Full of authority and promise, Jesus had come to Jerusalem, under the hopes he'd bring about another Exodus, God's blessing and freedom for his people. Now he's struggling to breathe, naked and beaten to a pulp, nailed up in plain view to the thousands coming in and out of the city. In the eyes of the Romans, Israel's higher-ups, and even his own followers, Jesus had lost and looked cursed rather than blessed. And despite all his talk, the certainty of his kingdom seemed to die with him.
All this is why Luke takes his time in recounting for us what happened in Jesus' final moments, refusing to gloss over or shrink from the nature of Jesus’ death. Luke will ask his listeners to look at a crucified Jesus and try to make sense of its meaning.
