Luke 23:35-43

34th Sunday in Ordinary Time (year C)

Luke 23:35 The people stood by and watched, but the leaders mocked him, saying, 'He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one.'

Luke 23:36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him and offering him vinegar, and saying,

Luke 23:37 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.'

Luke 23:38 There was also an inscription above his head: 'This is the King of the Jews'.

Luke 23:39 One of the criminals hanging on the cross insulted him, saying, 'Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!

Luke 23:40 But the other rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

Luke 23:41 We are indeed justly condemned, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.'

Luke 23:42 And he added, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Luke 23:43 He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."

First scene: Jesus, crucified and mocked, is proclaimed Christ and King of the Jews (vv. 33-38). 

These verses report the title that outlines Jesus' identity and that those present attest to from their own perspective. The leaders of the people, sensitive to messianic expectations, challenge Jesus to show himself for what he claimed to be, that is, the "Christ of God." This title qualifies Jesus as the Messiah "chosen" by God, thus linking him to a mission he had to accomplish. 

This suggests that, in some way, the challenge that the leaders of the people had thrown down to Jesus was not merely ironic or mocking, but that they intended to test Jesus in his presumed identity as Messiah. Such a request on the part of the Jews was in keeping with their mentality, which was to seek proof of divine or messianic claims. 

The second group of people are the soldiers, who, unlike the first, the evangelist points out, mocked Jesus. The soldiers also reveal a certain contempt for the Jews, pointing to the crucified man as their king. A kingship, however, which, beyond the irony of the soldiers and the resentment of the Jews, Pilate officially decreed on the cartouche placed on the cross, which indicated the reason for the condemnation and which the condemned man carried around his neck on his way to the place of execution or, sometimes, a servant carried in front of him, so that, along the way, everyone would be aware of the reason for the condemnation as a warning. It is precisely this official decree by Pilate that gives the title 'King of the Jews' a transhistorical significance.

This first scene thus takes on fundamental importance not only for the definition of Jesus' identity, but also for the meaning of his death. All this is so important to Luke that, from the outset, he places the entire people as witnesses to these events: "And the people stood by and watched." Which people are we talking about here? It is conceivable that it is the Jewish people. But it is also conceivable that Luke goes far beyond the narrow confines of Palestine and sees here the great people of believers, called to be witnesses of the cross of Christ.

Second scene: Jesus recognised as Messiah, King and Saviour (vv. 39-43).

If the previous scene attested to Jesus' identity as Messiah and King, this scene demonstrates what has been attested. In v. 39, the focus shifts from the Jewish and Roman mockers to the two criminals. There is a change of scene here, which in some way ties in with the previous scene. The criminal, in fact, takes up the attestation of v. 35, in which Jesus was recognised as the Saviour Christ, and tries to use it to his advantage.

Verses 40-41, which report the intervention of the second criminal against his companion, have the purpose of attesting to Jesus' innocence. Verses 42-43 constitute the climax of this scene. After defending Jesus, the second criminal now gives his full testimony of faith. A faith that speaks of openness and abandonment of himself to Jesus, implicitly recognised here in that 'your kingdom' as King.

Jesus' response is an attestation of his saving power, which is not separate from the cross, but is realised in the cross. A salvation that will not come at the end of time, but in the present day of man: 'today you will be with me'. Jesus' response to the evildoer, but perhaps it is better now to call him a disciple, is particularly significant: 'today you will be with me in paradise'. Salvation, therefore, consists in being 'with Jesus', and he is found 'in paradise', that is, in the very dimension of God, which is the very life of God. The reference to Genesis, and more precisely to Gen 2:8, where the term 'paradeison' (paradise) appears for the first time in the Septuagint Bible, is not accidental. There we read: 'Then the Lord God planted a garden (paradeison) in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed'. Paradise, therefore, is a place of delights where God placed man. Man's natural habitat is not, therefore, this space-time dimension, deeply marked by sin and subject to the degradation of death, but the very dimension of God. Salvation, then, consists in God's action to restore man to his original dimension, when man and with him the whole of creation shone with the light of God. In fact, when God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26-27), he created a being who, in that image and likeness, was part of His life. And that "today you will be with me in paradise" expresses the fulfilment of God's intention: to bring man back to Himself, from whence he had dramatically and tragically departed. And this has now been accomplished in the crucified Christ, who is "foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18).

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Apocalypse – exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers – Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants in comparison – In defence of the faith

 The Church and Israel according to St Paul – Romans 9-11

(Available on Amazon)