July 15 2025

Tuesday July 15

The Compassion of Jesus on the Cross

Luke 23:32-34

32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Today we're continuing in Luke 23:32-34. These three verses introduce us to Jesus being on the cross at Golgotha. This is one of the most special passages of Scripture in the Bible. All the Bible in the Old Testament points to this time, and all the time after this, points back to this time. This is the center and focal point of eternity. This is where God Himself, who has taken on human flesh, dies on a cross for all humanity. Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, came for this very purpose and hour. Even while Jesus is suffering one of the most cruel and painful deaths a human can experience, He is expressing compassion for other

It had been prophesied in Isaiah 53:12 that the Suffering Servant would be "numbered with the transgressors". Jesus Himself mentioned this passage on His way to the cross in Luke 22:37. This is fulfilled by the fact that two criminals were crucified with Jesus, men who were robbers according to Matthew 27:38. The Greek word means "one who uses violence to rob openly," in contrast to the thief who secretly enters a house and steals. These two men may have been guilty of armed robbery involving murder.

Luke points out in verse 33 that Jesus “was crucified in a place called Calvary”. The name Calvary comes from the Latin calvaria which means "a skull." (The Greek is kranion, which gives us the English word cranium, and the Aramaic word is Golgotha.) The name is not explained in the New Testament. The site may have resembled a skull, as does "Gordon's Calvary" near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. Or perhaps the name simply grew out of the ugly facts of execution. There are many who believe that Jesus was crucified and buried in a place in Old City Jerusalem that today is known as the “Church of the Holy Sepulchre”, which is one of the most visited tourist sites in all the world. At Gordon’s Tomb, the guides always remind us that the whether the place is there or at the church site, the main thing is that Jesus was crucified.

Our Lord was crucified about 9 a.m. and remained on the cross until 3 p.m.; and from noon to 3 p.m., there was darkness over all the land (Mark 15:25, 33). Jesus spoke seven times during those six terrible hours:

"Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34).

"Today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

"Woman, behold your son" (John 19:25-27).

(Then the three hours of darkness when Jesus is silent)

"My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46)

"I thirst" (John 19:28).

"It is finished!" (John 19:30)

"Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" (Luke 23:46).

Luke recorded only three of these seven statements, the first, the second, and the last. Our Lord's prayer for His enemies, and His ministry to a repentant thief, fit in well with Luke's purpose to show Jesus Christ as the sympathetic, compassionate Son of man who cared for the needy.

While they were nailing Him to the cross, He repeatedly prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Not only was He practicing what He taught (Luke 6:27-28), but He was fulfilling prophecy and making "intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12).

We must not infer from His prayer that ignorance is a basis for forgiveness, or that those who sinned against Jesus were automatically forgiven because He prayed. Certainly, both the Jews and the Romans were ignorant of the enormity of their sin, but that could not absolve them. The Law provided a sacrifice for sins committed ignorantly, but there was no sacrifice for deliberate presumptuous sin (Ex. 21:14; Num. 15:27-31; Ps. 51:16-17). It is possible that it was our Lord's intercession that postponed God's judgment on the nation for almost forty years, giving them additional opportunities to be saved (Acts 3:17-19).

Christ’s love and compassion is still being expressed today giving us ample time to repent and be saved.

God bless!