Robert J. Karris, "Luke 23:47 and the Lucan View of Jesus' Death," JBL 105 (1986): 65-74.

Karris proposes the following translation for Luke 23:47: "Seeing what had happened, the centurion praised God, saying, 'Truly this man was righteous.'" The Word dikàioj means "righteous," not "innocent." The centurian's confession represents the Lukan point of view. Luke does not employ the conventional martyr topos in his description of Jesus' death. Instead he draws from the OT themes of forensic justice and the model of the righteous sufferer. All this to say that God did not abandon His righteous Son in His suffering.