Luke 23:18-25 (NASB) says, “18But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” 19(He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) 20Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, 21but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 23But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. 24And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. 25And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.”

Luke 23:39-43 (NASB) says, “39One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” 40But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41“And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” 43And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

 

There is so much to gather from this story. First of all, Jesus Christ replaced Jesus Barabbas as being with thieves. Jesus the Christ (Christos, which means “the anointed”), who is the Son of God, replaced Jesus Barabbas (meaning “son of a father”), was the son of this world, being a notable prisoner, insurrectionist (rioter), thief and murderer (Luke 23:18; John 18:40; Mark 15:7; Matthew 27:16). The Christ replaced the counterfeit Jesus. The illegitimate son was replaced by the only begotten Son! It is very possible to think that these thieves worked with Barabbas because he should have died with these men. Nonetheless, he was set free because it symbolized the scapegoat of the Old Testament. In Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-22, the Bible teaches that Aaron the high priest was to atone for the nation of Israel using two goats. He was commanded to cast lots before God by using the Urim and Thummim to decide which goat would be offered as a sacrifice and the other as a scapegoat, which means, “goat of departure”. Goats throughout scripture represent a sinful nature, and one of the goats would be offered as a sin offering while for the other the high priest would lay both of his hands upon the scapegoat, pray the sins of the nation of Israel into it, and then send it into an abandoned, uninhabited wilderness. According to Jewish culture, they would take a piece of red thread and let it hang from the top of the doorway of the temple. They knew that the scapegoat had died when the scarlet thread turned white miraculously, which is why Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” While the priesthood may or may have not understood why they did this, it foreshadowed Jesus Christ being numbered with the transgressors and becoming a sin offering even though He knew no sin. It was so that He took the place of Barabbas while he would become a scapegoat. As a result, through faith in this sacrifice, our sins will become as white as snow as we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.

So, Jesus hung with two other malefactors. One was on the right side, and the other is on the left. Many people can look at just Jesus’ cross as being significant, but these other crosses are also significant because it gives us the opportunity to choose which side of the cross we are on. It reminds me of when Jesus divided the sheep from the goats, putting the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. The sheep represents those who chose to help those who were in need for His glory, and He will say to them, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” However, the goats represent those who neglected to give of themselves and make the sacrifices necessary to help those who are in need, and He will say to them, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:31-46) Hell was never meant for any human being, but it can become the eternal destination of an individual who chooses to reject the love of God and refuse to show it to others. It all depends on what side of the cross you are on. 

1. The one thief, just like the religious group of people, did not recognize who Jesus is while the other thief did so quickly. If so, they would have not said, “IF you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” Some come to Jesus to be saved from a moment, but others come to Him to be saved for all of eternity. You can be all around the presence of God and not know who He is because you have been blinded by traditionalism and self-righteousness. It reminds me of when the crowd surrounded Jesus Christ, but when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of His garment, He recognized it. You can be all around God and Him not recognize you. Faith is what touches God and moves Him into action. They robbed God of His glory, making themselves as God in His place by trying to be holy in their own flesh instead of allowing the consuming presence of God to burn their flesh. As a result, this thief had no fear of God, but rather questioned Christ’s position of power and authority. He even tempted Christ by trying to get him to jump off the cross. It reminds me of Matthew 4:5-7 when it says, “Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” The devil knew who Jesus was, and yet he still tempted Him by saying, “IF you really are the Son of God”. Selfish ambition and pride will always try to defend yourself and prove who you are, but Jesus was led as a lamb before the slaughter because in silence, your integrity will always speak for itself! He wanted to say or do anything to kill His mission on earth, but His response was it is written. We need to tell the devil, “It is written.” He knows who Christ is, and if you are a Christian, he knows who you are. Don’t allow him to cause you to doubt who you are in God because He has given you the keys to the kingdom that whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Just use the authority you have in God and refuse to follow the devil’s footsteps of tempting God because it is impossible for him to sin, and regardless of how you feel, God is still sitting on His throne, all-powerful and all-knowing, and with Him, ALL things are possible to those who believe. We need to reverence God in our society and culture once again, knowing that He is God and God all by Himself, the Creator of the universe. It is one thing to ask God questions, but it is another to question His greatness and power. None of us should questions Christ’s position as being seated at the right hand of the Father. All we have to do is come boldly to the throne of God, believing and knowing He is the only begotten Son of God who was manifested in the form of human flesh to destroy every work of the devil!
2. The one thief joined the popular crowd in harassing Christ, but the other stood up for Him. I remember a sign hanging in our high school that said, “What is popular is not always right; what is right is not always popular.” Popular opinion does not define truth. The Word of God does! Ezekiel 11:12 says, “And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.” Israel was not following God’s will and plan because they were doing what everyone else is doing. Authentic Christianity is not the most popular thing. It can only be so when people pervert it in order to fit their lifestyle. However, God has not called us to be a chameleon Christian, but He has called us to stand out, just like this other thief. He has commissioned us to be thermostats, people who set their surroundings, rather than thermometers, people who are set by their surroundings. This thief had nothing to lose. It was not cowardly faith. He knew who Jesus was. He wanted to be remembered, not for the sins he committed, but for his willingness to stand for God. If you stand up for God, He will stand up for you! It may not be popular, and it can result in harassment and persecution, but through it all, God will get the glory, and His response will be, “You will be with me in paradise.” 
3. The one thief had no repentance for his mistakes and did not want punished for the crimes that he committed, but wanted the easy way out by being replaced in the same way as Barabbas was. Some people want to be in bondage by doing whatever they please when it only brings harm to themselves and others. However, true freedom is walking in the grace of God and living in obedience to His Word because it opens the door for an outpouring of God’s blessings and favor. If this thief felt as though he deserved this punishment, he would not have told Christ to desperately save him from his cross. He may have blamed God for his situation because he was crucified as the result of the crowd chanting to crucify him. Do not blame God for your problems. You are not an animal where you cannot help your situation. You have your own freewill and choices, and you can do anything with your life that you want to be if you will trust God, be fully determined, and put your heart into it. God is not your problem, but He is your solution! Jesus is the only solution. He is the only way, truth, and life! There is no other easier way to heaven. The only way to heaven is to get to the cross where you die to self and become a new creation in the sight of God. Some people want to make it to heaven but they do not want to die on the cross. In order to follow Jesus, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him (Mark 8:34). That is the only way! This thief just wanted the easy way out, and God’s grace is not the “easy way out”. In fact, when you come across the grace of God, it changes you and puts you on a new path. It is why the other thief rebuked him, saying, “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.” And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (vv. 40-42). This thief recognized Jesus, and he did not care what anyone else said or thought. He was repenting and converting to Christ! He may never forget the mistakes he made, and he still had to pay the consequences for some of his bad decisions, but he was set on such a new path that he was determined that not even the populace would distract him from walking it. Let nothing deter you to the right or left. Stay on course with your eyes centered upon Jesus Christ!
4. One thief was totally forgotten and spend his eternity where the other goats are: in a hell prepared for the devil and his angels. The other thief was remembered by Christ and entered into the perpetual glory of God. Both thieves made the same mistakes, but they both ended their course definitely. It is not how you start, but how you finish. Through believing, confessing, and repenting, this man’s life was changed forever! Your past does not have to determine your future, but you can get a new start, but it must come in the same way as this thief. You must come to grips with your present state and recognize your need of a Savior. Both thieves were facing pain, but when you are faced with pain, you will either go down one of two avenues. You will either go as the one thief who did what was popular in order to mend the loneliness in his heart and to grow numb to conviction and the pain he was feeling, or you will realize that there is nothing you can do to heal it and you have to turn to someone who is bigger than you, and that someone is God! You can try drugs, alcohol, gangs, pornography, rape, stealing, murdering, etc., but still you have a void inside of your heart. Do not try drug the symptoms of the problem when the root of the problem is rejection or growing up in a home where your father and/or mother was not there, or you will verbally and physically abused. Get to the root of the problem, which is your need of a Father and a Savior! Go to Him and leave it all out there to Him, and then that emptiness will be filled! If you do, then you will come to a day where Christ will say to you, “Today, you will be with me in paradise”! It will be worth the whole journey to get to this place.
5. Finally, both thieves had legacies. One thief simply died, but the other had an incredible testimony of his life changing in just a single moment in time. I believe that Jesus took an ex-convict to take the keys of death and hell because your testimony unlocks the door of life, freedom and heaven’s glory for others. You overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony (Revelation 12:11). God wills to create a testimony through that shows that He change and use anyone for His glory, regardless of one’s past mistakes, financial background, family history, age, or appearance. If you are willing to turn your life over to Christ, He will do just that. You must decide which side of the cross you are on.