This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored those people and leaders who mocked and condemned Jesus. Today we consider those executed alongside him – the two thieves – an account only in the Gospel of Luke

While one of the criminals, already crucified, began to revile “Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” The word “revile” is eblasphēmei, literally “blaspheme.” It is then we hear the words from the one we know as “the penitent thief.”  Luke does not describe the criminal in such terms. His crime is never described and his penitence is conveyed only by his acknowledgement of his guilt and Jesus’ innocence, and his request that Jesus remember him.

The other criminal reprimanded the other, saying “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”  The criminal adds his own proclamation of innocence to those of Pilate, Herod and later the centurion at the foot of the cross. He also fulfills Jesus’ instructions in 17:3 – “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.” 

This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we considered Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Today we explore those people and leaders who formed “an unholy alliance” against Jesus: those who mocked him and those who condemned him.

The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God.” Luke pictures the majority of the people (laos) don’t mock Jesus (contrary to Mark’s description); they are simply watching. Executions were popular functions and doubtless many attended this one. But it was the rulers, not the people, who mocked (cf. Ps. 22:6–8). The leaders sneer (v. 35; lit. “look down their noses” or “thumbed their noses”) and the soldiers mock (v. 36) and one criminal blasphemes (v. 39). They all say the same thing: “Save yourself” – essentially the same temptations of the devil in Luke 4 – avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. Culpepper notes that “The irony here is that Luke underscores both Jesus’ real identity and the true meaning of his death. Jesus was hailed as the Savior at his birth (2:11); as the Son of Man, he had come to seek and save the lost (19:10). But just as he had taught that those who lost their lives for his sake would save them (9:24), so now he must lost his life so that they might be saved.

This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we explored Luke’s sparse description of crucifixion and pointed to the scriptural evidence regarding the location of the execution. In today’s post, we consider Jesus’ famous words: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Based solely on ancient manuscript evidence, these words are missing in a number of early and diverse writings. Some scholars conclude that these words were probably a later addition. Yet, the internal evidence of Luke’s writings would support this forgiving prayer of Jesus. As Culpepper (Luke, 455) notes:

The prayer is consistent with both Luke’s characterization of Jesus and Luke’s style. Jesus has prayed to God as “Father” repeatedly in Luke (10:21; 11:2; 22:42; 23:46), and Jesus has taught his followers to forgive (5:20-24; 6:27-29; 7:47-49; 17:3-4). Indeed, Jesus’ prayer here echoes the petition for forgiveness in the model prayer (11:4). It is more likely that Jesus died a model death, praying for those who were killing him — and this motif was repeated in the death of Stephen (Acts 7:60), the first Christian martyr — than that a scribe later composed the prayer for Jesus imitating Luke’s style and theme.

This coming Sunday is the celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. In yesterday’s post we covered some background on the solemnity, the titular use of “king” as applied to Jesus and an exploration of Luke’s use of the phrase “the kingdom of God.” Today, we take a look at Luke’s sparse description of the crucifixion and its location.

In verses just prior to our gospel reading, Jesus addresses the women as representatives of the nation: “daughters of Jerusalem” (Is 37:22; Mic 1:8; Zeph 3:14; Zech 9:9). Jesus notes that they weep for the wrong thing: “weep for yourselves and for your children.” This is because Jesus’ rejection means judgment for the nation (Luke 13:34; 19:41-44; 21:20-21). The tragedy, Jesus says, is not his death but the nation’s failure to choose deliverance, life and forgiveness. And that tragedy plays out on Golgotha.

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus and two criminals are delivered to their earthly fate. 

An earlier post today brought up the idea of unholy alliances that stand against Jesus, especially in the events of Holy Week. We had referenced the work of Joel Green and I thought that I would make a longer citation from his work available for those who wish to take a deeper dive into this topic.

Green (Gospel of Luke, 745-76) continues:

In fact, the Lukan account of Jesus’ passion and death is in part the story of unholy alliances made and unmade, as this barrier is repeatedly, if only temporarily, breached. Satan and the Jerusalem leadership are allied in their opposition to Jesus (22:53), and it is through diabolic influence that one of the twelve, Judas, sides with the leadership against Jesus (22:3-6, 47-48). Judas is not alone, however. In their anxiety over relative honor and status at the table (22:24), all of the disciples participate in behavior reminiscent of that of the Jewish leadership (e.g., 20:45-21:4). Peter comes dangerously close to siding with Jesus’ opponents, and he ends up denying his Lord three times (22:54-60). If Luke narrates the inconstancy of the disciples, though, he also recounts their eventual separation from those who oppose Jesus — first in the case of Peter (22:61-62), then in the case of the others (23:49). The only exception is Judas, whose place among the twelve must be filled by another (Acts 1:15-26).

Here on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time the Church celebrates Christ the King Sunday. The title is given several places in Scripture:  king of ages (1 Timothy 1:17), King of Israel (John 1:49), King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11), King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16), King of the nations (Book of Revelation 15:3) and ruler of the kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5). The solemnity has been celebrated on the Roman calendar since 1925 and was instituted as a culmination of the liturgical year and a reminder that in His suffering and death, Christ ascended to his throne.

An oft used phrase in Luke, he basileia tou theou (the kingdom of God), is a difficult phrase to understand. How should it be translated?

• basileia can refer to the area ruled by a king. So phrases such as “entering the kingdom” (Luke 18:17, 24, 25) may be understood as coming to the region controlled by the king — or entering the heavenly realm as the “kingdom of God”.
• basileia can refer to the power or authority to rule as king. With this understanding, “entering the kingdom of God” might be better understood as “accepting God’s rule (over me/us).”