The beautiful detail in Jesus' crucifixion we miss.

Are we ignoring this intentionally? We shouldn't. Because it may just change everything for you.

Bear with me today. I think I’m about to blow your mind, but I need just a little more time than usual.

I’m not going to be the first one to ask the question you’re about to read, or the first one to posit an answer. However, I am going to point out something I haven’t seen many others point out before about Jesus’ death. In fact, I even did a quick search of Bible commentaries and sermons and could only find one reference. That doesn’t mean I’m some biblical genius, I’m just saying that when it comes to the conversation we’re about to have, too many miss an important detail about Jesus.

This detail, though, I think has far-reaching implications for you, for me, and for those around us. And I don’t think many have recognized it.

OK, so here’s the first question: Can your theology—your beliefs about Jesus and the Gospel—make room for the man on the middle cross (Jesus) telling one of the thieves crucified alongside Him that he would be going to Heaven?

Have you thought about that before? If you haven’t, you need to. If you have, there’s an additional important detail coming up that could blow your mind.

But first, here’s what I’m talking about.

In the Gospel of Luke, we see that there are two thieves crucified along with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left. Luke records one of them mocking Jesus. His counterpart, though? He chides this thief, recognizes Jesus is innocent, and then asks Jesus to “remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Jesus’ response: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

In other words, the repentant thief on the cross didn’t have a long record of discipleship. He didn’t get baptized. He believed instantaneously and he was promised a place in Heaven.

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That alone is important. In fact, earlier in his life Jesus told a parable foreshadowing this event. In the parable of the vineyard workers, he points out that while some “workers” have been laboring all day, there are some workers that may get hired near the end. And what does the vineyard master do? He pays them all the same wage. They all get the same benefit. The “all day” workers get upset, and yet Jesus points out, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”

In other words, God grants salvation, and those who come to Jesus later in life—even on their death beds (or death crosses)—are granted the same gift just like those who have served Jesus all their lives.

Ponder that.

But, here’s where I think it gets really wild. Again, this is rarely talked about. The story in Luke about the thief coming to Jesus is not the full story. There’s something else at play that is absolutely radical.

See, in Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts of the same event, there’s an additional detail. In fact, it’s a detail I think some ignore because they’re afraid it shows the Bible contradicts itself. It doesn't, but they just don’t know how to explain it. So they bury it.

Let me show you what Matthew says (27:41-44):

So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

And Mark (15:31-32):

So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Did you catch it?

Both thieves mocked Jesus. Both of them! Not just one.

Daaaaaaang. But that’s not how we usually tell the story, is it?

OK, so what do we do with this? Luke says one mocked Jesus, while Matthew and Mark say both. And I think this is where a lot of people get stuck. And yet, I think the explanation is fairly easy.

That explanation? Luke captures a very specific moment in time—when, after both mock and ridicule, one of them has a change of heart. He realizes what he’s doing is wrong, and he repents.

And Jesus forgives him.

This type of thing is not uncommon amongst the Gospels. Many times, different writers record different aspects of the same event, and one of them will focus in on a specific person in that event.

I found this explanation that I think is helpful:

Obviously, Jesus was crucified between two criminals. I believe that both of them, like the crowd and the soldiers mocked Jesus. However, one of them, when he saw the love of Jesus and his miraculous response to his tormentors, realized that Jesus was who he claimed to be. He repented right there on the cross. It bears remembering that the torture of Jesus on the cross continued for at least three hours. There was plenty of time for this to occur. Unfortunately, his fellow-criminal did not see fit to humble himself before the Son of God. Luke did not mention that the criminal who repented had begun by joining the crowd in their jeers.

OK, so why am I getting into all this today? Because even if you don’t care about how the Gospels can agree while seemingly disagree, I think you need to care about what happened on the cross. All of it. Every single detail. Because in so many ways it shatters how we approach the idea of God’s grace.

See, we are earners. All of us. We naturally tend to slide into a mentality of trying to manufacture God’s grace and favor. And the story of the thief on the cross—with all its incredible facets—shows us we can’t earn it. In fact, we can be hurling vile insults until the end and still make it.

In other words, there’s hope until the very end for all of us. Every single one of us has time to come to Jesus. The alcoholics, the addicts, the murderers, the adulterers, the rapists, the thieves. All of us.

All. Of. Us.

So, in the end, here’s what I want you to take away from all this:

1. Your understanding of Jesus has to make room for “the thief on the cross” coming to understand Jesus at the very last minute and making it into Heaven.

2. However, your understanding of Jesus also has to make room for the fact that up until that very last moment, someone can be not only running away from God but mocking him and still make it in. The change of heart can happen in an instant.

3. And if that’s what Jesus did on the cross, shouldn’t your forgiveness match that as well, even if someone takes a while to repent?

Friend, the story of the thief on the cross is not just that there’s hope for sinners until the very end. In some ways I think many of us get that. But the story of the thief on the cross goes further. Up until the moment the scales were lifted from the thief’s eyes, he was joining in the mocking. The ridicule. The abuse. He was hurling insults.

And yet, even he made it in.

That’s the radical grace of God. That’s why Jesus died on the cross. Not for the perfect, but for the imperfect. Not just for the thieves, but for the thief who was joining in along with everyone else. Right up until the moment he realized, “This guy is for real.”

That also means there’s hope for you. Hope for me. And hope for others. God’s grace is more radical than you realize. Maybe yours should be as well.

So, I ask you again: Does your theology—your beliefs about Jesus and the Gospel—make room for not only what the man in the middle does, but for what the thief does? Not just the repentance part, but the ugly part before that.

It should.

And when it does, I’m telling you it changes you.

Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash