The two thieves that died on the right and left side of Jesus, represent all of humanity. Either we see Jesus for who He really is, repent, believe, and confess Him before others, or we die in our sins. Which one do you identify with?
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Three Crosses on a Hillside
Luke 23:26-43
This morning I want to direct you to a strange but wonderful sight – three crosses on a hill. We are going to see Jesus being crucified between two thieves. Jesus, the spotless, holy lamb of God dies between two sinners. Why would God allow His precious Son to die like this? Why not have Him die all alone, as the unique, perfect sacrifice, with all the attention directed to Him alone? I believe it was because these two sinners represent all humanity. Everyone is like either the one sinner or the other. Either you die in your sins, or you die saved from your sins. All of us are represented by one or the other.
Jesus Unrepentant Thief Penitent Thief
Died for sin Died in sin Died saved from sin
Died in love Died in despair Died in faith
Died a Benefactor Died a Blasphemer Died a Believer
Tree of Redemption Tree of Rejection Tree of Reception
Last Sunday we saw the religious leaders, in a travesty of justice, condemned Christ for blasphemy, and then went to Pilate, and brought charges against Him of misleading the nation, forbidding to pay taxes, and saying that He was a king. In short, they charged Him with sedition, the only charge that the Romans would have taken seriously. Well, Pilate had a real problem, because he did not believe that Jesus was guilty of anything. However, the Jews were clamoring for His blood, and they would not be refused. They had assembled quite a mob of people and were shouting for His crucifixion. Pilate was not a man who lived by principle, but by expediency, and so eventually he crumbled before the pressure of the Jews and sentenced Jesus to be executed, while setting Barabbas, a notorious criminal free.
For a while Jesus carried His own cross. However, after a while the soldiers picked a man out of the crowd named Simon, who had come from Cyrene, a city in Northern Africa, and commanded him to carry Jesus’ cross. It is interesting that this man’s name is given, whereas none of the soldiers or centurion are named. In Mark 15:21 we are told that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Evidently the original readers of Mark’s gospel would have known who Alexander and Rufus were. It is commonly believed that Mark wrote his gospel from Rome, and the Romans would have been the original readers. Well in Romans 16:13 Paul writes to the Romans and says, “Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.” This has led to some who have speculated that Simon of Cyrene, after carrying Jesus’ cross, stayed and watched His execution. As a result of watching Jesus die, and utter His final words, he came to believe in Christ. Later, he went back to his family in Africa, and led them to the Lord. Later still, the family relocated to Rome, and became a part of the church there. Of course, we can’t be absolutely sure of all of this, but it is a plausible scenario.
Next on the road to the cross, Jesus addresses a large crowd of women who were mourning and lamenting his ensuing death. Rather than be caught up in His own sufferings, Jesus warns them that their own sufferings will be even worse than His own. He is referring, of course, to 70 A.D. when the Romans would destroy Jerusalem and the temple, and kill hundreds of thousands of Jews. Normally, to be childless was considered a great reproach, but Jesus says that barren women will be looked upon as more fortunate than others in that day, because they will not have to watch their children starve to death. In verse 31 Jesus says, “For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” The green tree represents that which is full of life and flourishing and fruitful. He is speaking about Himself. The dry tree is that which is lifeless, fruitless and dead. He was speaking there about Israel. Jesus was saying, “If this is what the Romans will do to Me, who am full of life and fruitfulness and blessing, what in the world will they do to the dry, dead nation of Israel?” He was saying, “You better stop weeping for Me, and start weeping for yourself!”
Finally, they came to Golgotha, the place of The Skull, and Jesus and two thieves were crucified there.
This morning as we meditate on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we are going to look at each of the three different crosses, and see what was going on at each one of them.
1. The Cross of the Calloused Sinner
We have the words of this man given to us in verse 39. These are the only words we have from this man on record. Let’s look at them. “One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
A Criminal. This man was a tried and convicted criminal. What was his crime? Matthew 27:38 says that both he and his companion were robbers. In that day, the penalty for robbery was death. Boy, things sure have changed, haven’t they?! Today, you can be a mass murderer and not be executed. In the first century, you were executed for robbery! I imagine there were a lot less thefts taking place in that day.
My friends, all of us are like this man. We are criminals in the sight of God. We have broken His laws. The Bible says in 1 John 3:4 that sin is lawlessness. Jesus says in Matthew 7:23 that to some He will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” God has revealed His will in the Bible, and all of us have violated God’s commands. We have lied, stolen, committed fornication, or adultery, disobeyed and and dishonored our parents. If we haven’t committed actual adultery, we are guilty of lusting after women in our hearts. If we haven’t committed actual murder, we are guilty of hating our brother. There’s not a single one of us who is guiltless before God. “There is none righteous, no not one. There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, “Indeed there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.” Just like this thief, we have robbed God of His time, His money, His talents. Can you identify with this condemned thief? And just like this thief, we deserve death. “The soul that sins shall surely die.” “The wages of sin is death.” Only, we deserve not just physical death, but eternal death, eternal separation and punishment from God.
A Blasphemer. Notice that mockery and scorn were being heaped upon Jesus Christ from every corner. Notice verses 35-37, “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” The rulers were sneering at Him and the soldiers were mocking Him. This thief, of course, would be listening to all of that. So, what did he do? He mimicked them! The rulers said, “let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God.” The soldiers said, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” So, he chimed in, and copied them, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” There was nothing original about his mockery. He just listened to others and said what they said. Really this thief was mocking Jesus and making fun of Him. “Are You not the Christ? Well then, show us! Do a miracle! Save Yourself, and us!” Blasphemy is to speak irreverently of God or sacred things. That’s exactly what this thief is doing.
Folks, how often is this sin committed today? Just turn on your TV, or watch a movie, and you’ll hear GD this, and “Jesus Christ” that. Not only that, but it is becoming more and more common to mock and make fun of preachers and the church and the gospel of Christ. But let’s not just point at the world. Let’s look at ourselves. Have you ever blasphemed Christ or God! Have you ever spoken irreverently of Him? Have you used His name as a curse word? Most of us would have to admit that we can truly identify with this lost thief.
Concerned Only With This Life. Notice what he is really concerned about, “Save Yourself and us!” That was the only part of His mockery in which he was original. All the rest of the people were saying, “Save Yourself.” This thief says, “Save Yourself and us!” He was far more concerned about the “and us” part than the “save Yourself” part. This thief was only concerned about being saved from the suffering of the cross. He had no concern about being saved from his sins and the wrath of God. His thoughts were not on the fact that he was going to die very soon and then would have to stand before God to be judged and sentenced to either heaven or hell. No, he’s only concerned about getting down off the cross. His mind is only on here and now, not eternity.
You know, that is the sad condition of most people. Maybe it is your condition. How often do you give any serious thought about your sins, eternity, or Judgment Day. Most people are only concerned with their next meal, their work, their home and cars, vacation and children. But one day all of us will wish we had spent more time preparing for eternity. Then we will either face God in our sins or in Christ.
Unrepentant. Now, I have called this first thief “the calloused sinner” because he was hardened to his sin. The other thief asks him in verse 40, “Do you not even fear God?” The truth was, he didn’t. He was about to die and face God Almighty whom He had mocked, scorned, rejected, and ignored. Yet there was no fear of God before His eyes. The apostle Paul describes the unregenerate in Ephesians 4:17-19 this way, “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” There Paul uses two words to describe their hearts – “hardness” and “calloused”. Their consciences have been seared. They are past feeling. They don’t feel guilt any longer. They are just hard and calloused to doing evil.
You know, this shows the insanity that sin brings into our lives. Instead of realizing that he is heading for eternal hell, waking up, confessing his sin and repenting, and calling upon God to have mercy on his soul, all he can do is mock and scorn the Lord Jesus Christ. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, when the younger son had squandered all of his Father’s wealth in the far country and then was starving to death, the Bible says “he came to his senses.” Sin drives you out of your right mind. It brings a kind of insanity into your thinking.
2. The Cross of the Contrite Sinner
He Was Very Similar to the Other Thief. The first thing we should notice about this thief is how much he was like the other thief. He was also a criminal, and in particular a thief. Mt.27:44 says, “The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.” Notice it says “robbers” not “robber.” Both thieves were mocking Christ at the beginning. Just like the other thief, he had been convicted of his crime, and was now being executed for it. This man is no better than the other thief. They are two peas in a pod. Yet, a dramatic change took place in his life. This thief was converted.
He Had A Revelation of Christ. This thief had been insulting and mocking and blaspheming Christ, making fun of Him, and calling out to Him to save Himself and them. Yet something happened. All of a sudden, he realized something of the majesty of the person who was being crucified next to him. He could not have known of Christ’s majesty by looking at Him, because He was naked, striped and bloody everywhere. There was nothing majestic about Him outwardly. But somehow, He was made to really see who Jesus was.
He saw that Jesus was a righteous man. In verse 41 he says, “this man has done nothing wrong.” When all the religious leaders were screaming “Crucify Him!” and saying that He had blasphemed, misled the nation, forbidden others to pay taxes to Caesar, and that He claimed to be a King in competition to Caesar, this man stands alone and says “this man has done nothing wrong.” You know, for a person to be converted he must have a true revelation of Jesus Christ. He must see Him in His glory and majesty. He must know who He is. There are many religious people who have never had this revelation. They believe Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer, or Michael the archangel, or a great religious leader, or a prophet of God. However, none of those things is what the Bible reveals about Him. The Bible says that He is God manifested in the flesh. He is the holy and righteous one. He is the one who knew no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.”
He saw that Jesus was a king. In verse 42 he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” This man somehow knew that Jesus had a kingdom. He knew Jesus was a King. Now, the soldiers mocked Him and said, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Well, this thief locked on to that idea that Jesus was a King. But rather than make fun of Jesus as some sort of make-believe King, this thief really believed that Jesus was already a king. And he believed that this kingdom was spiritual, not physical. He was light years ahead of the rest of His countrymen. All of them believed that the Messiah would be an earthly king over an earthly kingdom. This man knew that Christ was a king over a spiritual kingdom. Jesus looked like anything but a King. His face was disfigured, he had a crown of thorns, and was hardly recognizable as a man. But he believed. He saw something in Jesus that the other thief couldn’t see. You know, something like this must happen if a person is going to be saved. In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we read, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” In order for someone to be born again, God must shine in his heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. He must see the glory of Christ. That’s what happened to this thief. God shown in his heart. He saw the glory of Christ. He was born again.
He Repented. This man had a change of mind. He experienced an about face. He did a 180, and repudiated his sinful life, and embraced Christ. Notice in verse 40 that he actually rebukes his fellow thief! In verse 41, he takes full responsibility for his sin. He says, “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds.” Notice that he says, “we”, not “you.” No man will ever be saved until he gets honest with God about his sin. As long as he continues to justify, excuse, or ignore his sin, he will remain lost. Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” In Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the tax collector would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but stood a great distance away and beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” That’s repentance. To really repent, you have to take God’s side against yourself. To repent means that you are agreeing with God that what you have done is wrong, and is deserving of punishment. My friend, let me ask you, “have you ever truly repented?” Have you ever honestly confessed your sin to God, agreed with God that it is evil and should be punished, and then turned away from it to Christ?
He Trusted Christ. In verse 42 he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom.” This man knew he was dying, and was going to meet God, and had no other hope than that Jesus would remember him. He knew that if he would be saved, it would only be through Christ. Actually, his faith was admirable. He had nothing to commend him. He couldn’t trust his good works, or law-keeping, because he knew that was a sham. The only refuge for his soul was Christ, and he fled there. My friends, have you ever come to the place where you know that He is your only hope, and that nothing or no one else can save you? Have you put all your trust in Him alone. Are you banking your soul not on what you have done, but on what He has done? That is the only faith that saves!
He Confessed Christ. This thief took his stand against his fellow thief, and sided with Christ. He rebuked the other thief saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” He confessed Christ’s sinlessness, his own guilt, and Christ as king. He did not remain in opposition to Christ. He was not even neutral toward Christ. He repudiated his old life and those who would mock Him, and made it plain that from now on He was living for Christ. He stood alone in doing that. The religious leaders had set themselves against Christ. The soldiers had set themselves against Christ. The other thief had set himself against Christ. This man was all alone in following Jesus, but he did it! My friends, if you are going to be saved you can’t be set against Jesus, or even be neutral toward Jesus. You must side fully with Jesus! Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” Are you for Christ or against Him? You must choose Jesus over your friends, and even your family. He must be your undisputed Lord. I think that’s why Paul says in Romans 10:9 that “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” A true, living faith will confess Jesus as Lord. If you won’t do that, you don’t have a true saving faith. If He is truly your Lord, you’ll confess Him as such. Have you confessed Him as your Lord? Are you confessing Him now as your Lord? Are you embarrassed of being a Christian, or do you boldly take His side, even when it is hard? One of the fruits of saving faith is a verbal confession of Jesus Christ as Lord.
Why Was He Saved, and the Other Lost? That’s the million dollar question, right? I mean, they both were equally near to Jesus. They both saw His example. They both heard Him say, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Both of them saw the inscription on his cross which read, “This is the King of the Jews.” They both had equal privileges and advantages of knowing the truth. They were both equally sinful. Why, for that matter, when two people hear the same sermon, is one melted with tears and true repentance, while the other leaves careless and indifferent? I’ll tell you the answer – sovereign grace. My friend, if you say that the one thief was saved because of something good within him, while the other was lost, you now believe in a salvation of human merit. You might not realize it, but you believe that salvation ultimately is of man. Some people have softer hearts, are smarter or wiser, or better, or prone to make better decisions than others. But, what does the Scripture say? In 1 Cor. 4:7, the KJV says, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” Paul is saying that the only reason one person differs from another, is because he has received something from God. Therefore he has nothing to boast of. My friends, if one person is saved because of something of himself that he contributed, then when he gets to heaven he can look down at the person in hell and say, “I’m here because of what I did, and you’re there because you didn’t do it.” However, every person in heaven says, “Worthy is the Lamb…!” No one there congratulates themselves or boasts in themselves. God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Remember, Christ was revealed to this man. Evidently, the other thief did not have Christ revealed to him in the same way. It was the same in Peter’s life. When he told Jesus, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God,” Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” If you are a Christian, it wasn’t you that made the difference, but God. He opened your eyes, He opened your Heart, He sent His Spirit in, He changed your heart, He gave you a revelation of the glory of Christ! My friends, if you are ever saved you must ascribe it to Grace, Grace, Sovereign Grace!!
3. The Cross of the Mighty Savior
We have looked at the crosses of the two thieves, but there still remains one cross – the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know why the two thieves were on their crosses, but why was Christ on His? The two thieves were there because they were criminals and deserved to die. But Jesus never sinned in thought, word, deed, or motivation. His heart was perfectly pure and completely consecrated to God. He didn’t deserve to be on that cross. The two thieves were there against their will. However, Jesus was there by His will. Remember He said in John 10:17, “No one has taken My life away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Jesus said in Mt. 26:53, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Jesus could have had all of His enemies killed instantly by a mere word to the holy angels. But love fastened Him to those cruel timbers.
I believe we find the answer to why Jesus was on that cross in verse 42, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” In 2 Corinthtians 12:2-3 Paul says that Paradise is the third heaven. The first heaven is the sky which the birds fly in. The second heaven is outer space. The third heaven is God’s immediate dwelling place. Jesus’ promise to this dying thief was that that very day he would be with Him in Paradise. In other words, by virtue of what Jesus was accomplishing on that cross, this thief could be transported into Paradise with Christ. Friends, that’s why Jesus is hanging on that cross! You see our great need is reconciliation. By sin we have been estranged from God. We are His enemies. We need reconciliation, but we can’t effect it ourselves. Here is how Peter put it in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins, once for all, the just for the unjust, in order to bring us to God!” There you have a beautiful summation of why Christ died in 7 words – in order to bring us to God. We were far off from God. God wanted us close. But in order to get us close, our sin had to be atoned for and put away. Christ must die. But when Christ has died, we can come close to God!!
Conclusion
There are several errors that this passage teaches us.
- The Error of Soul Sleep. Some denominations and churches have taught the doctrine of soul sleep. This doctrine claims that when a person dies, their soul goes to sleep and doesn’t awake again until the resurrection. However, Jesus said, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” That doesn’t sound to me like his soul is sleeping until the resurrection! Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:8 “to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.” He also said in Philippians 1:23 that he had the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better. Further, in Revelation 6:9-10 we see a vision of souls under the altar which cry out with a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Now in this vision you have souls in heaven which are conscious and cry out to God. They are conscious of the fact that God has not avenged their blood on those living on the earth. Obviously, this vision is set in the context of the intermediate state, before the final resurrection of the dead, yet we have souls which are alive and in communion with God.
- The Error of Salvation Through Sacraments. This thief was saved, yet he was never baptized, and never took the Lord’s Supper. There is no saving efficacy in either baptism or the Lord’s Supper. These are symbolic acts, which have great significance to the believer, but in and of themselves can save no one.
- The Error of Salvation Through Good Deeds. My friends, this dying thief did no good deeds. He didn’t have a chance to give to charity, or do acts of kindness for others, or serve others sacrificially. Yet he was saved in spite of a lack of good deeds. Scripture says, “He saved us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy.”
- The Error of Purgatory. The Catholics teach that if a person is not good enough to go to heaven immediately at death, that they go to a place called Purgatory, where their sins are purged to the point where they may enter heaven. However, this thief surely was not good enough in himself to go to heaven, yet he did not go to heaven. He went to Paradise. The doctrine of Purgatory is not found anywhere in the Bible, and is an insult to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which once and for all time has perfected us.
Often I hear of people who say that they are not going to come to Christ now. They are going to live it up and have fun, and then on their deathbeds they will convert. There is nothing more insane than that! How do you know you will be able to repent on your deathbed? Esau found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. How do you know you will even be able to think clearly on your deathbed? How do you know you will even have any pangs of guilt over sin on your deathbed? No, the wise decision is to come to Jesus as early in your life as you possibly can, so you can escape much of the heartaches and suffering that comes upon us due to sin.
My friend, which thief do you identify with – the calloused sinner or the contrite sinner? Everyone is represented by one or the other, including you. Repent and turn to Christ with all your heart today, that you might be with Him in Paradise!
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