The Meaning Behind Jesus’ Words to the Thief
Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, Luke 23:39-43
Then crucified with him are two robbers, one on the right hand, and one on the left,
And one of the criminals who was hanged, was speaking evil of Him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
And the other answered, and was rebuking him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, that you are in the same judgment? And indeed, for things worthy of what we did, we receive the reward of our deeds, but this One did nothing out of place.”
And he said to Jesus, “Remember me, Lord*, when You come in Your kingdom.”
And He said to him, “Truly I say to you today, you will be with Me in paradise.”
So who was this thief? I’ve always heard that the two being crucified with Jesus were thieves. Seems harsh to be crucified for being a thief. Mark gives a little clarification:
Mark 15:7 – Among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.
Seems more likely that they were fellow rebels, possibly followers of Barabbas. But Matthew and Mark use a Greek word that can mean robber, bandit, rebel or revolutionary – λῃστής (lēstēs) and it’s root means plunder. The word that Luke uses means evil doer or criminal.
But the other thing that always catches my attention is that comma in what Jesus tells the penitent criminal. The Greek text doesn’t have punctuation, so Jesus could have meant
“I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise”, or
“I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”
So is Jesus saying it today, or will they both be in paradise today? Or did He mean both? In the end, it may not really matter – they’re both in paradise now.
Number of Fish: 1
Total Fish: 145
153 Fish 