Fourteen verses provide all the information biblically available about the two “robbers” (NKJV) or “thieves” (KJV) who were crucified alongside of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:38, 44; Mark 15:27-28, 32; Luke 23:32-33, 39-43; John 19:18, 32). Luke, however, distinguishes between the criminals, one being impenitent and the other being penitent.
Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43 NKJV)
The penitent ‘malefactor’ (KJV) is a curious Bible character. Who was he? How did he come to be executed for his crimes? Especially, what did the thief know about the kingdom of Jesus Christ?
Obviously, this condemned man knew about the ministry of Jesus Christ and possibly about the ministry of John the Immerser who preceded our Lord. “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:1-2 NKJV). “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17). The penitent thief may have been a disciple or a follower of John, or he may have been one of the many disciples of Jesus Christ, perhaps one of them who turned away from Him (John 6:66). Maybe, the penitent thief had been a disciple of John and afterward had become a disciple of Jesus, as was the case with Andrew (John 1:35-40).
Being acquainted with the ministry of Jesus, the contrite criminal on the cross assuredly was aware of the miracles that our Lord performed. Certainly, Jesus was capable of using miracles to circumvent His execution on the cross. Besides, the Christ said that He could command over 72,000 angels to rescue Him from arrest (Matthew 26:53); Genesis 19:1-25 regarding Sodom, Gomorrah and the cities around them (Jude 7) show what just two angels can do! What could more than 12 legions of angels do?
Clearly, the penitent thief was aware of Christ’s preaching about His kingdom. One of two things was apparently true. Possibly this remorseful criminal was confident that our Lord would miraculously descend from His cross and subsequently establish an earthly kingdom. The apostles themselves, who had been students at the feet of their Master for over three years, had expected Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom. The disciples of Christ, though, dismissed that dream upon the death of our Lord (Luke 24:21). After His resurrection, however, “…when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:6). Earlier in the ministry of Jesus, some of His disciples wanted to take Him by force and enthrone Him as King over a physical kingdom (John 6:15).
The Jews in general and the disciples of Christ more specifically were mistaken about the nature of the kingdom about which John and Jesus preached. Especially the average Jew would have been delighted were the Christ to establish a physical kingdom comparable to the Jewish kingdom under the reign of Solomon. The Jews intensely wanted to overthrow the Roman occupation of Palestine, and a later attempt to do so resulted in the ill-fated war with Rome during which Jerusalem and its Temple were destroyed in A.D. 70. Had Jesus been that type of a Messiah and had His kingdom been a physical kingdom, the Jews would have rallied around Jesus rather than handing Him over to the Romans for crucifixion.
It is also possible that this thief on the cross understood more about the nature of the kingdom of heaven than the apostles understood. He may have discerned that Jesus preached about a spiritual kingdom. After all, it appeared certain that all three being crucified on Calvary that day were going to die physically. How remarkable would that be were it true that the wayward disciple crucified on the cross discerned more clearly about the Lord’s kingdom than the apostles! Even the Roman governor Pilate understood that our Lord’s spiritual kingdom was no threat to the rule of Rome in Palestine (John 18:38; 19:4, 6).
The interdenominational doctrine of premillennialism is false on the same grounds of the erroneous misconceptions of first century Jews and also the apostles of Christ concerning the nature of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The spiritual kingdom of our Lord – also called, “the church” (Matthew 16:18-19) – was begun on the first Pentecost following the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (Acts 2). The penitent thief may have detected the spiritual nature versus some supposed physical characteristic of the kingdom of our Lord; Pilate certainly deduced correctly about the nature of the kingdom. This spiritual kingdom or the church was the subject of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies and fulfilled in the church of Christ (Romans 16:16).
To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:8-11)
