| What the Bible tells us about the thief on the cross! |
| TA Baisden |
| church of Christ |
| (Just an interesting thought before we get started. We know that our Lord had a thief on the right hand side of him and one on the left hand side and all references in the (NT) of the Bible, that I know of speaks of the left side as sinners or evil. Maybe the thief that was on his right side was the one who went to paradise that day, it's not important just an interesting thought.) What does the Bible really tells us? 1. That he confessed Christ as "Lord". 2. That he had to have heard about Christ being the Son of God for him to have confessed him as being the "Lord". 3.He repented for he recognized he had sinned. Luke v.41 4. There could have been a good chance that he was already a child of God(a Jew) remember this was still the time that people were under the Old Testament law for Christ still lived. 5. That he believed that there was a GOD and he feared him and that Christ was his son. 6. He knew Christ was to be a "King". It tell that he ask him to remember him when whe came into his kingdom. 7. He had faith in the Lord for who he was and that he would remember him. 8. In just a few hours time he had a change of heart regarding the Lord and who he was/and is. For it tells us that only one malefactor railed on Christ for the other rebuked that one. This was not so at the beginning for both railed on him the Bible tells us. 9. He was still alive when Christ had died for they broke his legs so he could not push up any more to get a little breath. 10.He had to have seen the darkness and some of the other things the Bible tell us that went on that day even if he was on the cross. 11. He hung either on the right or the left of Christ. 12. He knew and believed that Christ was innocent of the charges against him. 13. We know that he also died on this day for Christ told him "today" he would be with him im paradise. 14. That he was a man. 15. A thief and a sinner. 16. By his own admission, he was guilty of the charges that were brought against him. 17. We know his sins were forgiven, or he would have never been able to go to paradise. Rememeber Christ was still alive and had power to forgive sins. At this time the law of Moses was still in effect, both Christ and the the thief live under the old law. I would like to say one thing about the other thief on the cross that day he would have been glad to have been saved from the cross by Christ but not enough to be saved from his sins by him. He thought that the death he died on the cross was torture but it ended for him that day but because of his lack of belief on Christ and who he was, his suffering just began the moment he died and it will never end for him. Just as many today will find the same end as the thief on the cross did that day because of there unbelief also on the Son of God. |
| Matt. 27:38-34 Luke 23:32-43 John 19:18,31,32 Mark 15:22,28,32 |