Luke 23: The Three Words of Jesus at Calvary

Introduction

"God's Word is so rich that there is never any harm in coming back to it." This is how the preacher at the Igreja Evangélica Baptista da Parede, in Portugal, explains why he is returning to the Gospel of Luke, which the church recently went through in a series of messages. This Sunday, he leads the congregation to Golgotha, the place of the skull, also called Calvary.

On the cross, Jesus spoke seven times. Luke records three of those words. The preacher pauses on each one: the first reveals the purpose of the cross, the second its power and victory, the third its completion.

His message comes down to one conviction that he repeats: the cross was not meant for other people. "The cross was yours. The cross was mine."

Outline of the Message

1. Calvary, a Place of Humiliation

The crucifixion is recorded in all four Gospels. Some events in the life of Jesus are reported by one Gospel and left out by another, but his death is in all four, "because without the death of Jesus, there would be no Gospel."
Calvary was not really a mountain: it was a small rise beside a road, so that every passerby could see the spectacle. Nobody knows exactly where it was. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built in the fourth century on the orders of the emperor Constantine, preserves its memory, without certainty about the exact place.
Crucifixion existed before the Romans: the Babylonians, Assyrians and Persians practiced it. The Romans "refined" it. It was at once a death penalty, a public spectacle and an extreme humiliation for the condemned.
Jesus was whipped, mocked and spat upon. Even after he was crucified, people kept insulting him and gave him vinegar to drink. Paul writes to the Philippians that he humbled himself to the point of death, "yes, the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8).
Isaiah says that he did not open his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). Yet he spoke on the cross. The preacher explains: throughout his trial, Jesus never opened his mouth to defend himself or to plead his innocence. Before Pilate, he gave "no answer, not even one word, so that the governor marveled greatly" (Matthew 27:13-14). He was there willingly, to offer himself as a sacrifice.

2. "Father, Forgive Them": The Purpose of the Cross

The first word, in verse 34: "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing." This sentence states the purpose of the cross: the forgiveness of our sins.
The preacher quotes Derek Prince: "Jesus was punished with the punishment we deserved, so that we could receive the forgiveness we did not deserve."
Six centuries before the cross, Isaiah announced it: he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and Yahweh laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:5-6). "The one who should have been on the cross was me, and it was you."
The preacher is very firm: refusing to recognize that Jesus' death was a death in our place amounts to telling the Holy Spirit that he is lying, he who convicts of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He sees in this the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and quotes Hebrews 10:28-29: to treat the blood of the covenant as unholy is to insult the Spirit of grace.
To say "Jesus died, but he was misunderstood" or "I'm not the one who killed him" is to have missed the Gospel. It is your sins and mine that took Jesus to the cross.
Every time we fall back into sin, we crucify the Son of God again and put him to open shame (Hebrews 6:6). You may think you are committing a hidden sin, but nothing is hidden from God.
The promise still stands: "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us (1 John 1:9).
The cross that some people wear as a necklace, a bracelet or a lapel pin was not a golden ornament: it was the wood where Jesus was nailed, whipped and insulted, so that one thing could happen: that you would be forgiven. Before you tell your lie, or I tell mine, remember that you are humiliating Jesus. Repent, and "repentance is not only admitting, it is changing."

3. "Today You Will Be with Me in Paradise": The Victory

The second word, verses 39 to 43. One of the criminals insults Jesus: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!" The other rebukes him: "Don't you even fear God?" Then he says: "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."
The message of the cross is a message of substitution and forgiveness, but also of power and victory. Crucifixion was a slow death: the body hanging, strength draining away, suffocation. When the condemned man was slow to die, his legs were broken to hasten the end.
The criminal knows he is going to die, but he believes that Jesus has something to offer beyond death. "The cross is not the end." For many people, that day, the Messiah's plan came to an end. It was nothing of the sort.
God showed his power: darkness from the sixth hour to the ninth hour, from noon until about three o'clock, when the sun is at its highest. The veil of the temple was torn. Matthew adds that the earth shook, the rocks were split and tombs were opened (Matthew 27:51-52).
"We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks," but to those who are called, the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
The worship team had chosen Romans 8:32-37 for this service: will the one who did not spare his own Son not also freely give us all things with him? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? In all these things, we are more than conquerors.

4. A Victory Over Sin, Not a Life as a "Winner"

The preacher gives a warning: this victory is not the one some people imagine, "everything will be fine, I'm a winner." It is a victory over death and over sin.
"What good is it to say, I am victorious, I conquer things, if you keep on sinning?" The cross came to undo the work of the devil. Your victory rests on the faith you place in Christ.
We sometimes hold on to "pet sins," telling ourselves they are not serious. But every sin offends the holiness of God. The congregation had just sung "Holy, holy, holy."
"If Adam and Eve were driven out of paradise for a single sin, why would you enter it with all of yours?" Whoever clings to the cross, confesses their sin and repents has the victory. It rests on the love of God, and it was won at Calvary.

5. "Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit": It Is Finished

The third word, in verse 46: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" The centurion, seeing what had happened, glorifies God: "Certainly this was a righteous man."
John records another expression: "It is finished" (John 19:30). Nobody took the life of Jesus: he offered it himself. "No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself" (John 10:17-18).
When Peter cut off a servant's ear in Gethsemane, Jesus said he could ask his Father for more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:52-53). A legion numbered about six thousand men: more than fifty thousand angels, the preacher points out. And when Jesus answered "I am he" to the soldiers who had come to arrest him, they drew back and fell to the ground (John 18:6).
Jesus is God Almighty, yet he never used his divine power for himself. He had come with a mission: to go to the cross. His death is a voluntary act and an act of love: God proves his love for us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
If he had not died, you would have died, and not only in the way people die after a few years: you would die eternally, far from God. Whoever believes in him is not judged; whoever does not believe has already been judged (John 3:18).

6. Nothing to Add to the Sacrifice of Jesus

By saying "I commit my spirit," Jesus declares that the purpose of his life has been reached: the punishment has been borne, the forgiveness has been given. The torn veil shows that the way to God is open, and that way is Jesus: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6).
Wanting to add something to the sacrifice of Jesus is pointless, and it is an offense to God. It would be saying that everything he went through was useless or was not enough. We are saved by grace, not by works.
"Don't think you erase your sin because you come to church every Sunday. Don't think you erase it because you give at every offering. Don't think you erase it because you serve." All of that is a privilege God gives you, not a payment.
The preacher also addresses the Catholic Church's teaching about the seven sacraments to be performed in order to be saved, and any group that says you must do this or that to be saved or to avoid losing your salvation: "Christ has already done everything that needed to be done, and it is finished at the cross."
He concludes: "It is enough for you to believe in him, and in him alone. May your faith be placed in Jesus alone, the one who died and rose again for you."

Key Takeaways

Jesus did not defend himself during his trial: he went to the cross willingly, to offer himself as a sacrifice in your place.
The purpose of the cross is forgiveness. It is your sin and mine that took Jesus to Calvary, and every sin humiliates him still.
The cross is not a defeat: it is the place of God's power and of a victory over death and over sin.
Nobody took the life of Jesus. He gave it out of love, and he could say: "It is finished."
Nothing is added to the work of the cross: coming to church, giving and serving are privileges, not a payment for salvation.

Personal Application

When you look at the cross, do you see it as "yours," or as a story that concerns other people first?
Is there a "pet sin" that you consider harmless and that you need to confess today?
Does your repentance stop at admitting your fault, or does it go all the way to change?
What is your idea of Christian victory: a life where everything goes well, or a victory over sin through faith in Christ?
Do you still count, deep down, on attending services, on your giving or on your service to be right with God?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three words of Jesus on the cross recorded by Luke?

Luke records three of the seven words of Jesus on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing" (verse 34), "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (verse 43) and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (verse 46). The preacher reads in them the purpose of the cross, its power and its completion.

Why does Isaiah say that Jesus did not open his mouth, when he spoke on the cross?

For the preacher, Isaiah means that Jesus never defended himself. Throughout his trial, he did not plead his innocence, to the point that Pilate was astonished (Matthew 27:13-14). He was there willingly, to offer himself as a sacrifice.

What does "It is finished" mean for our salvation?

It means that the punishment has been borne and that the forgiveness has been given. There is nothing to add to the sacrifice of Jesus: coming to church, giving or serving are privileges, not a payment. We are saved by grace, by believing in Jesus alone.