The Thief
The Thief
I believe that every single word in the Bible is there for a reason. Even the most seemingly insignificant passage has a message for the reader of some kind.
Take the account of the thief on the cross.
There were two thieves that day – one on either side of Jesus.
“Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left."
Both of them initially mocked Jesus. Both initially ask Him to save them.
"And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross…He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him…The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth."
After mocking Jesus, the two heard Him say repeatedly “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…”
Shortly before Jesus died, one of the thieves mocked again. “…If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.”
At this point, evidently after seeing Jesus raise Himself up on the nails in His hands in order to cry out to God and ask forgiveness for those who were persecuting Him, one of the thieves suddenly realized the truth. He was there on his cross, deserving his punishment, but Jesus was truly Who He said He was, and didn’t deserve to be there. The thief could only conclude that Jesus was there for him, and that Jesus was God. So he said to the mocking thief, “… Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss."
That thief then did the only thing He could do to save himself. He trusted Jesus Christ to save him.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
That was all it took. Faith. God did everything else.
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Both thieves died on their crosses. But both did not go to heaven.
The thief who went to heaven:
Did not do any good works
Did not get baptized
Did not speak in tongues
Did not love God and serve Him
Did not go to confession
Did not tithe
Did not join a church
He did nothing. He only trusted Jesus Christ, Who was hanging on a cross dying. I doubt the thief even knew that Jesus would rise again in three days. All he knew was that he was a sinner, he deserved his punishment, and that his only chance of redemption was through Jesus Christ.
That was put in the Bible for a reason.
What are you trusting to get you to heaven?
thoughts from Ms.Green @ Sunday, April 06, 2008
6 Comments:
Great list of things he did not do! I use him as an example quite often, but hadn't thought about the tithe, confession, denomination and tongues parts.
The ONLY example in the Bible of a "death bed" confession.
For THAT thief, "Today is the day of salvation" held great significance.
My oldest brother, who is a retired Baptist foreign missionary to the Philippines, once preached an entire sermon from the perspective of the thieves on either side of Jesus. He stood with his hands outstretched through the whole sermon. It was very effective.
One point: Perhaps the repentent thief did speak in tongues. We don't know for sure.:)
Good post.
"Perhaps the repentent thief did speak in tongues. We don't know for sure.:)"
That is a valid point, Mark. I tend to believe though, that God told us about the theif,among other reasons, to combat the false doctrines that He knew would come about later on - one of them being "speaking in tongues as a necessity for salvation". If a person was not saved unless they spoke in tongues, and if the theif spoke in tongues before he died, I believe God would have made that clear.
Wish I could have heard your Uncle's sermon.
Wish I could have heard your Uncle's sermon.
...er...I meant brother. :(
"...er...I meant brother. :("
But he's always been like an uncle to Mark.
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