Luke 23:32–38

Luke 23:32 — "Two criminals led with him" Luke introduces the two criminals (Greek: kakourgoi, "evildoers") before the crucifixion itself, a deliberate literary move. Their presence is not incidental; it frames the entire scene. Jesus does not die alone or in dignity — he is consciously associated with the condemned, the shamed, the outcast. This is the Incarnation pressed to its ultimate consequence: the Word made flesh is now flesh draped on a Roman cross between two lawbreakers. Luke's placement here anticipates the crucial exchange with the penitent criminal in vv. 39–43, which this annotation cluster leads into.

Luke 23:33 — "The Skull" (Golgotha) "The place called 'The Skull'" (Kranion in Greek, Golgotha in Aramaic, Calvaria in Latin — giving us "Calvary") was likely a rocky outcropping outside Jerusalem's walls resembling a skull, or a site of prior executions. Crucifixion outside the city walls was Roman practice and held deep Jewish symbolic resonance: to die outside the camp was to die in a state of ritual uncleanness, cut off from the covenant community (cf. Lev 16:27; Heb 13:12). Luke names the location with sparse, almost clinical precision — "they crucified him there" — with no dramatic embellishment. The restraint is itself eloquent. The two criminals are positioned on his right and his left, a detail that recalls the request of James and John in Mark 10:37 to sit "at your right and left in your glory." Golgotha is where that glory is revealed, though not as the disciples imagined.

Verse 34a — "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing" This is one of the most theologically dense sentences in all of Scripture. Several important points demand attention:

Textual note: This verse is absent from some significant manuscripts (including p75 and Codex Vaticanus), leading some scholars to question its originality. However, it is present in the majority of manuscripts, is strongly attested by early Fathers (including Origen and Irenaeus), and is overwhelmingly accepted by Catholic tradition as authentic. Its omission in some manuscripts may reflect discomfort, in the post-70 AD period, with applying such a prayer to the Jewish leadership after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Content: Jesus prays to the Father — he does not merely express a wish but intercedes. He is already acting as High Priest (cf. Heb 7:25), mediating between humanity and God even from the cross. The word "forgive" (aphes) is the same root used throughout Luke for the forgiveness of sins (Lk 1:77; 5:20–24; 7:47–48). The phrase "they don't know what they are doing" is not naive exculpation — it acknowledges ignorance (agnoia) as a mitigating factor without eliminating moral responsibility. St. Peter echoes this exact logic in Acts 3:17: "I know that you acted in ignorance." This prayer does not merely cover the Roman soldiers mechanically driving nails; it opens a canopy of grace over all of fallen humanity who, in their moral blindness, have participated in rejecting God.

Verse 34b — "They divided his clothing by casting lots" Luke alludes to Psalm 22:18, part of the great Passion Psalm whose opening cry ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") Jesus quotes in Matthew and Mark. The soldiers' gesture of gambling for his garments is a detail of dehumanizing humiliation — stripping a condemned man was standard practice — but Luke sees in it the fulfillment of Scripture, the suffering Righteous One of the Psalms reaching its definitive embodiment.

Luke 23:35 — The rulers scoff: "He saved others. Let him save himself." Luke carefully distinguishes the laos (the people, the crowd) who "stood watching" — a posture that reads as mute witness, not yet derision — from the archontes (rulers, chief priests and elders) who actively scoff (exemyktērizon, "to turn up the nose," a strong word for contemptuous sneering). The rulers' taunt is deeply ironic in Luke's narrative world: "He saved others" — yes, precisely. Blind Bartimaeus, the woman hemorrhaging for twelve years, the ten lepers, Jairus's daughter, even Lazarus — Jesus has saved them all, and now he refuses to deflect that power to save himself. The taunt "if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one" echoes the voice at the Transfiguration (Lk 9:35: "This is my Son, my Chosen One"), which the scoffers cannot hear. They use the language of messianic legitimacy as a weapon, not knowing they are confessing it.

Verses 36–37 — The soldiers mock: "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself" The soldiers' mockery mirrors the temptation structure of Luke 4:1–13 ("If you are the Son of God...") and the devil's invitation to use divine power for self-preservation. The offering of sour wine (oxos, vinegar) further evokes Psalm 69:21. The soldiers are Gentiles — their taunt "King of the Jews" carries no theological weight for them; it is pure political ridicule. Yet even their mocking words constitute an inadvertent proclamation. The repeated "save yourself" (vv. 35, 37, 39) rings with bitter irony: it is because he does not save himself that the whole world may be saved.

Luke 23:38 — The titulus: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" The titulus crucis — the inscription of the charge — was standard Roman practice. John 19:19–22 tells us Pilate personally composed it and refused to change it despite the chief priests' protests. Luke notes it was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew — the three great languages of the ancient world, the languages of philosophy, empire, and revelation. The whole inhabited world, in its major tongues, is thus made to witness the proclamation of Christ's kingship. What the soldiers intend as a legal accusation and the chief priests experience as an insult, Luke presents as unwitting, multilingual kerygma: the crucified one is the King.

Catholic tradition has drawn profound and sustained teaching from this passage on several fronts.

The Cross as Throne. From Leo the Great onward, Catholic theology has read the Crucifixion not as defeat but as enthronement. Pope Leo writes in his Sermons on the Passion: "The cross of Christ… is not a gallows but a throne." The titulus of v. 38, written in the three great languages, is patristically read as a universal proclamation of the Kingdom — Cyril of Alexandria calls it an "involuntary evangelism" by Pilate. This connects directly to the Catechism's teaching that "the Cross is the unique sacrifice of Christ, 'the one mediator between God and men'" (CCC 618).

The Prayer of Forgiveness and the Theology of Intercession. Jesus's prayer in v. 34 is the paradigmatic instance of what the Catechism calls Christ's "priestly prayer" (CCC 2602–2606). He does not merely forgive from authority; he intercedes — he prays to the Father on behalf of sinners. This is the foundation of Catholic teaching on Christ's ongoing intercessory role (Heb 7:25) and, derivatively, on the Church's intercessory mission. St. Stephen's martyrdom, where he prays "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60), is explicitly modeled on this moment, establishing a pattern for Christian martyrdom in Catholic tradition.

Ignorance and Culpability. The phrase "they don't know what they are doing" anticipates the Catechism's nuanced treatment of the crucifixion's human responsibility (CCC 597–598). The Church explicitly teaches that neither the Jewish people collectively nor the Romans as a whole bear personal guilt for Jesus's death, which belongs to all sinners — and that ignorance (agnoia) diminishes though does not extinguish culpability. This is a foundational text for Nostra Aetate's rejection of collective guilt.

Numbered Among Transgressors. The placement of Jesus between two criminals (v. 32–33) fulfills Isaiah 53:12 and expresses what St. Thomas Aquinas calls the admirabile commercium — the wondrous exchange — whereby the sinless one takes the place of sinners so sinners might take the place of the righteous. This is the heart of the Catholic doctrine of Redemption (CCC 601–603).

This passage confronts the contemporary Catholic with one of the most challenging commands in Christian discipleship: forgiveness of enemies who show no remorse. Jesus does not pray "Father, forgive them when they repent" — he prays while the nails are still being driven. The Catholic practice of praying for one's persecutors, enemies, and those who have caused grave harm is not a pious aspiration; it is a concrete participation in Christ's own prayer at Golgotha.

Consider what this means practically: when a Catholic brings to the Sacrament of Reconciliation not just personal sin but the wounds inflicted by others — abuse, betrayal, injustice — the confessor and penitent stand on this ground. Forgiving does not mean excusing; Jesus names their ignorance while still calling it real. It means releasing the other person from the debt of vengeance in one's own heart, entrusting justice to the Father.

For Catholics who feel mocked for their faith — whether in secular workplaces, fractured families, or a hostile media culture — verses 35–37 offer stark consolation: the very titles used to ridicule Jesus were true. The world's mockery does not determine the truth of who Christ is, or who his disciples are. The inscription stands.