Luke 23:32-34 32And two other criminals were led away with him to be put to death. 33And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”] And they cast lots for dividing his clothing.
Jesus was not alone in his journey to the cross. Luke mentions the two criminals at this point and adds them to the dialogue in verses 39-43. This fulfills 22:37, which references Isaiah 53:12. Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27 mention that the crime these men committed was theft. We can imagine what was going through their minds as they walked with Jesus, the thoughts of all those who face execution. Were they in defiance of the Romans, with hardened hearts, or were they seeking God’s forgiveness in fear of condemnation? As Luke completes the story in a few verses, we find that each of the two criminals took one of these perspectives.
Luke next gives the nickname of the place of execution. The hill of Golgatha (the Aramaic word found in Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22; and John 19:17) had been named The Skull (Greek Cranion). The hill was given this name because it looked like a skull. The simple phrase they crucified him summarizes the divine plan for the redemption of the world. All of Jesus’ ministry led up to this fateful event. Crucifixion was not a momentary thing but a process by which a person would be fastened to a cross, often with nails and ropes, and there hang until the mercy of death came. It was shameful because the person was often naked and exposed to the elements. People might hang on a cross for days until they died. Death often came because of not being able to breathe because of the weight of the weakened body. In Jesus’ situation, he was already badly beaten, and so it did not take long. Luke continues to build the story of the two criminals by putting them on the right and left of Jesus. There is no way to know if this was on purpose, perhaps a form of mockery by the Romans, but the symbolism could be significant and imply his sovereignty as the King.
Verse 34 has textual issues. Many significant manuscripts contain it (א, A, C, 1, 13, it [most], vg, syr, many early church fathers) but several other significant ones do not (75 B D* W Θ ita, syrs copsa, al). The theory is that this verse was added by copyists in early in the transmission of the text. There is good reason to include it since it is consistent with what we learn about Jesus.
One challenge, however, is that the subjects and pronouns grow vague in verse 34. Who is Jesus asking the Father to forgive? If the verse is original, the closest reference would be the two thieves on the cross. It would be odd for Jesus to ask for forgiveness for unrepentant criminals. Strict grammar may only confuse the matter here. It makes more sense to interpret Jesus to be asking for forgiveness be provided to the Roman soldiers who were only doing their duty and following orders. They were ignorant and did not know the significance of the events that were taking place. The last comment about dividing Jesus’ garments fulfills Psalm 22:18. Jesus’ garments were not much by that point, probably stained in blood, but for poor soldiers, any little clothing could be helpful or be sold.
Our minds are filled with images of this scene from various movies and paintings. Even the most vivid replication cannot capture the reality of what took place. Luke leaves much to the imagination with his brief description. His focus seems to be more on people’s reactions to Jesus rather than all the small details of what the scene looked like. We learn enough to know that Jesus died on a Roman cross, the most cruel method of execution at that time. He was innocent but took upon himself the guilt of those around him who represented all humanity and the guilt we bear.
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