The disciple’s choice

“And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right hand and one on his left” (RSV, Mark 15:27)

As the original Greek of the Gospels makes clear, whereas Judas was a thief, that is, he took by stealth, the two men who were crucified with Jesus were robbers, that is, they took by force.

The first century Jewish historian Josephus, who had thrown in his lot with the Romans, uses the term ‘robbers’ as the equivalent of the Zealots who formed the fanatical underground resistance movement to the Roman occupying power – men whom the Jews regarded as patriots and the Romans as terrorists.  And indeed it seems probable from the Gospels that these two men were associates of the notorious Barabbas, who had been caught and sentenced to death on the specific charge of having taken part in an armed rising during which he had committed murder.

As St Mark put it, “…among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas” (RSV, 15:7).  Since Our Lord was brought before Pilate early on Good Friday it is likely that the third cross, to which he was nailed, had been originally intended for Barabbas.  As Barabbas was the people’s choice, presumably he was the leader of an urban guerrilla group to which the other two also belonged.

These two robbers present one of that extraordinary series of contrasts which Our Lord, by his very presence and by being what he was, brought about on Good Friday – the same sort of contrast which we see in his Parables of the Judgement.

There was Peter who went out and wept bitterly and Judas who went out and hanged himself.  There was Pilate, the chief secular authority who sought to acquit Jesus, and Caiaphas, the chief religious authority who was bent on condemning him.  There was Pilate’s wife who tried to save Jesus, and the mob which succeeded in saving Barabbas instead and having Jesus crucified.  So now there is the contrast between the two robbers.

There was the one who was hardened and impenitent to the end.

Our Lord had always been the friend of the sinner and the outcast, and had defended them against the self-righteous and respectable Pharisees who sneered at the company he kept.  He had risked his very reputation for their sakes; indeed only that morning he had been classed with them as ‘an evil doer’, as if the fact required no proof. (1)  There is no record that any of them had ever turned on him.  Yet that is what now happened on Calvary as his cup of suffering filled up and brimmed over.

Jesus heard the chief priests taunting him with the religious charge which had been brought against him before the Jewish Council, that of claiming to be the Messiah of the line of David, the Deliverer sent by God for whom all were waiting in the belief that he would regain the nation’s lost independence.  “He saved others”, the chief priests jeered, “let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God…” (NRSV, Luke 23:35).

He heard the soldiers on guard pick up the taunt but this time with the political twist which the chief priests had given to it before Pilate and which was spelt out in the title on his Cross, ‘This is Jesus, the King of the Jews’ (NRSV, Matthew 27:37).  “If you are the King of the Jews”, the soldiers scoffed, “save yourself!” (NRSV, Luke 23:37) and they raised their cups of wine as if drinking a royal toast.

Jesus listened to the taunts in silence, but not so one of the robbers.  His own leader Barabbas had got off scot-free and his place had been taken by this leader of a very different character, a prophet who preached love and forgiveness.  He took up the taunts bitterly, venomously, “Are you not the Messiah?  Save yourself and us!” (NRSV, Luke 23:39).

But his companion in violence, one of the class that Jesus had always befriended – the sinner and the outcast – now befriended him, and in so doing entered on a path which led far beyond either his expectation or his hope.  It is instructive to follow him step by step.

First, he felt compassion for the Man on the Cross beside him, and having felt compassion he defended him.  He rebuked his confederate, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?” (NRSV, Luke 23:40).

And in siding with Jesus he brought himself within the influence of Jesus’ tremendous personality and spiritual power.  So he went on to confess his own guilt and the justice of his own sentence, and to declare the innocence of Jesus.  “…we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong” (NRSV, Luke 23:41).

And it was that innocence, combined with Our Lord’s more than human majesty in the midst of indignity and shame, which convinced the robber that Our Lord was indeed a King whose Kingdom reached beyond this world.

And so the sinner turned from his confederate to his Saviour and his King.  “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens”, Jesus had once said to the crowds (was this robber among them to hear his words?), “and I will give you rest” (NRSV, Matthew 11:28).  And Jesus had also said, “...anyone who comes to me I will never drive away” (NRSV, John 6:37).

And that was what the robber found when he came to Jesus.  Unlike James and John he did not ask to sit at his right hand or his left hand in his Kingdom and in his glory (Matthew, 20:20,21; Mark 10:35-37).  Enough for the robber that he was hanging there beside Jesus in his shame.  All he wanted was that his King should remember him.  “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (NRSV, Luke 23:42).

Remember him?  Jesus would do more than that.  “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (NRSV, Luke 23:43).

So the wheel of Our Lord’s ministry turned full circle.  He had begun it by proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (RSV, Mark 1:15) (our italics).  And now as his ministry reached its close, a companion of its last agonising hours responded to that call by repenting and believing, and was given a place in the company of the King himself.  So by his repentance and faith the robber became the last disciple whom Our Lord made on earth.

That incident is equally instructive about Our Lord himself, and the way in which he dealt with those among whom he moved.  Some, as for example Philip, became his disciples by accepting his direct invitation.  Others, like Simon Peter, were brought to Jesus by those who already knew him.  Others again no doubt responded to and accepted the conditions of discipleship which he put before the general public in his preaching (John 1:43, 40-42; Luke 9:23, 14:26-33).

The robber on Calvary responded partly to Our Lord’s plea of “Father, forgive them…” (NRSV, Luke 23:34), and partly to the tremendous influence which Our Lord himself by his very proximity exerted upon him.

For Our Lord never forced himself on anyone.  People had a choice.  They were as free to join him as they were to refuse him; as free to leave as they were to stay (Mark 10:22; John 6:66,67).  But when they made the choice to turn to him with an awareness of the importance of what they were doing, then his acceptance of them was immediate.  It was equivalent to the action of the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son in running to meet his son on his return in penitence to his home (Luke 15:20).

But to the hardened and impenitent Jesus shows himself terrifyingly severe.

Witness his condemnation of the cities of Galilee where most of his miracles had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!”  For if the miracles done in you had been done in the heathen cities of Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  “But I tell you, on the day of judgement it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you” (NRSV, Matthew 11:21,22).

Witness the Parables of the Judgement, the lesson of which is expressed in the fearful words of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats in which Our Lord says, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire…” (RSV, Matthew 25:31-46).

But to the penitent and the faithful Jesus shows himself the very personification of gentleness and mercy, and overflowing generosity, as may be seen from the Parables not only of the Prodigal Son but also of the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-30), the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7) and the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10).  All is summed up in Jesus’ words to the penitent Zacchaeus in Jericho, words which in turn summed up the very purpose of his life and death, “…the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost” (NRSV, Luke 19:10).

So those who in sincere penitence and faith respond to his invitation, “Come to me”, they find in the words of the hymn, that

“…the love of God is broader
than the measure of man's mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind. (2)

References

1. Goodier, A. (1933) The Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, London: Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd.

2. Faber, F.W. (1862) There's a wideness in God's mercy.  Available from: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/t/t490.html (Accessed 02 February 2011) (Internet).