Jesus wasn’t crucified between two guys who were petty thieves.
What???
It’s true. They were insurrectionists. Death by a cross was a punishment reserved for political rebels – not common criminals. Their crime was probably similar to being first century Robin Hoods who, along with their ring leader Barabbas, plotted, plundered and murdered in the name of rebellion against Rome.
But, that’s not the point of this post. One of the men who was tortured to death next to Jesus will be someone I want to speak to in Heaven.
He started off the day bloodied and battered like any other man being crucified. A toughened zealot who was extremely familiar with all of the Messianic texts, and who had been ready to die for Israel ever since becoming a rebel. He was expecting the pain and might have thought of himself as a martyr – at the start.
Imagine his surprise! He may have been one of the people putting palm branches down in front of Jesus while He rode a donkey into Jerusalem. Jesus was certainly famous. And most of His followers expected THIS trip to Jerusalem to be the one where Jesus would go to the temple, declare war on Rome, and then inspire hundreds of thousands of men to revolt.
So Jesus comes into Jerusalem on a donkey. People are yelling. People are praising. People are ready to anoint Jesus as their new king! He goes right to the temple. People are expecting the speech. Jesus looks around at the crowds. The men and women “shush” each other to be quiet each expecting the words that would start a revolution. And, after looking around at the temple, Jesus … just … leaves. He just walks off to Bethany because it’s too late in the day. What?
Okay. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. It IS late!
So, the next day Jesus returns to the temple. Oh boy! Maybe the man crucified next to Him was there as Jesus turned over the money-tables and made a scene. Maybe he was there when the crowds gathered around to hear Jesus make a speech about how bad Rome was. Maybe he was there when Jesus began to make the speech that would change everything … only to hear Jesus make a speech about how bad the Jewish religious leaders were. This wasn’t working out the way the crowds had planned. At least Jesus did some healing – that was certainly appreciated. He wasn’t acting very warrior like, but that was okay because it sure was a good show watching Jesus make the pompous Jewish leaders look like fools. And the parables He spoke were so full of meat. The crowds loved Him … for now.
Within days, the atmosphere had changed in Jerusalem. Jesus was no longer the man who would lead a revolution. Jesus was the man chief priests had convinced the crowds should die.
And so, here we are: Jesus – nailed to a cross – between two zealots.
Early on, the man I want to meet still has all of his strength and attitude. He is hurling insults, “Hey Jesus! I thought you were committed to God! If you were, why isn’t He delivering you? Haha! If God delights in you, let Him rescue you! Ha! Why don’t you rescue yourself if you’re God – and rescue us too?! Haha!”
After a few hours it is noon – and darkness covers the land. Can you see the man’s face? Can you see him look at Jesus in confusion? Can you hear the questions going through his mind, “What is going on here? Why is it dark? Who is this man?”
Throughout the crucifixion Jesus has been fairly quiet until the moment that helps define exactly what is happening. Jesus opens His dry mouth, and praises God with the first line of a song every Jew would know. Jesus sings the first verse of the 22nd Psalm, “My God. My God. Why have you forsaken me?”
Maybe it was at that moment everything “clicked” for the man hanging next to Jesus. The man KNEW that psalm – every Jew knew that psalm. It was the psalm that described a scene exactly like this:
“Reproach of men – despised by people – they crown me (in Hebrew the word for “encircle” literally means “crown”) – they pierce my hands and feet – they cast lots for my clothing – in the midst of the assembly I will praise You!”
And then the man hanging next to Jesus remembers these words from the song Jesus started to sing: “All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, “Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
I wonder if it is at this point the man hanging next to Jesus has a PowerPoint like slideshow that runs through his head – remembering all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah. I can just imagine how his gut would drop when he remembered these words from Isaiah 53:
“He was despised and forsaken of men … and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted … All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth … Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him … He would render Himself as a guilt offering … the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Because He poured out Himself to death.”
I can just imagine the wheels turning in the man’s head: “The Messiah is a sheep to be sacrificed for sins? No! I can’t believe it! He was supposed to be a warrior! Wait … the Lord would give Himself as a guilt offering?! Could this be God in the flesh?”
I can almost hear him gasp when he remembers the end of Isaiah 53: “And [He] was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many.”
There is a lot of speculation about the fate of the man hanging next to Jesus in the crucifixion. Maybe you read this story a thousand times and never paid attention to what the man said to Jesus. I like to think that maybe he said these words after he realized that the last phrase of Isaiah 53 is this: “and [He] interceded for the transgressors.”
Was that what he was thinking when he asked Jesus the question that most people forget? The question the man hanging next to Jesus asks gives more insight than almost any question Jesus was asked. Here’s why:
There is a zero percent chance of surviving crucifixion. Once nailed to a cross, you ARE going to die. There are zero exceptions. You will be dead. And yet he asks a favor of Jesus: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
What? Do you realize what that question means? It means the man realized Jesus was going to die, and would still become king after death. He knew, even before the Apostles did, that Jesus wasn’t going to stay dead, and that Jesus would be a King after He rose from the grave.
He could very well be the first person to realize exactly who and what Jesus was: Sacrificial Lamb, Messianic King, and God in the flesh.
Can you hear his sobs as the tears run down his face when Jesus tells him: “Today you will be with me in Paradise?”
Can you hear him gulp as he watches the Sacrificial Lamb that would take away his own sins cry out, “It is finished!” before He died?
Can you hear him anxiously praying for his own death because he knows where he is spending eternity?
Can you hear him cry out in pain and gratitude as his legs are broken?
Can you hear his last breath before he sees Jesus again in Paradise?
Yes. I want to meet THAT man.
Don’t you?