Rome used crucifixion to make a public statement. A body raised beside a crowded road warned every passerby what happened to anyone who challenged its authority.
On Calvary, Rome raised three.
Two criminals hung on either side, while Jesus occupied the middle cross. To the soldiers, all three were condemned men awaiting the same end. Heaven saw a distinction no Roman court could measure.
Two were guilty.
One was not.
Jesus had healed the sick, fed the hungry, opened blind eyes, and called sinners to repentance. Even Pilate found no fault worthy of death in Him. Still, the innocent Son of God was nailed between two criminals under the same Roman sentence.
The rulers mocked Him. Soldiers joined them. People passing beneath the crosses wagged their heads and demanded that He prove Himself by coming down.
Even the two criminals added their voices to the ridicule.
That detail matters because Luke later records something remarkable. One criminal continued railing against Jesus, but the other no longer joined him.
Something had changed.
The first criminal looked toward Jesus and demanded, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” He wanted relief from the nails, but he offered no confession of guilt. He wanted Jesus to prove His authority by ending the consequences surrounding him.
The second criminal heard those words and rebuked him.
“Dost not thou fear God,” he asked, “seeing thou art in the same condemnation?”
The man acknowledged that their condemnation was just.
“...for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.”
He owned his guilt. Then he declared Jesus innocent.
Pain had not disappeared. The cross beneath him had not changed. His sentence remained fixed, and death was still approaching. What changed was the man’s understanding of himself and of the One beside him.
Within a few dying breaths, the criminal acknowledged God, recognized judgment, confessed his own guilt, and declared Christ innocent. He looked past the crown of thorns, the torn flesh, and the mocking sign above Jesus’ head. Where the mockers saw a defeated man, he recognized a King approaching His kingdom.
“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
He could not climb down and repair his past. He could not return what he had taken, rebuild what he had broken, or offer a lifetime of good works. His hands were fastened open and empty.
He placed what remained of his life into the authority of Jesus Christ.
The King answered immediately.
“To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Three men remained upon their crosses, but only one of the guilty men had received that promise.
Both criminals hung beside Jesus. Both heard the mockery. Both witnessed His suffering. Both faced death before the day ended. One hardened himself and demanded escape. The other humbled himself and asked for mercy.
The difference was not their criminal records. Scripture presents both as guilty men under just condemnation. The difference was where they placed their faith when confronted by the King.
The first wanted Christ to come down from His cross.
The second trusted Christ while He remained upon it.
Jesus did not stay there because nails had defeated Him. He remained because redemption required the sacrifice He had come to make. Darkness covered the land. The temple veil tore from top to bottom. When the appointed work was complete, Christ surrendered His spirit into the Father’s hands.
Rome believed it had carried out another execution.
God had opened the way home.
Calvary therefore became more than the location of three deaths. It revealed God’s sovereignty, human choice, and the verdict that follows. God established the means of redemption through His Son. Two guilty men responded to the same Savior according to their own hearts. Christ then pronounced the promise that no earthly judge could give.
One criminal spoke to Jesus in mockery.
The other spoke to Jesus in faith.
The crossroads of Calvary had no road signs. It had three crosses.
The middle cross opened the way to life. The two beside it revealed the choice every human heart must make.
Both men were near enough to speak to Jesus.
Only one spoke to Him in faith.
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” —Luke 23:42–43
—Jeff Wager
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