The Story of the Second Thief

The Story of the Second Thief

(Luke 23:40-41) But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong”.

And I’m not sure how theologically convinced the second man was.  That he understood the implications of the man hanging next to him, that he might be the Messiah, the Son of God.  He had heard of him, he knew that he claimed to be a King, but why then was he hanging next to him on a cross? Perhaps it was the juxtaposition of having unbridled hate hanging there beside unbridled love, and figuring if a cross was his only choice, to choose to hang by this one.  Marred more than any man was marred.  The Physician who would not heal himself.  Was there still some kindness flowing behind that broken visage?  Could he make out the gentle brow of a healer hidden under a crown of thorns?

Was there just that part of him that still hoped? The faintest glimmer of saving faith.  The smallest candle of repentance. He couldn’t make it right. He couldn’t climb down off the cross and payback all that he had stolen, or give life back to any whose he had taken. He couldn’t go to the families and ask forgiveness. All he had left was his heart, and his words.

And when you think of the “thief on the cross”, this is the one you think of, not the one who railed, but the one who repented.  One goes to paradise, and one remains lost, all because of the words they chose.

What words did he chose when every word hurts, when every syllable burns?

(Luke 23:42) And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”