“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” – Luke 23:39 KJV
We don’t hear much about the other man on the cross. We know that there were two men crucified along with Jesus Christ, “Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side, and Jesus is the midst” (John 19:18 KJV). We know that the other two men that were crucified along with Jesus were thieves, “then were there two thieves crucified with him, on one the right hand, and another on the left” (Matthew 27:38 KJV). Our Lord is in Paradise and the thief on the right side of Jesus’ cross, who asked our Lord to remember him when Jesus entered into His Kingdom, is in Paradise, “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43 KJV). We know that the other man on the cross insulted Jesus Christ “Let the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32 KJV).
Can you imagine being minutes from death and still insulting people? And it wasn’t just the thief on the left that was insulting the Lord but both thieves insulted Jesus, “The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in his teeth” (Matthew 27:44 KJV). Jesus Christ fulfilled the thief’s request and took the humbled thief on his right-hand side to Paradise. Why do you think it was the thief on the right-hand side? Jesus sits on the Father’s right hand side (Hebrews 8:1; 10:12). We are seated with Jesus on the right-hand side of the Father (Ephesians 2:4-7 KJV). The thief was a sinner, but in those final moments of his life, he was in the right place at the right time. The other man on the cross was on the Lord’s left hand side. Although both thieves railed and criticized the Lord, the man on the left-hand side was left out of Heaven. Being on the right hand is the right place to be, but being on the left could mean that we get left out. Why was being on the left for this thief on the cross being in the wrong place at the wrong time and a condition that was just the opposite of the thief on the Lord’s right hand side? He never humbled himself. He was being humiliated but the humiliation never changed his mind. The problem that many men and women have is the same problem that the thief on the left-hand side of Jesus’ cross have. It wasn’t the fact that the thief on the right asked the Lord to remember him that got him into Paradise, but it was the fact that he changed his mind first, which changed his heart. If we believe in our hearts then confess with our mouths, we too can be with Jesus.
Submitted by Trustee Stanley Ridley