Luke 23:32 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we find several details that were already given in Matthew and Mark about Christ’s suffering. Two other men, criminals, were led out with him to the place of execution. It is likely they had already been sentenced to death, and that day had been chosen for their execution. That may have been the excuse for hurrying Christ’s case, so he could be executed at the same time.

He was crucified at a place called Calvary, or Golgotha, which means “the place of a skull.” It was a shameful place, which added to the disgrace of his suffering, but it also carried meaning. There he triumphed over death, as if on death’s own ground. Crucifixion was a cruel death. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross while it lay on the ground, and then it was lifted up and fixed in place.

He was crucified between two thieves, as though he were the worst of the three. In this way, he was treated not only as a sinner, but as the worst kind of sinner. The soldiers took his clothes as part of their pay and divided them by casting lots. His garments were worth so little that dividing them would leave almost nothing for each man.

When he was lifted up on the cross, people mocked him and showed him all the contempt they could. It is shocking how much cruelty can be found in human nature. The people stood watching, not caring at all, and the rulers, who should have had more sense and honor, joined in the mockery and encouraged others to do the same. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself.” They ridiculed him for the good he had done, as if that were why they had crucified him.

They mocked him as if they had beaten him, though he was then more than a conqueror. They challenged him to save himself from the cross, while he was saving others by means of the cross. They also said, “If he is the Christ, the chosen one of God, let him save himself.” They understood the Christ to be the one God had chosen and loved. In their minds, if he was the Messiah, he should be delivering the nation from Rome, so they jeered at him because he did not free himself from Roman hands.

The Roman soldiers also mocked him as the King of the Jews. They treated him as though the Jews were good enough for such a king, and such a king was good enough for them. They made fun of his suffering, and when they were drinking sour wine, they asked whether he wanted some too. They said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” The Jews had prosecuted him as a false Messiah, and the Romans as a false king.

The notice above his head, which stated his crime, read, “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38). They meant it as a charge against him, but God meant it as a declaration of who he truly was, even in his shame. He is the King of the Jews, the King of the church, and his cross leads to his crown. It was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, the three well-known languages of that time, so all kinds of people could read it. God also meant by this that the gospel of Christ would be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and would be read in all languages. Young students, especially those working to learn these three languages, should aim to use them to know Christ better.

Here we also have two remarkable details not given before. The first is Christ’s prayer for his enemies: “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). He spoke seven notable sayings from the cross before he died, and this was the first. One reason he died on a cross was so that he could speak until the end, giving glory to his Father and help to those around him. As soon as he was fastened to the cross, or while they were nailing him there, he prayed this prayer.

What he asked for was forgiveness. We might have expected him to pray for judgment on them, since their sin was so serious and deserved to be treated as beyond pardon. But he prayed especially for them. In this way, he made intercession for sinners, as Isaiah had foretold (Isaiah 53:12). His words on the cross also explain the meaning of his death. He was saying, in effect, “Father, forgive them, and all who will repent and believe the gospel.” He did not mean that anyone could be forgiven on any other terms. The main thing Christ died to obtain for us is forgiveness of sins. This is also what he pleads for all who repent and believe in the value of his sacrifice. His blood speaks this plea: “Father, forgive them.” Even the greatest sinners may hope for mercy through Christ, if they repent. Though these men were his persecutors and murderers, he still prayed, “Father, forgive them.”

He also gives the reason for this plea: “For they know not what they do.” If they had truly understood, they would not have crucified him (1 Corinthians 2:8). There was a veil over his glory and a veil over their minds, and with both in place, how could they see clearly? They wished his blood on themselves and their children, but if they had known what they were doing, they would have taken that wish back. Those who speak badly of religion often do so because they do not know what they are speaking against, and they do not want to know.

There is a kind of ignorance that partly excuses sin. It is the ignorance that comes from not having the means to learn, not having the ability to receive instruction, a poor education, or simple carelessness. The men who crucified Christ had been misled by their rulers, and false ideas about him had been planted in their minds. So, in what they did against Christ and his teaching, they thought they were doing God a service (John 16:2). People like that are to be pitied and prayed for.

Christ’s prayer was answered not long after, when many who had a part in his death were converted through Peter’s preaching. This is also written as an example for us. First, in prayer we must call God Father and come to him with both reverence and trust, like children to a father. Second, the main thing we should ask God for, for ourselves and for others, is forgiveness of sins. Third, we must pray for our enemies and for those who hate and persecute us. We should lessen their faults and not make them seem worse, as we do with our own sins. We should plead with God for the forgiveness of their sins, especially their sins against us. This is Christ’s own example under his rule, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44, Matthew 5:45). It strongly supports that command, for if Christ loved and prayed for such enemies, what enemies do we have that we are not bound to love and pray for?

The conversion of the thief on the cross is a striking example of Christ triumphing over rulers and powers, even when he seemed to be overcome by them. Christ was crucified between two thieves, and in them we see the different effects his cross would have on people when it comes near to them through the preaching of the gospel. They were both criminals, both guilty before God. The cross of Christ is a sign of life for some, and a sign of death for others. To those who are lost it is foolishness, but to those who are being saved it is the wisdom and power of God.

One of these criminals stayed hard to the end. Even while near the cross of Christ, he mocked him, as others did (Luke 23:39). He said, “If you are the Christ, as they say you are, save yourself and us.” Though he was in pain and facing death, that did not humble his proud spirit or even teach him to speak kindly to the man suffering beside him. Even if you crush a fool in a mortar, his foolishness will not leave him. Trouble by itself does not change a wicked heart. Sometimes it only stirs up the evil inside, instead of killing it. This man dared to mock Christ, and yet he still expected Christ to save him. Worse still, he seemed to think that if Christ did not save him, then Christ could not really be the Savior.

The other criminal was softened at the last. Matthew and Mark say that the thieves who were crucified with Jesus reviled him, which some understand as a figure of speech for only one of them, while others think both did at first, until the heart of one was wonderfully changed and his speech changed with it. Just as he was about to fall into Satan’s hands, he was snatched like a brand from the fire, made a sign of divine mercy and grace, and left Satan disappointed. This gives no excuse for delaying repentance until the deathbed, or for thinking mercy will surely come then. True repentance is never too late, but late repentance is seldom true. No one can be sure they will have time to repent at death. This thief also had privileges no one else can count on. He had never been offered Christ before, and he had never had this day of grace before. He was made a special display of Christ’s power and grace while Christ was suffering in weakness.

We can see that this was extraordinary if we look at the signs of God’s grace in what he said. In a very short time, he gave so much evidence of a changed heart that hardly more could have been shown in so little space. First, notice what he said to the other criminal (Luke 23:40, Luke 23:41). He rebuked him for mocking Christ, as a man without fear of God and without any sense of religion: “Do you not fear God?” This means that the fear of God was what kept him from joining the crowd in this evil. “I fear God, and so I dare not do it. Why do you?” All who have their eyes opened can see that this is the root of wickedness, people do not fear God before their eyes. “If you had any humanity in you, you would not insult a man who is suffering with you. You are in the same condition. You are dying too, so no matter what these wicked people do, it is shameful for you to abuse a dying man.”

He also admitted that he deserved his punishment: “We indeed justly.” It is likely that both men were suffering for the same crime, so he spoke with even more confidence: “We are receiving what our deeds deserve.” This magnifies God’s grace, because it works in a different way in different people. These two had been companions in sin and suffering, and yet one is saved and the other lost. They had gone together all along, and now one is taken and the other left. He does not say, “You indeed justly,” but “We.” True penitent people admit that God is right in all the punishments their sin brings. God has done what is right, and we have done what is evil.

He also believes that Christ has suffered wrongfully. Even though Christ had been condemned in two courts and treated like the worst of criminals, this penitent thief is convinced by the way Christ suffered that he had done nothing wrong, nothing out of place, nothing unworthy of him. The chief priests wanted him crucified between the criminals as if he were one of them, but this thief sees more clearly than they do and says that he is not like them. Whether he had heard of Christ and his mighty works before is not clear, but the Spirit of grace gave him this knowledge and enabled him to say, “This man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he spoke to our Lord Jesus: “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). This is the prayer of a dying sinner to a dying Savior. It was Christ’s honor to be prayed to like this, even while he was being mocked and insulted on the cross.

It was a great blessing for this thief to pray like this. He may never have prayed before, yet now he was heard and saved at the very edge of death. While there is life, there is hope, and while there is hope, there is room for prayer.

Notice his faith in this prayer. In his confession of sin (Luke 23:41), he showed repentance toward God. In this request, he showed faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls Jesus Lord, says he has a kingdom, knows that Jesus is going to that kingdom, and believes Jesus has authority there and can make people happy whom he favors. To believe and confess all this at that time was a remarkable act of faith.

Christ was then in deep shame. His own disciples had left him, his own nation was mocking him, and he was suffering as though he were a false claimant to power. He had not yet been rescued by his Father. The thief made this confession before the signs that later gave honor to Christ’s suffering and shocked the centurion. Yet even then, we had not seen such great faith, not even in Israel. He believed in life after death, and he wanted blessing in that life. Unlike the other thief, he did not ask to be taken down from the cross. He asked to be cared for after the cross had done its worst.

Notice also his humility in this prayer. All he asks is, “Lord, remember me.” He does not say, “Lord, give me the best place,” as James and John once did (Matthew 20:21). Even though he was given the honor of suffering beside Christ, when Christ’s own followers had deserted him, he could have tried to ask for a high place in the kingdom. Shared suffering has sometimes won people such favors (Jeremiah 52:31-32), but he is far from that thought. He only asks to be remembered, leaving it to Christ how that remembrance should take shape. It is like Joseph’s plea to the chief butler, “Think on me” (Genesis 40:14), but this request had a better result. The chief butler forgot Joseph, but Christ remembered this thief.

There is also a deep earnestness in this prayer. He seems to pour out his whole soul in it, as if saying, “Lord, remember me, and I am satisfied.” He asks for nothing more and commits his whole case into Christ’s hands. We should earnestly desire and pray to be remembered by Christ now that he is in his kingdom, because that is enough to secure our good in life and in death.

Christ is in his kingdom, interceding for his people. So we may pray, “Lord, remember me, and plead for me.” He is also ruling there, so we may pray, “Lord, remember me, and rule in me by your Spirit.” He is preparing places for those who belong to him, so we may pray, “Lord, remember me, and prepare a place for me.” We may ask him to remember us at death and remember us in the resurrection (Job 14:13).

Then comes Christ’s astonishing answer: “Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). This was spoken to the repentant thief, not to his companion. Christ on the cross is like Christ on the throne, because now the judgment of the world is shown in a divided response, one man leaving under judgment and the other under blessing. Even while Christ himself was in great pain, he still had a word of comfort for a poor sinner who trusted him.

This shows that even great sinners, if they truly repent, will through Christ receive not only forgiveness but a place in God’s paradise (Hebrews 9:15). This displays the riches of free grace. Rebels and traitors are not only pardoned, they are also lifted up.

This was also a mediatorial word, meaning a word Christ spoke as the one who stands between God and people. Though it was given in a special moment, it showed the true purpose of his suffering. As he died to win forgiveness for us (Luke 23:34), so he also died to win eternal life for us. This word helps us see that Jesus died to open heaven to all penitent, obedient believers.

Christ first tells us that he himself was going to paradise, which here means hades, the unseen world. His human soul was going to the place of departed souls, not to the place of the lost, but to paradise, the place of the blessed. This shows that his sacrifice was accepted and that the Father was pleased with him. Otherwise, he would not have gone to paradise. That was the start of the joy set before him, which helped him endure the cross. He went by the cross to the crown, and we should expect no other path, nor expect to be made complete except through suffering.

He also lets all penitent believers know that when they die, they will go to be with him there. He was then, as priest, buying this blessing for them, and he is ready, as king, to give it to them when they are prepared for it. Heaven is described here in three ways. It is paradise, a garden of delight, the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7), pointing back to Eden, where our first parents lived in innocence. In the second Adam, Christ, we are restored to all we lost in the first Adam, and more. We receive a heavenly paradise instead of an earthly one.

Heaven is also being with Christ. That is the joy of heaven, to see Christ, sit with him, and share his glory (John 17:24). And it is immediate after death: “Today you will be with me.” That means tonight, before tomorrow. The souls of the faithful, once they are freed from the burden of the body, enter joy at once. The spirits of the righteous are made perfect right away. Lazarus dies and is immediately comforted, and Paul dies and is immediately with Christ (Philippians 1:23).