Mark 15:25-32; Matthew 27:44; Luke 23:39-43
Over the years of my journey with Christ, I’ve had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with people from many different backgrounds, in many different settings and at many different stages of their lives.
By the Gospel, I mean the good news that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose again so that we can be forgiven, receive the gift of eternal life, and enter into a relationship with the God of Heaven.
I have shared the Gospel at weddings, in homes, at church services, over the phone, at funerals, during rounds of golf, at the hospital, with the homeless, while travelling, with strangers and friends, over the internet, in public prayers, in emails and handwritten messages, with criminals, with those of political power, in restaurants, at church, etc., etc.
On several occasions I have even shared the Gospel at the hospital with people who were in an unconscious state. I remember one specific incident I had with a man that had never made a decision to turn to Christ for eternal salvation. His family was deeply concerned for his soul and wanted him to have one more opportunity to hear about the love of God before he slipped into eternity. I’m told that a person in an unconscious state can sometimes hear what you are saying and may well remember it when/if he wakes up. On this specific occasion we knew that this man wasn’t going to recover, but we all felt he needed one more opportunity to hear the truth that could change his eternal destiny. As carefully as I could, I shared with him the love of God and how he could receive God’s forgiveness. Of course, none of us will know until eternity whether he responded to Christ or not. But, I pray that he called out to the Lord in the closing moments of his life with us.
Please don’t let stories of this nature suggest to you that it’s okay to wait until the last moment to seize the opportunity to receive Christ. Actually, waiting in this fashion is the worst decision you can ever make because it places your soul in peril of being separated from God forever. To leave this world without knowing you are right with God is the gravest error anyone could ever make in life. In addition to the horrifying reality that those who die without Christ suffer the eternal consequences of their sins, procrastinators also leave their families with a terrible sense of hopelessness because they don’t know about their loved ones’ final destiny. That burden forced on your family by your stubborn indecision leaves them without the consolation of knowing there’s a reunion day coming.
I think it’s fair to ask the questions, “Are such ‘deathbed’ experiences really genuine? Isn’t it unrealistic to believe that a person could come to Christ in the final moments of his/her life?” However, to answer these questions we need to review at least one such “deathbed” experience recorded for us in scripture.
At the time Jesus was crucified, he wasn’t suffering alone on Calvary’s hill outside the Jerusalem walls. There were also two thieves crucified with Him, one on either side of Jesus. Their story speaks volumes about the patience of God and His desire to show mercy and grace to all mankind...even in the final moments their lives.
Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. And the inscription of His accusation was written above: THE KING OF THE JEWS. With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.” And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him. (Mark 15:25-32)
Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing. (Matthew 27:44)
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
It’s important to note, at this point, that Jesus being numbered with these “transgressors” was the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy concerning Him (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 22:37). This was no mere man, nor was He dying for the sins He had committed, but for those of all mankind!
We know very little about the other two men crucified with Christ except what these three passages tell us about them. Clearly, they had been convicted of crimes against their fellow man and were paying the ultimate price that society could exact for their transgressions. And, sadly, even these crucified criminals joined in the mockery that was heaped on Jesus by the other people who had gathered to watch Him die.
Mark uses the plural, imperfect tense of the verb translated “reviled” (15:32) to indicate that these two thieves “continued to reproach him” with the same kind of repetitious hatred everyone else spewed at Him. Matthew adds the phrase, “with the same thing” (27:44), reminding us that these two criminals said similar, vile things as the chief priests, scribes and passersby vocalized.This whole account makes you wonder what was going on in the minds of these two fellow-sufferers that would cause them to speak such ill of Jesus. After all, they (not Jesus) were undeniably guilty of the crimes for which they were being punished.
On this crucifixion day, what we see is Jesus being mocked as Prophet (Mark 15:29), Saviour (Mark 15:31), and King (Mark 15:32). There are also at least four groups of people that join in the reproach of Christ: those that were passing by (Mark 15:29), the religious leaders of the day (Mark 15:31), the two criminals on either side of Jesus (Mark 15:32), and the Roman soldiers (Luke 23:36). The picture that the Gospel writers draw for us is of One who is utterly forsaken, rejected and alone as He faces His impending death.
But, something changed for one of these two thieves that caused Him to see Jesus as the true Messiah. We can only conjecture as to what brought about this change of heart, since the scripture doesn’t specifically tell us. But, after hanging on the cross for a period of time and joining in the reviling of Christ himself, he had a total transformation that even caused him to rebuke the other criminal for his continued angry insults toward Christ.
Sometime after he had been crucified next to Christ, this thief had come to the conclusion that Jesus was no criminal at all. Actually, he acknowledged that He was innocent, called Him “Lord,” and declared that He ruled over His eternal Kingdom. It’s as dramatic a change as you will ever find anywhere in scripture and it happened in the final hours of this man’s life. He had no opportunity to make amends for the wrongs he had done. He wasn’t able to be ritually washed, offer a sacrifice to God, or restore anything to those he had wronged. All he could do was entrust the safekeeping of his eternal soul to the One that was paying his sin penalty for him.
What could have effected such change in this man after previously participating in the reviling of Jesus?
While it’s impossible to know for certain the answer to that question, there are some possibilities that are worthy of consideration.
- Maybe it was seeing the sign above Jesus’ head that read, “The King of the Jews” that made him realize this was no ordinary man and that He was the Messiah.
- Maybe it was looking into the eyes of Jesus and seeing the compassion He expressed toward those crucifying Him that convinced him Jesus was the Savior.
- Maybe it was because he feared eternity and the just punishment he would receive for his sins that turned him to his final and only hope.
- Maybe it was the words Jesus spoke from the cross when He said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34) that convinced him that Christ alone could offer him forgiveness.
- Maybe it was being alone while he hung there suffering and dying without any other person that cared about his life. With Jesus that day were some unnamed women, along with the mother of our Lord and her sister; and two other women who are named, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. The beloved disciple (John) was also present. But, as far as we know, there was no one with either of the two criminals. Perhaps it was at the moment Jesus spoke to His mother (John 19:26) that the thief realized he was going into eternity alone and his mind changed about Christ.
- Maybe it was the calm and majestic way in which Jesus conducted Himself as He suffered this horrendous crucifixion. Only an innocent man on a mission would be willing to die this death without defending Himself or crying out in anger.
- Maybe it was the words mockingly spoken by Christ’s enemies, “He saved others” that convinced him that Christ alone could save him. The thief may have reasoned, “If He saved others, then He can save me!” (What they taunt him for not doing, saving himself, is precisely because he is doing what they ridicule, saving others. He cannot save Himself and save others.) Wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony for Christ’s enemies.
- Maybe it was just the realization that Jesus was enduring an unjust sentence that finally convinced him that Jesus was Whom He claimed to be.
Whatever the reason, this man who had been blaspheming Jesus a few minutes earlier has been drawn by the Holy Spirit to recognize Him as the innocent One Who is the “Lord” and now desires to enter His Kingdom with Him.
If there was ever a testimony to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is in receiving this repentant sinner in the final moments of his life. This thief placed his entire eternal destiny in the promise of the One being crucified next to him and was assured that he would be with Christ in “paradise.” Such an amazing privilege was offered to a person that most people would have considered among the most unworthy. By simple faith, he received the promise of forgiveness and life everlasting found alone in Jesus Christ.
The word "paradise" is a Persian word meaning "a walled garden." When a Persian king wished to give one of his subjects a special honor, he made him a “companion of the garden” and chose him to walk in the royal garden with the king. What Jesus promised this former thief was forgiveness and the honored place of a “companion of the garden” in the courts of Heaven. That’s what Jesus promises all His children...that they will be with Him in the beautiful courtyards of Heaven (John 14:3).
This same thing still happens today whenever anyone comes to Jesus to receive God’s forgiveness and salvation. The fact is that no matter what you’ve done or how late it is in your life right now, if you’ll trust Jesus as your Savior, you will spend eternity with Him in Heaven, too.
What lessons can we learn from the thief that turned to Jesus in the final moments of his life?
- Jesus never forces anyone to come to Him for salvation, always leaving the choice to each individual.
Jesus is the greatest evangelist Who ever lived, but He didn’t use any miracle this day to convince either thief to trust Him as Savior. Jesus simply allowed both men to make the decision for themselves about Him. He came to seek and to save the lost, but only those that willingly respond to His loving pursuit experience His forgiveness and abundant life.
Careful readers of Mark’s Gospel will know from 8:11–13 that the statement made by the religious leaders that they must “see and believe” (i.e., a sign-15:32) is always evidence of unbelief.
- A lifetime of bad choices can be forgiven by one right choice to receive Christ as your Savior.
These thieves were not hanging on these crosses because they had made a singular bad decision. They were there because the pattern of their lives for years had been transgression, which brought them to this place of punishment. However, one right choice by one of the thieves erased forever a multitude of bad choices that he had previously made.
- Every choice you make in life draws you to someone/something and drives you away from someone/something else.
These two thieves were alike in so many ways, even to reviling Jesus together from their crosses. But, one of them made a choice that separated him from the other thief and brought him to Jesus. The choice to believe on Christ means that some of our acquaintances might be distanced from us by that choice.
- No one is ever so far gone in sin that the grace of God cannot reach him.
These men were criminals dying for the crimes they had committed, but they were not beyond the reach of the Savior. Where sin abounds grace does much more abound (Romans 5:20)! Let no one despair thinking they are too bad to be saved. As the hymn writer put it, "the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives."
- Salvation is wholly the work of God apart from any human merit or assistance!
This man couldn’t participate in religious services, ceremonial rituals, good works or any other type of human contribution. All he could do was respond in faith to the one that was paying his sin debt on the center cross. There was no time or opportunity for this man to do anything that could have been misconstrued as him contributing to his own salvation.
- If you can understand the implications of the Gospel, it is never too early or too late to receive Christ as your own Savior.
From the earliest moment that a person understands the Gospel, until that person draws his final breath, the way is always open for anyone to come to Christ. If Christ is speaking to your heart, now is the time to respond to His call.
- As long as a person has the mind and will to choose eternal life over separation from God, it is never too late to proclaim the Gospel that can open his/her heart to the saving grace of God.
Just remember, on the center cross Jesus died for your sins. On one of the other crosses a sinner died in his sins. And, on the third cross a sinner died to his sins. Which sinner are you? The repentant one or the rebellious one? Your eternal destiny hangs in the balance today!!
