The Two Thieves

The Two Thieves

Luke 23:32-43

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

Should not those whom have God’s holy Word and His Spirit living inside of them have such a great faith that nothing is impossible for them to do (Matthew 17:20)? One would think so, but one can’t help but be influenced by the sifting sands of culture that is constantly bombarding God’s children with the message that truth is relative to the individual and self-seeking pleasure is the goal of living a fulfilled life! We study our Bible and try to emulate the example Christ gave us (John 13:15) but our faith is weak because we see so few Christians able to fulfill God’s commands to keep their ways pure and holy (Psalms 119 9-16; 1 Peter 1:16). If only we could find someone with the faith of Abraham whom was willing to sacrifice his own son or David whom stood before Goliath or Daniel whom in the face of the lion’s den refused to stop worshipping God or Peter and John whom in the face of death refused to stop speaking about Christ; then maybe we might become inspired to believe God can do anything, even remove our mountains of unbelief! Are we doomed then to give up in despair and chose the easy path of mediocrity and lukewarmness? And if we as Christians can’t find examples of holiness then how are we to be “living witnesses” of faith in God to the lost of this world? The following sermon is going to examine the testimony of the two thieves on the cross to illustrate first that even though God has given many over to their reprobate minds (Romans 1:26-28) no one or is beyond redemption; and second that faith is not to be dependent on circumstances but on belief that God is sovereign and can do the impossible!

The Failure of Human Wisdom

Before we can truly understand the responses of either thief to the crucifixion of Christ, we need to understand how badly humanity failed our Savior. Before the creation of this world God knew we must send His Son Jesus to take away the sins of this world (Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 13:10). When the appointed time arrived Jesus, whom shared in the very nature and was equal to God (Philippians 2:7), chose to take on the nature of the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. Born both of God and man (Matthew 1:18) Jesus came to earth with the glorious message that entrance into the kingdom of God was not based on genealogy, nationalism, temple or Torah but on belief in His atoning sacrifice. The moment Christ announced God’s sovereignty those in positions of power and authority began to oppose Him. Despite His endless miracles (John 21:25) that clearly demonstrated His rule over the physical and spiritual world (Colossians 1:16), our courts unjustly sentenced Him to be crucified. The Jewish courts charged Him with blasphemy for calling God His Father and therefore equal to Him (John 5:16; Matthew 26:57-68) and the Roman courts while finding Him innocent gave into the public pressure and had Him crucified. Truly human wisdom is foolishness in the sight of God (1 Corinthians 1:25)!

The Mocking Thief

Based on merely human wisdom it is easy to understand why one of the thieves mocked Jesus. Surely someone whom fed five thousand with just a few loaves and fish (Mark 6:31-44), casted out demons from two possessed men (Matthew 8:28-34), healed the leper and paralytic (Mark 1:40-45, 2:1-12), raised both Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus from the dead (Mark 5:21-24, John 11:1-46) and commanded the winds and sea to obey Him (Mark 4:35-41, 6:45-52); would be more than capable of saving Himself and them! The thief probably thought to himself are the Jews correct in rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, after all how could one claim to have defeated Rome when one is experiencing their “most cruel and horrifying method of execution? Furthermore, why would God’s own Son ever allow humanity to beat and mock Him when He could easily have called more than twelve legions of angels to fight for Him or with a single word eradicated them all (Matthew 26:53-54)? Nothing in Christ’s appearance that day attracted this thief’s soul to believe (Isaiah 53:2-3) so he joined the people and rulers and mocked Christ (Luke 23:36) by asking Him to prove He was the Messiah by saving Himself and them as well (verse 39).

The Believing Thief

Despite having witnessed the same events the second thief was miraculously able to see what not even God’s people saw, the Messiah! While he too was guilty of the same crimes as the other thief and initially mocked Christ, he had a change of heart. While one thief saw the beatings, mocking’s and crucifixion as signs of illegitimacy the other came to realize them as signs that the Suffering Servant was present and able to grant him eternity in paradise. How he came to understand the Person and work of Christ we simply do not know. He might have seen the humiliation and agony of the cross as the fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah that the Messiah would be “despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain” (verse 3). Maybe he read the Gospel out of the lips of Christ’s enemies who testified He had saved others? Maybe in the face of Christ he saw not a pretender but the incarnate Son of God, a face shining with goodness, kindness and unrivalled tenderness to not leave His lost sheep without hope (Luke 15:1-7) but to take the punishment of their sins upon Himself so that through His wounds they might be healed and have the means to be reconciled unto God (Isaiah 53:5)! Whatever the reasons makes no difference for the faith of this thief was so great that he rebuked the other criminal for mocking the sinless Lamb of God and then asked Jesus to show favor to him when His kingdom was realized and He was pronounced King of the living and the dead!”