The Order of the Crosses

The Order of the Crosses

3/4/14

The story of the thieves on the cross is a popular reference when ministers and other people are speaking about salvation.  There are great examples of how humanity perceives God and everything that relates to His existence during the events of this story.  It is also amazing to me that even the way that the soldiers lined up the crosses predicts the completeness of God and that even in death, His plan was fulfilled. It is difficult for us not to think about this time in history as being anything but dark, but in truth, it serves as a slap in the face to our enemy and a restoration process that all can obtain if only they believe.

In some of my past articles, I have stated that God has a specific plan for everything that occurs in our lives.  This plan represents the completeness of God and it will always include a beginning, a time in between and an end with all events coordinating while we are alive on this earth.  The story of the cross and who was there at the time of Jesus usually dominates the messages, songs, films and books with a little less attention being placed upon the ones who were beside Jesus when He left this physical earth.

Over my years in life, I have heard sermons and read words that portray the thieves and Jesus while they were serving out their sentences and those of us who have read the story have no doubt read about what each thief said while they were completing this historical event. But has anyone given the consideration of the order that these three men were placed while they were serving out their sentences?  I do not recall ever thinking about this process before but it makes perfect sense when one understands the order in which man placed these three men.  I can guarantee that the soldiers who were carrying out the sentences had no idea that how they were placing these men shouted out repentance and restoration to both the spiritual and physical worlds.

The Bible states that there were three men that were crucified at this time which included two thieves and Jesus.  The Bible does not mention anything about the trials of the two thieves and how they came to meet their fates on that day.  All we know is that they were thieves and that their actions evidently had a motive and pattern so severe that they were sentenced to death.  Other than this generalization we know very little about them until they were having their sentences carried out.

The Bible is very specific when it states about the positioning of the two thieves and Jesus.  The passage states clearly that the order of prisoners was a thief on the right, Jesus in the center and then another thief was on the left.  Three men in total were being executed that day and that the soldiers chose to place these men in this pattern.  The Bible also states that while the sentences were being carried out that the ones in charge of the process were in joyous moods and carried out gambling games while the convicted were dying in front of them. This scene brings up numerous more topics of articles but my focus for this article is going to be the order of the crosses.

Public executions were just that, very public and anyone who wished could attend this procedure and to watch the situation unfold.  Yes, it was not a very good scene to witness but since humans were involved in the process one can gather that it was used as a learning tool for those who might be having thoughts of turning to crime as a way of making a living.  On the other hand, I am sure that there were those present that just wanted to see the blood fly and to hear the iron strike the nails.  Many other possibilities can be made because where there is a human there is a curious mind that wants to see something different and unusual.  In any case, taking a short walk to the hill and witness the death of hardened criminal could be the highlight any civilian’s day.

We have a thief on one side of Jesus and it is evident that he is a vile man who does not regret anything that he has done to warrant his punishment.  He is fully aware of his actions and does not want to have anything to do with Jesus or what He represented.  In fact, this thief mocks Jesus and carelessly demands that Jesus save Himself and the two that are on each side of Him.  It is very clear that this man is speaking from his heart and everything that has been harbored within him is now protruding as a last will and testament of his life.  It would not surprise me at all to know that some of the victims that he stole from were present at his execution egging him on while he suffered his punishment.  And one would have to admit that some of the people in the crowd may not have enjoyed what was transpiring because they were family members, all of which would rouse the crowd more as time went along.

The non-repentant thief made it very clear that his heart was not sorry for what he had done and by his words to Jesus proved that he was still operating within his selfish capacity and had no cause to make things right.  I find it fascinating that the attitude that this thief portrays is the exact same attitude the world shows towards God, His Church, His People, the concept of Christianity in general or anything that claims that someone else could be in charge of your life other than that person.  This attitude was portrayed back in the days of Noah and in the days of the Roman Empire era and from what is circulating today not much has changed since those ancient days.  What I find difficult to swallow is that the modern Church has followed in this thief’s attitude and has allowed the world to influence her decisions.  There is a reason that this thief was crucified with Jesus because he represented the exact attitude and separation status that the world has with God and due to its own actions is receiving the punishment of the wrongs that it has done.  At this time of need, the answer is right in front of this thief and he rejects his peace up to his death. 

In the middle of the thieves was an innocent man who was tried and convicted of trumped up charges against Him and then received the ultimate penalty for these charges.  His own people charged Him and pressed hard for Him to be taken from this world not knowing that their actions provoked the divine plan of God and set this plan into motion that benefits every human that was ever created.  With the completeness of God intact all persons before, during and after Jesus’ death are subject to the final sacrifice that brought the possibility of humanity’s relationship with God once again.  Jesus had to die in such a manner that humans saw fit just to complete the human goals of sacrifice and for God to smell the smoke of a repentant creation even if he / she did not understand what was transpiring.  Mankind has made it a habit to blame others for their beliefs and it is evident that the Church began this tradition in order to prove themselves to be correct about how to control their own shortcomings.  In truth God designed through a divine plan that a specific pattern and destination for His Son be fulfilled and if all is known mankind, God’s prized creations fell right into this plan, just as God so accurately predicted.

In order for God to accept a sacrifice, it had to come from the heart and to be offered up by humans as a true sacrifice.  That is why only the Jews could have completed this task and it also served notice that the one being sacrificed was of true status and recognized by God as such.  As scriptures tell us, the sacrifices that the priests made took away the sins of the people for that specific period of time.  The sacrifice was of pure stock and had no blemishes present.  No deformities or abnormalities were noted and when the animal was given the approval the procedure took place in an orderly fashion.  If one looks at this process and then the process in which Jesus was imprisoned, tried, convicted, and sentenced one will see that both processes are very similar.  This proves that Jesus had a mission to complete while He was on this earth and that no specific gender or race was solely responsible for His death.  It was ordained, set into motion and had to be completed and it did not matter who played the specific roles.

While Jesus was hanging on the cross He was still doing His best to show the world who He really was.  His pain and agony did not deter Him from pouring out His love to a dying world.  It is obvious that He was reaching out to the unrepentant thief but he was in no mood to accept the reality of what Jesus was providing.  If we look at Jesus’ position He is placed in between the two thieves and is actually symbolically forming a bridge between these two men.  On one side of Him, there is one that represents the past, current and future condition of the world.  Jesus is in the middle and a forgiven thief on the other side of Him; which I will get to in just a minute.  With Jesus being in the middle of these two men it gives us another picture of God’s completeness and truth simply because the rulers of that day took it upon themselves to complete the divine plan of God by following what God had already ordained.  Did those soldiers have a clue of what they were doing?  All they were doing was following orders from their commanders, they had no idea.

On the other side of Jesus was another thief whose actions had condemned him to die.  His crimes were not specifically recorded but whatever they were their results cost this man his life as well.  What is interesting about this thief is that it does not mention the fact that he knew the thief on the other side of Jesus but one can imply that the two either knew each other or were involved in the same crimes or very similar ones.  I say this because of what this thief said to the first thief; that both of them knew that they were guilty of their crimes and were receiving due punishment.  The passage also reflects that this thief knew what Jesus was accused of and what His crime was as well for he addresses this fact when talking with the other thief.  He understood that Jesus had been innocent and did not deserve to die and at some point had the sense to ask Jesus for forgiveness.

It is obvious that this thief and Jesus had some sort of prolonged contact with each other; it also could have meant that this thief had heard about Jesus as well as in the previous thief’s contact both are not known.  It is however, noticed that whatever type of contact these two men had with Jesus, it was this thief who wanted forgiveness and immediately it was granted to him, without questioning for Jesus could still sense the honesty of this man’s heart.

Once again the soldiers had no idea of what had occurred and what type of symbolism that they had accomplished in the way that they placed Jesus and the two thieves.  On one side of Jesus was a man who represented the world and who refused to acknowledge who Jesus was and what He could provide.  That thief died along with the entire spirit that he harbored within himself.  The world shall never accept Jesus as its ruler for Satan is God’s immortal and eternal enemy and it is his job to make sure that all of us die just as the first thief did.

Then you have the second thief who also comes from a worldly background but has at some point understood what Jesus’ life represented and even at the point of death God grants this repentant thief forgiveness for everything that he has done.  This thief understood the world and knew what the world had influenced him into completing yet his heart still wanted to make things right even though there were probably a few people out in the crowd that were happy that he drew his last breath that day.

Three men dying on crosses and this is a sign of completeness?  Yes, it is and the pattern of this completeness goes all the way back to the actions of mankind within the Garden of Eden.  After the fall of man, the earth and world knew nothing but devastation and death.  This fact proves that the world cannot have anything to do with life and everything that the world stands for represents nothing but separation and death from true life.  All throughout scriptures it says that mankind tried their best to establish some sort of spiritual connection with the truth and as long as we read scriptures and read about human history it is clear that we have failed miserably in this goal.

God understood that there would be a need for restoration and that He needed a plan that would allow man to return to our direct communication with Him, so God decided to create a process of sacrifice in which humans could come to God and present their sins to Him and then repent of them and go about their way and not sin again.  Well, we know that turned out so eventually God had to put into place another idea and that would be to provide the ultimate sacrifice one that because of the origins of this lamb would represent and give grace for all mankind.  This perfectly created lamb was His own son.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross between two thieves not only was He providing the perfect sacrifice but He was completing the link, the only link that could restore the direct communication between God and mankind.  Jesus provided the bridge from a dying world to one that has hope and eternal life.  His physical presence between the two thieves proves this since a thief on one side of him did not accept His message, then Jesus was in between and the thief on the other side did accept His message.  This picture serves as the complete plan that God had for mankind and it proves that all of us will die but there is One who can stand in between us and when death comes our way will provide a bridge to our heavenly Father.

It is God who has set into motion the things that humans walk through.  It does not matter what we believe and how we believe, God has already completed your path.  When Jesus was placed upon the cross between those thieves it was the perfect pattern and a direct slap in the face of our enemy.  God has a perfect plan for each one of us and if we take a closer look at our lives it will be possible for us to understand this truth.  As man placed Jesus in the center of the three men, God has placed you into the exact same position in your daily walk.  The order of the crosses makes a huge statement to our enemy and your life does the exact same thing.  So, why not slap him in the face with your testimony and shine brightly in your perfect order.

DLB