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.