When Jesus is being crucified, two men are being crucified with Him at the same time. These are two thieves.
A conversation takes place between one of the thieves and Jesus; in Luke 23:42, 43:
And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”
And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
Initially this seems like a very simple and quick repeat of so many Jesus related biblical events, “human meets Jesus – human is humbled by Jesus – Jesus loves human – Jesus saves human” except this event only takes up two sentences. It’s not surprising the majority of preachers and teachers skim the surface of this conversation, there seems to be very little revelation here.
But when you dig deep, there is a lot here. So much in fact that it can be overwhelming.
First, let’s realize that the crucifixion of Jesus is THE single most important event in the relationship between God and humanity. The crucifixion of Jesus is the ultimate “it” of all time, it is the moment of blood, sacrifice and salvation, it is the moment the Son of God is put to death so we may live. The crucifixion is why wars are fought and it is the event etched into millions of stained glass windows and ornaments all around the world. Why share “it” with a thief? Or two?
God is sharing the “it” moment with a thief and once we realize who the thief is, it actually makes perfect sense.
So…who is the thief on the cross next to Jesus?
The thief is a bad guy. He probably broke into people’s houses and stole their stuff, or beat them up and robbed them in the dark. Maybe he roughed up the elderly as he ransacked their property. Whatever he did, it is bad enough to earn him a torturous one-way journey on a tree, he is judged and found worthy of death by man. But he is judged worthy of life by God.
The thief on the cross is the modern day car jacker, home invader and bank robber. He is the convicted felon who “repents and finds Jesus” in jail, you know the ones, you see them on television all the time. The thief on the cross is everyone on death row, everyone judged and found worthy of death by our fellow man.
The thief on the cross is also everyone YOU don’t like, for whatever reason. He is the person who cut you off in traffic this morning and you cursed them out, he is the family member who ruins family get-togethers by drinking too much and becoming belligerent, and he is the parent who beat you up deserted you. The thief on the cross is the grossly overweight person you stared at when they made their third round trip to the buffet tables… and he is the super skinny girl who wears a size “0″ and who obviously has an eating disorder.
The thief on the cross is the politician you don’t agree with, the talk show host you despise, the real estate agent who ripped you off, the preacher you say is wrong, the pop star who dresses too this or that, the woman who is having an affair with your husband, the bully at school, the homosexuals down the street, and all the people who go to the wrong church.
The thief on the cross is all of your least favorite people in the world, everyone you argue with, everyone you judge, everyone you judge worthy of death. The thief on the cross is everyone you hate.
The thief on the cross is also everyone you DO like.
Not only do we humans judge people down, we also judge people up. You prefer to hang out with this person instead of that one, you prefer this parent over the other one, you like this child better than that one, and this cousin is your favorite cousin. You choose this person to be your spouse instead of someone else, you gave that homeless person money but not the other, you like this preacher better than any other, and you prefer this president over that one.
The thief on the cross is your son, your daughter, you mother and father, your best friend, your favorite teacher, and your favorite pop star or actor.
The thief on the cross is all of your favorite people in world, everyone you laugh with, everyone you are grateful for for being alive. The thief on the cross is everyone you love.
We cannot NOT judge, it’s what we do, all day, every day.
Not only do we judge, we are also judged ourselves, every day. We are judged too fat, too skinny, too pretty, too ugly, too young, too old, too tall, and too short. We listen to the wrong music and to the right music, we wear the wrong clothes and the right clothes, and we go to the right church and we go to the wrong church. This uncle likes you, this one doesn’t, this preacher likes you, this one doesn’t.
In addition to you judging others (up and down) and others judging you, there is one other form of judgment that takes place. We judge ourselves. We judge ourselves worthy, not worthy, fat, skinny, awesome, not awesome, and we judge ourselves without ceasing.
You are judged worthy of death by yourself and your fellow man every day. But God judges you worthy of life.
The thief on the cross is you and you are the thief on the cross. The thief on the cross is all of humanity.
Jesus is sharing the crucifixion “it” moment with the thief on the cross because the thief on the cross is you. Jesus and you are on the cross together.