If you have a Bible, I would definitely recommend grabbing it for this post. I will be running through a lot of Scripture passages, so having a Bible close by will make some of this a little easier to follow and provide good context.
We'll start off in Isaiah 53. For those who haven't done much reading in Isaiah, this chapter deals heavily with prophecies concerning the death of Christ. Let me draw your attention to verse 9. The first phrase, speaking of Jesus Christ, is "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death..." Later, in verse 11, it foretells that Christ would be "numbered with the transgressors..." There are two prophecies about the Messiah in these verses; today we will look at the first. Its fulfillment is mentioned in all four Gospel books. Matthew 27:38 reads, "then were there two thieves crucified with [Jesus], one on the right hand, and another on the left." (Mark 15:27, Luke 23:32-33, John 19:18) These passages are prophecy fulfilled. Christ died in the presence of two thieves; He died with the wicked, just as Isaiah foretold.
Now at this point it is tempting to just move on to the next point. "Okay, He was crucified with two thieves; prophecy fulfilled. Check. Moving on." But this is where we will park for the time being. At first glance, these two criminals are of no incredible consequence; they are just the consummation of another foretelling. Placed there to pay for their crimes and stand as yet another proof that the Scriptures can be trusted, and that Christ really was the Messiah. But God had other ideas.
These thieves were not just fulfillments of another prophecy. They were human. They had wearily trudged up the same road as Christ, had borne an identical cross, and were bleeding from similar wounds. The only difference between their situation and Christ's is their guilt and His innocence.
Whenever these two are mentioned, they are labeled as thieves or malefactors. These guys are the ones your parents told you to watch out for. They hung around the bad side of town, robbed innocent people, and were probably involved in a murder or two. But their crimes had caught up with them, the judge's gavel fell, and they were paying for their actions, crucified on the same hill as Christ.
Despite their own pain and humiliation, their evil nature was alive and well. Mark 15 records the derision of the bystanders, priests, and Pharisees (vv. 29-32). This passage ends with the phrase "And they that were crucified with him reviled him." Matthew says, "The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." (27:44) They took their pain and anger out on Christ. Unable to strike at their tormentors they heaped verbal abuse and sarcastic derision on Jesus. At this point, the two thieves fade out of the accounts given by Matthew, Mark, and John.
But the book of Luke, written by a meticulous physician by that name, reveals a later episode with the criminals. They have faded out of the other accounts, but these men have one more role to play in the drama of the day (Luke 23:39-43). One of the thieves lets loose another shot at Christ, daring Him to save Himself if He were who He claimed to be. Then, from out of nowhere, the other criminal rebukes the other! We cannot know what caused the change. It may have been Christ's cry of "Father forgive them!" He may have remembered the miracles Jesus had performed. Maybe he had heard the teachings. Whatever his reasons, this condemned thug suddenly came face to face with the reality of his own guilt. The next few verses show a man who had seen himself for who he was and Christ for who He was.
Speaking to the other malefactor, he says "Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds:..." He recognizes that he has earned every stitch of his punishment. He has done everything to deserve it. He realizes that, before God and before men, he has nothing to hide behind. His sin and his shame had been laid bare.
Look at his next words beginning in the latter part of verse 41; "'...but this man hath done nothing amiss.' And he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.'" This man not only realized his own sinfulness; he also recognized Christ's innocence and perfection.
He also recognized exactly who Christ was. Look at how he addresses Jesus. He says "Lord". This word in the original Greek is not just a recognition of superiority; it is a word used in reference to God Himself. This man, humbled by his own guilt, recognized what the scribes and Pharisees in their religious pride had missed. This thief knew full well that the One hanging on the cross beside him was the perfect, sinless Son of God.
This man has come to grips with his guilt. His pain-wracked body constantly reminds him that death is only hours away. He will soon stand before God and give an account. He knows he has no reason to deserve, expect, or even hope for grace, but he still makes the earnest plea, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." He had reached rock bottom...the only place he could look was up.
Maybe that's you. I have no idea who will find their way to this post. I have no way of knowing where you are in life. Maybe you are at the point where you have come to grips with your sin. You have heard the truth; Christ died to forgive you of your sins and impute His righteousness to your account. Yet you believe God can't forgive you and, what's more, even if He could, why would He want to? I was there once. Face to face with the fact that my "Christianity" was only an act, I truly believed that I had forfeited my right to salvation.
If that's you, listen to the answer Christ gives in verse 43. "Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Instant forgiveness. Eternal security. Grace. This thief was hours from death; he would not go to Bible college and become a pastor. He would not travel the world sharing the gospel. He had nothing to offer Christ in return for grace. He likely died within the day. All he had was an earnest plea.
It was at this point in my struggle with my own sin, that I read the verse Romans 5:8, which states that "God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (emphasis mine) Christ did not die for us because we deserved it or had somehow earned a favor from Him. He died for us because of our inability to save ourselves. I accepted this verse as truth and accepted Christ as Savior on September 12, 2010. What God did in the day of the crucified thief, He still does today. What God did for me, He can and will do for you.
The application of this account does not only reach to those in need of Christ; it also holds a powerful lesson for the believer. There is no man on earth too far gone or too sinful for God to save. God's grace can crack the hardest heart and build bridges over the deepest chasms of guilt and shame. However, from our limited, finite point of view, it is tempting to pass over certain people in our witnessing for exactly those reasons: they are too sinful to be saved, why would God want anything to do with that person, or those people are just not worth the time and effort. The question I want to pose to you is: where would we be if Christ had said the same about us?
