BIBLE
DIGEST - Number 57 February 1996
THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
by Allon Maxwell
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“One of the
criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ?
Save yourself and us!” 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 he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your
kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me
in Paradise.” Luke 23:39-43 RSV This passage
has been consistently misused and misunderstood by many. THE "DEATH
BED REPENTANCE" THEORY The majority of
Christians read the verses to bolster their wishful thinking about the doctrine
of the “Immortality of the Soul” and the associated (and even more
unbiblical) concept, of “Death Bed Repentance”. For these, the
thief was granted a last-minute absolution, and an assurance that, in return
for a few kind words, an immediate place in Heaven, with Jesus, was to be his
that very day. THE "SHIFT
THE COMMA" THEORY Others who know
the truth that the Bible says that death is a sleep in which no
part of the human personality survives the death of the body, and that the
Bible does not teach the doctrine of an inherently immortal
soul, resort to various subterfuges which explain the verse to suit their
theology of “soul sleep”. Most of these
however, stumble over the same death bed repentance problem as those above.
This leaves the thief still amongst the “saved” but consigned to a place in
the future Kingdom of God on Earth, after the
Resurrection. This of course,
leaves the door open for those who are insecure about their own present
status and eternal future, to reassure themselves with the comforting
possibility of their own “death bed repentance”. If the
perishing thief can be accommodated, perhaps they can too! For these, the
usual explanation is to resort to a bit of shaky Greek grammar, which alters
the translation by shifting a comma. By this
unfortunate bit of “amateur Greek” comma relocation, it is claimed that Jesus
is not saying that the thief will be in Heaven today. Instead, they
say, Jesus is telling the thief today, that he will have an
assured place in Paradise on earth when the future Kingdom
comes. Indeed, it is
true that there is no punctuation in the Greek original. Commas
have been inserted by the translators and it might be valid to shift a comma,
if that was the only problem. But we shall see that shifting the comma is not
the real answer in this case! It leaves the major problem
unresolved. A MAJOR PROBLEM
WITH BOTH THEORIES. For those who
know that the Bible does not teach death bed repentance in any
shape or form, neither of these interpretations can be satisfactory! And of course,
those of us who believe Bible teaching about Conditional Immortality, know
that the Thief CANNOT be in Heaven at all yet! He has gone the way of all
flesh, to the same place where all other men go. The Bible says plainly
that the dead are asleep in the grave, awaiting the resurrection. They
know nothing, see nothing, experience nothing. Ecclesiastes
9:5-10 Nor can it be
possible that Jesus and the thief were in Heaven, together, on
the day of the crucifixion. The Bible says plainly
that Jesus, at least, did not go to Heaven THAT DAY! Jesus Himself told Mary,
three days later, that He had not yet ascended to Heaven. John 20:17 That did not happen until
40 days after the resurrection. In fact, we are
told that Jesus actually went to HELL, whatever we understand “hell” to be that
day!!! ..... and was delivered from there when God raised Him from
the dead. Acts 2:31 Further, simply
shifting the comma, requires us to ignore all the clearly defined spiritual
parallels and differences between the coronation of a despotic
earthly king and that of Jesus, a King who “came, not to be served, but to serve.”
Mark 10:45 It ignores the
Scriptural evidence, that a real Kingdom of some sort, did begin that
day. On the cross
Jesus won the crown of rulership over a spiritual kingdom, which is the present
preparation ground for the future eternal Geographic Kingdom. WHAT THE BIBLE
REALLY SAYS To understand
what really happened, we must first come to grips with what Jesus meant by
the phrase, “In your Kingdom”. There is, of
course, unquestionably, a future Kingdom on Earth. Jesus spoke about it
often. But He also
sometimes spoke about another present aspect of the kingdom,
which is too often overlooked by those who appear to concentrate all
their attention on the future. One of those
places where Jesus discussed this different aspect of the kingdom is found in
Matthew 20:20-28. “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up
to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these
two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in
your kingdom.” The mother of
the two disciples clearly had a future Kingdom in mind, However, the answer
that Jesus gave is equally clearly about something much less
comfortable than the too easy future glory sought by a doting mother,
for two sons who were far from ready for the “cup” that Jesus was about to drink. "But Jesus answered, "You do not know
what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?"
They said to him, "We are able." They had
completely misunderstood the question. They did not yet really know what they
were asking. Luke tells us
that the setting for this unsavoury incident is the Upper Room of the last
Supper. Luke 22:24 The cup that
they had in mind was the one that they were about to drink at the Passover
Feast in the Upper room, where they were gathered in ignorance of its
significance on that special night. However, the
cup that Jesus spoke about is the reality represented by that symbolic
Passover cup. It was the
same cup that He prayed about in Gethsemane, later that same night.
It was the same cup of suffering which He drank for our salvation (Matthew 26:39-42, Luke
22:41-42). In fact, the
Psalmist calls it “The cup of salvation”. Psalm 116:12-15 Even if had
been true that they were ready to drink that cup, the places of
“honour” that they sought at His right and left hands, were already reserved
for others. Isaiah had said it long ago! “They made his grave with the wicked .... in
his death”. Isaiah 53:9 Jesus reflected
those words from Isaiah to James and John. “He said to them, “You will drink my cup,
(and indeed they did both suffer for the Gospel years
later) but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant,
but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father”
Matthew 20:23 For all of the
twelve, there was a lesson to learn about the real meaning of
rulership in the Kingdom of God. “And when the ten heard it, they were indignant
at the two brothers.” Matthew 20:24 Jesus went on
to speak of a throne of a different sort to what they all had in mind .....
He spoke of servanthood ..... and the Cross. To qualify for rulership, these
disciples must first learn to serve, as Jesus was about to serve, “by giving His
life a ransom for many”. Mark
10:45 "Jesus called them to him and said, “You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men
exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would
be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you
must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:25-28 And then ......
to demonstrate to the squabbling disciples, what He meant by service
as a qualification required of those who aspire to rule in His Kingdom ......
He washed their feet! compare Luke 22:24 -29
with John 13:1-17 The next day,
still serving, and still demonstrating the love that is the mark of real
disciples and real rulers, He "gave His life a ransom for many"
...... and the two thieves "for whom it had been prepared",
took their places at His right and left hands. It becomes
clear now that, for Jesus, the coming of His Kingdom was about to begin the
very next day, with a coronation ceremony that included an investiture with a
“royal” scarlet robe, and a crown of thorns. There was, the
very next day, a "victory parade" in which He "led
captivity captive". Ephesians 4:8 There was a “throne”
to which He was nailed in order to establish His right to rule. And above His
head was nailed a “title” in Hebrew, and Latin and Greek, which
declared to all nations, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”
John 19:19-20) With that
understanding of the "coming" (or beginning) of the Kingdom, which
Jesus clearly saw in the events surrounding the cross, we now turn to the
exchange between Jesus and the thieves. TONAL LANGUAGE In order to
complete our understanding of what happened between Jesus and the two thieves
on the cross, we must now also come to grips with the nature of TONAL LANGUAGE. Our language is
TONAL! We hear tonal language every day. We speak it every day. To properly
understand what is said to us we must take into account the tonal variations
which are applied to words by those who speak to us. Variations in
the tone of voice in which something is said, can completely change our
understanding of the exact same words. We can speak in
anger, sarcasm, cynicism, friendship, etc., all of which can reflect in the
tone of voice which we use and affect the meaning of the words we use. The very same
words, spoken in different tones, can have completely different meanings
...... even opposite meanings! When we hear
the tone, we automatically apply the correct “translation” to what is said. A writer,
however, must include written adjectives which define what is
said, using additional words to convey the tone which is to be
understood by the readers. Where, you ask,
is that "Tonal Description" in the story of the Thief on the Cross? Well ...... God
has indeed supplied the additional written words which define the tone in
which the TWO THIEVES spoke! Luke supplies
(only) the basic words spoken by the two thieves. Luke 23:39-43 But the words
alone are not enough! Matthew and
Mark do not tell us what the thieves said. (Matthew
27:44; Mark 15:32)
But they do supply the necessary tonal description, which is
the key to understanding the real meaning of the words reported by Luke! We must not use
Matthew and Luke to contradict each other. Nor may we jump to a conclusion
which is not written. Instead, we must ADD what is written
in the two records to receive the whole counsel of God on this incident, and
correctly interpret what BOTH of the two thieves did really say. Matthew and
Mark, both tell us that both thieves reviled
Jesus, Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:32 without mentioning what they said. Luke however
does tell us WHAT they said when they BOTH reviled Jesus. The FIRST thief
reviled him by railing at Him, saying, "Are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke 23:39 The SECOND
thief also reviled him, by directing words of (mock)
"rebuke" at the first, but (according to Matthew), actually
using the occasion (indirectly at first) to rail at Jesus. He said, "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." Luke 23:40-41 Then he turned
directly to Jesus and continued his reviling ....... yes, reviling
, Matthew says!! "Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom". Luke 23:42 Remember, Luke
does not tell us how to interpret those words, but Matthew does! In the light of
what Matthew says, there is no Biblical warrant at all for adding our
own wishful alternative, but unwritten, different Tonal Description! These are NOT friendly
words! They are the
sarcastic, angry railing of a frightened man, dying in dreadful agony, and
trying desperately to shut out for a few brief moments, the relentless pain
from which there was no escape. No reply from
Jesus to the first thief is recorded. However, in
response to the railing, of the second thief, Jesus
did answer. "And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be
with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43 This was it!!
The kingdom had come!! ..... and for the thief "today" was
all of it!! For that day, and that day alone, in fulfilment of
the ancient prophecy by Isaiah, and in fulfilment of the words of Jesus
Himself, the thief shared the "throne" of Paradise
with Jesus!! ....... And then he died and was buried, to await whatever faces
him on the Day of Judgement. But I doubt
whether he understood what was said to him, any more than the two disciples
understood on the previous evening at the Last Supper. If we will
receive it, this was the beginning of Paradise. This was the
beginning of a new and different royal priesthood 1 Peter 2:9-10 after the order of Melchizedek. This was the
event which prepared the way for the present reality of our
transfer from the Kingdom of Darkness, into the present Kingdom
of the Beloved Son, where we will become qualified to share in the future
inheritance of the "children of light".
Colossians 1:12-14 And when this
work is completed, then Jesus, who in the presence of the disciples, was
taken up into Heaven, will come in the same way as He was seen to go into
Heaven. Then we will
see the reality of that geographic kingdom of which Jesus also spoke so
often. We will see the
God of Heaven establish a Kingdom which will last for ever, and we will see
the final reality of the promise made to Mary by the Angel Gabriel: "He will be great and will be called the
Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His
father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
......................and of His Kingdom there will be no end."
Luke 1:32-33. CONCLUSION Whatever else
we may wish to speculate (wishfully) about the final fate of the thief on the
day of Judgement, we may not use Luke to conclude that he received any
last-minute assurance of "salvation". Nor may we use
this story to justify the common practise of extracting last minute
"confessions of faith" and "repentance" from the dying,
in order to alleviate the fears of those who survive! On the cross,
Jesus made several deliberate references to Old Testament prophecies, which
were being fulfilled by the events of that day. The interchange with the
thief is one of those. When Jesus
spoke to the thief, He was NOT granting "absolution", but pointing
to Isaiah, who spoke of the Saviour who would "make his
grave with the wicked ....... in his death."
Isaiah 53:9 The two
thieves were the wicked who shared that dubious "honour". This story of
the Thief on the Cross contains elements which God has concealed and left for
His "Royal Priesthood" to search out. Proverbs 25:2 When we do
search a little deeper, we find some thrilling spiritual lessons about what
it means to be a ruler in the Messiah's Kingdom. These
are essential for those who must be reborn spiritually in order to see
the reality of this present AND future Kingdom
and enter it. John 3:3-8 |