Vincenzo Peruggia was from Italy. He was a petty criminal and was mostly unknown until he stole one painting from the Louvre museum in Paris. The painting was Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa! It is believed to be the most expensive art piece of all time. Considered the art theft of the century, that single robbery made him one of the most infamous thieves.
Around 2000 miles towards the east, in the nation of Israel, there were another two thieves who also made it into the pages of history. It was not the crime that made them famous, but with whom they were executed. The authorities put these criminals to death along with Christ Jesus.
Israel was under the rule of Roman empire then, and crucifixion was a method of capital punishment in which the convict was nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and suffocation. The accounts of crucifixion present in the Bible talks about these two robbers being crucified with Christ, one on either side of Him. According to this, these two robbers mocked Christ, one of them challenging Jesus to save Himself and others from the cross if His claims were true. But the scripture also recorded that one of the criminals repented of his sins later, and believed in the Savior dying on the cross next to him. The narration goes on to state that Christ immediately accepted him and promised him salvation – deliverance from divine condemnation and hell.
Though it was the practice of the Roman penal system to punish the convicts in that way, the crucifixion of Christ was neither a mere coincidence nor the routine execution of another convict; but it was the ultimate fulfillment of Bible prophecies. Nearly thirty Bible prophecies – recorded in the scriptures hundreds of years before the incarnation of Christ - were fulfilled on the day Christ was put on the cross. Christ’s death and resurrection was part of God’s perfect plan, and everyone and everything involved – the Roman soldiers, the Jewish priests, and even the celestial bodies and nature – were playing their parts knowingly or unknowingly on that eventful day!
If that is the case, what was the role of these two men on the day of the crucifixion? Why did God allow the most worthy, most innocent, most loving person ever lived, to be put to death along with two criminals on either side?
God is conveying three important messages to mankind by allowing Jesus Christ – the God incarnate - to be crucified with these two men:
Christ came to the world to save sinners: Sin is our problem. Sin has been destroying us – it has ruined individual lives; it has broken families, and it has caused nations to engage in war. The scriptures undoubtedly state that all are sinners – both the bad people and the seemingly good people. No one can meet God’s standard of righteousness in their actions, thoughts, words, and attitude. Jesus came into the world to save sinners: not to leave us as sinners, but to deliver us from being sinners.
Salvation is by faith alone: These two individuals were sentenced to death because of some crimes they had committed. Hanging on the cross, they did not have any opportunity to do some good works, or add anything of virtue to their life of sin. They helplessly waited for their death. Though they were under equal condemnation, one of them received the free gift of salvation because he repented of his sins and believed in Christ. God declared him to be righteous based on his faith, because Jesus Christ had fully paid the debt of his sins by His death on the cross.
Whoever comes to Christ will be saved: It was the custom of the Romans to affix a wooden board to the cross to proclaim the reason why a person was being executed. The account of crucifixion in the Bible describes such an inscription on the cross of Jesus, but chooses not to mention any such thing about the thieves; the scriptures are silent about the name or background of these two men. Even the crime they committed was not mentioned. The message is clear; no matter who you are or what sin you have committed, if you come to Christ with a repentant heart and accept Him, you will receive the gift of salvation.
Kommentarer