Between Two Thieves
Bible Facts Newspaper Article (Ian C. Kurylyk)
“And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors” (Mark 15:27-28).
Many of the statements of the Scriptures startle us. The subject of the Bible is no ordinary matter, and requires serious thought. We are moved at times to meditation and deep reflection by statements which at first seem to contradict everything we think of as normal.
The purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world is one of those subjects that many are familiar with, but few think on the significance of. People celebrate the Virgin Birth every year at Christmas but give no attention to the meaning of such a miracle. It was part of a very startling prophecy announced by the prophet Isaiah, that God was sending His own Son into the world of men. The name He was given was Immanuel which means God with us. His cradle was a manger and yet the baby was God’s own Son in human flesh, the Lord of glory. The teacher walking the dusty Galilaean hills is the One who created it all. Who could fail to be interested by such a subject.
The ministry He went on to carry out in fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies also claims our close attention at every turn. He healed the blind, raised the dead, and performed countless miracles. But perhaps the most surprising thing again was the company He kept. Not only did God see fit to come down and move among common mortals, He was found working with people who seem to have little to do with a Holy God. He was after all the same God who displayed the majesty of His glorious law in the smoke enshrouded Mount Sinai. He was the God who intervened over and over to judge the wicked and show His hatred for sin. But when He came to earth He was not found with the religious leaders of Israel but with folk they avoided. “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:1-2). He was showing that He came to earth to provide salvation for sinners, not to flatter some who thought they were not. “When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17).
But it is in the place of His death that the most startling thing yet is found. To see God walking among the men He made commands the attention of the thoughtful. Then to see that Person the Bible calls the Holy One eating with the noteworthy sinners of the world is even more amazing. But now we learn that He died in the place of the condemned criminal. How can anyone pass over that without a deep desire to discover what God is revealing to us? Here is God in sinless human flesh being taken away to suffer the Roman government’s death sentence, to be hung up on a cross between two thieves. What is happening? God expects us to ask this question.
Neither is this a mere accident but the fulfillment of a prophecy made by Isaiah. “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). The scene there on Mount Calvary was a testimony of what God was doing for sinners in the death of His Son. He had no sin of His own to pay for. His death was the death of a sacrifice. He was paying for the sins of others, of the whole world. This means first that all have sinned. It means also that anyone can be saved. No matter how great the crime against God or man, if that person will simply realize his guilt before God and need of a Saviour, God will forgive. If a person can see that he is one of the transgressors (law breakers) that Jesus died for and trust Him for personal salvation, he also will be included among those the Bible calls Christians.
