Luke 23:44-56

Three hours of darkness covered the land. Whether there is a scientific explanation or not, God did it. It is symbolic of the spiritual reality happening. Creation itself is grieving the death of the creator. The shame of the cross was as bad or worse than the physical pain. The sun hid its face. 

The veil in the temple tore from top to bottom. It was a fabric wall 60 ft wide, 30 ft tall and 4 in thick. It separated God’s unrestrained presence from humanity. Sin separated us from God and we could no longer experience his unrestrained glory. As the living, walking, breathing temple is being ripped apart by darkness the veil in the temple structure that separates us is being torn apart by God. We no longer have to go somewhere else to talk to God or experience God. 

The ninth hour was the time for temple sacrifices. Afterwards they would quote Psalm 31:5 “Into your hands we commit our spirits…” Jesus is saying the same thing at this very moment as he dies as the perfect sacrifice. 

The centurion praised God and declares the at Jesus was innocent. This doesn’t mean just not guilty. He is declaring that Jesus was right. The centurion is putting his faith in Jesus at this moment. There is a difference between not having a problem with Jesus and putting faith in him. Once again Luke shows the people who should be far from God are the ones recognizing truth. Two Gospels say “righteous/innocent” and two say “Son of God.” The centurion probably said many things at the foot of the cross and the writers are retelling the part that fits their agenda. Luke’s goal is to show Jesus’s innocents and the peaceful nature of Christians. Roman pronouncements of innocence were important to Romans. 

Vs 50-56

Who was Joseph of Arimethea and why is he preserved in the Gospel? Joseph is one of the most common names at the time so there would need to be distinction. He was a follower of Jesus that Luke can point to so that others can go ask him to validate what is being written. It’s like a bibliography of where Luke got his information. This also reminds us that we can’t make blanket assessments of people because of political parties, race, religion, etc. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, but he was good. 

It is symbolic that Jesus was put in someone else’s grave. 

The women were at the burial and then went home to prepare spices. The details given here are to set up defenses against arguments people would have in trying to disprove the validity of the resurrection. The women paying attention to which tomb and how the body was laid nullifies the accusation that they got the wrong tomb. There were stages of burial. It was normal to have multiple people decomposing on different shelves in the cave, but Jesus was the only one laid in this grave so when they came back and it was empty it shows that they had the right place. 

The ladies rested on the Sabbath, but there was an allowance in the law for working when there is a time sensitive task like burial preparation.