Lent Miweek 5 Matthew 27:38-44 and Luke 23:32-43 Title: The Thief: Rejected, Then Believed
Lenten Midweek 5
The Thief: Rejected, Then Believed
Matthew 27:38–44; Luke 23:32–43
Today we are going to take a look at the two thieves that were crucified alongside of Jesus. One of them, the unrepentant one we don’t pay much attention too, while the repentant thief we hold up as a type of hero of the Passion story. We do so because we remember his confession, as he pled for a place in heaven. And because of that, I think we see him as being a better person than the other criminal and thus deserving of honor.
But when you look closely at the Gospel accounts, we find that the thief’s confession is not the whole story. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that both thieves join the crowds jeering Jesus, “If you are really the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe in you.” Their taunts centered around one thing: If Jesus is God, why doesn’t he use his godly power to save himself, and us too?
A taunt that while it usually remains unspoken, echoes the thoughts of many people who as they stand helpless by the bedside or grave of someone that they love cry out, “How could Jesus be God if he can do nothing more than hang helplessly on the cross? How Could the Thief, or we, for that matter receive as the Son of God one who couldn’t even save himself?”
Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 12, tells us that, “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death.” That verse tells us that the cry “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God” is a natural human reaction to Jesus’ crucifixion. It makes no sense to our natural self that a person dies to win, to rule over defeat sin and death.
Both of the thieves rejected Jesus as God’s Son because Jesus didn’t fit their way of thinking about God. Their thinking, like ours, is that the more spiritual and unearthly a person is, the more like God he is. And the more powerful and full of miracles a person is, the more godlike he is.
Early Jesus fit that image, but on the cross, he didn’t. He was everything but unearthly. He was a real man who was facing a real death. He was bleeding just as anyone else. He was drowning in his own fluid just as the two thieves were. He was condemned to die just the two thieves were.
It was true. Jesus had talked and taught about God. He did miracles and made claims that he would rebuild the temple in three days. He had talked about God the Father as if he were God’s Son. But what the thieves saw that day didn’t add up to Jesus being God. What they saw fell far short. Hanging along side of them was a poor, misguided fool, too weak to save himself, let alone anyone else.
If Jesus would just act like God, the way people expected him to act, then the crowds and the thieves would believe in him. They had heard of Jesus’ miracles. They said so at the foot of the cross: “He saved others”, and he had. He saved others from leprosy, from paralysis, from demons and all sorts of illnesses. He had shown that he had authority over the wind and the waves and set others free from sin. Why one time he had even saved a little girl from death.
But now here he is dying on a cross. It was obvious: “He can’t save himself.” This Jesus who said, “I am the Son of God” could not do what he did for others. The proof was right here, he couldn’t save himself and the crowd jeered.
What seems right, what seems to make sense, if Jesus is really God, ends in death. And it is exactly there that the crowds and the thieves are wrong. The thieves wanted miraculous power, but Jesus showed that God is sacrificial love. Jesus shows us that God doesn’t do things our way.
And it comes as a great surprise, indeed a great shock, to find out how God really comes to us, contrary to all our human ideas and expectations. 1 John 5 tells us, “This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. . . . And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
Both of the thieves saw and heard Jesus as he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jesus did not curse God, but cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In his dying, he prays, asking the Father to be merciful to those who are killing him.
It is in those words that we see Jesus is God, for in those words we see that he is giving his life so that others may have eternal life. This is God’s Son, asking the Father to forgive the ignorance of even the two thieves. This was God giving his life in his Son. And that is all that is needed. God in that act that day has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
We don’t know why only one thief recognized Jesus for who he was while the other thief did not. All we know is that the one thief saw God, not in a miraculous coming down from the cross, not in an unearthly spirit, but in the form of the Suffering Servant.
What added up in man’s way of thinking as evidence against Jesus being God in the flesh begins to fall apart. The thief was seeing the Word in the flesh and hearing the Word of God, not only from Jesus’ lips, but from the lips of God’s enemies, those who were there to make sure he died. And in God’s way, it added up to God’s servant defeating his enemies and the enemies of mankind. It added up to Jesus of Nazareth being determined to save humanity by way of the cross, no matter the personal cost.
The Word of God came to the thief, and the thief let go of man’s ways and man’s thoughts, as he said to the other thief, “Don’t you fear God . . . since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. . . . Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
The repentant thief saw death was man’s way, and he knew that he deserved the condemnation he was under for his sins. The thief’s words concerning his condemnation, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” are not too far from our own as we say in our confession, “We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment.”
That’s true repentance. At first, this thief condemned Jesus as a misguided impostor. Out of his mouth came the words that insulted Jesus. But through the Word of God, faith was created.
As we all know, we are saved through faith alone! But we have to be careful here in how we understand faith, for faith is never alone. And it wasn’t alone on Golgotha either. As this thief confronted the other criminal and confessed his sin, he witnessed to those at the foot of the cross and to us too, that he believed Jesus was the Son of God. The thief’s words remind us of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, when they claimed that Jesus was the son of Satan instead of the Son of God, “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
By the thief’s confession, he repented, and turned from self to God in the flesh, who in dying, was pouring out his blood for the sins of the world. Then Jesus’ second word from the cross became the word of him “who justifies the wicked”: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” And with those words he gave the thief a place in heaven.
And that is what the thief on the cross laid hold of that day. He found God in the flesh and grabbed hold tightly of the promise in Jesus’ word “Father, forgive them. Hearing that promise of forgiveness, the thief prayed the prayer God desires to hear from every sinner, “Have mercy!” “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.
That prayer is our prayer every week as we gather together in worship, as we cry out, “For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”. Jesus then tells us “Today you will be with me in paradise” as I say, “Upon this your confession, . . . I forgive you all your sins”. “For as Luther’s Small Catechism tells us, “Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation”
That dying thief is, I would say the best witness of the crucifixion because his sin was obvious. He deserved according to Roman Law to die.
If Jesus could forgive his sin, there is certainly hope for us. Isn’t that something? This condemned thief who deserved to die has led us to the Son of God. He shows us that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and that he is the way and the truth and the life, as much for you and me as he was for him.
Baptized into the triune God, you and I have entered the “today” of forgiveness and healing, the “today” of salvation and God’s acceptance, indeed, the “today” of God’s presence. “Today” and every day you have God’s salvation. Amen
The Thief: Rejected, Then Believed
Matthew 27:38–44; Luke 23:32–43
Today we are going to take a look at the two thieves that were crucified alongside of Jesus. One of them, the unrepentant one we don’t pay much attention too, while the repentant thief we hold up as a type of hero of the Passion story. We do so because we remember his confession, as he pled for a place in heaven. And because of that, I think we see him as being a better person than the other criminal and thus deserving of honor.
But when you look closely at the Gospel accounts, we find that the thief’s confession is not the whole story. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read that both thieves join the crowds jeering Jesus, “If you are really the Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe in you.” Their taunts centered around one thing: If Jesus is God, why doesn’t he use his godly power to save himself, and us too?
A taunt that while it usually remains unspoken, echoes the thoughts of many people who as they stand helpless by the bedside or grave of someone that they love cry out, “How could Jesus be God if he can do nothing more than hang helplessly on the cross? How Could the Thief, or we, for that matter receive as the Son of God one who couldn’t even save himself?”
Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 12, tells us that, “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death.” That verse tells us that the cry “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God” is a natural human reaction to Jesus’ crucifixion. It makes no sense to our natural self that a person dies to win, to rule over defeat sin and death.
Both of the thieves rejected Jesus as God’s Son because Jesus didn’t fit their way of thinking about God. Their thinking, like ours, is that the more spiritual and unearthly a person is, the more like God he is. And the more powerful and full of miracles a person is, the more godlike he is.
Early Jesus fit that image, but on the cross, he didn’t. He was everything but unearthly. He was a real man who was facing a real death. He was bleeding just as anyone else. He was drowning in his own fluid just as the two thieves were. He was condemned to die just the two thieves were.
It was true. Jesus had talked and taught about God. He did miracles and made claims that he would rebuild the temple in three days. He had talked about God the Father as if he were God’s Son. But what the thieves saw that day didn’t add up to Jesus being God. What they saw fell far short. Hanging along side of them was a poor, misguided fool, too weak to save himself, let alone anyone else.
If Jesus would just act like God, the way people expected him to act, then the crowds and the thieves would believe in him. They had heard of Jesus’ miracles. They said so at the foot of the cross: “He saved others”, and he had. He saved others from leprosy, from paralysis, from demons and all sorts of illnesses. He had shown that he had authority over the wind and the waves and set others free from sin. Why one time he had even saved a little girl from death.
But now here he is dying on a cross. It was obvious: “He can’t save himself.” This Jesus who said, “I am the Son of God” could not do what he did for others. The proof was right here, he couldn’t save himself and the crowd jeered.
What seems right, what seems to make sense, if Jesus is really God, ends in death. And it is exactly there that the crowds and the thieves are wrong. The thieves wanted miraculous power, but Jesus showed that God is sacrificial love. Jesus shows us that God doesn’t do things our way.
And it comes as a great surprise, indeed a great shock, to find out how God really comes to us, contrary to all our human ideas and expectations. 1 John 5 tells us, “This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. . . . And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
Both of the thieves saw and heard Jesus as he said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jesus did not curse God, but cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In his dying, he prays, asking the Father to be merciful to those who are killing him.
It is in those words that we see Jesus is God, for in those words we see that he is giving his life so that others may have eternal life. This is God’s Son, asking the Father to forgive the ignorance of even the two thieves. This was God giving his life in his Son. And that is all that is needed. God in that act that day has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
We don’t know why only one thief recognized Jesus for who he was while the other thief did not. All we know is that the one thief saw God, not in a miraculous coming down from the cross, not in an unearthly spirit, but in the form of the Suffering Servant.
What added up in man’s way of thinking as evidence against Jesus being God in the flesh begins to fall apart. The thief was seeing the Word in the flesh and hearing the Word of God, not only from Jesus’ lips, but from the lips of God’s enemies, those who were there to make sure he died. And in God’s way, it added up to God’s servant defeating his enemies and the enemies of mankind. It added up to Jesus of Nazareth being determined to save humanity by way of the cross, no matter the personal cost.
The Word of God came to the thief, and the thief let go of man’s ways and man’s thoughts, as he said to the other thief, “Don’t you fear God . . . since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. . . . Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
The repentant thief saw death was man’s way, and he knew that he deserved the condemnation he was under for his sins. The thief’s words concerning his condemnation, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve” are not too far from our own as we say in our confession, “We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment.”
That’s true repentance. At first, this thief condemned Jesus as a misguided impostor. Out of his mouth came the words that insulted Jesus. But through the Word of God, faith was created.
As we all know, we are saved through faith alone! But we have to be careful here in how we understand faith, for faith is never alone. And it wasn’t alone on Golgotha either. As this thief confronted the other criminal and confessed his sin, he witnessed to those at the foot of the cross and to us too, that he believed Jesus was the Son of God. The thief’s words remind us of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, when they claimed that Jesus was the son of Satan instead of the Son of God, “I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
By the thief’s confession, he repented, and turned from self to God in the flesh, who in dying, was pouring out his blood for the sins of the world. Then Jesus’ second word from the cross became the word of him “who justifies the wicked”: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” And with those words he gave the thief a place in heaven.
And that is what the thief on the cross laid hold of that day. He found God in the flesh and grabbed hold tightly of the promise in Jesus’ word “Father, forgive them. Hearing that promise of forgiveness, the thief prayed the prayer God desires to hear from every sinner, “Have mercy!” “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”.
That prayer is our prayer every week as we gather together in worship, as we cry out, “For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us”. Jesus then tells us “Today you will be with me in paradise” as I say, “Upon this your confession, . . . I forgive you all your sins”. “For as Luther’s Small Catechism tells us, “Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation”
That dying thief is, I would say the best witness of the crucifixion because his sin was obvious. He deserved according to Roman Law to die.
If Jesus could forgive his sin, there is certainly hope for us. Isn’t that something? This condemned thief who deserved to die has led us to the Son of God. He shows us that Jesus is truly the Son of God, and that he is the way and the truth and the life, as much for you and me as he was for him.
Baptized into the triune God, you and I have entered the “today” of forgiveness and healing, the “today” of salvation and God’s acceptance, indeed, the “today” of God’s presence. “Today” and every day you have God’s salvation. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 6:53 AM
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