There
were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Luke 23:32-37
Luke 23 [26.] When they led him away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it after Jesus. A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”
Luke 23 [32.] There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
Luke 23 [34.] Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
Luke 23 [36.] The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Luke 23 [38.] An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Meaning:
Luke describes the crucifixion itself with great restraint. He does not dwell on the physical horror, which his first readers knew well. Instead he shows who was crucified with Jesus, what Jesus said, and how the people around the cross responded. In the middle of the cruelty stands one of the most remarkable prayers ever spoken. The parallel accounts are in Mark 15:22-23, Mark 15:24-28, Mark 15:29-30, Mark 15:31-32 and Matthew 27:33-40.
- “Two criminals, led with him to be put to death”
Jesus was executed alongside two criminals, one on each side, as if he were the worst of the three. On the night of his arrest he had said, “For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’” (Luke 22:37). Isaiah had written that the servant “poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). Within a few verses Luke shows both parts of that prophecy fulfilled: Jesus is numbered with criminals, and he prays for sinners.
- “The place that is called The Skull”
The place of execution was a hill outside the city walls, known in Aramaic as Golgotha and in Latin as Calvary, both meaning “skull.” Romans crucified people beside busy roads so that the punishment would be seen and feared. Luke simply says, “they crucified him there.” Crucifixion was the most shameful death in the Roman world, reserved for slaves and rebels.
- “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing”
As the nails were driven in, Jesus prayed for those who were killing him. He addressed God as “Father,” as he had throughout his life, and he asked for mercy for the soldiers, and also for the leaders and people who had demanded his death. Jesus had taught, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). On the cross he did exactly what he taught. Their ignorance did not make them innocent, but it left room for mercy. Weeks later, at Pentecost, thousands in that same city would hear the gospel and repent, an answer to this prayer.
- “Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots”
The soldiers who carried out executions were allowed to keep the victim’s clothing. Gambling at the foot of the cross, they fulfilled the words of the psalm: “They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing” (Psalm 22:18). Jesus was left with nothing.
- “He saved others. Let him save himself”
The people stood watching, while the rulers, the soldiers and later one of the criminals (Luke 23:39) mocked him. Their words echo Psalm 22: “All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads” (Psalm 22:7). The soldiers offered him sour wine, recalling another psalm: “In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21). The taunt “save yourself” was the last form of the old temptation to take a path without the cross. The irony is that the mockers spoke the truth. Jesus did save others, and it was precisely because he would not save himself that he could save them.
The Significance of Luke 23:32-37
- Forgiveness that reaches the worst
If Jesus could pray for those who crucified him, no one is beyond the reach of his mercy. The prayer from the cross is the foundation of every believer’s hope. It also sets the pattern for Christian living: Stephen, the first martyr, prayed in the same way for those who stoned him.
- Following the crucified King
The world measures power by the ability to save oneself. Jesus shows a different kind of kingship, giving himself for others. His followers are called to forgive those who wrong them and to serve rather than protect themselves.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 53:12: “was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” The servant dies among sinners and prays for them.
Psalm 22:18: “They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.” Fulfilled by the soldiers.
Luke 6:27-28: “pray for those who mistreat you.” Jesus practised his own teaching on the cross.
Mark 15:24-28: Mark’s account of the crucifixion between two robbers.
Conclusion: In Luke 23:32-37 Jesus is crucified at the Skull between two criminals. He prays for the forgiveness of those who are killing him, while soldiers divide his clothes and rulers and soldiers mock him to save himself. The passage fulfils the Scriptures about the suffering servant and reveals the depth of his mercy: he would not save himself so that he could save others.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible