And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
On the cross one dying criminal openly owned that he and his fellow were condemned justly and were receiving the due reward of their own deeds and crimes. In the same breath he declared that Jesus had done nothing wrong or amiss but hung there sinless, innocent and blameless while reviled and mocked unto death. He spoke to rebuke his fellow criminal for mockery, setting his own guilt over against the true character and mission of Jesus to the end of His earthly life. His acknowledgment was repentance, conversion and trust, turning to the Saviour and casting himself upon Him for remembrance when He should come into His kingdom. His faith grasped Jesus even in humiliation and apparent defeat as the sin-pardoning Saviour with right and power to forgive, and Christ answered with love and power by pardoning him and promising him paradise, showing that even a guilty sinner near death may find acceptance and eternal life through trust in the Lamb.
Setting at Calvary
The saying belongs to the crucifixion at the place called Calvary outside the boundaries of Jerusalem, where felons and murderers were executed. There Christ suffered without the gate as substitute for transgressors of the law of God, that with His own blood He might sanctify the people and redeem them from the curse of the law by being made a curse. As Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for transgression, so He bore the curse outside the city to redeem lawbreakers.
It belongs to the leading of Jesus from the judgment-hall to Calvary after the news of His condemnation spread through Jerusalem. A vast multitude of people of all classes and ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion. Disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed the Saviour, because the priests and rulers were bound by a promise not to molest Christ's followers if He Himself were delivered to them.
It was spoken in the scene of the two thieves crucified with Jesus, where one condemned man mocked Him and the other prayed to Him. The other's appeal was an act of faith, which Christ honored with the promise that he would be with Him in paradise. The contrast between mockery and faith in Jesus during His suffering stands at the center of the scene.
The repentant speaker was not a hardened criminal, but one whose morals had been corrupted by base association, and whose crimes were not so great as those of many who stood beneath the cross reviling the Saviour. In common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come, had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings, but through the influence of priests and rulers had turned away from Him and sought to drown conviction in pleasure, until corrupt associations led him into open crime for which he was condemned to the cross. He waited until the last moment because until then he had no light, while others have their duty shown from the Word of God.
On the cross his conviction became settled by having been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary. He had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, and had marked His Godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of His tormentors. He was convicted by Christ's appearance and by His unresisting suffering without one word of reproach, and by hearing passersby defend Christ, repeat His sayings and tell His works. He heard the words of weeping believers, and saw and read the title This is Jesus the King of the Jews above the Saviour's head while hearing passers-by repeat it with grief or mockery. He recalled reports that He healed the sick and those with grievous maladies and pardoned transgression and sin, with the Holy Spirit illuminating his mind until the chain of evidence joined together, so that in Jesus bruised, mocked, and hanging on the cross he saw the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and acknowledged Him as the Son of God.
Spoken as his sin-polluted life was about to close, his words came from conviction that there is a God to be feared and a future to tremble at. He was convicted of his past transgressions and guilt, of a God to be feared and a future judgment where both thieves must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and each receive according to his works. With no question, doubt, or reproach he declared his own just suffering and Jesus sinless yet suffering as a criminal persecuted unto death.
The saying belongs to Christ taken away from His disciples and given into the hands of wicked men. His own nation clamored for His blood, Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His brow, clothed Him in the purple robe and bowed before Him in mock homage while striking Him with the reed, scourged Him as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in place of the beloved Teacher in whom hopes of eternal life were centered, and lifted Him up on the cross to die as a malefactor despite His innocence. This was the taking away of the Bridegroom, bringing days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter was not clearly discerned, giving cause to mourn and fast, trying faith and causing hope and courage to fail. His suffering with mockery, insults, and cruelty reveals what He gave up for humanity and puts the cost of self-denial in perspective.
The thief was a guilty criminal deserving his punishment, who admitted he suffered justly for his own crimes. Yet he was far less guilty than those who condemned Christ to death, far less guilty than the priests, scribes and rulers who took active part in demanding the death of the Son of God, whose crimes were far more heinous than those for which he was condemned. Christ in His humanity suffered the hatred and revenge of a God-hating people because He acknowledged Himself the Son of God. Amid that death the criminal was the sole person confessing Jesus' mission.
Confession of Guilt and Innocence
On the cross the dying man openly admitted that he and his companion were condemned justly and were receiving the due reward and consequences of their own deeds and crimes. He accepted responsibility with no question, doubt or reproach, declaring that their suffering was just because it was what their deeds deserved. In the same breath he declared that Jesus had done nothing wrong or amiss. That testimony upheld the complete sinlessness, innocence, blamelessness and righteous character of Christ even while He hung reviled and mocked on Calvary, suffering unjustly as a criminal persecuted unto death.
The declaration was spoken to rebuke his fellow criminal. It stands in contrast to the mockery of those who challenged Jesus to come down from the cross, setting faith over against mockery in His suffering. His words distinguished his own guilt from Jesus' innocence and showed recognition of Jesus' righteous character. They showed that Jesus was not an impostor but remained true to His character and mission through the end of His earthly life.
The acknowledgment of his own guilt and Jesus' blamelessness marked his repentance, conversion and trust. It was a confession of faith in Christ spoken as he died, as he turned to the Saviour and cast himself upon Him. In that turning he cried for remembrance when He comes into His kingdom, finding peace and acceptance with God even at the end of life.
Pardon Through Christ
The dying man's confession was itself an act of faith that laid hold on Jesus as a Saviour who has right and power to pardon sin even while humiliated, reviled and apparently defeated on the cross. As the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, Christ alone could offer that suffering criminal forgiveness, His divinity still at work while His humanity suffered. In His humanity He bore the hatred and revenge of those who condemned Him for acknowledging Himself the Son of God, yet in His divinity He alone was free to answer the thief and to undertake suretyship for the guilty.
His turning shows that even a guilty sinner at the close of life may find pardon, peace, acceptance and salvation through Christ. The gospel was preached to him as he hung dying, and the Lord accepts all who receive and believe in Christ. He confessed Christ, believed in Him, found forgiveness with Him, and received peace, assurance and the promise of being with Christ in Paradise.
Christ answered quickly with love, compassion and power, pardoning the guilty thief and promising him a place in Paradise. That answer pledges salvation to all who repent and turn to Him, so that all who trust in the merits of the Lamb of God gain eternal life. The pardon reveals His love and willingness to forgive a repentant sinner even while He Himself suffered, meeting with pity and forgiveness one who had been ensnared by Satan and showing His willingness to save guilty people who cannot save themselves.
The two thieves represent two classes of mankind, for all have suffered the poison of sin. Those who look to and believe in Jesus lifted on the cross, as the believing thief did, will live forever just as those who looked on the uplifted brazen serpent in the wilderness lived, while those who refuse to believe will die without hope.
His faith was accepted even at the last moment, yet his example gives no reason to delay repentance, for neglected light can leave a sinner in deeper darkness. Those who receive understanding at the end and accept it with intelligent faith find favor with Christ. He had waited until the last moment because until then he had no light, unlike others who have had duty shown from the Word of God, and his salvation shows that even Judas could likewise have been saved if he had yielded and confessed his betrayal.
His appeal shows that Christ can impress a sinner even in the midst of suffering. His looking to Jesus in faith and being pardoned reveals the Lord's loving compassion and tender consideration for all who look to Him in faith, trusting His power to save them and give them victory. That example of compassion in dying agony calls Christians to speak sympathy and compassion to the tempted and tried instead of making guilt appear in the worst light.
On the cross one dying criminal openly owned that he and his fellow were condemned justly and were receiving the due reward of their own deeds and crimes. In the same breath he declared that Jesus had done nothing wrong or amiss but hung there sinless, innocent and blameless while reviled and mocked unto death. He spoke to rebuke his fellow criminal for mockery, setting his own guilt over against the true character and mission of Jesus to the end of His earthly life. His acknowledgment was repentance, conversion and trust, turning to the Saviour and casting himself upon Him for remembrance when He should come into His kingdom. His faith grasped Jesus even in humiliation and apparent defeat as the sin-pardoning Saviour with right and power to forgive, and Christ answered with love and power by pardoning him and promising him paradise, showing that even a guilty sinner near death may find acceptance and eternal life through trust in the Lamb.
Setting at Calvary
The saying belongs to the crucifixion at the place called Calvary outside the boundaries of Jerusalem, where felons and murderers were executed. There Christ suffered without the gate as substitute for transgressors of the law of God, that with His own blood He might sanctify the people and redeem them from the curse of the law by being made a curse. As Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for transgression, so He bore the curse outside the city to redeem lawbreakers.
It belongs to the leading of Jesus from the judgment-hall to Calvary after the news of His condemnation spread through Jerusalem. A vast multitude of people of all classes and ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion. Disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed the Saviour, because the priests and rulers were bound by a promise not to molest Christ's followers if He Himself were delivered to them.
It was spoken in the scene of the two thieves crucified with Jesus, where one condemned man mocked Him and the other prayed to Him. The other's appeal was an act of faith, which Christ honored with the promise that he would be with Him in paradise. The contrast between mockery and faith in Jesus during His suffering stands at the center of the scene.
The repentant speaker was not a hardened criminal, but one whose morals had been corrupted by base association, and whose crimes were not so great as those of many who stood beneath the cross reviling the Saviour. In common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come, had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings, but through the influence of priests and rulers had turned away from Him and sought to drown conviction in pleasure, until corrupt associations led him into open crime for which he was condemned to the cross. He waited until the last moment because until then he had no light, while others have their duty shown from the Word of God.
On the cross his conviction became settled by having been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary. He had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, and had marked His Godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of His tormentors. He was convicted by Christ's appearance and by His unresisting suffering without one word of reproach, and by hearing passersby defend Christ, repeat His sayings and tell His works. He heard the words of weeping believers, and saw and read the title This is Jesus the King of the Jews above the Saviour's head while hearing passers-by repeat it with grief or mockery. He recalled reports that He healed the sick and those with grievous maladies and pardoned transgression and sin, with the Holy Spirit illuminating his mind until the chain of evidence joined together, so that in Jesus bruised, mocked, and hanging on the cross he saw the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and acknowledged Him as the Son of God.
Spoken as his sin-polluted life was about to close, his words came from conviction that there is a God to be feared and a future to tremble at. He was convicted of his past transgressions and guilt, of a God to be feared and a future judgment where both thieves must stand before the judgment seat of Christ and each receive according to his works. With no question, doubt, or reproach he declared his own just suffering and Jesus sinless yet suffering as a criminal persecuted unto death.
The saying belongs to Christ taken away from His disciples and given into the hands of wicked men. His own nation clamored for His blood, Herod and his soldiers plaited the crown of thorns for His brow, clothed Him in the purple robe and bowed before Him in mock homage while striking Him with the reed, scourged Him as the worst of criminals while the murderous Barabbas was chosen in place of the beloved Teacher in whom hopes of eternal life were centered, and lifted Him up on the cross to die as a malefactor despite His innocence. This was the taking away of the Bridegroom, bringing days of trial and temptation when the presence of the Comforter was not clearly discerned, giving cause to mourn and fast, trying faith and causing hope and courage to fail. His suffering with mockery, insults, and cruelty reveals what He gave up for humanity and puts the cost of self-denial in perspective.
The thief was a guilty criminal deserving his punishment, who admitted he suffered justly for his own crimes. Yet he was far less guilty than those who condemned Christ to death, far less guilty than the priests, scribes and rulers who took active part in demanding the death of the Son of God, whose crimes were far more heinous than those for which he was condemned. Christ in His humanity suffered the hatred and revenge of a God-hating people because He acknowledged Himself the Son of God. Amid that death the criminal was the sole person confessing Jesus' mission.
Confession of Guilt and Innocence
On the cross the dying man openly admitted that he and his companion were condemned justly and were receiving the due reward and consequences of their own deeds and crimes. He accepted responsibility with no question, doubt or reproach, declaring that their suffering was just because it was what their deeds deserved. In the same breath he declared that Jesus had done nothing wrong or amiss. That testimony upheld the complete sinlessness, innocence, blamelessness and righteous character of Christ even while He hung reviled and mocked on Calvary, suffering unjustly as a criminal persecuted unto death.
The declaration was spoken to rebuke his fellow criminal. It stands in contrast to the mockery of those who challenged Jesus to come down from the cross, setting faith over against mockery in His suffering. His words distinguished his own guilt from Jesus' innocence and showed recognition of Jesus' righteous character. They showed that Jesus was not an impostor but remained true to His character and mission through the end of His earthly life.
The acknowledgment of his own guilt and Jesus' blamelessness marked his repentance, conversion and trust. It was a confession of faith in Christ spoken as he died, as he turned to the Saviour and cast himself upon Him. In that turning he cried for remembrance when He comes into His kingdom, finding peace and acceptance with God even at the end of life.
Pardon Through Christ
The dying man's confession was itself an act of faith that laid hold on Jesus as a Saviour who has right and power to pardon sin even while humiliated, reviled and apparently defeated on the cross. As the propitiation for the sins of the whole world, Christ alone could offer that suffering criminal forgiveness, His divinity still at work while His humanity suffered. In His humanity He bore the hatred and revenge of those who condemned Him for acknowledging Himself the Son of God, yet in His divinity He alone was free to answer the thief and to undertake suretyship for the guilty.
His turning shows that even a guilty sinner at the close of life may find pardon, peace, acceptance and salvation through Christ. The gospel was preached to him as he hung dying, and the Lord accepts all who receive and believe in Christ. He confessed Christ, believed in Him, found forgiveness with Him, and received peace, assurance and the promise of being with Christ in Paradise.
Christ answered quickly with love, compassion and power, pardoning the guilty thief and promising him a place in Paradise. That answer pledges salvation to all who repent and turn to Him, so that all who trust in the merits of the Lamb of God gain eternal life. The pardon reveals His love and willingness to forgive a repentant sinner even while He Himself suffered, meeting with pity and forgiveness one who had been ensnared by Satan and showing His willingness to save guilty people who cannot save themselves.
The two thieves represent two classes of mankind, for all have suffered the poison of sin. Those who look to and believe in Jesus lifted on the cross, as the believing thief did, will live forever just as those who looked on the uplifted brazen serpent in the wilderness lived, while those who refuse to believe will die without hope.
His faith was accepted even at the last moment, yet his example gives no reason to delay repentance, for neglected light can leave a sinner in deeper darkness. Those who receive understanding at the end and accept it with intelligent faith find favor with Christ. He had waited until the last moment because until then he had no light, unlike others who have had duty shown from the Word of God, and his salvation shows that even Judas could likewise have been saved if he had yielded and confessed his betrayal.
His appeal shows that Christ can impress a sinner even in the midst of suffering. His looking to Jesus in faith and being pardoned reveals the Lord's loving compassion and tender consideration for all who look to Him in faith, trusting His power to save them and give them victory. That example of compassion in dying agony calls Christians to speak sympathy and compassion to the tempted and tried instead of making guilt appear in the worst light.