³⁹ Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Luke 23: 39-43

An interesting aspect of the exchange among Jesus and the thieves crucified with Him, is how little information it provides about the thief who received salvation.

Especially, the dialogue leaves us wondering: “How did he know that Jesus was really The Messiah, The Christ?”

It is tempting to speculate a reasonable explanation that nicely matches the text. However, let us instead take the position that God’s Word always provides for us everything we need. That is to say, the Bible is self-sufficient. It need not rely on any companion documents to aid our understanding. Moreover, whatever information God leaves out of His Word He does so for our good. He does so to focus our attention on the message, the principles, that He want us to learn.

With that in mind, let us, by the guidance of The Holy Spirit, examine our text.

Context

Jesus and both thieves were being crucified: they were all facing certain death.

The first thief (the 1st one to speak), recognizing his predicament simply sought to escape it. He didn’t consider his guilt, he didn’t consider that his choice to sin was about to cost him his life. And, most of all, he didn’t consider God. Indeed, he had asked Jesus that if He really was the Christ, the one sent from God, then Jesus should help him escape the just punishment for his crimes. In other words, the first thief asked, Jesus: “If you are the Son of God, please break the law!”

In so doing he revealed that he was neither repentant for his sins, nor respectful of God. Can one possibly be more brazenly disrespectful than to ask The Son of God to sin?? Can one be more unrepentant than to ask The Son of God for an escape instead of forgiveness?

On the other hand, the second thief demonstrated the proper awareness and understanding of the situation that faced them. Firstly, he recognized that he was under God’s judgment for his crimes. He expressed no desire to escape his punishment. Instead of escape, he was looking for reconciliation (“Lord remember me…”). He wanted to make it right with God. He wanted God to restore what his sins had taken from him, because he couldn’t pay the price himself.

Cognition

Now we come to the big question that we highlighted at the start: “How did the second thief know that Jesus was the Christ, The Son of God?”

The answer can be found by comparing the responses of each thief. The first thief, was looking out for himself. He wanted to escape his predicament by any means necessary, even if The Son of God had to sin to set him free. He was never going to recognize Jesus, because he wasn’t interested in anything Jesus had to offer.

Conversely, the second thief had his eyes on God. He wasn’t seeking to escape his punishment. Rather, he confessed his sin, he accepted that God’s judgment was right. He asked not for escape, but for reconciliation. His heart was in exactly the right place, submitted to God. Therefore, his eyes were primed and ready to see The Son of God on the cross next to him.

He didn’t have any “inside information” about Jesus’ true identity. Instead, his fear of God enabled him to know who Jesus was.

Consider the following passage of Scripture:

This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Ephesians 4:17-19

The passage tells us that there are those who have “their understanding darkened” because of “the blindness of their heart”

The first thief could not properly perceive who Jesus was. He was unable to see Jesus as Lord, as his Lord, because his understanding, his perception, had been darkened. Because his heart had already rejected God. Indeed, his words show that, he only wanted a god that would serve him. One that would let him do whatever he wanted with no consequences.

For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord:

Proverbs 1:29

Conclusion

Finally, the passage concludes with Jesus accepting the second thief into His Kingdom. He wasn’t going to escape execution, he would pay the price for his crimes. But Jesus, by remaining on the cross, paid the price for his redemption so that He could welcome the second thief in paradise.

If Jesus had heeded the first thief, both thieves and all of the rest of mankind would have been condemned to eternal death: eternal separation from God. However, the second thief conformed himself to God’s plan, Jesus’ death on the cross, and he received salvation.

Let us follow the example of the second thief. Let us admit our guilt; accept earthly consequences; seek forgiveness and reconciliation with God; and accept His plan for our salvation.