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Isaiah 50:4-9a

Verse 4: “tongue of a teacher”: The phrase in the vowel-less Masoretic text translates as disciple’s tongue.

Verse 4: “weary ...”: Another translation places a period (full stop) after “weary”. It continues: The word wakens me each morning . For “those who are taught”, it has like a disciple. [ NJBC]

Verses 7-9: In Jeremiah 1:18-19, Yahweh tells Jeremiah: “I for my part have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall, against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you”. See also Jeremiah 17:17-18 and Ezekiel 3:7-11. In Romans 8:33, Paul asks: “Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies”. [ NOAB]

Verse 7: “face like flint”: The phrase is common in prophetic teaching. In Isaiah 48:4, the prophet says “... I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass”. In Ezekiel 3:8-9 Yahweh tells Ezekiel, as part of his commissioning: “I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead”. In Luke 9:51, the evangelist tells us: “When the days drew near for him [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem”. [ NJBC]

Verse 8: Courtroom terminology is also used in Chapter 41. [ NJBC]

Verse 9b: This naturally follows v. 3, so it appears that the Servant Song has been inserted. [ NJBC]

Psalm 31:9-16

The concepts of honour and disgrace (losing face) played an important part in Israel’s consciousness. [ NJBC]

Vv. 1-8 and 9-24 are parallel in form, both containing the principal elements of a lament:

Verse 4: “take me out of the net”: A common motif: 9:16 says: “the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands”. See also 10:9 and 25:15. [ NJBC]

Verse 5: “Into your hand I commit my spirit”: Jesus utters this expression of serene confidence just before he dies: see Luke 23:46. [ NJBC]

Verse 6: A protestation of innocence: I deserve God’s protection because I am loyal to him. In 17:3-5, a psalmist tells Yahweh: “If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress. ... My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped”. [ NOAB]

Verse 12: “broken vessel”: Ecclesiastes 12:6 speaks of death as being when “the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern”. [ NOAB]

Verse 13: “terror all around!”: In Jeremiah 20:10, the prophet says at a time when he has, on Yahweh’s behalf, prophesied the doom of his people: “I hear many whispering: ‘Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’ All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. ‘Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him’”. [ CAB]

Verse 15: “My times are in your hand”: In ancient Near East cultures, the major events of life were seen as being in the hands of the god(s). [ NJBC]

Verse 22: “‘I am driven far from your sight’”: This probably means: I am excluded from God’s life-giving presence in the Temple. [ NJBC]

Philippians 2:5-11

For other fragments of early Christian hymns on the subject of Christ’s work, see 1:15-20; Ephesians 2:14-16; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18-19, 22; Hebrews 1:3. [ CAB]

Verse 6: “in the form of God”: i.e. pre-existent and divine, sharing in God’s very nature. Colossians 1:15-16 says of Christ: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, ... all things have been created through him and for him”. See also John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Romans 8:3; Galatians 4:4),. [ NOAB]

Verse 7: “slave”: Perhaps an allusion to Isaiah 52:13-53:12, a Servant Song. [ NOAB]

Verse 8: Hebrews 12:2 says: “... Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame ...”. See also Matthew 26:39, John 10:18; Romans 5:19; Hebrews 5:8. [ NOAB]

Verse 9: “highly exalted him”: In his resurrection and ascension. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter says: “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you both see and hear” (see Acts 2:32-33). See also Acts 5:30-31; Ephesians 1:20-21. [ CAB]

Verses 10-11: See also Isaiah 45:23. [ NOAB]

Verse 11: See also Romans 10:9; 2 Corinthians 9:13. [ NJBC]

Verse 11: “Lord”: The title of Israel’s covenant God is applied by Christians to the risen and glorified Jesus, as also in 1 Thessalonians 1:1. [ NOAB]

Luke 22:14-23:56

The parallels are:

22:14: This address is like those given by other important people about to die: e.g. by David (see 1 Kings 2:1-10) and by Mattathias (see 1 Maccabees 2:49-70). [ NJBC]

22:14: “at the table”: Jesus had shared meals with all kinds of people. Those present are also sinners in need of forgiveness, mercy and protection. This is the last in a series of meals. For other meals, see 7:31-34; 11:37-54; 14:1-24; 15:1-2; 19:7. [ NJBC]

22:16: Jesus thinks of the banquet to be held at the end of time. In 13:28-29, he says: “‘There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God’”. See also 14:15 and 22:28-30. [ NOAB]

22:17-20: Luke tells us of Jesus taking a cup before the meal; Matthew and Mark do not. The parallels between a first-century Passover meal and Luke’s account are:

22:19: “he took a loaf of bread”: See also 9:16 (the Feeding of the Five Thousand); 24:30 (at Emmaus); 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (Paul’s account of the Last Supper). [ NOAB] [ NJBC]

22:19: “body”: The Greek word is soma, meaning one’s entire life, whole human being. [ NJBC]

22:19b-20: Some manuscripts omit these verses, but the most reliable manuscripts include them. [ NJBC]

22:19: “‘Do this in remembrance of me’”: If one views this meal in a sequence of meals with sinners, then the word “this” should not be limited to mere repetition of Jesus’ words. As Jesus has given up his entire life for others and symbolized that by sharing meals with them, so too must the disciples give their lives in service to others. [ NJBC]

22:20: “new covenant” : Jeremiah 31:31 says “... the days are surely coming when I will make a new covenant ...“. [ NJBC]

22:21: See also Psalm 41:9 (where a friend has betrayed the psalmist) and John 13:21-30. [ NOAB]

22:23: John 13:21-22 tells us “After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, ‘Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.’ The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking”. [ JBC]

22:24-27: Mark places this during the journey to Jerusalem: see Mark 10:42-45. [ NJBC]

22:24: See also 9:46; Mark 9:34; John 13:3-16. [ NOAB] For other controversies at meals in Luke, see 7:36-50; 11:37-54; 14:1-24. [ NJBC]

22:26: In Mark 9:35, Jesus tells the disciples: “‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all’”. See also Mark 10:43-44; Matthew 20:26-27; 23:11; Luke 9:48. [ NOAB]

22:26: “leader”: NJBC says that the particular Greek word used, hegoumenos, may indicate a reference to church officials (in Luke’s church). See also Acts 15:22; Hebrews 13:7, 17, 24.

22:27: See also 12:37: “‘Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them’”. [ NJBC]

22:28: “my trials”: Brought on by the opposition Jesus has faced in his ministry: in Galilee (see 5:17-6:11), during the journey to Jerusalem (e.g. see 11:14-35), and in Jerusalem (e.g. see 19:47-21:4). [ NJBC] Luke tells us in 4:13: “When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time”. See also Hebrews 2:18; 4:15. [ NOAB]

22:29: At the Last Supper in Mark 14:25, Jesus tells the disciples: “‘Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God’”. See also Hebrews 9:20. [ NOAB]

22:29: “bequeath”: The Greek word was also used in wills. [ NJBC]

22:30: Revelation 3:21 says: “To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne”. See also Mark 10:37 and Revelation 20:4. [ NOAB] The book of Acts shows that the apostles have authority over the new Israel, an authority rooted in Jesus’ farewell gift to the church. [ NJBC]

22:31: V. 3 tells us: “Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve”. Satan is mentioned in Job 1:6-12. See also Amos 9:9. “You” in this verse is in the plural; in the next verse “you” is in the singular. [ NOAB] Of the evangelists, only Luke has “Satan ...” [ CAB] “Satan” seems to be prosecuting attorney in this verse, as he is in Job.

22:32: “but I have prayed for you”: Jesus’ efficacious prayer saves Peter from Judas’ fate. For an example of Peter strengthening the Church, see Acts 1:11, 15. [ NJBC]

22:32: “have turned back”: i.e. have undergone moral conversion. Luke also uses the term turning back (or turning to God or the Lord) in 17:4; Acts 3:19; 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19; 26:18, 20. [ NJBC]

22:32: “brothers”: While this is the literal meaning of the Greek word, NJBC offers fellow Christians.

22:34: Jesus’ prediction is fulfilled in vv. 54-62, especially vv. 61-62. [ NOAB]

22:36: For other examples of Jesus’ fondness for striking metaphors, see Matthew 23:24 (“You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!”) and Mark 10:25 (“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”). There too the disciples take it literally. [ NOAB]

22:36,38: “sword ... swords”: Luke has told us that Jesus not only preached love of enemies (in 6:26-36) but also lived that teaching (in 9:51-55; 23:34). He also tells us in Acts that Paul and other missionaries never used swords. So he cannot mean “sword” literally; rather “sword” is symbolic of crisis. [ NJBC]

22:37: The quotation is Isaiah 53:12. The NRSV translates this verse as “Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors”. [ BlkLk]

22:39: John 18:1-2 tells us: “After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered”. [ NOAB]

22:39: “as was his custom”: 21:37 says: “Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called”. [ BlkLk]

22:40: “time of trial”: For the fiery trial expected to precede the coming of the Kingdom, see, for example, Daniel 12:10 (“Many shall be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked shall continue to act wickedly ...”); Zechariah 13:8-9 (“In the whole land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, and one-third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested”); Zechariah 14:1-3. [ BlkLk]

22:41: Hebrews 5:7-8 says: “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission ...”. See also Luke 11:4 (the Lord’s Prayer). [ NOAB]

22:42: “cup”: For the “cup” as a blessing, see Psalm 16:5; 116:13. For the “cup” as judgement, see Isaiah 51:17; Lamentations 4:21. Here the “cup” is Jesus’ suffering and death: in Matthew 20:22, Jesus asks James and John the sons of Zebedee: “‘... Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”. See also Mark 10:38. [ NOAB]

22:43-44: These verses were probably not part of the original gospel, since they are not in some important early manuscripts; however, they were known to Christian writers of the second century, and reflect a tradition from the first century regarding the suffering of Jesus. [ NOAB]

22:43: “an angel”: Matthew 4:11 tells us that at the end of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness “... the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him”. It was believed that a person’s guardian angel represented the person in heaven: see Genesis 48:16; Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:15 (“... It is his [Peter’s] angel”). [ NOAB]

22:44: “his sweat ...”: Jesus’ sweat is that of the moral athlete seeking victory in knowing God’s will, in accepting it, but the disciples succumb to crippling fear in the face of impending conflict (v. 45). [ NJBC]

22:45-46: “got up ... Get up”: The Greek word means rise . The noun is used for resurrection. There is conscious word-play here. [ NJBC]

22:45: “found them sleeping because of grief”: Scholars think that Luke used Mark as a source. Mark 14:37-42 tells us that Jesus found disciples asleep three times; here he finds them asleep only once. BlkLk sees this differently; to him, it is Luke’s unsuccessful attempt to adapt Mark’s story to spare the reputation of the disciples.

22:47-48: 22:3-6 says: “Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve ...”

22:47: “Judas ... was leading:”: There is an implicit contrast between Judas and Peter, the leader (vv. 31-34). [ NJBC]

22:52: Only Luke tells us that the prospect of arresting Jesus had attracted the Jewish religious leaders. [ NOAB]

22:53: “day after day in the temple”: See 19:47-48 and 21:37-38. [ NJBC]

22:54-71: While Mark’s sequence is arrest. night trial, mockery and denial, Luke’s is arrest, denial, mockery and morning trial. [ NJBC]

22:54-62: What Jesus predicted in vv. 31-34 is coming to fulfilment. [ NJBC]

22:54-55: John 18:12-16 has a different account: “... Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in ...”. [ NOAB]

22:56-62: See also John 18:16-18, 25-27. [ NOAB]

22:59: “Galilean”: It is Matthew (in 26:73) who tells us that Peters’ accent shows him to be Galilean. [ NOAB]

22:60: Jesus’ prophecy in v. 34 is fulfilled. [ NJBC]

22:61: “Peter remembered”: For other rememberings by disciples, see 24:6-7; Acts 11:16; 20:35. [ NJBC]

22:63-65: What Jesus predicted in 18:32 now happens: he is mocked. He will be mocked again in 23:11. [ NJBC]

22:65: “heaping ... insults on him”: The Greek word is blasphemountes. In Luke, Jesus is not accused of blasphemy, but his opponents blaspheme him, Son of God. [ NJBC]

22:66-71: Luke’s account of the trial differs from Mark’s in the following ways:

Jesus’ testimony at his trial becomes a model for Peter (Acts 4-5), Stephen (Acts 6-7) and Paul (Acts 26-27) at their trials. Jesus predicted such trials in 12:8-12; 21:12-15. [ NJBC]

22:67-68: Jesus’ answer is like Jeremiah’s when he was on trial: Jeremiah 45:15 in the Septuagint translation reads: “... If I tell you, will you not certainly put me to death, and if I give you counsel, you will not at all listen to me”. [ NJBC] [ BLXX]

22:70: “All”: Luke underlines that the whole official leadership of Israel (except for Joseph of Arimathea, see 23:50-53) reject Jesus. [ NJBC]

22:70: “Son of God”: Up to this point, only unearthly beings have recognized Jesus as Son of God: see 1:32 (Gabriel), 1:35; 3:22 (“a voice from heaven”, at his baptism); 4:3 (the devil, in the wilderness), 9, 41 (demons, evicted from those whom Jesus had healed); 8:28; 9:35. [ NJBC]

23:2: “forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor”: Jesus does not so forbid: see 20:20-55: “... ‘give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's’”. [ NJBC]

23:2: “a king”: Jesus’ kingship is not political. See 19:38 (“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”) and 22:24-35. In fact, it consists of serving: see 22:24-27. [ NJBC]

23:3: Pilate’s question and Jesus’ answer are the same in Matthew 27:11-12 and Mark 15:2-3. See also Luke 22:70. [ NOAB]

23:3: “‘You say so’”: BlkLk considers that the best sense is given by taking this as a question: Do you say that?, there being no evidence that the words imply assent. Jesus’ refusal to speak in 22:70 is in the same language. Jesus challenges Pilate to make his own assessment of Jesus’ actions in the past and in the present. John 18:33-38 takes these words as a question and expands them in order to interpret them.

23:3: “the crowds”: BlkLk considers that this is a contemptuous way of refering to all those present in the house of the high priest, who have condemned Jesus.

23:4: See also 23:14, 22, 41; Matthew 27:24; John 19:4; Acts 13:28. From here onwards, Luke seems anxious to show that Pilate sought to free Jesus but yielded, in the end, to pressures. [ NOAB]

23:6-12: This material, which is only in Luke, has been prepared for in 3:1 (Pilate is introduced), 3:19-20 (John the Baptiser is imprisoned); 9:7-9 (Herod Antipas is perplexed about Jesus’ identity); 13:31-32 (“... Herod wants to kill you”). [ NOAB]

23:8: Herod sees, but not the kind of seeing required for faith. 9:9 says “Herod said, "John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he tried to see him”. See also 24:12, 16, 24, 32, 39, 45; Acts 4:27-28; 26:17-18. [ NOAB] [ NJBC]

23:9: Mark 15:5 tells us: “Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed”. [ NOAB] Jesus remains silent, the silence of the innocently suffering godly servant of Isaiah 53:7. [ NJBC]

23:11: Two other versions of this episode:

• Mark 15:17-19 says: “And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him”.
• John 19:2-3 tells us: "And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!" and striking him on the face". [ NOAB]

23:18-25: Peter summarizes in Acts 3:13-14. [ NOAB] Five times Luke describes the choice of all Israel that he be condemned: see vv. 18, 23, 24, 25a, 25b. [ NJBC]

23:18: “Barabbas”: Tradition is that his own name was also Jesus. [ BlkLk]

23:26: Matthew 27:32 and Mark 15:21 also tell us that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross-arm; however John 19:17 says that Jesus carried it himself. Per Mark 15:21, Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. This may be the Rufus of Romans 16:13. [ NOAB]

23:26: “they”: The grammatical antecedent is “the chief priests, the leaders, and the people” in v. 13. Luke implicates the Romans less than the other evangelists. [ NJBC]

23:26: “seized”: The Greek word, epilambesthai, has two meanings: to compel, and to lay friendly hands on a person for healing or recommendation. NJBC says that “behind Jesus” is the terminology of discipleship. So the latter meaning of the Greek word also seems appropriate here: the call to discipleship is free, and can come quite unexpectedly (as here).

23:28-32: 19:41-44 tells us: “As he [Jesus] came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God”. See also 21:23-24. [ NOAB]

23:30: The quotations are from Hosea 10:8. [ NOAB]

23:31: 1 Peter 4:17-18 says “For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?’” [ NOAB] Psalm 22:18 says “they divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots”.

23:34: Numbers 15:27-31 says that, when an individual sins unintentionally, he shall make a sin offering and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, who will forgive him. In Acts 7:60, as Stephen is being stoned, he prays: “‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’”. [ NOAB]

23:35-39: Note the downward progression of those who humiliate Jesus: the religious leaders, soldiers, a criminal. [ NJBC]

23:35: See also Psalms 22:7-8 (“... let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”) and Wisdom of Solomon 2:18 (“... if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his adversaries”). [ NJBC]

23:36: “sour wine”: Psalm 69:21 says “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”. [ NJBC]

23:39: “Messiah”: Thus concludes the Christian expression of faith ironically spoken by those who mock Jesus. [ NJBC]

23:43: “Paradise”: This can also be interpreted as a return to the original sin-free creation. The gates of Paradise have been re-opened by the obedience and faith of the new Adam. Jesus promises the criminal much more than he has asked, intimating also that God’s kingly power is a present reality, not merely in the future. See also 2 Corinthians 12:3-4 and Revelation 2:7. The term “Paradise” is of Persian origin; it was in general use in Greek, meaning a park, by the third century BC. In the Septuagint translation of Genesis 2:8 and 13:10, it is used for the garden of (planted by) God. [ CAB] [ BlkLk]

23:44: “darkness”: In Joel 2:31 and Amos 8:9, the day of the Lord comes with darkness. In Amos 8:9, the darkness occurs at noon. God’s judgement against evil occurs in Jesus’ death. [ NJBC]

23:45: Matthew 28:2 tells us of another cataclysmic event: “And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it”.

23:45: “the sun’s light failed”: This translation is uncertain. The footnote in the NRSV offers an alterative translation: the sun was eclipsed. This is the literal meaning. Other manuscripts have the sun was darkened.

23:46: Psalm 31:5 says “Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God”. [ NJBC]

23:49: Psalm 38:11 says “My friends and companions stand aloof from my affliction, and my neighbours stand far off.”. In Luke, the disciples do not flee; they do in the other gospels. [ NJBC]

23:49,55-56: “women”: For other mentions of women as followers of Jesus, see 8:1-3 (“Mary Magdalene ... Joanna ... Susanna, and many others”) and 24:10 (“Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told ... [the news of Jesus’ resurrection] to the apostles”). [ NOAB]

23:50-56: In Acts 13:29, Paul tells the congregation in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia: “When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb”. [ NOAB]

23:50: “council”: The Sanhedrin, the official Jewish court, was made up of seventy priests, scribes and elders; the high priest presided over it. [ NOAB]

23:51: “Arimathea”: The city was on the coastal plain, [ CAB] although nothing is known of the city. [ BlkLk]

23:53: “linen cloth”: Linen was a symbol of immortality, for it is made from flax, a product of the life-giving earth. [ NJBC]

23:54: “the day of Preparation”: i.e. for the Sabbath, not for the Passover. [ BlkLk]

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