Luke 23:1-43 The Cross of Jesus: Saved by Grace, Not by Works

September 30, 2026

The Ten Signposts of the Bible

CAMDE—400—CALY

Creation. Abraham. Moses. David. Elijah. 400. Christ. Apostles. Letters. Yet-to-Come.

The trials for Jesus began at daybreak, when the Sanhedrin gathered to confirm their charges. The Sanhedrin was Israel’s supreme court, made up of seventy Pharisees and Sadducees, though most were Sadducees. Last time, we saw that they brought a charge of blasphemy against Jesus. But only the Roman government could impose the death penalty, and it did not concern itself with what it regarded as disputes among the Jews. So the religious leaders needed a charge other than Jesus declaring himself to be the Messiah. 

So when the Jewish leaders brought Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor, they said, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king” (Luke 23:2). 

Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said so,” turning the claim back on Pilate. Pilate found nothing in Jesus that was against Rome; still, the leaders pressed on: “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place” (Luke 23:5). 

The mention of Galilee gave Pilate an opening. Herod Antipas, one of Herod the Great’s sons, who ruled Galilee and Perea, was in town for Passover. So Pilate sent Jesus to meet with Herod (Luke 23:7). 

Herod was glad to see Jesus. He had heard about the miracles, and he wanted to see one for himself. He questioned Jesus at length, “but he made no answer,” while the religious leaders were “vehemently accusing him” (Luke 23:9–10). Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus, dressed him in royal robes, then sent him back to Pilate, the governor with Roman authority. Luke says that Pilate and Herod had been enemies, but on that day they became friends. 

Pilate again told the Jews that Jesus was innocent. He said, 

Luke 23:14–17

You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him. 

Pilate had other reasons to release Jesus. His wife sent him a warning: “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream” (Matthew 27:19). Yet the Jewish leaders refused to relent. 

Each year at Passover, it was customary to release a prisoner. The leaders and the crowd that had gathered began demanding Barabbas be freed, a man imprisoned for insurrection against the Roman government and murder. Pilate again tried to reason with them, saying, “What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death” (Luke 23:22). 

But the leaders kept demanding Jesus’ execution. They warned, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). 

Pilate had Jesus flogged, a brutal beating that would have left him severely weakened and bleeding (Mark 15:15). Then he released Barabbas, the murderer and insurrectionist, and “delivered Jesus over to [the Jewish leaders’] will” (Luke 23:25). 

Weakened by the flogging, Jesus was unable to carry the crossbeam to the place of crucifixion. A man named Simon of Cyrene was ordered to carry it as Jesus walked in front. A “great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting” followed Jesus. But he told them not to weep for him, but for their children, who would experience the fall of Jerusalem for not receiving him as the Messiah (Luke 23:28–31). 

Luke leaves out the horrific process of crucifixion, a punishment meant to inflict excruciating^[1] pain for days. Luke simply states, “When they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” 

The soldiers cast lots to decide who would get Jesus' garment. Many of the people standing nearby scoffed, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

There was an inscription over Jesus, presumably nailed to the top of the cross, that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” The soldiers used the mocking sign to shout, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). 

One of the criminals being crucified with Jesus “railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’” (Luke 23:39). But the other criminal said, “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” (Luke 23:40–41). He then said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

This is a remarkable picture of God’s amazing grace. The criminal hanging on the cross was powerless to change his life or make himself worthy of eternal life. Yet he repented and called on the name of Jesus to receive salvation by grace. 

Pastor and author Alistair Begg imagines the criminal arriving at the gates of heaven and being asked why he should be allowed to enter. The man can’t point to baptism, church membership, theological knowledge, or good works. When pressed about the basis for his entrance, he finally answers: “The man on the middle cross said I can come.”

None of us deserve a relationship with God and an eternity in his Kingdom. It is only through Jesus' work on the cross that we receive it. There, he took on God’s wrath for your sin and mine. He “bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). 

Our answer at heaven’s gates is the same as the criminal on the cross: “The man on the middle cross said I can come.”^[2]

Read and reflect on Luke 23:1–43: Where are you tempted to believe that your relationship with God depends on what you have done rather than on what Jesus has already done for you?

Talking to God: Thank God for his great grace!

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