I was reading Matthew’s account of how Jesus was mocked by both the Romans and the Jews while he was being crucified and something caught me completely off guard. I had never noticed it before - ever!
Matthew 27:44 says “Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.” (NKJV)
Now I have often heard about the thief on the cross who repented and was promised paradise, so this verse confused me. Notice it says, “robbers” not “one of the robbers.”
Mark 15:32 also refers to plural thieves, not singular thief. “Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.” (NKJV). Two eyewitnesses clearly reported two thieves being crucified with Christ and two thieves reviling Him.
The narrative of the same event in Luke 23:39-43 says:
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." “ (NKJV)
I am no Bible scholar, but what I see here is one man reviling Christ along with another man - both of them hanging from crosses for committing crimes punishable by death at that time. These men both mocked and reviled the Lord even as they hung there nearing death and eternity. Then one of them boldly suggested that Jesus not only save himself, but save the two criminals as well.
At this point, the other fellow finally had his conscience pricked to the point of rebuking the first man for being so outrageously rude. He realized that he deserved to be hanging on that cross, but that Jesus had done nothing to deserve that punishment. He realized he was a sinner and that Jesus was(is) God and asked only to be remembered.
God, in his great mercy, opened that thief's eyes to his own sin, his need for a Savior, and the deity of the man hanging on the cross next to him. God regenerated his stony heart and gave him a new heart of flesh. In an instant a harsh, cold, unfeeling man was humbled to the point of repentance and in the last few minutes of his miserable existence God saved his soul from eternity in hell.
Salvation is entirely God’s work based on the righteousness of Christ. We do nothing to deserve it nor can we earn it. God gives us a spirit of repentance and even our faith is a gift from God. God prepares our hearts to hear the Gospel, He regenerates our souls and He breathes new spiritual life into our once dead spirits. He initiates salvation, He accomplishes salvation and He keeps us saved. It is all of God, none of us. In this account of the penitent thief we see that God is able to do all these things even in the last few moments of a person’s life and in this case, he most mercifully did so.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
