35 And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
Reaction by soldiers
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Inscription
38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Taunt by a criminal
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
The ‘Good Thief’
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus’ salvation
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
EXPLANATION
35 And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
“And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself,’” — Luke distinguishes the “people” from the “rulers”. The former came to see the spectacle and remained silent watchers, not taking any part. They were not hostile though they were not supportive by other than their presence. Later they returned to Jerusalem repentant (Lk. 23: 48).
The next three groups (“rulers”, “soldiers” and the “criminal”) are hostile, each challenging him to “save” himself. They recall Jesus’ triple temptation at the beginning of his public ministry: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread”; “If you will worship me, [all the kingdoms of the world] shall be yours”; “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here for it is written ‘He will give his angels charge of you to guard you’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Lk. 4: 1–13). In this initial temptation Jesus was encouraged to save his life by giving it away. In today’s Calvary passage he is tempted to save his life by keeping it, not by dying. Jesus had previously predicted his teaching on this: “And he said to all, ‘If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it” (Lk. 9: 23–24). Jesus had already foretold that he had to die to be raised by his Father from the dead (Lk. 9: 22; 18: 33; 20: 27–40; 22: 69).
“but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others’” — Four examples: of this salvation can be found at Lk. 7: 50 (the woman who washed his feet); 8: 48 (the woman with a haemorrhage); 17: 19 (the Samaritan leper); and 18: 42 (the blind man at Jericho).
“let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God” — The rulers now take up two titles of Jesus and use these to mock him: “Christ the Lord” and/or “the Chosen One”. “The angel who appeared to the shepherds said, ‘For to you is born this day in the city of David who is Christ the Lord’” (Lk. 2: 11). Jesus had been acclaimed already by Peter when Jesus asked the apostles, “who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, ‘the Christ of God’” — (Lk. 9: 20; Catechism of Catholic Church, 440).
“‘his Chosen One!’” — During the transfiguration on the mountain, “a voice came out of the cloud, saying ‘This is my Son, my Chosen’”. There could be no greater confirmation of this status than the testimony of the Father.
The “rulers” use words which echo Wisdom 2: 12–20 — “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” The words used by the rulers show them to be in line with those in the Bible who oppose salvation.
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
“The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar” — The soldiers were Gentiles so both Jews and Gentiles were responsible for the death of Jesus.
Luke omits that the soldiers mocked Jesus when he was sentenced and also the flogging by them at the pillar. They mock him at this point saying in contempt. “If you are…”. Offering “vinegar” or cheap wine was meant to be an act of mockery because excellent wine would be offered to a real king.
“and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’” — This was the title on the inscription mentioned in the following verse.
38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
“There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” — For the third time an accusation that was meant to taunt Jesus turns out to be false. As he entered Jerusalem on that first “Passion Sunday” “the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’”
Why did Pilate affix this inscription as he had declared that Jesus was innocent? Three answers have been suggested: (i) to protect himself from being charged with giving in to the Jews’ insistence; (ii) to please the Jewish leaders; (iii) to warn others who might be tempted to call themselves by the same title.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” — The “criminal” connects the Messiah, the “Christ”, with the power of salvation. Jesus was actually entering his eternal; life in full glory by his death and winning salvation for all sinners. The “criminal” could not understand this.
Luke does no call the two crucified with Jesus “thieves” but “criminals”, a much stronger term implying most serious crimes.
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’” — Jesus’ innocence is affirmed by a thief also condemned to death. This is the fourth such declaration, the three others by Pilate (Lk. 23: 14, 20, 22, 41) who added that Herod found him innocence also (Lk. 23: 15). Finally the Roman centurion will add his public declaration that Jesus had done nothing wrong (Lk. 23: 47). As already mentioned above, the crowd became repentant because they also recognised at this late stage that Jesus was innocent (Lk. 23: 48). This is a total of seven declarations of innocence.
“And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” — The Greek syntax has the meaning “and he said repeatedly”. The translation also allows “when you come with your royal glory”.
The thief calls him “Jesus”, his title of Saviour. This is the only occasion in the Gospels where any human calls Jesus by this name. It is most appropriate at this time and place, on Calvary.
“when you come into your kingdom” — Jesus’ kingdom would begin with his glorification.
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” — These are Jesus’ last words to any person. They are to a man who was a notorious criminal condemned to death, the very type of person, a public sinner, whom Jesus the Saviour had come to redeem.
“Today” refers to the period before the sun sets. It is the day of salvation, the day of decision, a theme touched on already (announced to the shepherds in Lk. 2: 11; in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry, at Lk. 4: 21; to Zacchaeus in Lk. 19: 8).
The ‘Good Thief’, as he is popularly known, had asked that Jesus would remember him when he died. Jesus, never outdone in kindness and generosity, promised him eternal life and happiness. One of the best known quotations from St Ambrose is that “The Lord always grants more than one asks” — he asked for a “remembrance” and received eternal life.
St. Peter declares in the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus “commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God that he is the judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Ac. 10: 42–43).
“Paradise” is where the first inhabitants of creation lived before the Fall (Gn. 2–3; 13: 10) and where the just now live (Ap. 2: 7; 2 Cor. 12: 2–4). Paradise had been closed by the first Adam; it is re–opened by the second.
Four fundamental truths are taught by this verse: (i) Jesus has power, which is divine, over each person’s destiny and so reveals himself as God. (ii) He also reveals himself as all merciful, forgiving an infamous “criminal” at the last minute. (iii) There is eternal life. (iv) There will be no more death.
APPLICATION
We have come to the final Sunday in Cycle C of the Liturgical Year. Next Sunday we commence Cycle A and the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is most unusual to attach a feast to a particular Sunday. Originally the Feast of Christ the King, created only in 1925, was celebrated on the last Sunday of October each year. With the reform of the liturgy at the Second Vatican Council it was transferred to the last Sunday of each of the three cycles.
Luke’s Gospel passage for this feast intends to show that Jesus is our King but he differs from all other kings and from our notions of what kingship means.
If people were asked to list a few words that might sum up the usual understanding of what a king is, the answer would most probably suggest authority, power and wealth. Certainly Jesus would not accept any of these words to describe him or his kingship.
Instead of exercising authority, Jesus believed in being a servant: “He did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Service for him was not something occasional but a non–stop, 24/7 presence. He is present among us all the time “as one who serves”, he stated.
All power in heaven and on earth was given to him but he never used this for himself. “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:28–29).
He certainly did not seek wealth and comfort; he preached and practised poverty of spirit. He did not have a place on which to lay his head, no house he could call his own, no servants and couriers to look after him. His idea of kingship was most definitely not that of the world around him.
How did Jesus see himself as king? Luke begins with a rather strange thought. He sees Jesus’ enthronement (being officially declared king) as his being nailed to the Cross which is to be his throne. That is a strange thought. Thrones are meant to be symbols of glory and at first sight it is difficult to see how a cross could be a symbol of glory. It was the most cruel, degrading and humiliating death known at that time. Those standing around would agree and encouraged Jesus to come down from his cross but he refused. He saw the cross as his destiny and his Father’s way to bring salvation to the whole world. Many in the crowd thought of him saving himself but his concentration was not on self but on saving all the people of the universe, his reason for coming into our world.
It is on the cross that Jesus shows what it means to him to be a king. He makes known the glory of God and the power of God in love which is revealed as crucified, sacrificial love. On the cross Jesus gave us everything when he gave us his heart and his life. His love is best expressed in two words: sacrifice and service. He proved his love by his death, going all the way and holding nothing back. There was nothing more that he could give or that anyone could ask for.
No matter what one may think, Jesus gives us more in service than we can ever give him. He lived on earth with no other objective than our salvation. He proved this by his absolutely horrific death for us. He never thought of himself or put himself before our needs. But should we wish to specify what precise type of service he offers, the answer is simple, the service of mercy, above all in forgiveness. Listen to his words from the cross: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do” and “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”
Endowed with this Christ–like sacrificial, servant love what response can we make whose Spirit of Love is within us? Why think of any other response but his example of that same type of love. Following his path, we too can be filled with divine–like love for all in need around us that we sacrifice ourselves in service to all our brothers and sisters, witnessing by our lives that Jesus continues among them with his sacrificial, servant love by our presence.
Commentary on Christ the King Sunday (C) 20.11.2016
TEXT: Luke 23: 35–43
Reaction by people and rulers
35 And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
Reaction by soldiers
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
Inscription
38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Taunt by a criminal
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
The ‘Good Thief’
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus’ salvation
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
EXPLANATION
35 And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
“And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself,’” — Luke distinguishes the “people” from the “rulers”. The former came to see the spectacle and remained silent watchers, not taking any part. They were not hostile though they were not supportive by other than their presence. Later they returned to Jerusalem repentant (Lk. 23: 48).
The next three groups (“rulers”, “soldiers” and the “criminal”) are hostile, each challenging him to “save” himself. They recall Jesus’ triple temptation at the beginning of his public ministry: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread”; “If you will worship me, [all the kingdoms of the world] shall be yours”; “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here for it is written ‘He will give his angels charge of you to guard you’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone’” (Lk. 4: 1–13). In this initial temptation Jesus was encouraged to save his life by giving it away. In today’s Calvary passage he is tempted to save his life by keeping it, not by dying. Jesus had previously predicted his teaching on this: “And he said to all, ‘If any man would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it” (Lk. 9: 23–24). Jesus had already foretold that he had to die to be raised by his Father from the dead (Lk. 9: 22; 18: 33; 20: 27–40; 22: 69).
“but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others’” — Four examples: of this salvation can be found at Lk. 7: 50 (the woman who washed his feet); 8: 48 (the woman with a haemorrhage); 17: 19 (the Samaritan leper); and 18: 42 (the blind man at Jericho).
“let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God” — The rulers now take up two titles of Jesus and use these to mock him: “Christ the Lord” and/or “the Chosen One”. “The angel who appeared to the shepherds said, ‘For to you is born this day in the city of David who is Christ the Lord’” (Lk. 2: 11). Jesus had been acclaimed already by Peter when Jesus asked the apostles, “who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, ‘the Christ of God’” — (Lk. 9: 20; Catechism of Catholic Church, 440).
“‘his Chosen One!’” — During the transfiguration on the mountain, “a voice came out of the cloud, saying ‘This is my Son, my Chosen’”. There could be no greater confirmation of this status than the testimony of the Father.
The “rulers” use words which echo Wisdom 2: 12–20 — “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.” The words used by the rulers show them to be in line with those in the Bible who oppose salvation.
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
“The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar” — The soldiers were Gentiles so both Jews and Gentiles were responsible for the death of Jesus.
Luke omits that the soldiers mocked Jesus when he was sentenced and also the flogging by them at the pillar. They mock him at this point saying in contempt. “If you are…”. Offering “vinegar” or cheap wine was meant to be an act of mockery because excellent wine would be offered to a real king.
“and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’” — This was the title on the inscription mentioned in the following verse.
38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
“There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’” — For the third time an accusation that was meant to taunt Jesus turns out to be false. As he entered Jerusalem on that first “Passion Sunday” “the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’”
Why did Pilate affix this inscription as he had declared that Jesus was innocent? Three answers have been suggested: (i) to protect himself from being charged with giving in to the Jews’ insistence; (ii) to please the Jewish leaders; (iii) to warn others who might be tempted to call themselves by the same title.
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” — The “criminal” connects the Messiah, the “Christ”, with the power of salvation. Jesus was actually entering his eternal; life in full glory by his death and winning salvation for all sinners. The “criminal” could not understand this.
Luke does no call the two crucified with Jesus “thieves” but “criminals”, a much stronger term implying most serious crimes.
40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
“But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’” — Jesus’ innocence is affirmed by a thief also condemned to death. This is the fourth such declaration, the three others by Pilate (Lk. 23: 14, 20, 22, 41) who added that Herod found him innocence also (Lk. 23: 15). Finally the Roman centurion will add his public declaration that Jesus had done nothing wrong (Lk. 23: 47). As already mentioned above, the crowd became repentant because they also recognised at this late stage that Jesus was innocent (Lk. 23: 48). This is a total of seven declarations of innocence.
“And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” — The Greek syntax has the meaning “and he said repeatedly”. The translation also allows “when you come with your royal glory”.
The thief calls him “Jesus”, his title of Saviour. This is the only occasion in the Gospels where any human calls Jesus by this name. It is most appropriate at this time and place, on Calvary.
“when you come into your kingdom” — Jesus’ kingdom would begin with his glorification.
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
“And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” — These are Jesus’ last words to any person. They are to a man who was a notorious criminal condemned to death, the very type of person, a public sinner, whom Jesus the Saviour had come to redeem.
“Today” refers to the period before the sun sets. It is the day of salvation, the day of decision, a theme touched on already (announced to the shepherds in Lk. 2: 11; in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his public ministry, at Lk. 4: 21; to Zacchaeus in Lk. 19: 8).
The ‘Good Thief’, as he is popularly known, had asked that Jesus would remember him when he died. Jesus, never outdone in kindness and generosity, promised him eternal life and happiness. One of the best known quotations from St Ambrose is that “The Lord always grants more than one asks” — he asked for a “remembrance” and received eternal life.
St. Peter declares in the Acts of the Apostles that Jesus “commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God that he is the judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Ac. 10: 42–43).
“Paradise” is where the first inhabitants of creation lived before the Fall (Gn. 2–3; 13: 10) and where the just now live (Ap. 2: 7; 2 Cor. 12: 2–4). Paradise had been closed by the first Adam; it is re–opened by the second.
Four fundamental truths are taught by this verse: (i) Jesus has power, which is divine, over each person’s destiny and so reveals himself as God. (ii) He also reveals himself as all merciful, forgiving an infamous “criminal” at the last minute. (iii) There is eternal life. (iv) There will be no more death.
APPLICATION
We have come to the final Sunday in Cycle C of the Liturgical Year. Next Sunday we commence Cycle A and the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is most unusual to attach a feast to a particular Sunday. Originally the Feast of Christ the King, created only in 1925, was celebrated on the last Sunday of October each year. With the reform of the liturgy at the Second Vatican Council it was transferred to the last Sunday of each of the three cycles.
Luke’s Gospel passage for this feast intends to show that Jesus is our King but he differs from all other kings and from our notions of what kingship means.
If people were asked to list a few words that might sum up the usual understanding of what a king is, the answer would most probably suggest authority, power and wealth. Certainly Jesus would not accept any of these words to describe him or his kingship.
Instead of exercising authority, Jesus believed in being a servant: “He did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many”. Service for him was not something occasional but a non–stop, 24/7 presence. He is present among us all the time “as one who serves”, he stated.
All power in heaven and on earth was given to him but he never used this for himself. “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:28–29).
He certainly did not seek wealth and comfort; he preached and practised poverty of spirit. He did not have a place on which to lay his head, no house he could call his own, no servants and couriers to look after him. His idea of kingship was most definitely not that of the world around him.
How did Jesus see himself as king? Luke begins with a rather strange thought. He sees Jesus’ enthronement (being officially declared king) as his being nailed to the Cross which is to be his throne. That is a strange thought. Thrones are meant to be symbols of glory and at first sight it is difficult to see how a cross could be a symbol of glory. It was the most cruel, degrading and humiliating death known at that time. Those standing around would agree and encouraged Jesus to come down from his cross but he refused. He saw the cross as his destiny and his Father’s way to bring salvation to the whole world. Many in the crowd thought of him saving himself but his concentration was not on self but on saving all the people of the universe, his reason for coming into our world.
It is on the cross that Jesus shows what it means to him to be a king. He makes known the glory of God and the power of God in love which is revealed as crucified, sacrificial love. On the cross Jesus gave us everything when he gave us his heart and his life. His love is best expressed in two words: sacrifice and service. He proved his love by his death, going all the way and holding nothing back. There was nothing more that he could give or that anyone could ask for.
No matter what one may think, Jesus gives us more in service than we can ever give him. He lived on earth with no other objective than our salvation. He proved this by his absolutely horrific death for us. He never thought of himself or put himself before our needs. But should we wish to specify what precise type of service he offers, the answer is simple, the service of mercy, above all in forgiveness. Listen to his words from the cross: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do” and “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”
Endowed with this Christ–like sacrificial, servant love what response can we make whose Spirit of Love is within us? Why think of any other response but his example of that same type of love. Following his path, we too can be filled with divine–like love for all in need around us that we sacrifice ourselves in service to all our brothers and sisters, witnessing by our lives that Jesus continues among them with his sacrificial, servant love by our presence.