Two Thieves
One
Two Thieves
A cross is a sign of contradiction. When we say two people can’t agree, we say they are at cross purposes. And even as Jesus hung on the cross, He hung between two people who disagreed about Him. They disagreed about Jesus because they disagreed about salvation, because they disagreed about life.
St. Luke is the one who gives us the story, “Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.’ The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, ‘Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation. And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, this day you will be with me in Paradise.’”
Two thieves. One wanted to be saved from his situation. The other wanted to be saved from his sins. And one received the salvation he was looking for.
Two
Wanting to be Saved from Your Situation
To the wicked thief, the only thing he was worried about was his external situation. which, admittedly, wasn’t very pleasant. His whole life, probably, had been dominated by a desire to improve his situation. To optimize. To get ahead, to find an angle. Now, here he is, dying hideously. And when he sees Jesus, he probably figures, “Well, might as well give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe this guy could be my ticket out of here. Anyway, it can’t hurt to try.”
Jesus to Him is just one more person to use because all he cares about is his situation. All he cares about is improving his external circumstances. And Jesus has nothing to say to Him. The truth is, if that’s what we care about, Jesus will have nothing to say to us either. If all we ask God for is to make things better or more convenient for us, or to take away some hassle, or some suffering, or just lengthen our lives a little bit. If that’s who Jesus fundamentally is to us, just another avenue for trying to optimize our life situation, then we will be disappointed.
Three
Realizing that Your Situation is Largely Caused by Your Sins
But the other thief realized the truth. He realized that his situation was actually, to a large degree, caused by his sins. Now notice, we don’t know what his crime was, we call him the good thief, but it just says that he was a criminal, but whatever he had done, there’s a good case to be made that it didn’t warrant crucifixion. I don’t care what someone did, or what your views are about capital punishment, even if you think someone needs to be executed, there’s absolutely no justification for hideously torturing someone to death. So that good thief could have very reasonably said, “Listen, I haven’t been perfect, but for sure I don’t deserve this.”
And don’t we say that to God, all the time? When we’re having financial difficulties, or marriage difficulties, or health difficulties? Aren’t we tempted to say, “Listen, I haven’t been perfect, but for sure I don’t deserve this.” That’s not the right attitude. The right attitude is to say, with the good thief, “I have been condemned justly, and the sentence corresponds to my crime.”
Many, many, many of our situations are due to our own sinfulness. Marriage problems, relationship problems, work problems. Even, sometimes, health problems. So many of them could have been avoided, or at least greatly lessened, if we had been more virtuous.
And even when our situation doesn’t seem to have any direct connection to any sin of ours, maybe we’re really being maliciously persecuted, or there’s some disease we’ve innocently contracted, even then, we know that our sins are such that we deserve worse than what we’re getting. Sinfulness, ours and other people’s, is the ultimate cause of all difficult situations. And it’s ultimately from sinfulness that we should be asking to be saved.
Four
Wanting to be Saved from Your Sins
The good thief knew that, at the end of the day, his sins were the problem. What was ruining his life was not that he was crucified. What was ruining his life was that he was a sinner. So, what do we think is ruining our lives?
If we point to circumstances in our external situation, we are on the side of the bad thief. On the contrary, the circumstances of our life, however difficult, provide the opportunity to be saved from sin.
Just think, if that good thief hadn’t been sentenced to crucifixion, he would never have met Jesus. He would have never met salvation, forgiveness, peace, and the promise of eternal joy on the day of his death. Our circumstances, however difficult, are our opportunity for salvation through Christ. Our circumstances, however difficult, are our opportunity to be saved from our sins.
Five
Your Circumstances will Change…
So many people think they’ll be happier if they just change their circumstances. They think like the bad thief. They don’t realize that the thing that’s ruining their lives is their sins. So then, when their circumstances change, they’re surprised that they’re still unhappy. And that’s the point. Our circumstances will change, but that change won’t be for the better unless we become better people.
In the great cathedral in Orvieto, there’s a side-chapel dedicated to the relic of the famous eucharistic miracle. On the wall of the chapel, there’s a painting depicting the crucifixion, including the criminals on either side of Jesus. As Jesus dies on the cross, there’s an angel carrying the happy soul of the penitent thief to heaven. But there’s a demon, yanking the terrified soul of the bad thief out of his mouth.
You see, all our situations are temporary. Every external circumstance in this life will change. If we are repentant, that change will mean greater happiness and closeness to Christ. An angel leading a peaceful soul to heaven. If we don’t recognize our own sinfulness, the change in external circumstances won’t help any. The bad thief did get off the cross. But his suffering didn’t end when he did.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
It’s not wrong to pray about deliverance from specific situations, but as you pray this week, be at peace and remember that if things don’t go your way, the ultimate goal is deliverance from sin.
As an examination of conscience, ask yourself daily: When we meet others, do we see them as useful to us, or good for their own sake? How do we see Christ? Do we only think of Him when we need something from Him?