Those Two Thieves...

In Luke 23:32-33 it is written: "And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."

His crucifixion was the fulfillment of the passage from Isaiah 53:12. In Mark 15:27-28 the Bible says: "And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors." Also the Bible says that these two thieves were making fun of Jesus, together with the priests, soldiers and multitudes that were there. They saw that in spite of the awful pain, Jesus looked for His mother and His disciples. Of course they felt the relationship between Him and His Father, to whom He prayed without any hatred in His heart. They saw Jesus hanging on the cross as a Lamb, having peace in His heart, and enduring people‘s mocking. Both thieves had a few hours with Jesus, and they both had the chance to be changed by Him.

One of them understood seven essential truths:

1. That Jesus was without sin and not guilty, but He was crucified like a thief.
2. That the mocking of his fellow thief friend was without reason.
3. All of a sudden he feared God.
4. He admitted in front of God that he is a sinner.
5. He repented; he testified that Jesus will go into His Kingdom, and that only through Him can somebody get there.
6. He testified that Jesus is his own Savior, saying: "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."
7. He showed great faith. Jesus’s answer was: "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

Sometimes we ask ourselves how many chances does a thief or a robber have? Maybe some of us would say that they can’t be saved. Well, if somebody believes in Jesus and confesses his sin, that person is accepted in the Kingdom of God. We may not give chances but God does!

Let us not forget that before God we are all sinners, equal sinners. The Bible says that we have all sinned and that’s why we have fallen short from the glory of God. There is no difference. None of us can bring anything good to God. All we are and have is rotten and affected by sin. Only the new creature born in us at the time of salvation can please God.

It was the same with the thieves. Both were sinners. However, the difference is elsewhere. One of them believed in Jesus, and the other didn’t. They were just as close to Jesus, but eternity separated them, just one very short word: "grace". One accepted the free gift, the other didn’t. They both stole in their lives. They both did many bad things. But this didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered was Jesus. Here was grace. One goes to Heaven from the edge of the Hell, and the other one goes to Hell from the edge of the Heaven. Through Jesus, everybody’s fate is decided, forever.

Maybe nobody else was that close to Jesus and that close to salvation. They saw Jesus as the Lamb of God on the altar. The image was so clear that even one of the soldiers had to declare: "Truly this man was the Son of God."

Today also, there are people that are witnesses of other’s conversions but their hearts are still as hard as a rock. The thief heard and saw when the other accepted Jesus, but he still rejected Him.

Just think, one single simple prayer is enough to get anybody to heaven, and there are so many people that wait their whole life to do that, and at the end, they still don’t do it. That is so sad.

The saved thief shows us that God gives grace till the end of your life; the unsaved thief shows us that we are never to delay our coming to God, because it just might be too late one day.