| Crucified With Christ |
| by David A. DePra |
| And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, |
| saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other |
| answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing |
| thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we |
| receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done |
| nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when |
| thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I |
| say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Lk. |
| 23:39-43) |
| The two thieves on the Cross were literally crucified with Jesus |
| Christ. Imagine it. Of all of the human beings who ever lived, |
| these two individuals were there, that day, hanging on crosses |
| beside the Son of God, just as He was dying for the sin of the |
| world. These two were given the opportunity to die with Jesus |
| Christ; to be crucified with Him. |
| We too, are to be crucified with Christ. But our crucifixion "with |
| Him" is not a physical crucifixion. It is spiritual. Paul tells us this in |
| his letter to the Galatians: |
| I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ |
| liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the |
| faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. |
| (Gal. 2:20) |
| There is a picture of something being given us by God through |
| these two thieves on the Cross. They were crucified with Christ, |
| and we are crucified with Christ. How they responded physically |
| and historically, typifies the two possible ways in which we, as |
| Christians, might respond to God as we hang on our "crosses" |
| next to Jesus. |
| Two Attitudes of Heart |
| The two thieves who were crucified with Christ were guilty of |
| crimes worthy of death. Little did they know that the very One who |
| was to die for their sin would be crucified with them that day. It is |
| likely that these thieves had never even heard of Jesus before that |
| day. Afterall, they were criminals, and there isn't any reason to |
| believe that they were part of the crowds following Jesus during |
| His ministry. No. They were probably in prison, or were |
| committing their crimes during that time. |
| These men were guilty and knew it. They knew that they were |
| going to be executed that day. But who was this strange man who |
| was to be executed with them? And why all the fuss over Him? |
| It is clear from scripture that Jesus words and conduct during |
| His death were a witness unto those who watched. Even a Roman |
| centurian said, "Certainly this man was a righteous man." (Lk. |
| 23:47) Even the thieves also recognized that Jesus had done |
| nothing worthy of death. Apparently, Jesus' innocence was |
| obvious to anyone who was willing to face the Truth. |
| The thieves did know that there was a great dispute over |
| whether Jesus was the Christ. They had heard the crowds |
| arguing, and demanding that if Jesus were the Christ, He would |
| save Himself. |
| And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them |
| derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he |
| be Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, |
| coming to him, and offering him vinegar. (Lk. 23:35) |
| Note the "test" these people demanded as "proof" that Jesus |
| was the Christ: Whether He would save Himself. That was the |
| test. The "real Christ" would save Himself. A fake Christ would |
| die. He would not be able to deliver Himself from the Cross. |
| This "test" was echoed by one of the thieves. He said, "If you |
| are the Christ, save yourself and us." But the other thief rebuked |
| him, and admitted that they were being justly punished. He then, |
| in a clear acknowledgement of Jesus as the Christ, asked Jesus to |
| remember him when He came into His kingdom. |
| Isn't this ironic? Natural thinking would tell us that the "test" |
| as to whether Jesus is the Christ is if He comes down from the |
| Cross -- or if He saves US from OUR cross. But the Truth is, |
| the "test" is passed only if Jesus stays up ON the Cross. Then, |
| and only then, can the fact that He is the Son of God be declared |
| through the power of His resurrection. (see Rom. 1:4) |
| Our Cross |
| Here we see the two possible attitudes WE can have as we |
| hang on our cross, beside Jesus. These are the two possible |
| ways we can respond as we are being crucified with Christ. We |
| will either consider our "death" to be an unjust, bad thing. Or we |
| will know that it is a just thing. And we will look forward to the life |
| to come. |
| The two thieves were not Christians. But they do represent two |
| groups of people. One group considers the cross to be an |
| intrusion on their life. Despite saying they have embraced Jesus |
| as Saviour, their relationship with Him is almost like one of an |
| adversary. "These things just should not happen to someone who |
| is a Christian," they say. "Christianity is life, not death." And then |
| they say to Jesus, "Save us from this unjust situation." |
| This group of people want to save their life. They want to be |
| crucified with Christ, because they know a Christianis supposed to |
| be, but they want it on their own terms. With Paul, they would say |
| the words, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live," but the |
| "life they now live" is not through the resurrection. It is not life |
| through death. It is life by avoiding death. They want to come |
| down from the cross. And some of them do. |
| But even if we don't actually come down from the cross, it is |
| nevertheless a hinderence unto us to forever complain about |
| being there to begin with. Some of us hang there in a continual |
| state of bitterness and complaint. We really don't think all of this |
| suffering we are going through is just. We are mad at God |
| because He is allowing it. And we don't understand why, if Jesus |
| is really the Christ, He doesn't save us from it. |
| The thief on the cross who complained against Jesus had one |
| thing in mind: Being saved from the cross. In his mind, a truly |
| loving Christ would not let him die. He obviously had no concept |
| of his own guilt, and certainly did not discern in the least the One |
| who was dying beside him. |
| The other thief, however, had seen something. He represents |
| a group of people who are crucified with Christ according to the |
| will of God. These people know that crucifixion is exactly what |
| they need, not only because it brings a just end to their old life in |
| Adam, but because it is a deliverance from sin itself. They are in |
| the process of losing their life in Christ. And there in no thought of |
| asking Him to save them from it. |
| The thief who believed in Jesus knew that his life was over. He |
| confessed his sin in that he acknowledged that he was receiving |
| justice for it. But he didn't give up on God. His focus was upon |
| one thing: The afterlife. He asked Jesus to remember Him. And |
| Jesus, who was right then in the middle of dying for the sins of the |
| world, acknowledged this lowly thief. He promised him that He |
| would. |
| Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ." He also said, "But |
| nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ who is in me." There is no |
| life in Christ expect it come through crucifixion with Him. We |
| must willing take up our cross and follow Him to calvary, where we |
| will be crucified with Him. |