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Jesus, The Cross, A Thief, and Forgiveness
Luke
23:32-43
Luke 23:32-43, (NAS95) 32 Two others also, who were
criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. 33 When they came to
the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on
the right and the other on the left. 34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive
them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up
His garments among themselves. 35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even
the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself
if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One." 36 The soldiers also mocked Him,
coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, "If You are the King of
the Jews, save Yourself!" 38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, "THIS
IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was
hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" 40
But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since
you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 "And we indeed are suffering
justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has
done nothing wrong." 42 And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in
Your kingdom!" 43 And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be
with Me in Paradise."
The above narrative is one of the most touching in the entire Bible. While the
Lord was experiencing the physical, emotional and perhaps even spiritual agony
of the cross, he still expressed the divine nature of His love for man. He had
the compassion to listen to the pleas of one who had great need. He made the
effort to repress his own pain to and answer to the needs of a sinner. He
promised that man, that that very day, He would be with Jesus in Paradise. What
a wonderful assurance. Because of the assurance Jesus gave his companion in
death, many today profess that like the thief crucified next to Jesus, we may
have the assurance of Paradise by making a similar appeal to the Lord. However,
the New Testament , Jesus' Covenant teaches that baptism stands between man and
the forgiveness of sin. The
Bible tells us what Christ requires of us to be saved. In spite of the plain
statement of Jesus, many teach and believe baptism is not necessary to be saved.
They believe they can be saved like the thief on the cross. They also assume
that the thief on the cross had never been baptized as the New Testament
requires, hence they do not need to be baptized.
Even if the thief on the cross had never been baptized, his salvation should not
be an excuse to remove the divine mandate of baptism from us today. Let us look
at why the thief is not an example of how man is saved today.
The first principle that we must understand is
the fact that Jesus had the power to forgive sins while on the earth.
Matthew 9:2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a
bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of
good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts
said,
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy
sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that
the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick
of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose,
and departed
to his house.
When Jesus spoke to a person and forgave them of their sins, their sins were
forgiven. The same would hold true today. If Jesus were walking the earth and
told someone that their sins were forgiven, it would be so. However, Jesus is in
heaven at the right hand of God.
The second principle that we must consider is
that the New Covenant had not yet been established. It had not yet been
sealed with the blood of Jesus. Jesus was still alive. The thief lived and died
under the Old Covenant, and we are under the New Covenant. If the covenant in
which baptism is commanded had not yet come into force when Jesus spoke to the
thief, and it is in force now, the rules for salvation have been changed by the
changing of covenants. The New Covenant changed the rules.
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the
death of the testator.
The third principle is that neither you nor I are
face to face with Jesus like the thief was. Jesus spoke directly to the
thief. There is absolutely no scriptural principle which will allow us to take a
statement made to a specific individual and generalize it to make it apply to
all men. Jesus speaks to us through the Bible today, not face to face. That
means we must listen to what he has said to us through the Word. Just as surely
as the thief heard Jesus then, we must hear Jesus now. He is not speaking to us
face to face as he did the thief. He is speaking to us through the written Word
of God.
Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and
behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased; hear ye him.
The fourth principle, despite the assumptions
made about the thief not being baptized, is that it is more reasonable to
believe that the thief had been baptized than to believe that he had not been
baptized. Let's read the account again, and then examine what it really
does contain.
Luke 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him,
saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And
we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath
done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou
comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
1. In verse 41, the thief declared "...this man hath done nothing amiss." He
knew Jesus was without sin or guilt. How did he know that? Only by knowing Jesus
earlier could he have known that!
2. In verse 42, "...42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord,..." He called Jesus "Lord."
Why would he call someone who was dying on a cross Lord? He had to have known
Jesus before they were nailed to those crosses!
3. Again, in verse 42, "...remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. " He
asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into his kingdom. How did he know
that Jesus was going to come into a kingdom? He could only have known that if he
had been a disciple of Jesus' prior to being on the cross. He had to have heard
the teaching of Jesus!
4. Still in verse 42, "thou comest into thy kingdom. ..." He believed that even
though Jesus was dying on the cross, he would still be a king. How can someone
dying be expected to become a king? It is ridiculous, unless he understood
Jesus' prophecies to be resurrected from the dead in three days. How could he
have either known or believed these things if he did not know Jesus before they
were nailed to the cross.
This man, being crucified next to Jesus apparently had a greater understanding
of Jesus' teaching on the nature of the Kingdom of God than even the Apostles at
this point in time. The evidence indicates he knew that Jesus was the Christ,
the Messiah and Son of the living God. He knew Jesus! He must have been a
disciple! Was he a disciple of John's who baptized with the baptism for the
remission of his sins?
Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land
of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of
Jordan, confessing their sins.
Jesus caused more people to be baptized than John did. Was he one of those who
were baptized by Jesus' disciples?
John 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized
not, but his disciples,)
When one looks at the evidence, it is more reasonable to believe that this thief
was converted to Christ. In the process of that conversion, he had to repent.
Real repentance means making things right. When he tried to make things right,
the ones he had stolen from had him arrested. He was convicted out of his own
mouth and then crucified with Jesus.
This thief must have known Jesus prior to the crucifixion. How else could he
know that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the promised King? Why else would he
be willing to defend him so strongly? How else did he gain his understanding of
the nature of Jesus' kingdom?
It is especially important to notice that there is nothing in the text to
indicate that this is the point in time at which the thief received the
forgiveness of his sins. What the text does say is that he would be with Jesus
in paradise that day. It does not say that it was while he was on the cross that
his sins were forgiven!
There is a principle of Bible understanding that we need to be aware of. This
"being saved like the thief on the cross" deals with the authority of Christ.
Jesus had the authority to save this sinner then, just as he does for us today.
He spoke to him face to face. He speaks to us today through the Word. The Word
tells us today that He saves us through his sacrifice and by our obedience to
his Word. Look at Hebrews 5:8-9
Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which
he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him;
Jesus will save those who obey him, those who believe and trust Jesus enough to
do as he says. He says that we must be baptized. That is Jesus statement to me
and to you. Will you believe Him? Will you trust Him?
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the
gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Should we ignore this command because we want to make the rules? Would we rather
be saved like the thief who was on the cross next to Christ than obey this
simple commands of Jesus? Will we ignore what Jesus says and do as we please?
Think about this carefully. We must not lay aside the commandments of Jesus
in order to keep our own traditions.
By Ney Reiber
From Expository Files 4.11; November 1997
