In my humble
opinion,
for what it is worth
all four books have it wrong.
It should read
“This Is Jesus Of
Nazareth, The Son Of God and The King Of The Universe”!
Luke 23:37 "And
saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself."
They had no idea of
the whole purpose of the crucifixion. The sad thing is that Jesus was dying for
their sins, too.
Luke 23:38 "And
a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and
Hebrew,
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."
“A superscription”:
All 4 gospel writers mentioned the inscription, but each reported a slightly
different variation. Both Luke and John (19:20), said that the inscription was
translated on the placard itself. It is ever more likely that all 4 evangelists
simply reported the substance of the inscription elliptically, with each one
omitting different parts of the full inscription.
All 4 concur with
Mark that the inscription said The King of Jews (Matt. 27:37; John 19:19). Luke
added “this is” at the beginning, and Matthew started with “This is Jesus”.
John’s version began “Jesus Of Nazareth” Putting them all together, the full
inscription would read “This Is Jesus Of Nazareth, The King Of The Jews.”
The Jews had tried
to get Pilate to change this to say that He said He was the King of the Jews.
Pilate would not do it. He was the King of the Jews.
Luke 23:39 "And
one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be
Christ, save thyself and us."
“One of the
malefactors”: (Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32), report that both criminals were
mocking Christ along with the crowd. As the hours wore on, however, this
criminal’s conscience was smitten and he repented. When the impenitent thief
resumed his mocking (verse 39), this thief rebuked him and refused to
participate again.
Luke 23:40 "But
the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou
art in the same condemnation?"
The one thief on the
right became very different. First, he began to fear God which is the beginning
of wisdom. He had faith that Jesus was sinless, as well. This thief said he
deserved punishment, and we will see the Lord forgives him.
Luke 23:41 "And
we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath
done nothing amiss."
“This man hath done
nothing amiss”: Even the thief hanging to the right of Jesus began to testify
of Jesus’ innocence.
These two men, the
one on the left and the other on the right, had very little in common, except
that they were both guilty of committing a crime. The one on the left, I
believe, fussed at Jesus and said, "if you are Christ, save us". You
see, he had no faith at all. He would die in his sin.
Luke 23:42 "And
he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
“Jesus, Lord,
remember me”: The penitent thief’s prayer reflected his belief that the soul
lives on after death; that Christ had a right to rule over a kingdom of the
souls of men, and that He would soon enter that kingdom despite His impending
death.
His request to be
remembered was a plea for mercy, which also reveals that the thief understood
he had no hope but divine grace, and that the dispensing of that grace lay in
Jesus’ power. All of this demonstrates true faith on the part of the dying
thief, and Christ graciously affirmed the man’s salvation (verse 43).
He makes Jesus
Savior and Lord in this one statement. (In Romans 10:9), we see that we must
believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, and he has done both here.
Luke 23:43 "And
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise."
“Paradise”: The only
other places this word is used in the New Testament are (2 Cor. 12:4 and Rev.
2:7). The word suggests a garden (it is the word used of Eden in the LXX), but
in all 3 New Testament uses it speaks of heaven.
We read (in
Revelation 2:7), about the paradise of God. This is heaven. Jesus' Spirit and
man's spirit will be in heaven that day. Jesus will dismiss His Spirit from His
body on the cross and command it to go to the Father. Then He goes to hell,
preaches, and brings back captivity captive.
Luke 23:44 "And
it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until
the ninth hour."
Luke 23:46 "And
when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost."
“Into thy hands”:
This quotes (Psalm 31:5), and the manner of His death accords with (John
10:18). Normally victims of crucifixion died much slower deaths. He, being in
control, simply yielded up His soul (John 10:18; 19:30), committing it to God.
Thus, He “offered” Himself without blemish to God” (Heb. 9:14).
Notice, He did not
say I commend my body. This is where Jesus sent His Spirit to God. His body
goes to the tomb, not His Spirit.
The third day after He had preached in hell.
His Spirit rejoins His body and comes out of the tomb.
