New Testament Commentary - Luke 23

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 23 Christ taken before Pilate, then to Herod, and to Pilate again— Barabbas released—Christ is crucified between two thieves—He is buried in tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea.
1 AND the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to ^aCaesar, saying that he himself is Christ a ^bKing.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
3 And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. 4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no ^afault in this man.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
5 And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. 6 When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean. 7 And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
8 ¶ And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some ^amiracle done by him. 9 Then he questioned with him in many words; but he ^aanswered him nothing. 10 And the chief priests and ^ascribes stood and vehemently accused him. 11 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and ^amocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
12 ¶ And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.
13 ¶ And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him: 15 No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. 16 I will therefore chastise him, and release him.
17 (For of necessity he must ^arelease one unto them at the feast.) 18 And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas: 19 (Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for ^amurder, was cast into prison.)
20 Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them. 21 But they cried, saying, ^aCrucify him, crucify him. 22 And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found ^ano cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.
23 And they were ^ainstant with loud voices, ^brequiring that he might be ^ccrucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they ^arequired.
25 And he released unto them him that for sedition and ^amurder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will. 26 And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.
27 ¶ And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of ^aJerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the ^abarren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. 30 Then shall they begin to say to the ^amountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. 31 For if they do these things in a ^agreen tree, what shall be done in the ^bdry?
32 And there were also two other, ^amalefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
34 ¶ Then ^asaid Jesus, Father, ^bforgive them; for they know not what ^cthey do. And they parted his ^draiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them ^aderided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the ^bchosen of God.
36 And the soldiers also ^amocked him, coming to him, and offering him ^bvinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE ^aKING OF THE ^bJEWS.
39 ¶ And one of the malefactors which were hanged ^arailed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due ^areward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in ^aparadise.
44 And it was about the ^asixth hour^a, and there was a ^bdarkness over all the ^cearth until the ninth hour^b. 45 And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the ^amidst.	44^a it was about the sixth hour Now John's record places the time of the crucifixion at the 6^th hour, which is noon. Luke states that it must have been during that hour, or the middle of the day when it began to be dark. That the gospels seem to differ about the 'lunch hour' crucifixion might be understandable in that how can one tell the time withouth the sun? There were no clocks so the hours were 'aproximate, about the noon hour. 44^b there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour Now in truth there was darkness over all the earth, for in America the great destruction had begun to take place. And the darkness was so great and thick there that there was no light at all, neither could they kindle a fire. And yet cities were burned, likely with lava flows, which cause their own burnings. It was but three hours of 'darkness', from the 6^th to the 9^th hour, from the noon hour to between the third and fourth hour, yet they could still see in Jerusalem. It America the black darkness there would last for three days. Thus it is logical to presume that the destruction in America may will have began at the time of Christ's suffering in Gethsemane.
46 ¶ And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I ^acommend my ^bspirit: and having said thus, he ^cgave up the ^dghost. 47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a ^arighteous man.
48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned. 49 And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.
50 ¶ And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a ^acounsellor; and he was a good man, and a just: 51 (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went unto Pilate, and ^abegged the body of Jesus. 53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a ^asepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
54 And that day was the ^apreparation, and the sabbath drew on. 55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the ^asepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and ^arested the sabbath day according to the commandment^a.	56^a rested the sabbath day according to the commandment Now the followers of Jesus did keep the commandments and did keep the Sabbath day. This is in contrast to that which the priests, Pharisees and rulers did on that same Sabbath day. For they were up and about their stinking work, for they remembered that Jesus had said that he would rise again on the third day. Thus they did not misunderstand Christ's meaning concerning the distroying and raising up of the temple of his body. And thus they come unto Pilate and associated themselves with that Roman Gentile on the Sabbath day until they compelled him to give them a 'watch' of Roman Soldiers to labor on the Sabbath day to seal up and guard the tomb of the Lord. Thus they caused the stranger to labor on the Sabbath, and ought to be also accounted as having performed worldly labors that day themselves, thus breaking the Law of the Sabbath.