Luke 23:44-49--The Death of Jesus

Luke 23:44-49
English Standard Version
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The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

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Remember how I've told you the timing of Jesus' death would be significant.  The sixth hour would be high noon--the time of day that should be the brightest, but there is a darkness that covers the whole land much like the plague of darkness that we read about in the book of Exodus.  It is a supernatural event that is supposed to draw our attention to what is going on, but it will be a deep darkness like the kind you would say you can feel.  No light from the sun would penetrate this darkness for three hours and it was during this time that darkness veiled the land that the curtain that separated the Holy Place from The Most Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom.

Why is that significant?  The Most Holy Place was guarded by a thick curtain that blocked out all the light, but now all the light is being blocked out by a curtain that God is putting over the land because the atonement that is being made is not happening in the Holy of Holies, it is happening on the cross ass Jesus, our Great High Priest is making atonement once and for all with His own body and blood--offering a better sacrifice so that there would no longer be any need for the curtain in the Temple that was as thick as a man's hand.  Only God would be able to tear it apart and it was torn from top to bottom to let us know that this had to be done by God Himself for any man that even desired to try to rip this curtain would have to stand at its base and tear it from the bottom to the top.  The book of Hebrews speaks more of this when it says,

Hebrews 10:19-22
English Standard Version
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.


It was at the ninth hour (about 3pm) that the darkness stopped and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!."  The timing of this according to everything Jesus has said so far is no accident.  Jesus has already told them that no one would take His life from Him--He would lay it down willingly, and if He laid it down, He would take it back up again.  So it is here that Jesus willingly lays down His life when He breathes His last breath here at the time we believe was concurrent with when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed in preparation for the Passover meal that all Israel would eat that evening.  God's command is clear that the Passover lamb must be killed on a particular date and the Passover must be celebrated at the proper time.  There would be no delaying this celebration, even if it occurred on the Sabbath (the Feast started at twilight/sundown so what we would call the evening of Good Friday would be the beginning of the Passover feast).

Now the crowds that had been jeering all seem to stand silent and only one voice is recorded speaking from the crowd (and it is only here that from Luke that we see these words recorded).  Luke has given us the testimony of so many that Jesus was who He said He was, but now we see the testimony of the Roman centurion who was probably the highest-ranking officer there overseeing the crucifixions that day.  He said, "Certainly this man was innocent" when he saw how heaven and earth responded to Jesus' death.  Luke also tells us that it was the intent of the centurion to praise God (with a capital 'G') meaning that this man, though an officer in the Roman army, must have been a God-fearing Gentile.  We have read about such men in other places already in the New Testament and we'll read of others in the book of Acts later.  The book of Mark gives us some additional details of the centurion's testimony when he said, "Truly, this man was the Son of God." (Mark 15:39b).

Those that came to watch the show and to jeer at Jesus now started to go home, yet it says that they beat their breasts as they did.  This is typically a sign of mourning and even repentance, though I would not be surprised if their would be a few that would be beating their breast as a sign that they were strong and had overcome their archenemy.  However, the women that followed Him (the ones that we would see helping prepare His body for burial and that would come back on Sunday with additional spices to help cover the stench of death) continued to stand there long after everyone else had gone home.  There are also His acquaintances who ere there--the only disciples that we know to have been there would be the Apostle John, but there were other followers who were there watching everything and taking it all in (perhaps the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus were there for instance, we don't know for sure as Luke doesn't name any of the witnesses, just that there are witnesses).

That's all that Luke has to say about the crucifixion.  Jesus will have to be buried very quickly so that anyone who touched the dead body can wash themselves and be purified at sundown and still be allowed to eat the Passover, for it was one of their most holy days and they were to do everything within their power to not be unclean on that day and to be able to partake in the Feast of Passover at the appointed time.  We'll talk more about the burial of Jesus next time.