Mark 15.27, 32, Matthew 27.38, 44, Luke 23.32-33, 39-43.
Jesus was crucified at about “the third hour [after sunrise],”
His cross was in between that of two evildoers
But we have to remember we’re dealing with Romans here. For them, everything merited death. They didn’t care the penalty didn’t fit the crime: They just wanted thievery to stop. So, one strike and you’re out. Thieves knew this was the risks of the job. But like all criminals, they figured they were smarter than the authorities, and they, unlike their dumber colleagues, would get away with it. These guys didn’t: The Romans caught ’em and crucified ’em. And that’s the way the game is played.
We don’t have their names. But you gotta call ’em something, so Christian tradition calls these guys Gestas and Dismas. Meh; whatever. Since Dismas was the guy who turned to Jesus and got into paradise, he’s now St. Dismas. (And 25 March is even St. Dismas’s Day. How ’bout that.) Whatever his actual name is, that idea isn’t wrong: He’s in the kingdom now.
Two of the gospels make it sound like they neither thief had any love for Jesus. They joined right in with all the non-crucified folks mocking Jesus.
Mark 15.27 KWL - They crucified two thieves with Jesus: One on the right, one at his left.
Matthew 27.38 KWL - 38 Then two thieves were crucified with Jesus, one at right and one at left.
Luke 23.32-33 KWL - 32 They brought two others with Jesus, evildoers to be done away with.
- 33 When they came to the place called Skull, there they crucified Jesus and the evildoers,
- who were at right and at left.
Mark 15.32 KWL - “Messiah, king of Israel, has to come down from the cross now, so we can see and believe him.”
- And those crucified with Jesus insulted him.
Matthew 27.44 KWL - Likewise the thieves crucified with Jesus insulted him.
But at some point during those six hours, Dismas had a change of heart, and when Gesmas was sniping at Jesus, Dismas decided to stand up for him.
Luke 23.39-43 KWL - 39 One of the hanging evildoers was slandering Jesus, saying,
- “Aren’t you Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
- 40 In rebuking reply, the other said, “Have you no respect for God? We’re under his judgment!
- 41 And we rightly so, for we got the consequence for what we practiced.
- But this man did nothing wrong.”
- 42 He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
- 43 Jesus said, “Amen! I promise you’ll be with me in paradise today.”
Paradise? What about heaven?
Popular culture insists when we die, we go to heaven.
See, heaven isn’t the place of the dead, but the living. There are no dead people in heaven. Jesus is there—but as you recall, he’s not dead.
When we die,
But paradise is gonna be temporary. ’Cause
People don’t always wanna hear that. They much prefer the pop culture idea: “We’re going to heaven! To be with Jesus forever!” And maybe even become angels,
Most of us figure when people are in mourning, now is not the time to correct their theology. Problem is, they never correct it any other time, and let ’em keep on believing heaven is the afterlife. And that we never leave this afterlife.
Well.
This is the paradise Jesus spoke of. He and Dismas would die that day: Jesus from running out of strength due to his flogging and blood loss and sleep deprivation, and Dismas from the Romans breaking his legs
I know; plenty of Christians have explained paradise away as a “spiritual paradise,” as Thomas Aquinas put it: He meant heaven, right? ’Cause everybody knows when people die they go to heaven. And thus we embrace our favorite beliefs instead of what Jesus likely meant. As usual.
Was this the answer the thief wanted?
Realistically, I doubt Dismas ever heard Jesus’s statements to his students that he was gonna die yet rise on the third day. So if he knew anything at all about the resurrection—that Jesus would die that day, but rise once
But if the Spirit had told Dismas no such thing, what could we reasonably expect him to think? Two possibilities.
- He imagined Jesus was gonna get rescued (miraculously or not), survive crucifixion, and see his kingdom come.
- He was delirious from pain, and didn’t know what Jesus’s condition was—but deep down believed Jesus is Messiah, so it was only a matter of time before he took possession of his kingdom.
Either way
But Jesus’s response referred to paradise, not the kingdom. The afterlife, not the present, nor even the age to come. Death, not life. He and Dismas were gonna die; he to come back in a few days, and Dismas to come back once Jesus takes his kingdom. Either way, it’s not a timeline Dismas expected. Heck, even Jesus’s students had it wrong, and he’d told them how many times he was gonna die and come back?
So Dismas may not have expected to hear this response from Jesus. But I believe Jesus meant it as comfort, and I expect it was comforting. Dismas had every reason to assume he’d never make it to a good afterlife. More likely something hotter, something which stank more than crucifixion. But instead,
It probably bugged Jesus that he couldn’t offer Dismas anything more at that time. Usually Jesus didn’t just offer kind words and nothing more, like some pathetic chaplain
