Based on Luke 23:26-47 (New King James Version)
“Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?’ There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots. 35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.’ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.’ And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 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.’ Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ’ Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous Man!’”
As we will see, this testimony of the criminal who justified the Lord may be the one with the most faith in all of Scriptures. To start, why was this criminal being crucified? According to the Word, he was a thief, as it is written: “Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left.” Matthew 27:38. We don't know if he stole a lot, or a little, or who he stole from, etc. We only know that he was a thief. Therefore, according to the ten commandments, part of the law of Moses which was what Israel used to judge and condemn, as well as the civic laws that Rome had established, this man had to be punished. He had to pay for his crime. Anyone would say in our society today that it was an extreme punishment, because today, no developed country sentences a thief to death. Looking at it sociologically, things have changed a lot between then and today, and that is why we also have what we have today, because the level of order has been lost, and the weight, so to speak, of the evils that are done.
So, this man, by his own confession, declared that what was happening to him was just. He did not excuse his evil. He did not claim that what they were doing to him was unfair. He did not begin to claim his supposed rights as many criminals claim them today. He did not blame society or his family problems for the wrong he did. And most importantly, he did not rebel against God because of his condemnation. So, not only having been condemned to death, but suffering a death in the most cruel and prolonged way that it could be possible for a person to suffer, this was the condition he found himself in when he met the Lord. We do not know if this man had a previous encounter with the Lord. We only see that He had a general knowledge, and that he knew that the Lord had done no wrong to deserve to be crucified. He knew Him as an innocent man being wrongly condemned.
To argue the main point about this man, we have to look at what faith means. The Word of God defines faith as such: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. Even more simply, faith is about believing or having conviction in something that you cannot see at the moment. What is the difference in faith between this man, and all those who came before him, those who lived in his time, and even with us today? If we see things before the Lord was crucified, a person could have faith in God because everyone had tangibly seen the great acts of God, starting with Enoch, until Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, and many others who experienced the Lord, seeing His supernatural works as God. When He was in the flesh on this earth, people also very tangibly saw the works of the Lord such as all His wonders and miracles, that He even raised the dead. After the death and resurrection, and the ascension of the Lord to heaven, all of us have the written testimonies of the faithful who saw with their eyes the wonders of the Lord. We not only know how the story began, but also how it continued, and continues today, that Jesus is God. But what did this thief see? He saw the most difficult moment of being able to believe in the Lord. He saw the part of the story that even put the apostles to the test, and I am afraid to say that even they failed in their faith at that moment, when He was arrested as it is written: “Then they all forsook Him and fled.” Mark 14:50. This thief saw the Lord at His worst moment, when neither the great wonders, nor the great signs, nor the incredible miracles could be seen. What did this thief see? As the prophet Isaiah prophesied: “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:2-7. Then, this man showed a faith superior to everything before and until now, because he believed in the Lord while He was in the most difficult moment to believe, humanly speaking. Even though they were suffering the same evil, he chose to see the Lord as He was (and is), and remained in that faith until the last moment, without seeing his own physical problem solved and seeing the God in whom he trusted also die before his eyes, and he was justified by his faith. Today, we have many reasons to have faith in the Lord, because we know that He was resurrected and is at the right hand of His Father's throne, as the King and Lord that He is. So, do you have a faith that at least resembles the faith of this repented thief? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel!