THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
I would like to convey a simple impression about the malefactor who was crucified alongside the Lord Jesus. In one way, the experience of this malefactor was unique. The hymn speaks of him as
‘Redemption’s earliest trophy’ Hymn 145
But in another way, the experience of this malefactor is one that we all need to have. It would appear that what is recorded in this scripture took place in a very short period of time. The gospels of Matthew and Mark indicate that this malefactor cast the same reproaches on Jesus as the other, and in John’s gospel there is no reference to what this malefactor said or did. Whatever took place with him, to bring him to say what he did to Jesus, was in a period of less than three hours. How much was compressed into that time.
What this man passed through is the needed experience of every soul as lost and away from God. We are told at the beginning of the passage that the other malefactor spoke insultingly to the Lord Jesus: “Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us”. I suppose he was conscious of the consequence for him of his crimes, and he wanted to be saved from these consequences at the hands of the Romans. But you will notice that the other malefactor responds by saying, “Dost thou too not fear God, thou that art under the same judgment?”. You might have thought that his concern would be those who had physically put him on that cross, those who had passed judgment on him. But light had reached this man’s soul, and he was conscious that he was under divine judgment. Whatever he was suffering from men, he was under divine judgment.
The question asked by the repentant malefactor reminded me of what Paul says at the beginning of the epistle to the Romans about the condition of man as away from God – man subject to the range of sin which he has conceived as away from God and pursuing his own will. In the second chapter, the apostle says, “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, every one who judgest, for in that in which thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth” (vv.1,2). In the gospel we have to understand that the judgment that we should fear, and that we should be conscious of, and that our consciences should be arrested as to, is the judgment of a holy and righteous God against sin. And all men, we among them, have “sinned, and come short of the glory of God”, Rom.3:23.
Would any here question that they are under “the same judgment”? And would anyone question that the judgment of God against sin is that he who sins should die? That is the judgment of God, that the penalty that attaches to sin is death. This thief on the cross was very conscious of that; he was conscious of death and the curse, hanging upon a tree and about to die.
You say, ‘Well, this man had committed a sin’. He must have done something against the law, and the penalty of the law was that he should be put to death. The penalty of sin is death: that is the divine judgment upon sin. This man says, “and we indeed justly”. There is perhaps nothing that people resent more than perceived injustice. We find it in our own hearts – we resent the thought that some injustice has been done to us. But when we feel like that, what is it that we thought we were entitled to? What did I think I deserved before a holy and righteous God, against whom I have sinned? We are speaking of God. The gospel is not some impersonal matter: we have offended someone, and the One whom we have offended is the God who created us. How solemn is the position of man as having pursued his own will from the outset, and having offended against God, the God who only ever desired man’s blessing.
I repeat the repentant malefactor’s words: “and we indeed justly”. Is everyone here conscious that death is the just judgement of God for what we have done? “And we indeed justly, for we receive the just recompense of what we have done”. There was no hope in that statement, but it is good and indeed essential that the conscience should be arrested as to the consequences of sin. This man came to repentance as to all that he had done and what it meant before a holy and righteous God. In coming to repentance, he saw what his sin meant to God. The first malefactor saw what his sin meant for him, what the consequences were for him; but the repentant malefactor was conscious of what his sin meant to God: “we receive the just recompense of what we have done”. God is just; but as the scripture says, He is “a just God and a Saviour”, Isa. 45:21. How thankful we are for these words, “and a Saviour”. What glad tidings we can proclaim about “a just God and a Saviour”! But if death is the just judgment that lies on every man, on what basis can a just God be a Saviour? The preacher is able to say: on the basis that “this man has done nothing amiss”. What light shone into this man’s soul! Consider Pilate: God gives His testimony through Pilate – “I find no fault whatever in him”, John 18:38. I think that is God’s testimony; we are not told anything about what Pilate really thought. By contrast, this man’s testimony that Jesus had “done nothing amiss” expressed his admiration for Jesus, his own admiration of “this man”. He saw a man hanging beside him in the same outward circumstances as himself, but he says, “this man has done nothing amiss”.
What did the malefactor see in Jesus? Are you an admirer of Him? He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separated from sinners”, Heb.7:26. There is one Man to whom what is said as to all men in Romans 3:23, does not apply. He was “sin apart”, Heb.4:15. The scripture says that He “knew not sin” (2 Cor.5:21) and that “in him sin is not”, 1 John 3:5. He demonstrated perfect, spotless humanity in every movement of His pathway here and so it was said rightly, “this man has done nothing amiss”. Why then was He hanging on a cross? The malefactor said that “we receive the just recompense of what we have done; but this man has done nothing amiss”. I think the repentant thief knew the answer to why the Lord was hanging there. He was not there on His own account and there was nothing in Him that warranted the cross: He must be there on account of others. He was there on account of this malefactor, and He was there on my account. Do you believe that He was there on your account? He was there, beloved, so that the grace of God might be displayed towards man in all its fulness, and so that God “should be just, and justify him that is of the faith of Jesus”, Rom.3:26. He bore the judgment so that all who believe on Him do not come under that judgment; it does not fall on them.
We know that this thief died. Did he not then suffer the judgment of what he had done at the hands of men? He bore the consequences of his sins at the hands of men, but there was a Man beside him bearing the consequences, the guilt of his sins, at the hand of God. And He bore all these sins, and the sins of every one who believes on Him, so that any who have their faith and trust in Him and in His precious blood are covered by that blood, and the matter of our sins is dealt with before God. We sing:
‘His soul, by virtue of the blood,
To paradise received,
Redemption’s earliest trophy stood
From sin and death retrieved.’ Hymn 145
That a sinless life was given up! The blood was the witness to that life given up; He was a perfect, willing, holy sacrifice. How touching it is the Lord Jesus answers this soul when what was immediately before Him was that He should bear the judgment that belonged to that man at the hands of a righteous God, and that He should bear the sins of many. Does that include you? It says that He “gave himself a ransom for all”, 1 Tim.2:6. It is a work sufficient for all, He died for all; but He was “once offered to bear the sins of many”, Heb.9:28. There is the necessity for a personal transaction with Jesus. The malefactor turned from speaking to the other, and he says to Jesus, “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. He turned to Jesus, and we all need to turn to Jesus. The answer to every need of ours is in Him. To the myriads who have their faith and trust in Him, there is no question of us bearing the consequence of our offences, because He has borne them for us. There is no question of condemnation, because He took the condemnation upon Himself. For the believer, there is no condemnation left (see Rom.8:1). The wrath of God was poured out on the head of Jesus, on the head of my Saviour.
It is extraordinary how far this man came in his soul in such a short period of time. He was hanging alongside One who was dying on a cross; that was the reality of the circumstances in which he was. And yet he says, in effect, ‘He is my Lord and He has a kingdom’. The Lord Jesus is going to take up His kingdom: the truth of the Lord’s resurrection, ascension and exaltation is all conveyed in what this man says: “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. This same glorious One who offered Himself as a willing victim in my place, and in the place of all who believe on Him, was the One whom God has raised and exalted.
I think something of that is conveyed in the words of the malefactor. He had some impression of who this Man was, the Lord Jesus who was hanging beside him. He was the One into whose hands God had already committed all things (see John 13:3); He was going to raise Him, and exalt Him, and grant to Him all the authority in the universe. The malefactor saw that He was Lord, and that He had a kingdom. He must have had a sense that there was another order of things altogether, of which this Man was the beginning, and which took character from Him. This thief had no earthly prospects and was on the verge of death. Beloved, if you are a believer on the Lord Jesus, I would ask what earthly prospects do you have, what prospects in this world? The “death of the cross” (Phil.2:8) is what the world gave to Jesus. The thief had no earthly prospects at all. We are left here in whatever time remains to us, but we are looking forward to something else, as the thief was: “Remember me, Lord, when thou comest in thy kingdom”. A believer has prospects, and a life, and blessings that are on the other side of death, and they are secured in Christ. We are separated from the world that has rejected Him. That is the portion of the believer while here in the body.
The Lord’s response to this man is very touching. He does not refer to His kingdom exactly, but assures the thief that he will be with Him where He is. The gospel is very personal. The Lord Jesus loves you, and He would have you with Him where He is, delivered from all that stood out against you because He has met it, and He will bring you to live in a relationship with Him. As such you are detached from the world that cast Him out. “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”: we can be with Him now. We are not yet in paradise, while we are still here, but we can be in the present enjoyment of His love.
This man refers to Jesus as Lord, and the Lord’s answer is that he would be with Him “To-day”. But we have a present blessing that the thief did not know – the gift of the Holy Spirit. This man was never tested as to owning Christ’s Lordship in the way we are, as left here in this scene – he was taken to be with Him and his responsible course was over. But believers have the power by which to call Jesus “Lord” now. The Lord asked, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?”, Luke 6:46. Well, what power is there for that? The cross is the manifestation that the flesh has no power, for it has been ended, and we are to crucify the flesh (see Gal.5:24). The flesh could never respond to Him, or own His authority. It has been done away with as far as God is concerned, and power has been given in the blessed Holy Spirit of God, the One whom the Father has sent: He was sent from the Father and He gives believers the power to know Jesus as Lord. The Spirit also helps us to be in the present enjoyment of His love and His company: “Verily I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me”.
I just wanted to convey this, that in the dying thief we see something of the experience of the gospel received by a soul. We become conscious of what we are and our consciences are arrested, and we are led to repentance towards God. We have some sense of what our sins meant to God, and then to look on the One who “has done nothing amiss” and who took upon Himself all the guilt and judgment that belonged to us as sinners. He took on and exhausted the judgment of God, as the spotless sacrifice. And then in the Holy Spirit we have a power now to own Christ as Lord and to recognise His authority, and to enter into a living relationship with Him.
May we be helped in it, for His name’s sake.
Preaching of the gospel, Colchester
16 November 2025
Glen Barlow
Edited and published monthly by Alistair Brown and Paul Martin
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