The Good Thief

Intro

Our consideration of the second thief this evening must begin with the humble admission that, like the first thief, we know very little about this man.

-the second thief speaks a mere 44 words in my English Bible,

- and an even more concise 34 words in Greek!

->his brevity is understandable given that each word uttered while being crucified required an act of excruciating physical exertion and the use of breath doubtless precious to a man who would soon die of asphyxiation.

—>Yet in his brief final words, the second thief not only provides an illuminating contrast to the response of the first thief to Jesus, but he presents to us a remarkably clear-eyed summation of the gospel itself.

>The chief priest of Israel, Pilate, Herod, the crowd, the centurion at the foot of the cross, the cowering disciples, and thief one and thief two all had to answer a life changing, and eternity changing question: what will you do with Jesus?

>>Here’s the truth tonight: we must each answer that same question.

—> Golgotha presents a crossroad for every individual

>>>If you are here tonight as a hardened sinner or a wandering saint—if you have never believed the gospel or if you struggle to live it—if your love for Christ has grown cold, if you hope in him as savior but have declined to worship and obey him as Lord, or if you are a faithful disciple seeking to renew again and again your affection for your first love-----> whoever you are…tonight, what will you do with Jesus?

—>For the sake of our souls, we must not respond as the first thief did—mocking and deriding Jesus.

—---->>>>Instead, in the brief moments we have, we will consider the 4 things the second thief demonstrated he understood that his fellow robber failed to see. Four things that illicit these eternity transforming words from Jesus: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

1. He understood his unworthiness.

He begins by rebuking his fellow robber:

“Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” 40b

the thrust of the question is clear: we are, all three of us, condemned to die.

there is something grotesque and morbidly ironic in the 1st thief joining in the mockery of the dying man Jesus—he is dying also!

it is one thing for the crowd to mock the fate of the dying, but the first thief demonstrates breath-taking arrogance to mock his fellow dying man.

the 1st thief like all the unrighteous described in Psalm 1, who, having followed the counsel of the wicked in his heart, who, having pursued the way of sinners with his life, now takes his place among the scoffers

but the second thief in contrast, humbly acknowledges the justness of his suffering.

“And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.” 41a

he says to his fellow thief “we suffer justly” it is the “due reward for our deeds”

I like the NIV here: “we are getting what our deeds deserve.”

In the face of death there is no pretense of self-righteousness here, only the brutally honest self-assessment that “We are getting exactly what our evil deeds deserve-and that’s death.”

>>We live in a world people convinced of their inherent goodness.

>People living with unfounded self-assurance that they are basically good

>We are an unrighteous, profane people, who should, by rights, be without hope, because, as we read in Hebrews “without holiness, no one will see the Lord.”

>>>By rights without hope, because the wage of sin is death, and that deadly wage is just, and every one of us are guilty.

->In the face of death, the second thief saw clearly his unworthiness.

2. He understood the worthiness of Christ.

He understood something life-changing about the person of Christ.

He understood that his only hope was Christ.