Luke 23:47 and the Lucan View of Jesus' Death

Author(s): Robert J. Karris

Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 105, No. 1 (Mar., 1986), pp. 65-74
Published by: The Society of Biblical Literature
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JBL 105/1 (1986) 65-74

LUKE 23:47 AND THE

LUCAN VIEW OF JESUS' DEATH
ROBERT J. KARRIS, O.F.M.
Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL 60615

Luke's view of Jesus' death has a bad press. There has been a tendency
to evaluate Luke's presentation by an explicit or implicit comparison with
Mark and Paul. And Luke is found wanting, for he does not see Jesus' death
as a sacrifice or as an atoning work.' In this evaluation of Luke's view of
Jesus' death, Luke is not allowed to be an independent theologian; he
definitely is such, as three recent German monographs have demonstrated.2
The purpose of this article is not to summarize these three monographs, but
to sample their riches in a study of one verse of Luke's passion account,
Luke 23:47. I will make three points.

I. Truly This Man Was Righteous

My argument here is that Luke 23:47 should be translated: "Seeing

what had happened, the centurion praised God, saying, 'Truly this man
was righteous.'" That is, I will argue that dikaios does not mean innocent,
but means righteous.
The evidence for translating Luke 23:47 as "Truly this man was inno-
cent" is multiple. The latest edition of A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and Other Early Christian Literature has this entry under
dikaios 3: "A restriction of the mng. just results in the excellent sense

See Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke (I-IX): Introduction, Translation,
and Notes (AB 28; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981) 22-23, for a description and critique
of this "thesis" about Luke's theology.
2 Richard
Glockner, Die Verkiindigung des Heils beim Evangelisten Lukas (Walberberger
Studien, Theologische Reihe 9; Mainz: Grtinewald, 1976) 155-95; Anton Biichele, Der Tod
Jesu im Lukasevangelium: Eine redaktionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zu Lk 23 (Frank-
furter Theologische Studien 26; Frankfurt am Main: Josef Knecht, 1978); F. Georg Unter-
gassmair, Kreuzweg und Kreuzigung Jesu: Ein Beitrag zur lukanischen Redaktionsgeschichte
und zur Frage nach der lukanischen "Kreuzestheologie" (Paderborner Theologische Studien
10; Paderborn: Schoningh, 1980). There is an excellent summary of Glockner, Die Verkiindi-
gung des Heils, 155-95 in Jerome Kodell, "Luke's Theology of the Death of Jesus," in Sin,
Salvation, and the Spirit: Commemorating the Fiftieth Year of The Liturgical Press (ed.
Daniel Durken; Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1979) 221-30.

65

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66 Journal of Biblical Literature

innocent for Lk 23:47."3 Some of the most influential modern translations

of the NT support the translation of dikaios as "innocent." The RSV has:
"Certainly this man was innocent." The NAB reads: "Surely this was an
innocent man." Commentaries as diverse as those of Wilfrid J. Harrington
and Frederick W. Danker-to limit ourselves to two written in English-
opt for the meaning "innocent."4 Their main reason is that such a rendition
accords with the innocence theme of Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22. More evidence
could be brought forward for the translation "innocent," but these repre-
sentative samples will have to suffice. It seems that the evidence presented,
especially in the commentaries, is largely contextual. That is, the trans-
lation "innocent" suits the context wherein Pilate, Herod, the repentant
thief, and Joseph of Arimathea say that Jesus is innocent.
But other evidence can be brought forward for the translation of
"righteous." First, there is the general context of Luke-Acts. As Brian E.
Beck rightly observes: "In no other instance in the Gospel or Acts can
dikaios or its cognates be restricted to 'innocent.'" 5 Then there is the im-
mediate context, wherein Luke uses the dikai-root twice: once in 23:41 and
once in 23:50, meaning "justly" and "righteous" respectively. If this is so,
then why would Luke have suddenly narrowed the meaning of dikaios in
23:47 to mean "innocent"? 6 What is more important, the translation of
dikaios by "innocent" does not accord with the meanings and associations
of other words in the verse itself. I refer to "he praised God" and to "seeing."
In his reaction to Jesus' death, the pagan centurion "praised God."
Doxazein ton theon occurs in Luke 2:20; 5:25, 26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43
and here in 23:47; Acts 4:21, 21:20. As I. Howard Marshall correctly ob-
serves: It is "... a favorite Lucan reaction to a revelation of divine power
and mercy."7 It is a soteriological phrase, and the translation of dikaios by
"innocent"-a juridical term-misses the theological thrust of the verse.8
The centurion praised God because he saw darkness, the temple cur-
tain rent in two, and how Jesus prayed. Idon is in an emphatic position, and
it should be recalled that Luke uses idein or equivalents in 23:8 (3x), 23:35,

3
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979) 196.
4 W. J. Harrington, The Gospel according to St. Luke (London: Chapman, 1968) 268;
F. W. Danker, Jesus and the New Age According to St. Luke: A Commentary on the Third
Gospel (St. Louis: Clayton, 1972) 242.
5 "'Imitatio Christi' and the Lucan Passion Narrative," in
Suffering and Martyrdom in the
New Testament: Studies presented to G. M. Styler by the Cambridge New Testament Seminar
(ed. William Horburg and Brian McNeil; Cambridge: University Press, 1981) 42.
6
See Beck, "'Imitatio Christi,"' 42.
7
The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (New International Greek Testa-
ment Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 876.
8 See the formulation given by Biichele, Der Tod Jesu im Lukasevangelium, 87: "Er

bekennt Jesus als den dikaios im juristischen wie theologischen Sinn."

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 Karris: Luke 23:47 67

23:48 (2x), and 23:49. I would suggest two things. First, "seeing" is an
image for revelation.9 Second and more important, whereas Herod in 23:8
wanted to see some sign performed by Jesus and was not able, the pagan
centurion has seen God's mighty deed in Jesus' death and has given praise
to God.'0 In Jesus' death the centurion has seen God at work. And the
primary meaning of that death is to be seen in the prayer of Jesus in
23:46-again, a verse in the immediate context. The RSV of 23:46 is: "Then
Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my
spirit!' And having said this he breathed his last." At his death Jesus recites
one of the psalms of the suffering righteous one, Psalm 31. Instead of trying
to save himself, Jesus gave himself trustingly into the hands of his Father.
In this way, he was saved from the hands of his enemies. In this way, he
proved himself to be the righteous one and son of God." In commenting on
Luke 23:46, Richard J. Dillon draws attention to the confessions in Acts
which proclaim Jesus as the Righteous One (Acts 3:14-15; 7:52; 22:14):

Consideringthat the wordsof the Crucifiedwhich precedethe centurion's

are taken from the prayerof the confident suffererof Ps 31 who ulti-
mately celebrateshis victory as 'righteousone,' it is probable that the
centurion'sdikaiosis, in fact, the messianicvictor about to be vindicated
by God in spite of human onslaughtagainst him (Acts3,14f.).'2

Further evidence for the view taken here that Jesus dies as a suffering
righteous one can be seen in Luke's use of Psalms 22 and 69 and Wis 2:18
in Luke 23:34b-38. These references to the fate of the suffering righteous
one seem purposeful and indeed fit the context of 23:46-47 quite well.
I would summarize what we have learned about Luke's soteriology in
this way. Jesus' prayer in 23:46 is linked to his other words in 23:28, 31, 34a,
43, all of which show his unity with his Father, show his unity with his
Father's will to save humankind, even in its darkest hours. Salvation is to
be found not in fleeing death nor in using one's power to escape from it, but
in trusting that God is righteous and remains united with his rejected and
battered creation even in its sorest hours. This is sola fide and sola gratia.

9 On the
symbolic meaning of "sight" in Luke-Acts, see James D. G. Dunn, Baptism in
the Holy Spirit (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970) 76-78.
10 The motif of
"seeing" continues in Luke 24 with the result that it is the risen Jesus who
opens the eyes of the disciples to see that he is the fulfillment of scripture and that mission-
aries/disciples continue his journey to the Father. Consult especially Richard J. Dillon, From
Eye-Witnesses to Ministers of the Word: Tradition and Composition in Luke 24 (AnBib 82;
Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1978) 133, 147, 217.
n For more detail and references to Ps 31:6, 16a and Wis 2:18 and 3:1, see
Ludger Feld-
kamper, Der betende Jesus als Heilsmittler nach Lukas (Veroffentlichungen des Missions-
priesterseminars St. Augustin bei Bonn 29; St. Augustin: Steyler, 1978) 281-82.
12
From Eye-Witnesses to Ministers of the Word, 100-101.

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68 Journal of Biblical Literature

Jesus' dying prayer reveals a God who is faithful and remains with his
unjustly treated creation. The centurion praises this God at work in Jesus'
death.'3
Truly, this Jesus was a righteous man.

II. The Lucan Jesus Is Not a Martyr

By showing that dikaios should be translated as "righteous" and not as

"innocent" in Luke 23:47, I have begun a reexamination of the commonly
held thesis that Luke presents Jesus' death as that of an innocent martyr.
If Luke does not present Jesus' death as that of an innocent martyr, then
another support for the translation of dikaios by "innocent" is removed.'4In
this section, I will present and then critique the influential martyr thesis as
formulated by Martin Dibelius and championed to this day.15
The following quotation gives the essence of Dibelius's position:

ForLuke,the sufferingSaviouris the Manof God who is attackedby evil

powersand who, with his patience and forgiveness,is a model of inno-
cent suffering.Luke regardsthese events in the place where he conse-
quentlyputs them not as the completionof salvation,but as the storyof
a saintlyman closely united with God. The literaryconsequenceof this
view is that Lukepresentsthe Passionas a martyrdom.TherewereJewish
martyrdoms,as is provedby the literaryrecordof them in the Martyrdom
of Isaiah,and in II and IV Maccabees.Since these were readamong the
Christiansthe evangelistcould expect that if he presentedJesus as a
martyrhe would be understoodby Christianreaders.16

Following the schema of Brian Beck, I line up the overall parallels

between Luke 22-23 and the martyrdom literature:17
1. Conflict. The martyr is fighting against the power of Satan and the
power of darkness. See Martyrdom of Isaiah 4:11-12 and Luke 22:53 and
22:3. God is on the side of the martyr. See how in Luke 22:39-45 Jesus is
strengthened by an angel; see also how God is on the side of the martyr by
sending an angel in Dan 3:25 and 3 Macc 6:18.

13
My formulations in this section are indebted to Untergassmair, Kreuzweg und Kreu-
zigung Jesu, 191-93.
14
I am not convinced that Luke had an apologetic intent in writing his passion account,
an apologetic intent that would have prompted him to use dikaios in the meaning of "inno-
cent." See Robert Maddox, The Purpose of Luke-Acts (Studies of the New Testament and Its
World; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1982) 91-99.
15 With some
modifications, Dibelius's viewpoint is present in one of the most recent com-
mentaries on Luke's Gospel: Charles H. Talbert, Reading Luke: A Literary and Theological
Commentary on the Third Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1982) 212-25, esp. 221-24. See also
Talbert, The Certainty of the Gospel: The Perspective of Luke-Acts (De Land, FL: Stetson
University Press, 1980) 5-9.
16 From Tradition to
Gospel (New York: Scribner, n.d.) 201.
17
Beck, "'Imitatio Christi,"' 30-40.

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 Karris: Luke 23:47 69

2. Innocence. On this theme see Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22 and Dan 6:4-5
and 3 Macc 3:1-10.
3. Attitude of the bystanders. There is the mocking of the martyr. See
Luke 23:35-39 and the Martyrdom of Isaiah 5:1-11. Folks come out to see
the "spectacle." See Luke 23:35a and 23:48. See also 3 Macc 5:24.
4. The conduct of the martyr. The martyr suffers for a cause and is
steadfast in the midst of the most brutal punishments, which are graph-
ically portrayed. Jesus dies willingly and with composure.
5. The martyr shows what is in store for his/her coreligionists. The
martyrdom literature is written to support fellow believers under threat of
martyrdom. See the heavy stress in Luke 22-23 on the testing of disciple-
ship, for example, Simon Peter in 22:31-34, 54-65; Simon of Cyrene in
23:26.
Four points are to be noted in critique of the interpretive model of
martyr. First, it seems that many of the supposed parallels between Luke
and the martyrdom literature are formal and not material. For example,
the fact that Jesus is strengthened by an angel in the Garden is suggested
as parallel to 3 Macc 6:18-21. Yet a closer examination of the parallel reveals
its vagueness-indeed, its non-applicableness. For if this parallel were
material, Jesus would never have gone to his passion. The angels would
have vanquished his adversaries. Second, many of the features of the so-
called martyrdom literature are missing from Luke, for example, the
martyr's condemnation of his killers, the description of the physical pain
of the martyr. Third, certain parallels, for example, the martyr's fighting
against the power of Satan and the power of darkness, can be given other,
more plausible interpretations.18 Finally, the martyrdom parallels fail to
read Luke 22-23 in the context of the rest of the Gospel and thus fail to
account for the presence of multiple Lucan motifs in the passion narrative,
for example, Jesus' relationship with his Father, whose plan he fulfills by
journeying to the cross.19

18
On Luke22:39-46 as Luke'sdramatizationof Jesus'great eschatologicalvictory as the
true Adam, the Son of God, see JeromeH. Neyrey,"The Absenceof Jesus'Emotions-the
Lucan Redactionof Lk 22,39-46,"Bib 61 (1980)153-71.
19Concerningthese other motifs, see Hans Conzelmann,The Theologyof St. Luke (Lon-
don:Faber& Faber,1960)200 n. 2; andUntergassmair, Kreuzwegund KreuzigungJesu, 156-
71. Besidesthe critiquesofferedabove,the "martyr"motif alsohas to be revisedbecauseof the
worksof EduardSchweizer,Lordshipand Discipleship(SBT1/28; London:SCM, 1960);and
of EduardLohse,Martyrerund Gottesknecht:Untersuchungenzur urchristlichenVerkiindi-
gung vom SiihntodJesu Christi(FRLANT46; Gottingen:Vandenhoeck& Ruprecht,1955).
The worksof Schweizerand Lohsehave,in turn, been critiquedby LotharRuppert,Jesusals
derleidendeGerechte?Der WegJesuim Lichteeinesalt- undzwischentestamentlichen Motivs
(SBS59: Stuttgart:KatholischesBibelwerk,1972). In turn the work of Rupperthas been
criticizedby GeorgeW. E. Nickelsburg,"The Genre and Functionof the MarkanPassion
Narrative,"HTR 73 (1980)153-84. In workingout his thesis,Nickelsburgis dependentupon
his earlierwork, Resurrection,Immortality,and Eternal Life in IntertestamentalJudaism

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70 Journal of Biblical Literature

In conclusion, at first blush the parallels between the martyrdom lit-

erature and Luke's passion are impressive. But upon critical examination
they appear to be vague. If I am correct in this assessment, how do I account
for the prevalent viewpoint in Lucan scholarship that Luke presents Jesus'
death as a martyrdom? I offer two observations as a rationale for this
phenomenon. The martyr parallels may have taken hold in the analysis of
Luke 22-23 because they allow the reader to grasp more easily, as a whole,
the paraenetic and paradigmatic thrust of these chapters. These parallels
also help the reader give an explanation for Luke's apparent failure to
attribute saving efficacy to Jesus' death.20
In sum, if Luke does not present Jesus' death in Luke 22-23 as a
martyrdom, then another support has been removed for translating dikaios
in 23:47 by "innocent." Truly, this man was righteous.

III. Justice as a Pervasive Motif in Luke-Acts

In this third section we return to Luke 23:47 once more. Brian Beck
makes a very insightful comment on the occurrence of ontos in 23:47.
"There may even be a particular point in the adverb ontos. In more than
one place Luke refers caustically to those whose righteousness is feigned or
based on self-esteem (16:15; 18:9; 20:20); in Jesus we see the genuine
thing."21Beck is drawing the reader's attention to the pervasive motif of
justice in Luke.
In the Gospels only Matthew has more instances of the use of dikaios,
ktl. than Luke.22Dikaiosyne occurs once in Luke's Gospel and four times
in Acts. Dikaios occurs eleven times in the Gospel and six times in Acts.
Dikaioo occurs five times in the Gospel and twice in Acts. In the Gospel
dikaioma and dikaios occur one time apiece.23
It is one thing to list the statistics for the presence of the Lucan motif
of justice, but it is another to find evaluations of these statistics. Recently
that scholarly lacuna has been filled by the work of John Reumann. Writing
from the perspective of whether Luke-Acts' teaching on righteousness
shows Pauline influence,24 Reumann gives this summary:

(HTS 26; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972). Nickelsburg would set the mul-
tiple motifs of the passion narrative into a single literary genre: the story of persecution and
vindication.
20 On this last point, see Francois Bovon, Luc le theologien: Vingt-cinq ans de recherches

(1950-1975) (Neuchatel and Paris: Delachaux & Niestle, 1978) 175-81.

21
"'Initatio Christi,'" 42.
22
See John Reumann, "Righteousness"in the New Testament: "Justification"in the United
States Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue. With responses by Joseph A. Fitzmyer and
Jerome D. Quinn (Philadelphia: Fortress; New York and Ramsey, NJ: Paulist, 1982) 135.
23
See Reumann, "Righteousness" in the New Testament, 135.

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 Karris: Luke 23:47 71

But Luke-Actsdoes demonstratehow pervasivethe termswere from OT

roots.Falseclaimsat beingdikaioswereopposed(Luke10:29;16:15;18:9;
cf. 5:32). God's righteousnessis vindicated (Luke 7:29), throughJesus
and the responseof sinnersand publicansto him (Luke7:35). He is "the
righteousOne"(Acts3:14;7:52;22:14).That he taught how the humble
and self-effacing, in contrast to the boastful, get to be "justified"is
recorded(Luke18:14).ThroughJesusone is justifiedin the senseof freed
or exonerated,in ways the law of Mosescould not provide(Acts 13:38-
39). Thereis also amplereferenceto futureresurrectionof the "just(and
unjust)" (Luke 14:14;Acts 24:25), future judgment (Acts 17:31), and
ethics in light thereof(Acts24:25).This is not Paul'sview, but a different
sort developed in Gentile Christianity,from the gospel and OT tradi-
tions, but in light of the Christ-event.25

Reumann presents the data, yet because of his angle of vision is not
able to discern other aspects of Luke's multifaceted motif of justice. In what
follows I will draw attention to these other aspects through a brief, three-
stage evaluation of Luke's vital motif of justice.
Luke's motif of justice can be expressed in three capsule statements. In
Luke, Jesus is the righteous one of Wis 2:10-5:8.26His way of righteousness
is opposed to that of the religious leaders who plot his death. Jesus brings
the good news of God's justice to the poor and afflicted.
Luke's motif of justice can be expressed in paragraph form as follows.
Jesus' ministry of calling sinners to righteous ways of life-for example,
almsgiving-is denounced by religious leaders who appear to be righteous.
Jesus is the righteous one, who, obedient to God's will and plan, reveals and
embodies that plan. He reveals a God who is just to the poor and afflicted.
He unjustly meets with opposition from the religious leaders, stereotypes of
unrighteous conduct. Embattled, Jesus is the suffering righteous one. In
him God is on trial. God vindicates himself and his plan for creation in
exalting the crucified righteous one, Jesus.27When the centurion sees the
mighty deed of God's fidelity to Jesus and Jesus' fidelity to his Father, this
pagan confesses that Jesus is indeed God's righteous one. Pagans who should
have no eyes see and those who have eyes are blind.
Finally, a broader view of Luke's motif of justice is found in Luke 18:9-
14 (the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector) and in Luke's use of
the kingdom of God. In Luke 18:9-14 the Pharisee is contrasted with a
member of Luke's rogues' gallery. As in Luke 7:29-30, the question is one
of justice. The Pharisee is the negative example of persons who justify

24 Ibid.
25
Ibid., 142-43.
26 See
Schweizer, Lordship and Discipleship, 30: "The way of the righteous one depicted
here (Wisdom 2-5) is even in many details the way which Jesus has actually gone."
27 In
formulating this paragraph, I am indebted to Glockner, Die Verkiindigung des Heils,
187-91, 194-95.

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72 Journal of Biblical Literature

themselves rather than rely on God's justice.28 It is with supreme irony that
Luke has the Pharisee pray that he is not an extortioner (18:11).In Luke
11:39 we have the only other Lucan occurrence of the same basic word,
"extortion."There Jesus accuses the Pharisees of being filled with "extor-
tion." The Pharisees are not examples of the righteous person who has been
humbled and yet maintains trust in a gracious God. They exalt themselves
at the cost of the dignity and human rights of others. In Luke 18:9-14 we
find that the religious leaders are described by means of the deeds of non-
justice. They have no room for the justice of God which is manifesting itself
in Jesus' kingdom ministry.
The scholarly world is in debt to the late Norman Perrin for his insis-
tence that the kingdom of God is a symbol. 29 It is a symbol that God is king
and ruler over chaos, over the powers of evil and injustice at work in his
world. God, the righteous ruler, will conquer evil. As a symbol, the king-
dom of God is polyvalent, and one of its valences is God's justice. The
correlation between God's justice and his kingly rule is very clear in Ps
97:1-2: "The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be
glad! Clouds and thick darkness are round about him; righteousness and
justice are the foundation of his throne."30
Jesus, as the preacher of God's kingdom, effects the work of God's
justice. Johannes Ntitzel has made a sound point by showing how Luke
4:43, a key passage for Luke's description of Jesus' mission, is related to its
context.31 Luke 4:43 reads: "But Jesus said to them, 'I must preach the good
news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this
purpose."' The literary context of 4:43 contains 4:16-30, which speaks of
Jesus the prophet being anointed by God to fulfill his promises of preaching
good news to the poor (4:18). The summary statement of Jesus' mission in
4:43 as preaching the good news of the kingdom involves his justice work
of preaching good news to the poor.

28
With regard to the Pharisees and Luke's life situation, I do not find convincing the thesis
of J. A. Ziesler that Luke favors the Pharisees. See his "Luke and the Pharisees," NTS 25
(1978/79) 146-57; see also Luke T. Johnson, The Literary Function of Possessions in Luke-Acts
(SBLDS 39; Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1977) 116n. 3: "The case for Luke's favorable treat-
ment of the Pharisees remains to be proven; it definitely should not be assumed." See further
109-10, 141-43.
29 See Perrin's Jesus and the Language of the Kingdom: Symbol and Metaphor in New
Testament Interpretation (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1976) 15-32.
30 For more detail on the link between the
kingdom of God and God's justice, see Reu-
mann, "Righteousness" in the New Testament, 12-16; Michael D. Guinan, Gospel Poverty:
Witness to the Risen Christ, A Study in Biblical Spirituality (New York:Paulist, 1981) 26-31;
John R. Donahue, "Biblical Perspectives on Justice,"in The Faith That Does Justice: Examin-
ing the Christian Sources for Social Change (ed. J. C. Haughey; Woodstock Studies 2; New
York: Paulist, 1977) 86-87.
31 See his
Jesus als Offenbarer Gottes nach den lukanischen Schriften (Forschung zur Bibel
39; Wurzburg: Echter-Verlag, 1980) 28-30.

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 Karris: Luke 23:47 73

Once the reader begins to see the intimate connection between the
kingdom of God and God's justice, other kingdom passages take on new
meaning. See, for example, 6:20: "And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples
and said: 'Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."' God is
king as he rights the human situation, where injustice and oppression reign.
See also Luke 11:20:"But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Demons, symbols of the
power of evil in human life, mock the fidelity and justice of a God who
creates goodness. By casting demons out, Jesus shows the justice of God,
who will not let evil have the final say over his creation. And as a detailed
study of Luke 23 would show, that chapter has much to say about Jesus as
king. Jesus' kind of kingship, predicted to Mary and the reader in 1:32-33,
is interpreted by his life and death for justice. In 23:42 Jesus continues God's
kingly justice by promising life to the criminal, who repentantly asks Jesus
to remember him when he comes in his kingly power. Finally, Luke ends
his two volumes in Acts 28 with two passages that identify God's kingdom
with Jesus. See Acts 28:31: Paul is "preaching the kingdom of God and
teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered" (see
also 28:23). God's justice is to be found in Jesus' life, death, and resurrec-
tion. All his promises to rectify the human situation have come true in
Jesus.32By his life of preaching and being good news to those who could
claim no justice for themselves, Jesus truly was a righteous person. As such,
he contrasted sharply with the religious leaders, who professed to be righ-
teous. Jesus attacked them verbally for not promoting justice, and his very
way of life was an affront to them. As Wisdom puts it: "Let us lie in wait
for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our
actions.... If the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will
deliver him from the hand of his adversaries" (2:12, 18).33
In sum, I would suggest that to translate dikaios in Luke 23:47 prop-
erly, one must look to the pervasive Lucan motif of justice. From that
perspective, the argument can be made that with the use of dikaios in 23:47
that motif has come to a climactic expression. In the light of the Lucan
motif of justice, dikaios should be translated as "righteous."Truly, Jesus was
a righteous man.

32
For a more expanded treatment of the identification of the kingdom of God with Jesus,
see Otto Merk, "Das Reich Gottes in den lukanischen Schriften," in Jesus und Paulus: Fest-
schriftfiir Werner Georg Kimmel zum 70. Geburtstag (ed. E. Earle Ellis and Erich Grasser;
Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1975) 201-20; Dillon, From Eye-Witnesses to Ministers
of the Word, 286-87 n. 155; J. Dupont, "La conclusion des Actes et son rapport a l'ensemble
de l'ouvrage de Luc," in Les Actes des Ap6tres: Traditions, redaction, theologie (ed. J. Kremer;
BETL 48; Gembloux: Duculot; Leuven: University Press, 1979) 364-65.
33
A development of the points briefly made here can be found in my Luke: Artist and
Theologian (Theological Inquiries; New York: Paulist, 1985).

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74 Journal of Biblical Literature

IV. Conclusion
I began this article with a slight consideration of translation vagaries
concerning Luke 23:47. During the course of it I dealt with major issues of
Lucan soteriology. Luke does not employ the model of martyr in his
description of Jesus' death. His model is drawn from the motif of justice and
is that of the innocently suffering righteous one. Luke's theme of justice has
been inadequately treated by comparisons with Paul's view of justice.
Luke's theme of justice is a carrier of profound theological meaning and
allows him to spell out the meaning of Jesus' death: God has not abandoned
his suffering righteous son, whose suffering typifies that of his unjustly
treated creation; God graciously vindicates that Jesus and creates salvific
trust in those who trust in his justice. Truly,Jesus was the suffering righteous
one. Truly, Luke's understanding of Jesus' death deserves to be heard in its
own right.

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