Podcast: Two Sermonettes

In this episode of the podcast, I simply share two "sermonettes" I had done for a local church I attended in Kansas City, MO. One covers the Wise Thief on the cross, while the other covers the temptations of Christ in the wilderness.

The Thieves on the Cross

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” [Luke 23:39-43]

On the evening of Christ's death on the cross, an episode occurs between the Lord and the two thieves with whom he was crucified. Matthew had recorded that "the robbers who had been crucified with Him" (Matt 27:44; NASB). This has caused some to cry "CONTRADICTION!", but this supposed dilemma is easily resolved through two possible explanations: 1) both thieves initially mocked Christ, and one later repented; 2) Matthew may be using a figure of speech known as synecdoche, which can refer to many things, but one of them is when you refer to part as you would a whole. In other words, one thief mocked Christ, but Matthew (who is known to abbreviate or simplify stories throughout his gospel) refers to the thieves as a whole.

In either case, Luke goes into further detail about the dialogue between the three crosses. Christ is in the midst of mockery, having already received it from the Jewish onlookers (v. 35) as well as the Gentile soldiers (v. 36-8). Now, as if that wasn't bad enough, one of those suffering with Christ turns against him as well. His words reveal the true nature of his heart:

1) He repeats the mockery. "Are you not the Christ?" he asks (v. 39). "Save yourself..." This was what the Jewish rulers had demanded, and the Roman soldiers as well. The dozens upon dozens of miracles Christ had performed were not enough, and to many - even Christ's loyal followers - the idea of the great, expected Messiah being crucified and mocked by foreigners was unthinkable. The very nature of this world is to look upon the cross as foolishness (1 Cor 1:18), seeing it either as a failed ministry, a needless suicide, or divine murder. Indeed, is it any wonder that, when the day of resurrection comes around each year, the jokes directed towards Christ are amplified? Many people, seeking to either satisfy their own lusts or appear justified before others, mock Christ's death, not realizing that they are merely joining in with the Pharisees and Roman soldiers.

2) He adds himself into the equation. The blaspheming thief not only desires Christ to save himself, but demands that, if Christ be who he says he is, he rescue the two of them as well. Many today likewise demand something from the cross: the idea of a crucified savior is good for nothing, in their eyes, unless something is gained from it. We demand health and wealth, a better life now, or a special purpose. If the man on the cross cannot give us these things, then we dismiss his claims to divinity and Messianic lordship. What's more, we demand it without any real discernment on whether or not we truly deserve it. Upon what basis does the thief believe he deserves this freedom? Was he not hanging on the cross for charges lodged against him? The unregenerate heart does not ponder these things. Those outside of Christ declare that God must be gentle and kind towards them, irregardless of their own personal guilt and sin.

Let us now stop and ponder something many might have missed in their studies of the Passion: at this time, throughout the whole account, no one has stood up for Christ. All the disciples had fled. Peter brashly cuts off the ear of the Temple, but falls when he then denies Christ three times under pressure. No one - Jew or Gentile, commoner or nobleman - seeks to defend Christ against his enemies. All this changes here and now, when the afflicted savior finally gets words of support. However, it's not from a Pharisee, a disciple, his mother, or a Roman officer...it's from the other thief. The following points arise from his words to the his fellow condemned:

1) He rebukes the other thief. "Have you no fear of God?" he asks him (v. 40). This shows the regeneration that had happened within the thief. The fear of God had driven him to say these words, and to those who truly fear God, blasphemy appears as absurdity. Those who love God feel ache in their heart in regards to those who don't, just as the apostle Paul wrote regarding disbelieving Jews: "I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers" (Rom 9:3).

2) He affirms his own sin. "And we indeed justly," the thief adds, "for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds" (v. 40). He recognized, unlike the former thief, that he was guilty of the crimes for which he was being punished. He had broken the law, and was receiving what was owed to the law for his crimes. He was guilty, and held no innocence within himself at this moment of judgment. The great Christian author and evangelist John Bunyan wrote:

He that truly confesseth and acknowledgeth his sin, acknowledgeth also the curse to be due thereto from the righteous hand of God.

3) He affirms the righteousness of Christ. "But this man," the thief adds again, "has done nothing wrong" (v. 41). Pilate had earlier pointed out that Christ was innocent of any serious crimes (v. 4, 22), but his intentions were based more on political motivations than true care for Christ. The repentant thief, on the other hand, is convicted by Christ's innocence, for he had earlier told the blaspheming thief "you are under the same sentence of condemnation" (v. 40). Christ was suffering and yet, unlike the two thieves there, he had committed no wrongs. His spot on the cross, in fact, had been reserved for Barabbas, an insurrectionist and rebel, but it had gone instead to the innocent Christ (v. 17-21). The wise thief points this out as a further indictment against the blaspheming one, for the latter had shown great disrespect towards Christ, not seeming to realize that Christ was suffering for sins that were not his.

The repenting thief was showing the true fruits of repentance, for these few sentences reveal: 1) a confession of personal guilt; 2) an acceptance of the righteousness of God. All this leads to what Matthew Henry called "the prayer of a dying sinner to a dying savior," when the wise thief turns to Christ and says: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (v. 42). The former thief had sought pain from the then and now for a better life in the here and how, but the latter thief had sought freedom from the judgment of God in the soon to be. The thief had sought happiness not now (for he recognized he deserved none), but rather for happiness in the next life. What's more, he recognized that the only freedom from judgment and sin came through Christ, and in his last dying moments he clung to the cross and, in not so many words, pleaded for mercy. To these words, Jesus Christ replied:

"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." (v. 43)

Many people have speculated on what Christ means here in regards to "paradise," however in its purest form it simply refers to the joy and comfort of being in the presence of the Redeemer in the hereafter. All sins which the man was guilty of were, at that moment, washed away, and no longer held against him. He was justified not for anything he had done - for there was nothing he could have done - but rather, he was justified through his faith. Christ would eventually commit his soul to God (v. 46), but the wise thief committed his soul to Christ. He would die, but his life would be "hidden with Christ in God," and upon the day of resurrection he would appear with Christ in glory (Col 3:3-4).

The two thieves as a whole represented the effect that the cross would have upon the world: on the one hand, an indictment of sin and judgment; on the other hand, regeneration and the giving of grace. It was a personification of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:12, for Christ was "was numbered with the transgressors," as seen with the wise thief, and "bore the sin of many," as he bore the sins of the thief, and would make "intercession for the transgressors," as Christ personally interceded for the wise thief.

Everything the cross represented could be seen at this moment, for though "the word of the cross" was "folly to those who are perishing," to those "who are being saved," as the wise thief, it was "the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18). God bless.

Reflections on the Wise Thief

We are fast approaching the liturgical celebration of our Lord's Passion and Crucifixion, which will lead up to the Resurrection and the means of our salvation. I thought, therefore, it might be best to meditate on one of the most remarkable moments of Good Friday, on that fateful day on Calvary.

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.” [Luke 23:39-43; NKJV]

It is recorded among all four gospels that Jesus was crucified between two thieves also condemned to die that day. The crowd gathered there was gleefully mocking their God, and Matthew and Mark both record that, initially, the thieves joined in their mockery. Yet as Luke shows, something happened - one of the thieves switched gears.

The Church Fathers teach us that the Wise Thief did mock Christ at first, but later repented. Why was this? Perhaps we might never be quite sure. It could be that the Wise Thief was won over at the utterance of our Lord's words, "Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do." Perhaps it was the sight of our Lord's compassion to His mother and beloved disciple John. Perhaps the thief recognized the words "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" and knew from where those words came (Psalm 22:1). It could have been all of the above, or it could have been none - it could have simply been a unilateral action of God's grace. In any case, we know that by God's grace the Wise Thief's heart was moved, and moved towards repentance.

So we come to Luke's account, halfway through the crucifixion. One of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus repeats the mockery of the crowd: "If you are the Christ, save yourself." To this command, however, he adds: "...and us!" It wasn't enough that Jesus had to step down from the cross to prove His Messianic status, but now He also had to save the two thieves! Why was this? Selfishness: man is always thinking of how to get out of a jam through his own means. He never wants to embrace what little he has; he only wants a way out of it. We want instant pleasure. So the ungrateful thief, despite having been found guilty of a crime we know he committed, wants a way out of his punishment.

One can identify much evil in his words, for he tells Jesus, "If you are the Christ." This is an echo of the words of the crowd, but they are also echoes of words found much earlier in Luke's gospel. As Christ was fasting and praying in the desert, the devil suddenly appeared and began his temptation with these words: "If you are the Son of God..." (Luke 4:3). The very first temptation mankind ever suffered was doubt, for the snake in Eden asked Eve, "Did God actually say..." (Gen 3:1), and so it is very fitting that the first real temptation of Christ would be similar. Now, just as the devil tempted Christ with doubt in the desert, he tempts Him here on the cross through influence on weak individuals. It is therefore certain to say that the concept of the movie The Last Temptation of Christ is a silly one, as Christ was tempted on the cross but rejected it. Christ would not remove Himself from the cross, but endure it to the end so that, as Luke later records, "repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:47).

Now pipes in the Wise Thief. In response to this blasphemy, the Thief does what no one has done during the entire narrative of the Passion of our Lord: he defends Jesus. "Do you not even fear God," he asks, "seeing you are under the same condemnation?" He asked this because he rightly identified that they had all been accused to die equally horrible deaths, although their crimes had been different. He explains this next when he states, "we indeed [are punished] justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." In this manner he identifies something the first thief did not: that they are sinners, criminals and scoundrels, and that they deserve the punishment they are given.

What had been Christ's crime? That they should love one another as He loves them. It was legally a menial crime at best, but in the eyes of a corrupt and sinful world a grave error that deserved death. Nonetheless, it is not a crime that should number you among thieves and robbers, as the Romans had done with Christ.

The Wise Thief is given his title because he was wise enough to discern this. He identified rightly what was going on, and he knew that there was more here than an execution. He recognized that before Him was not just any man, but the Son of Man, also the Son of God. The Wise Thief recognized that Christ did not have to be there, and yet He had allowed Himself to be numbered between them. In some ways, Christ was the odd man out, for he was the only innocent one on all three crosses - but in other ways, too, the thieves were the odd ones out, because it was not by their death and resurrection that mankind would be saved. They were not worthy to be in such presence, and yet Christ had come to be in their presence by His own accord.

So now, finished reprimanding his fellow transgressor, the Wise Thief turns his focus to our Lord. He does not ask for freedom, wealth, or a high position. He only makes one small request...

"Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."

We can rightfully consider this statement a prayer, and a wonderful prayer at that. It should be the only prayer on the lips of every Christian. The Wise Thief does, in a way, ask for Christ to save him from the cross, but not in the same manner as the other thief. The other thief was stuck in the world, and only thought of the world, and so when he sought freedom he sought it from the execution, so that he may enjoy worldly life just a little bit more. The Wise Thief instead seeks freedom from the world entirely. He seeks freedom from the cross not for freedom from the execution, but rather freedom from what the cross meant: death and eternal humiliation.

When Christ made the statement from the cross, "Father, forgive them..." He embodied the very meaning of the cross to the believer. This scene, in a similar manner, embodies the forgiveness and love shown to those who love Him. Both thieves had Divine Truth in their midst, and yet only one chose to embrace it. For this reason his sins were forgiven, and he was reconciled before God through the cross (Eph 2:16) "having made peace through the blood of His cross" (Col 1:20). Out of repentance, like the prodigal son returning to his father, all sins the Wise Thief had committed were wiped clean, for they were left on the cross upon which he died (Col 2:14). The only thing taken with him to paradise was Christ's memory of him - the only thing he had asked for.

Truly, no moment in scripture brings tears to my eyes nearly as much as this one. The Wise Thief embodies every necessary trait for the believer: self-discernment, endurance of trials, confession, and repentance. Sometimes I recall this story in my mind, and I feel tears come from my heart. I feel tears come for the show of mercy our Lord has on sinners who come to Him. Then I realize that I am not as repentant as the Wise Thief, and tears come to my eyes as I ask our Lord to give me just a little of the humility that the Thief showed.

There is an ancient church hymn in which the angels at the gates of heaven ask the Thief, "How did you steal your way into paradise?" May this be the only theft any of us are guilty of.