He had lived all through life an armed robber, victims numerous have lost their money, properties and sometimes their lives to his nefarious night activities. He was not baptized, sang in no choir, never ushered in the Church and attended no gospel crusade. He never joined any Church and had no ordination; neither did he lift his hands in worship to Jehovah. His companions were evil men; he drank, smoked and clubbed all day only to pick up arms at night to dispossess other of their wares.
His prison sentence was harsh but just, he made no appeal and uttered no repentant voice. His jail term was completed and the hangmen took him to the gallows without any pleas for mercy nor resistance. He was tied to the stakes with no political intervention for his release, so he was left to die. No mother to wipe his tears, no friend to comfort him and no pity from any man. He had lived rudely, spoke vilely and must die lonely; yet from his dead end, he went to paradise, enjoyed divine mercy and shared eternal bliss while the treasurer of the Church by the name of Judas went away dead and eternally cursed. “Today, you will be with me in paradise” was the golden statement that commanded the angels of eternal death away from this man and the registrar of the Book of Life had a new name for his records. Hell was cheated, Satan disappointed and his demons sad, while the angels of God rejoiced and heaven received a new entrant as the first fruit of the tree at Calvary. This mysterious candidate of eternal life benefitted from the fellowship of His suffering.
Different people came to Jesus in many different ways and at different times. Nicodemus came in the middle of the night under the cover of darkness, the Centurion that witnessed the death of Christ came to faith at mid-day. During his ministry days, lepers and even a sinful woman came to him in the midst of the crowd and Zacheus from the top of the tree was called down to lead the way as salvation became his guest that day. While these ones in their different ways came in their life times, the thief under consideration came at the edge of life, few minutes before death whisked him away. It does not matter how and when one comes but what matters is who they come to meet and what is done with the opportunity one has with the savior of the universe.
Concerning the ways and life of Jesus, this crucified thief had been curious. Having heard what good deeds Jesus had done, he might have been wondering what on earth motivated the religious and political authorities of his day to treat this Jesus as a common criminal. Its in his pains compared and contrasted the life and times of Jesus. He had passed judgement in his mind condemning himself and declaring Jesus discharged and acquitted but had neither a crowd to heart him not the powers to release. A special warmth was beginning to develop between him and the guiltless man who had become his close associate at the cross but he had no way to explain it. A care for Jesus grew in his heart but he had no way to express it. He was beginning to bubble inside with warmth, care, and indignation put together, when the thief at the other end proved useful to him.
Jesus all through life had been a subject of many accusations. From blaspheming God, eating with sinners, breaking the Sabbath, trying to destroy the temple to stirring up a revolt and using the power of Beelzebub to cast out d3emonds; he had been accused. Jesus was not in the habit of defending himself neither had he any one who spoke on his behalf. But on the cross, this accusation will not go unanswered. If the chief priests had their way and the political authorities go unchallenged, this thief must be silenced and the truth must be told for once about this Saviour made to be a criminal when nothing of such is seen in him. So a thief took the floor to answer another thief in defense of Jesus the righteous one.
Going by Matthew 27:44, it seems to me that this man at the beginning joined others to mock Jesus. He started with joining his voice to the critical chorus that filled the environment, he sang the song of the people, voted with the crowd until the powers of
the cross, the purpose of Christ’s death and the warmth of his closeness to Christ began to catch up with him; this changed his mind and he began to speak in favour of Jesus. You know what I think? At this moment, when the father forsook him, Jerusalem and her people rejected him and routed for Ceasar, spiritual Peter abandoned him, Educated Pilate washed his hands, the loyal mob demanded his death, faithful disciples scattered and the crowd mocked and accused him; yet one man, a man who was not noted for doing good, never known for def3ending what is right, that man lifted his voice and spoke in the defense of the Saviour1 When he did this, I think every head lifted to see, demons weep and angels gasped at the sudden wise turn of this man. Demons weep because he had taken the path of escape from their chains. When everyone turned away and this man came in between Jesus and his last accuser, soldiers looked up, the priest ceased their chattering, Mary wiped her eyes and looked up, John wondered what moved him to offer to Jesus the final gesture of love though it was the first of his life time. Now every one looks up to the thief and even had to turn to him not only to see who spoke but to offer to him the favour of eternal life.
The thief while speaking to defend Jesus raised two important issues that are requisites to salvation. After all thoughts had been given to this issue, he had convinced himself that this man is a holy man. He said to this colleague “ we are getting what we deserve. We are guilty. This man is innocent, filthy stained with blood, this man is pure. We are wrong but this man is right, we are getting what we deserve but he is dying not for his sins but ours. When last did you defend Jesus before man by telling them that Jesus died for their sins. This man spoke what he had come to believe, for with the heart a man believes, says Paul, unto righteousness.
He did not only believe but used his belief to defend Jesus on the cross, but beyond rebuking his fellow thief, he also spoke to Jesus in a way that expressed both his faith and his need to salvation, listen to him address Jesus after his friend:
“and he said unto Jesus, lord remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” - Luke 23:42
This was a desperate plea for help. Naturally, the prayer wasn’t right but real. What has this man to be remembered off. All of his life had been spent in evil, and should his sins be remembered, he would have no welcome into any part of God’s Kingdom. This young man had an opportunity to spend his last moments not in the company of robbers, or in the club with drunkards but closely in death to the Saviour of the world and he seized it to make a plea for a place, a good thought from the king in the coming kingdom. Can the king have a good thought here foe a crook? Has He not said, “I know the thoughts I have for you, thought of good and not of evil, that I might give you an expected end and a hope”
God’s thought was a good end, it might not begin well, may not be pleasant in the process of time but the end must be good if it is His thought you are pleading for. When this man at the end of His life placed a demand for that good thought in the coming kingdom, Jesus told him, consider it done, not then but now, “today, you will be with me in paradise”.
I run away from one of Jesus’ powerful sayings, one of them is this, “the children of this world are wiser than the children of the kingdom ( ). God forbid that I should play the fool where the children of the world seem wise. Bu this seems to be the case with Christians at every time. Daily in our neighborhood, offices and shops, opportunity present itself for us to drop a good word for Jesus, and what do we do, shy away, discuss other trivial matters, read newspaper and talk football. We need to use every available opportunity to talk good things about Jesus, His salvation, love and the coming kingdom. Until we do this, the thief on the cross is wiser than us. As we celebrate his death and resurrection, may we tell people about Jesus Christ.