“One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding Him and saying, ‘Are You
not the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him saying, ‘Do you not
fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he
said, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell
you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’” (Luke 23:39-43)
When you are asked about the Russian style third bar at the foot of Christ’s cross, say that it is for all who look upon it. It speaks to us about our own lives and death. It shows the way either from death to Paradise or to an eternal damnation. It describes the passage from this lifetime to wherever we will spend eternity. For all humans, whether we believe in an afterlife or not, it gives meaning to the way we live now and our destiny after this lifetime is ended.
One of the criminals had no awareness of guilt. When we continually ignore, abuse and defy the image of God within us, eventually we lose access to our basic humanity. That criminal was angry with everybody but himself. He felt that fate had dealt him a raw deal. Lady Luck turned on him. In his eyes he was the only victim, not those he had cheated, conned, stolen from and perhaps murdered. Such criminals become incorrigible, and all too often the attempts to retrain them, correct their wrong-headedness or bring them to penance [hence the term “penitentiary”] are to no avail. Unfortunately all such are not in prisons, as we know today, and many sit in high places and live in luxury. But they have the same moral flaw. They lack compassion and feeling for others. In some way they are predators, and all others mere victims.
The other criminal did not excuse his crimes, the way so many prisoners interviewed by members of the media in our days justify themselves. We’re told that at the last moments of death our whole lives pass before us. Perhaps it so happened to the “good thief.” And that’s the reason why our priests are called to be with those who are falling asleep in the Lord. It’s the last hope for resolution of our past, a time for repentance, forgiveness, comfort and consolation.
Probably he was looking at the words attached above the head of our Lord. He knew that Jesus was innocent, that He was anything but a criminal, and that He was being offered up as a victim of some plot arranged by those in authority, or who were able to manipulate those powers. He had heard the mockery of the Jesus haters: “Hail, King of the Jews!” as they humiliated Him. The image of God had not abandoned him. The Holy Spirit “present everywhere and filling all things” breathed in his soul and revealed to him that the accusation for which Jesus of Nazareth was being crucified and ridiculed by that title was indeed true. He is “King of the Jews.” He, the criminal with a heart of empathy, was also a Jew. Thus he was the first to follow the Messiah to Paradise.
Did he cheat his way to the Kingdom? Was that thief clever enough to steal into Paradise? Not at all. Didn’t our loving Lord Himself say: “I came not to save the righteous, but sinners”? Also, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7). Who but Jesus knows what the “good thief” had in mind by defending the Lord. Maybe he wanted to squelch the banter of the other criminal; maybe he just wanted to offer a kind word to the innocent victim of anger and intrigue. Whatever his motivation, he received a reward far greater than anything he expected or deserved. Such is the overwhelming love of God, who offers so much for just a little glass of water to the thirsty.