As we approached Holy Week, the Lord had been leading me to contemplate the story commonly known as the Thief on the Cross – a short and familiar story found here in Luke 23:39-43.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
I wanted to talk a bit about this story. But not simply to look at the story as part of the larger Easter narrative, or even to share some intellectual observations, nor as just a curious observer. No. I want to make the story personal to you and to me.
At this point, you are might be saying to yourself, “Yes, but I am neither a thief, nor am I facing a death sentence,” and in a temporal sense, you would probably be right about that.
But I would argue that one or the other of these two men, and their condition, represent all of us, in our own condition.
As we saw in the text from Luke, the story is not just about one criminal, but actually two criminals or thieves, being crucified, “one on the right and the other on the left” of Christ. The actual word used has been translated as thief, criminal, malefactor, robber, and rebel - even revolutionary.
But whatever their specific crimes, both men had been convicted of a capital crime against the Roman state and faced the most serious known method of punishment. As Matthew (27:44) and Mark (15:32) point out, both men initially mocked Jesus.
The first criminal, sometimes known as the penitent thief, was a witness to all of the humiliation and suffering endured by the one who proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah – and observed that He did not lash out, spew vile curses, act in his own defense... or, if His claims about Himself were true, attempt to save himself by calling down fire and the wrath of heaven upon his persecutors. Having seen this all – this demonic outpouring of injustice on the innocent one hanging next to him – he reached deep within his conscience to recall a long-suppressed fear of God. He came to realize his own depravity and unworthiness in the presence of the Holy Son of God.
At this point, he looks into the face of the Savior, confesses, and begs for mercy.
The tragedy of the second, unrepentant thief is that he experienced everything his compatriot experienced. He even felt the same nails that hung Christ to the cross. He heard Jesus' utterances from the cross, the same as his companion. He had witnessed the exchange between Jesus and first thief. And yet this rebel was unmoved. He was too proud. He refused to humble himself and confess either his own guilt or even Christ's innocence.
He was fatefully willing to march to his death and judgment singing (as popularized by the Frank Sinatra song) “I did it my way.”
This is all the more sad because the Scriptures say it is so simple: If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
But I want to take us back to the initial objection, that defensive objection, that "I am certainly not a criminal worthy of death like these two malefactors were."
Quite honestly, all of us are – or were at one time – just like one or the other of these two men. Criminals, thieves, and rebels against God: Sinners all, as Romans chapter 3, verse 23 says, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
We are all under the condemnation of our sins against a holy God, but still having the power to humble ourselves, repent, and ask for forgiveness – or more tragically – proudly continue on our path toward the finality of death where we will face judgment and hell.
Our holy God is very generous in his terms for those who wish to be redeemed and reconciled to Him, but He does not negotiate or entertain counter-offers. As it says in John 14:6 : Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
My friend, I urge you then even this day, to consider carefully, judge yourself rightly, and humble yourself necessarily. Choose today to be like this penitent thief.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - John 1:9
