Three men on a Cross...

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
[Luke 23:39-43 ESV]

Three men, each hanging on a cross… their hands and feet nailed… death is close for each one of them…

Jesus
In agony, despised by his nation, nailed as a criminal, derided by onlookers, deserted by his friends, the so called Saviour of the World – looking utterly pathetic, weak, foolish… Is this the Jesus you see?

The Thief who Railed
Mocks the pathetic looking Jesus… “Save yourself and us!”, he cries… thinking that if he is the so called Saviour – surely he can take himself off the cross, saving Himself, and the thieves… The thief sees nothing but a foolish, deluded man, dying on the cross for the lies he’s been spreading…

The Thief who Repented
Yet the final person in our scene sees a different Jesus… Firstly, the thief recognises his own position… a guilty man, who has lived a life in the wrong, and his punishment is awaiting him, beyond his death… Yet in Jesus, he sees a man who is utterly innocent, a man crucified for doing no wrong… more than this, he sees Jesus the Lord, the rightful king of a kingdom, a kingdom that is brought about exactly by Him dying on the cross… this is no foolish man dying for a lie… it is the Son of God bringing in His Kingdom by dying an innocent death for the wicked… What a great faith this thief has. “A great faith that can see the sun under so thick a cloud, that can discover a Christ, a Saviour, under such a poor, scorned, despised, crucified Jesus, and call him Lord” [Lightfoot, C17th]. So little evidence of the kingdom as Jesus hangs on the cross - yet this thief calls upon Him as his Lord to be remembered in His kingdom. And see the compassion he has, that in the throws of death – he would share his faith with his fellow criminal thief!!!

And what compassion we see in Jesus… that amongst his pain, suffering, agony… his weakness… he would offer such a great assurance “today you will be with me in paradise”… as Jesus dies, so he offers eternal life…

Remember the tomb of Jesus was found gloriously empty!

Remember the Thief who Repented – he’s in Paradise today!

Remember the Thief who Railed – he died without Jesus!