Proclaiming Jesus as King

On the first Good Friday, the Romans crucified two other men alongside Jesus, as we read in Luke 23:32–33. Although these men are popularly known as thieves, they are identified in the Greek simply as “lawbreakers.” Probably they were insurrectionists. As is true of so many of the other events of Jesus’ death, our Lord’s being crucified alongside two criminals fulfilled prophecy, specifically the prediction of Isaiah 53:12 that the Messiah would be numbered with “transgressors.” Jesus mentioned this prophecy just before His arrest (Luke 22:37).

Jesus hung on the cross at a place called “The Skull,” just north of Jerusalem (23:33). The locale was named for the fact that its geological features resembled a human skull. The other Gospels give its Aramaic name, Golgotha, which means “Place of a Skull” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). Luke may have left out this detail because his original audience was unlikely to know Aramaic.

While Jesus hung on the cross, the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers mocked Him, demanding that He prove His claims by rescuing Himself from the cross. They also cast lots to see who would possess His clothing (Luke 23:34–37). In so doing, they fulfilled the predictions in Psalm 22 that the Messiah would be mocked and have His clothing divided among the scorners. Instead of calling down judgment on His mockers, however, Jesus asked God to forgive them because they did not know what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Our Lord thereby exemplified love of enemies. He did not mean that the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers had no idea whatsoever that they were crucifying an innocent man, for they had heard abundant testimony of His guiltlessness (vv. 1–22). Jesus meant that they did not know that they were crucifying the “Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8).

The Romans would hang a placard above the crucified person that listed his crime when they executed someone in this manner. Jesus’ placard said that He was being killed for claiming to be King of the Jews (Luke 23:38). By this statement, the executioners were speaking better than they knew. Matthew Henry comments that Jesus “is put to death for pretending to be the king of the Jews; so they meant it; but God intended it to be a declaration of what he really was, notwithstanding his present disgrace: he is the king of the Jews, the king of the church, and his cross is the way to his crown.”