FROM THE "REMEMBER ME" OF THE THIEF TO THE "TODAY" OF JESUS ON THE CROSS: EXEGESIS OF LUKE 23. 32-43 (Jimi ZACKA)

All the Gospels state that Jesus did not die alone, but that He was crucified next to other men. But they don't tell us who they were. Mark and Matthew say they were "bandits" (in Greek weighted). Luke calls them "evildoers" (kakúrgos). Only John speaks of "two others", without further details. What crime did these men commit? When were they arrested? Why does the New Testament have their names, when they had shared the tragic end of Jesus?

Tradition has always considered them "thieves", which is why it was thought that they had committed robberies and that by chance they were sentenced to death on the same day as Jesus, on the orders of Pontius Pilate. Yet it does not seem that this is what can be deduced from the texts of the Gospels. Crucifixion was a punishment that the Romans applied only to political rebels, social revolutionaries, and subversive elements. We know that during the Roman rule over the province of Judea, only seditious or those who sympathized with them were crucified; never any thief. Under Roman law, theft, simple or accompanied by violence, was not a capital crime. Why, then, on that day, were two "thieves" crucified with Jesus?

Flavius Josephus gives us the answer. In his book The War of the Jews, he relates that the word weighted, in the middle of the century, (translated as "bandits" in the Bible) had acquired a new meaning. He writes: "A new kind of bandits appeared in Jerusalem: the sicarians" (2,254). So, at the time of writing the Gospels, the term weighted did not refer to any bandit, but to the sicarians, that is, the Jews in revolt against Rome. Therefore, the "bandits" crucified with Jesus would not be thieves, but social agitators.

It does not matter who the robbers are or what their guilt is. The Gospel simply records that Christ was crucified in the company of two evildoers.

I.                  The cross of the conversion

Thus, the cross (v.32-34), on a hill reminiscent of the shape of a skull is mentioned in only one word: it is not told. It is not known, for example, whether the convict was nailed or tied with ropes. Luke retains only traits that deliver the hidden meaning. The presence of the evildoers fulfills a first scripture, prophetically quoted by Jesus at the end of the speech after supper (Lk22:27): "with the lawless, he was counted" (Ises53:12). Luke goes so far as to talk about two other evildoers with Jesus, crucified between them. The sharing of clothes, in the second place, which accomplishes the Ps22.19. The mockery that comes next takes the form of a triple temptation (v.35-43). But before that, there is mention of the people -- watching -- a trait that accomplishes Ps22.8, as well as mockery. Both therefore summon Jesus to prove his messianism by making himself a beneficiary of the messianic good par excellence: salvation. Didn't he want to establish his messianism by once saving other humans?  But if Jesus succumbed to this trial, he would ruin God's plan of salvation through the Passion of the Son of Man (Luke 9:22). As in the past in the desert, he also refuses to use his power for his own benefit: He repels the tempters with his silence. One of the criminals, in turn, repeats the same refrain: but "save yourself", he adds: "and us with it!".

Thus, while one of the robbers blasphemes, the other robber takes him back and defends Jesus. It is not the action of a desperate man but that of a lucid being who recognizes his guilt, the justice of God and the innocence of Jesus. He is aware that he deserves this cruel punishment.

Human justice puts him to death, but he turns to the Son of God. He does not beg him, does not implore him, but simply says with sincerity and humility: "Jesus, remember me, when you come as king."

Indeed, from this cry, all Christian catechetical values are expressed: fear of God "Do you not fear God?", (v.40), knowledge of oneself " For us it is Justice, for we receive what our crimes have deserved" (v.41): knowledge of Jesus "but he did nothing wrong" (v.42), faith in him and in his reign "remember me,  when thou shalt come into thy kingdom" (v.42). In the same way, beyond this cry, the brigand reveals himself as the catechist of doctrinal orthodoxy without knowing it and without even having desired it. From this "remember me" on the cross, he refutes in advance at least four doctrinal errors that would develop in the centuries to come. Let's look at them in 3 more details:

1. The robber's "remember me" denies the doctrine of soul sleep

The doctrine of soul sleep claims that when a person dies, his soul "sleeps" until the resurrection and final judgment. This position has its origin in a literal understanding of the verb "to sleep", when applied to the dead (cf. for example Daniel 12:2, 1 Corinthians 15:6). However, it is absolutely irreconcilable with Christ's promise to the thief: "Today you will be with me in paradise."  Not for a moment does Christ seem to contemplate that the thief's soul can wait before enjoying Christ's presence in the eternal heavens. And this is consistent with all Scripture. It is at the very moment of death that men and women are confronted with God's judgment (Hebrews 9:27). For the true believer, to leave his carnal envelope is to enter into the presence of God (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23).

For the unbeliever, on the contrary, death means eternal punishment in hell (Luke 16:22-23). When the term "sleep" is used to refer to death, it is a metonymy: the appearance of a dead person (who, in this case, seems to be sleeping) is used to refer to his condition.

2.  The robber's "remember me" denies the doctrine of baptismal regeneration

"Truly, truly, I tell you, if a man is not born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus declares to Nicodemus, when the latter comes at night to consult him (John 3:3). This word of Christ, more than any other, highlights the absolute necessity of being born again (regenerated) to be saved and eternally enjoy Christ's presence in paradise.

It is a normative spiritual principle: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is impossible to belong to Christ without having been regenerated, without having received the Holy Spirit: "If someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him." (Romans 8:9)

The thief on the cross could not be an exception: "Today you will be with me in paradise" is like saying "Today you have passed from death to life. Today you are a new creature. Today you are born again. "

However, how can this biblical reality be reconciled with the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, which teaches that it is through the waters of baptism that the new birth occurs? Theological debates around this doctrine, if they are to be exhaustive, require taking into account certain elements. But let us simply note here that the thief on the cross was saved without having been baptized: his new birth therefore did not proceed from any water whatsoever, but only from the action of the Spirit, in accordance with what the text of John 3:1-21 teaches.

3. The robber's "remember me" denies the doctrine of meritorious works

Who was this thief? In the end, we know very little about him. Luke speaks of it as a kakourgos (κακοῦργος), a criminal, while Matthew and Mark use the word lēstēs (λῃστής) which can also have the meaning of revolutionary.

Was he part of the Barabbas gang, as some think (cf.  Mark 15:7)? It's hard to say for sure.

However, one thing is certain: under human views, he was far from having the profile of the virtuous man.

The words are unequivocal: he was a criminal, a man of bad life deserving of death, as he himself admits: "For us it is justice, for we receive what our crimes have deserved" (Luke 23:41).  The doctrine of meritorious works for salvation is held with some variations by different groups claiming Christianity. But the grace obtained by the thief on the cross leaves no room for merit according to what Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9:

"For it is by grace that you are saved, by means of faith. And it doesn't come from you, it's God's gift. It is not by works, so that no one glorifies himself. "

"How can this thief be saved?" some will say. "He was not religious or Christian and he did nothing to deserve it."  Indeed, this is what the Gospel teaches us: our efforts or our works are useless. God's grace fills our insufficiency, our powerlessness. It is a gift for all, which must be accepted with gratitude.

 

II.                The salvation of the converted robber on the cross of "today"

 

At the very moment when, solemnly, Jesus says: "Truly, I say to you...  ", he will acquiesce to this prayer and he corrects the last point (v.43). It is even today that the death of Christ will inaugurate messianic salvation.

Jesus thus grants this saved sinner much more than he had asked. Not a simple memory in a more or less distant future; but "today," he said to her, "before night falls on earth, I will introduce you into the abode of the blessed, where you will be with me." Jesus also promised this supreme consolation to His own disciples saddened at the time of separation in John 14:2-3: "In my Father's House there are many dwellings... I will prepare a place for you. And, when I have gone, and I have prepared a place for you, I will come back, and I will take you with me, so that where I am, you will also be there."

As surprising as it may seem, 'paradise' is a rare word in the Bible. It appears only three times in the New Testament. And, in the Septuagint and the Old Testament, the word paradeisos translates only a dozen times the expression "garden of Eden", or "garden in Eden".

The word paradise first meant park, orchard, watered garden. It is found in this literal sense in Ecclesiastes 2:5;  Song 4:13. The Septuagint refers by this word to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8). It thus became synonymous with heaven, being applied to the stay of the saved man. In 2 Corinthians 12:4, Paul records that he "was raptured into heaven, where he heard ineffable words, which man is not allowed to express." Immediately before, he had returned the same idea by saying that he "was delighted to the third heaven." (2 Corinthians 12:4). The two terms are therefore synonymous.

In Revelation 2:7, the Lord promises "to him who overcomes to feed him from the tree of life that is in the paradise of my God," thus naming the rediscovered Eden, the sojourn of eternal bliss, which is that of God himself. It seems unacceptable to us to give the word paradise a different meaning in our passage.

Thus, the believing and repentant evildoer will enter Paradise  with Jesus (cf. Gen 2:8). This place marked by the tree of Life, which at their death inherits those whom God has found righteous. The main thing is to be with Christ. 

To this end, Jesus responded to the challenge that was thrown at him: he saved a man, not by preserving him from temporal death, but by making this death the passage to true life and true happiness.

 

Jimi Zacka, PhD

Biblical researcher