it is separation from God.
What Will Heaven Be Like for You?
As for Jesus possibly going down to Hades to preach, please see my post here:
10. Do I Really Know Jesus? Did He Descend into Hades to Preach?
There is Scriptural support for this doctrine, though not much.
Let’s go deeper into the significance of Jesus’s death.
First let’s look at the atonement, which is connected with Jesus’s death on the cross.
Atonement literally means in English at-one-ment or being one with God or being reconciled to him (the -ment suffix means “the result of”).
It is the extensive and costly process of reconciling sinners to God.
Jesus is the sacrifice that atones for sins. Our sins destroyed and separated us from God, but the sacrifice of Jesus reconciles us to God (1 John 1:6-7).
To forestall objections that falsely accuse God of being primitive or petty, please see this post:
Christ’s Death on Cross = Cosmic Child Abuse?
Is. 6 is a wonderful passage that describes a holy man—Isaiah—in the very presence of God, and he saw himself as undone and ruined, because he was an unclean man living among an unclean people. God reached out to him and put a coal on his lips to speak with power and anointing. God cleansed him.
Is. 27:9 talks about the extreme need of Israel’s sins to be removed, and one way to do this was to cut down fertility poles and crush altars to false gods. But this would not bring about reconciliation for all of humanity, forever, but the need for it is clear.
Dan. 9:24 speaks of Israel living in exile seventy years to finish transgression and atone for their wickedness. The verb “atone” means to “wipe away” or appease or placate God’s righteous demands.
John 1:29 shows John the Baptist proclaiming to the people about Jesus, “Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!”
Source:
Why was the blood of Jesus necessary, and what does it accomplish?
Personally, I like how the blood of Jesus cleanses our guilty consciences from past sins. And I like the last point about the blood of the Lamb tramples underfoot the accusation of Satan. The thing is—when he accuses us he knows which sins we have committed. They are not life by our own experience. But in Christ we realize that Satan’s accusations are lies, because God already wiped clean and forgave and released our sins. They no longer apply.
Source:
What did the cross accomplish for us?
First, the cross put to death the curse of the old law. Paul wrote to the Galatians that according to the old law, everyone who hanged on a pole was cursed (Deut. 21:23), so Christ became that curse in our place (Gal. 3:13). Now the curse of the law is broken over us, so God does not judge us in his justice-wrath-judgment. We are in Christ and are spared his wrath.
Second, the cross took away our sins. The power that the law and regulations was broken and canceled over our lives, by the cross. Those things used to condemn us but now through the cross we have forgiveness of sins (Col. 2:13-14). 1 Peter 2:24 says that Christ himself bore our sins in his body, which happened at the cross (Is. 53:5).
Third, the cross reconciled us to God. Paul writes that humanity used to be divided by ethnic and cultural differences, but through the cross, all humans are made into one new human, united in Christ (Eph. 2:16). The fullness of deity lived in bodily form in Christ, and now God reconciled all things to himself by his cross and the blood that was shed there.
Fourth, the cross brought us eternal life. Jesus taught that when he was lifted up on the cross, so that everyone who sees him and believes can have eternal life.
Fifth, the cross triumphed over our enemies. As noted, Col. 2:15 says all the decrees issued against us were canceled, and Christ dragged behind him all of his enemies like a roman emperor led captive people in his victory parade.
Source:
What is reconciliation, and how does Christ’s death on the cross accomplish it? Reconciliation is when God calls us to surrender fighting him and become his friend. He doesn’t have to move, but we do. He did act, however, by sending his Son to die.
One more time: why?
First, God’s law and holiness required payment for human degradation and sin, if redemption is to be done. God cannot ignore or overlook sin. So how can humankind be reconciled or brought near to God, with such a wide gulf? Christ willingly became a sin offering in our place (substitute) and paid the penalty of sin that engulfed humankind. Now reconciliation between God and humans can take place because Christ is the mediator between the two. God can be just and the justifier of humanity (Rom. 3:26).
Then, second, there is another point of view. Redemption is a gift. Out of his love God gave his all through his Son and his Spirit. Humanity that was plunged into sin and darkness and the devil’s kingdom overcomes by Jesus atoning life and work. God maintains his justice, expresses his love and triumphs over darkness and Satan.
Source:
What Is Redemption in the Bible?
47-49:
These three verses now shift the focus over to the onlookers. First in v. 47, the centurion, who seeing the signs, concluded that this man was innocent or righteous or upright (all three translations would work).
Then in v. 48, the crowds came together to witness the sight. When they saw that he had died, they turned around to go back into the city and beat their chests as a show of grief and repentance (18:13) (Garland, comment on 23:48). Recall that the crowds really liked him. Jerusalem was crowded during Passover, and some yelled for his crucifixion, while others wanted him to live. It is possible that the pilgrims from Galilee grieved, while the native Jerusalemites did not.
Verse 49 is the best one. His “acquaintances” could be translated as “friends” or literally his “knowns” or those whom he knew from Galilee to right then. I really, really like how Luke mentions the women. This honorable mention sets the stage of the beginning of the next section when they spy out the place where his body was laid. It refers to Ps. 38:11, which will become true in the near future: “My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away” (Ps. 38:11, NIV). Peter and the others thought the women’s report about the resurrection was “nonsense” (24:11).
Let’s look at an interesting possible family connection. Are Jesus, James, and John first cousins by their two mothers (Mary and Salome)?
The discussion has been moved to this post:
Were Jesus, James and John First Cousins? Was Clopas Jesus’ Uncle?
In any case, it takes a deep commitment from the women to see him crucified. It must have broken their hearts. But I wonder if they remembered his words that he would rise from the dead. They are about to get the burial spices and perfumes ready, so their commitment to him goes even farther.
GrowApp for Luke 23:44-49
1. His friends and the women from Galilee followed him to Jerusalem and watched him die. That takes commitment. How about you? Will you follow him the whole way, even when times get tough?
RELATED
11. Eyewitness Testimony in Luke’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
