Breast Beaters

Luke 23:44–49

⁴⁴ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

Preachers throughout the millennia have attempted to place us, the followers of Christ, into the crowd on the day of His death. This is a tempting sermon to preach. The drama is heightened, the blood flows, the violence is gripping, and the mob scene is stirring. Now we come to the other side of all that drama. Christ has died and it’s time to go home. All that chanting of “crucify Him” was haunting rather than cathartic; watching Him die wasn’t nearly as satisfying as it should have been. It was in fact terrible in every sense of the word. It was horrifying and brutal. And we know in our hearts that He didn’t deserve it. We return home, beating our breasts much as the Tax Collector in the parable Jesus told only weeks before this terrible murder.

In Luke’s telling of these events, he shares only three of the “seven words from the cross” that Jesus speaks. Jesus promises the repentant thief that he would join Jesus in paradise, He prays to the Father to forgive the crowd, and He “gives up His spirit” into the hands of His Father. We know from the Gospel of John that He also hands His mother, Mary over to John so that she will be cared for. Even from the most excruciating of circumstances, Jesus is taking care of everyone else. Those walking away from watching these events have also witnessed His care for others and thus have further reason to regret their cruel taunts and shouts. They must join with a Gentile guard in declaring the innocence of The Messiah. Now He is dead and their words cannot be taken back. It is heartbreaking.

As I was researching this passage today, I came across a bit of information that was rather intriguing and that I had not previously heard. Tradition holds (and it suggested by the historian, Jerome) that the place of Jesus’ crucifixion was also the site of the grave of Adam. While there is little to no evidence of this idea, it certainly is interesting.

Jerome suggested that the place called Skull was also the location where Adam was buried. St. John Chrysostom noted that “according to the belief of some,” Adam was buried under Golgotha. While this identification is problematic, since evidence for the location of Adam’s burial is lacking, nevertheless, it makes a profound and valid theological statement. Jesus, the new Adam, ushers in the new creation and new life to supplant Adam and the curse of death he brought to the original creation. In Eastern Orthodox depictions of the crucifixion, a skull is often pictured beneath Christ’s cross. This skull represents Adam and death. This is meant to convey that Jesus’ atonement destroyed the power of sin and death.

Just, A. A., Jr. (1997). Luke 9:51–24:53 (p. 930). St. Louis: CPH.

Jesus’ death for our sins is of course the reason we still worship Him today as the God that He is. This story endures because it is true and it is our hope. Reading it again and again is right and proper. Placing ourselves into the crowd of mockers and breast beaters is also right and proper because it was our sin that put Him there. Remembering may be painful, but it is necessary.