The "Thief" on the Cross

Two other criminals were also led away to be executed with him. So when they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Then they threw dice to divide his clothes. The people also stood there watching, but the leaders ridiculed him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the king of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we rightly so, for we are getting what we deserve for what we did, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom" And Jesus said to me, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:32-43)

Criminals, thieves, robbers, etc. It conjures the idea of a couple of no-good scoundrels - the dregs of society. Have you ever stopped to think about these two guys? A couple of obvious questions come to mind right away:

a) would Rome crucify people for mere theft? Let's even say that it was serious theft -- crucifixion wasn't the commonplace way of killing people in ancient Rome...would that kind of punishment really have fit the crime?

b) How do they know who he is? Read carefully what the two men say. The first one knows, at least at some level, what "the Christ" (or 'Messiah' in some translations) is supposed to be able to do. He says, "save yourself and us!" Now, he could have just been mimicking what the religious leaders were jeering...but the response of the second criminal indicates that it's more than that. "Don't you fear God?" This suggests that the two men were Jews - it's not just some random God that this man is referring to. Also - the second criminal knows that Jesus has done nothing wrong - AND he knows that Jesus is who he says he is and what that means. He knows the Jesus has a kingdom and that He's going ENTER it, AFTER dying. To me, this is the most convincing line that these men knew who Jesus was and what His claims were.

The most likely scenario for who these men were, and why they would end up being crucified WITH Jesus, is that they were zealots, or insurrectionists, which is essentially the same charge against Jesus (don't forget, Barabbas, who Jesus exchanged fates with, was also in prison for insurrection, Luke 23:19). Furthermore, they were likely Jewish Zealots. Jesus would have been familiar with a group like this because one of his own disciples, Simon, came from the zealot movement.

The Zealots were a Jewish insurrectionist/terrorist group that was (often) violently opposed to Roman rule. They channeled this same tenacity and violence with regard to Jewish Law -- making them perhaps even more strict than the Pharisees. In fact, at one point, their order was even given authority within the Temple to be the executioners of any non-Jew who entered the consecrated parts of the Temple (source). Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote several times about this Zealot group and provides a lot of contextual information about who they were and what they were up to. It is in his book "Jewish Antiquities" that we find a very interesting bit related to the argument above, which happened in 4 BCE following Herod's death:

"There was Judas [not Iscariot], the son of that Hezekiah who had been head of the robbers [referring to the Zealots]. Judas, having gotten together a multitude of men of a profligate character about Sepphoris in Galilee, made an assault upon the palace there, and seized upon all the weapons that were laid up in it, and with them armed everyone one of those that were with him, and carried away what money was left there." (source)

Interesting that these zealot insurrectionists are described, by a contemporaneous writer, as "robbers". Several times in his writings, Josephus gives the title of "robbers" to the Zealots. Given that the passage in Luke 23:33 is translated as 'robbers' or 'criminals' -- it seems most likely that these two men were in fact, Zealots.

Why Does it Matter?

Admittedly, I do find myself asking "does this really matter" and at the end of the day, it likely doesn't matter. What I do find important though, is the cultural context around everything that happens in the New Testament. I also think careful reading is important. How many sermons have you heard where the pastor gets up there and makes it sound like these two 'robbers' were just no good criminals who had no idea who Jesus was and how one of them makes this miraculous death-bed confession at the last second? If the above argument is true (it's not mine, others have made it)...that seems unlikely. These two men seem to have knowledge of who Jesus is, and not only that, but what it meant.

I'll throw this out there since it seems relevant. In Romans 11, Paul says, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved." What if this image of Jesus on the cross, with two apostate Jews, is a little glimpse of the end? Let's assume both are Jews and both are Zealots, steeped in Tanakh and zealous for the Law. Both are confronted with who Jesus is. The religious leaders who are hanging around say it, the soldiers mock Jesus using similar language. In their final moments, having been confronted with this, one resists and one submits. Jesus immediately affirms the one who submits. Who that second man is, would be much the same as who many orthodox Jews are even today...they are loyal to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and they remain zealous for the Law - but they don't recognize who Jesus is. When he is revealed, in those Last Days, they will know who He is and recognize him as Messiah. "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."