Last Request

The center cross on Golgotha deserves our full attention, for there our Lord and Savior died for our sin. But in the shadow of the center cross, two others were crucified along with Him. The Bible describes them as “robbers” (Matthew 27:28; Mark 15:27) and “criminals” (Luke 23:32), but nothing more is stated about their lives or crimes. We are never told their full story and can only speculate what they did to deserve the death penalty. Our minds might imagine them in a daring attempt to steal Roman valuables or perhaps in league with Barabbas in his insurrection. Perhaps, they were petty thieves trying to steal their daily bread when a Roman officer or soldier caught them. Though we can read or write creative novels about the thieves, we simply do not know what their lives were like before they were crucified with Jesus.

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Whenever or wherever he started his life of crime, we are simply not told. His conscience smote him the first time he stole something and kept badgering him. He denied his conscience and refused to restore the stolen item. As happens with sin, his conscience became quieter and quieter until the day it ceased altogether. Chances are he never thought his crimes would lead to execution.  He thought himself a master of stealth, invisible to the eyes of God and men. He thought himself invincible in his power to perform his crimes. Most likely this man saw and ignored repeated warnings and near escapes. Perhaps, he even passed by public places where men were crucified. "It will not happen to me," the thief said.

We do not know how long he sat in prison awaiting execution, but one day, Roman soldiers yanked him out of the cell, flogged him, and forced him to carry his cross through the winding streets of Jerusalem toward the Place of the Skull. When he arrived at the top of the hill, he experienced the grueling pain of his penalty: crucifixion.

In his agony, he noticed the crowd at the foot of the middle Man crucified. While His mother and some other women stood at His foot, what surprised him the most was the religious leaders and rulers of the people who crowded around Him. They leaders offered no word of praise, only condemnation: “He saved others; let Him save himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” they bellowed (Luke 23:35). For a while, he also mocked the middle Man in painful breaths, as Matthew records, “And the robbers who were crucified with Him also reviled Him in the same way” (Matthew 27:44).

But then he stopped his mocking as it dawned on him who the middle Man was suspended between heaven and earth on the center cross. This was the Teacher they called Jesus of Nazareth. Reports of this Jesus reached even his ears. They say He could heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, and even cast out demons. Some said He was the Messiah. Could it be true? The other criminal’s mockery broke his train of thought. “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” Suddenly, he realizes that he is justly being punished but this Man they called the Messiah was innocent.  Pain grips him as he lifts himself up and rebukes the other criminal.

Then, he turns his head toward the center cross where Jesus hung suspended between heaven and earth. Pain again shoots through his arms and back as he lifts himself up one last time.

“Jesus, remember me
when You come
into your kingdom.”
(Luke 23:42)

This plea came from a man who knew his sin and felt the just condemnation of that sin. This cry came from a dying man, a man at the end of his life. It was a plea for Jesus to remember him.