The Gospels of Matthew and Mark described both criminals as proud
and scornful of Jesus, writing “...the rebels who were crucified wit However the Gospel of Luke records that one of them
was humble and repentant, asking Jesus “...remember me when you come into your
kingdom.”
h him also heaped insults on him”
So isn’t this an obvious discrepancy in what is supposed to
be the Word of God?
I believe Matthew and Mark told of the insults and mockery
of both criminals but stopped short of telling how one of them repented and
trusted Jesus right there on the cross.
Maybe their purpose was to keep the story brief, or to highlight the
suffering of Jesus, but another effect was to warn us that people often
continue in rebellion toward God right up into death and that no one is guaranteed
a second chance.
I talked with a young man named Omar recently who is living
in this sort of rebellion. He said that
if he were to die today, he might very well end up in hell. I got the impression, however, that he still
believes God will give him time to repent, so he is indulging in the pleasures
of sin for now before doing so. He should
learn from the unrepentant criminal that no one is guaranteed a second chance.
The Gospel of Luke, however, tells the rest of the story, of
how one of the criminals repented of his mockery and insults, putting his trust
in Jesus, to which Jesus replied “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me
in paradise.”
Knowing the full story as presented in Luke comes in helpful
when trying to explain God’s grace to those who trust in their good works for
salvation, even people like Omar who trusts in his “future” good works once he
decides to repent. Omar grew up
Catholic, and then his parents became Jehovah’s Witnesses. From their influence his understanding is
that people gain salvation through personal effort.
Omar should take warning from the unrepentant criminal, but
he can also learn about God’s grace from the second criminal who was saved
through repentance and faith in Jesus.
Although the second criminal never had the chance to earn salvation
through good works, this man experienced salvation that very day, not because
of his own good deeds but because of Jesus’ good work on the cross. Both were guilty and neither of them paid
back their sin with good deeds, yet Jesus, the innocent one, offers the free
gift of salvation to the one who would receive it.
Paul wrote of this is Romans 9 – “What then shall we say? Is
God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ It does not, therefore, depend on human
desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised
you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my
name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore, God has mercy on whom he
wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”
Must God forgive both criminals? Must He punish them
both? Is God not sovereign in whom He
will show mercy? If there is a
discrepancy involved with this story, maybe it is found in those who claim to
honor God as God, yet refuse to accept God’s sovereign choice to punish one
criminal for his sins, while showing mercy and grace to another.
See our conversation HERE at https://youtu.be/-Fc8Os-FYB4
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