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The Opinion of Thieves

by Jerry Ousley  
4/06/2012 / Holidays

Everybody's got one you know an opinion that is. I certainly have mine regarding nearly every subject you can imagine. That doesn't necessarily mean that my opinion's the right one; sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. I've got my opinion on politics and frankly mine agrees with that of a lot of people I talk too, but then we have a tendency not to press the subject with folks we are certain won't agree with us. I've got an opinion about prices going higher and higher and wages going lower and lower. It just don't balance out; and they wonder why folks aren't spending; you can't spend what you ain't got, right?

Some buddies and I have this economy all figured out. I mean just a few common sense decisions could put this whole thing back in place but will they listen to us? Not hardly! But then, I'd say that many of you could say the same thing. Again, everyone has their opinion and they are entitled to it.

When Jesus was crucified, He hung on the cross between two thieves who had been scheduled for execution on the same day. Crucifixion, according to the experts, was one of the most horrible ways to die ever dreamed up by man. Why do people spend time thinking about ways to bring pain to others anyway? And I suppose there are opinions about that too. But back to the subject, both of these thieves had an opinion about Jesus who hung between them. We read their account in Luke 23:34-44 which says, "Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, 'He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.' The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, 'If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.' And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' But the other answering, rebuked him, saying, 'Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said to Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'" See what I mean? I quoted all of that so you could catch a sense of the mood of the people. It began with the Jewish leaders, mocking and making fun of our precious Lord. Then it spread to the soldiers who began doing the same. Attitude is infectious, especially a bad one. In a factory, shop or office, if one employee begins bad mouthing the boss behind his or her back soon others will join in, and before you know it nearly all in that place will have grown very discontent in their jobs and with their leadership.

This mockery of our Lord became so infectious that one of the thieves crucified beside of Jesus took up their words, only adding "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." He was quick to add the "and us" part. I suppose in the back of his mind he figured that if all who had mocked Jesus were wrong perhaps he could selfishly get something out of it; that kind of sounds familiar too doesn't it? In the midst of his own pain and agony this thief was quick to adorn himself with the attitude of the majority, even if they were the ones responsible for his own crucifixion.

But the other thief discovered something deep inside himself. Without doubt he had been a sinner. In the midst of his pain he took a long hard look at himself and realized his plight, his guilt, and his helplessness to do anything about it. Then, looking to Jesus he saw One who deserved none of the punishment He was getting. Why would He take it like that? He had listened to the man's words, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." How could anyone forgive those wrongfully killing Him like that? Then He realized, "Yes!" This man is truly the Son of God! He is the Christ! So against popular opinion he took up for Jesus. He corrected the other thief reminding him of how they deserved their punishment. Then he pushed out all the catcalls from the crowd. He listened only to Jesus. He tuned out the pain, the suffering and all that was going on and in that public place he found himself alone with Jesus and he said, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." There were no words of doubt. Now he knew that Jesus was about to receive a kingdom that few understood and he wanted with everything in him to be a part of it. Jesus responded, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." So much could be said about this. But for now I only want to ask you, "What is your opinion?"

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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