Why Jesus Part 8

The Mystery Of The Two Thieves.

One of the things I love so much is receiving God's revelation and insight into parts of the Bible that seem to look out of order. I mean, whenever it seems as though two writers are reporting an event differently or a Bible verse doesn't make sense to our natural understanding, then therein lie God's ways and paths.

For example, the accounts of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus Christ, our saviour, were reported slightly differently by the writers of the books of Matthew and Luke. Matthew in his gospel account says that the two thieves mocked Jesus without any further information. However, Luke in his account says that one mocked and the other rebuked the one that mocked and asked Jesus to remember Him in His kingdom.

Matthew’s Account Of The Event Is As Follow:

Matthew 27:38 At the same time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and one on the left.

Matthew 27:39 And those who passed by spoke reproachfully and abusively and jeered at Him, wagging their heads, [Ps. 22:7, 8; 109:25.]

Matthew 27:40 And they said, You Who would tear down the sanctuary of the temple and rebuild it in three days, rescue Yourself from death. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Matthew 27:41 In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, made sport of Him, saying,

Matthew 27:42 He rescued others from death; Himself He cannot rescue from death. He is the King of Israel? Let Him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in and acknowledge and cleave to Him.

Matthew 27:43 He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now if He cares for Him and will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.

Matthew 27:44 And the robbers who were crucified with Him also abused and reproached and made sport of Him in the same way.

Luke’s Account Of The Event:

Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who was suspended kept up a railing at Him, saying, Are You not the Christ (the Messiah)? Rescue Yourself and us [from death]!

Luke 23:40 But the other one reproved him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you yourself are under the same sentence of condemnation and suffering the same penalty?

Luke 23:41 And we indeed suffer it justly, receiving the due reward of our actions; but this Man has done nothing out of the way [nothing strange or eccentric or perverse or unreasonable].

Luke 23:42 Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingly glory!

Luke 23:43 And He answered him, Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.

To an unspiritual man, both of these accounts contradict themselves. But this was precisely left in there by God to show God’s ways and manner of doing things. As we discussed in Part 7, knowing and understanding the ways of God is the only way strong faith and great things can be achieved by believers.

Now, here is the mystery:

Both accounts in Matthew and Luke are perfectly accurate. In the beginning, both thieves mocked Jesus, but as they continued, one repented on the cross and put his faith in Jesus for salvation, while the other continued in his sin and died and went to hell.

In reading these two scriptures, we see the words of God and His attitude towards repentance revealed. Anyone who will repent and acknowledge their sins and ask God for forgiveness receives forgiveness instantly and not later. It’s obvious that the devil deals with many people with the tactics of pulling people down with guilt, shame, and condemnation even after they’ve repented.

There is a difference between godly sorrow and guilt from the devil. Godly sorrow helps us turn away from sin, but lingering guilt and shame after we’ve asked God to forgive us and turned away from our sins pulls us away from God’s blessings.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].

Most times, guilt and condemnation are the devil’s tactics to take us back to the same sin or hinder us from reaching out for God’s plans and purposes for us. When one is overwhelmed with guilt, one may fall into the trap of giving up and continuing in the sin because he or she thinks they've lost it all and that there's no more need to change because there's no more hope.

These two accounts in Matthew and Luke are a fulfilment and blue print of God’s ways with regards to forgiveness, all through the Old Testament and the New Testament.

One remarkable scripture in the book of Ezekiel tells us this:

Ezekiel 33:12 And you, son of man, say to your people, The uprightness and justice of the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; and as for the wicked lawlessness of the wicked lawless, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness, neither shall the rigidly upright and just be able to live because of his past righteousness in the day that he sins and misses the mark [in keeping in harmony and right standing with God].

I’ve decided to highlight the part of that scripture that directly reflects the condition or the event that took place on the cross. On that day, and in that instant that one of the thieves repented, his sins were removed from him, and they were no longer any stumbling block to him. He didn’t have to pay penance, and he didn’t have to be held back from God’s blessings starting from that moment he cried out to God for mercy.

This event on the cross was the entire gospel of the life that was to come for everyone who will believe in Jesus and the one who will not believe. In this scene on the cross, the entire Bible and God's plan and attitude towards humanity and the blueprint for salvation were preached and described by the Lord Jesus.

The prophet Joel writes, as commanded by God, that whoever shall call on the Lord shall be saved. The moment the thief called on Jesus for forgiveness, he was forgiven and saved.

Joel 2:32 And whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered and saved, for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the remnant [of survivors] shall be those whom the Lord calls. [Acts 2:17-21; Rom. 10:13.]

In Isaiah, the Lord tells us that:

Isaiah 1:16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes! Cease to do evil,

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do right! Seek justice, relieve the oppressed, and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

And the word of the Lord tells us in the book of 1 John:

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

I’m going to conclude by telling you a personal story. Many years ago, I struggled with guilt and condemnation that almost drove me to drop out of university. I had been seeking the Lord in prayer and fasting because I was so hungry for His touch. It was at the end of my first year in college, and it was just the last 5 days of the year.

On my third day of the 5-day fast, I began to have blasphemous thoughts. Just for clarity, this wasn't my longest fast at that time. I chose this number of days because it was shorter and relatively easy for me. I couldn’t understand what happened, and this was severe for 3 years and 6 months, though it lasted a total of 5 years and some months. Anyway, I was plagued with guilt over unpardonable sins because the thoughts that plagued my mind were blasphemous thoughts against the Holy Spirit which started on the third day of the fast.

I was so terrified that I was tormented night and day and couldn’t sleep. One day, I went to one of the brothers who had returned from a missions trip. I asked him to pray for me, and he did. I felt more peace being in his room at his school than being in mine. Each day, I thought I was doomed for hell, and I literally was waiting for the day I’d die and go to hell. During that period, I contracted chickenpox, had to be quarantined, and was in the hospital for about 10 days or so.

Now, two of the gifts God has let operate in my life are word of knowledge and word of wisdom, and many times, God will give me dreams or visions of the night in which He’d teach me or show me the past, present, or future. These two gifts are revelatory gifts which are very different from the knowledge and wisdom God gave to king Solomon when he asked for wisdom. These two gifts are supernaturally operated by the Holy Spirit and their roles is to reveal past events, present events and future events as granted by the Holy Spirit through supernatural manifestations.

Now, as I lay in that hospital bed and slept with all the guilt and condemnation, I had a dream. In the dream, I saw myself with another young man who was to be executed. Both of us had been led to the execution area, and there, our heads were to be cut off. Standing there, I saw that one man had been executed before me, and his blood had spilt there.

Then, it was my turn, and the first punishment was to carry a huge chunk of rock on our heads for eternity. Then, a voice asked both of us this question: “Would you let the punishment of the one who was executed here before you be credited to you, or would you like to serve your sentences and carry the rock above your head”? I answered and said that I’d want the punishment of the one before me to be credited to me. The other young man said he wanted to serve his sentence. Then he was given a huge piece of rock to carry above his head for eternity, and I was let go. As I came out of that execution room, I saw myself in front of a church.

Then I got up, and the meaning of the dream is this: God had given me the option to carry the guilt of sins for eternity or let the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, who was slain for me, be credited to me, and I chose to have the punishment of Jesus credited to me, whilst the other man chose to pay for his sins by himself.

We have to choose who pays for our iniquities. And bless God that Jesus paid our price on the cross so that we don’t have to pay the price.

This dream was the beginning of my journey to understanding God’s forgiveness for us.

I’ll conclude by leaving you with these scriptures:

Acts 13:38 So let it be clearly known and understood by you, brethren, that through this Man forgiveness and removal of sins is now proclaimed to you;

Acts 13:39 And that through Him everyone who believes [who acknowledges Jesus as his Savior and devotes himself to Him] is absolved (cleared and freed) from every charge from which he could not be justified and freed by the Law of Moses and given right standing with God.

Psalms 103:1 BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is [deepest] within me, bless His holy name!

Psalms 103:2 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits–

Psalms 103:3 Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,

Psalms 103:4 Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;

Psalms 103:5 Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]! [Isa. 40:31.]

Psalms 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness. [James 5:11.]

Psalms 103:9 He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.

Psalms 103:10 He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Psalms 103:11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.

Psalms 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Don’t let the enemy steal away your future and joy with guilt and condemnation. If we confess our sins, God forgives us.

(All scripture references in this article were taken from the Amplified Bible Version).

Stay tuned for Part 9.