 Let's open our Bibles to Mark chapter 15. I'm going to give you a snapshot, just one single portion of the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And I want to concentrate on the thief on the cross who came to faith in Christ. But in order to do that, I'm going to give to you a bit of a reminder of some of the things that have taken place, just a synopsis, if you will. And then I'm going to concentrate on verses 27 through 32 and Mark chapter 15. And so picking up at Mark 15 verse 27, Mark writes with him, they also crucified two robbers, one on his right, the other on his left. So the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests also mocking among themselves with the scribes that he saved others. Himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the king of Israel descend now from the cross that we may see and believe. Even those who were crucified with him, reviled him. And so I'm going to begin by summarizing the events that has led to the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. So let me remind you of some of the things that have taken place. Jesus celebrated Passover with his men and at that time, Judas decided to betray him. At the supper, Jesus gave one last example of greatness when he washed their feet. He washed all of their feet, including the feet of the one who would betray him. At the supper, he had told Judas, what you do, do quickly. And Judas left and Judas sold him for 30 pieces of silver. After finishing the events of that night, Jesus took his men to a garden called Gethsemane. And as he prayed and his men slept, Judas came with soldiers and they arrested Jesus Christ. Now when they arrested him, Peter resisted and he took out a sword and he cut off a portion of a man by the name of Malchus' ear. But Jesus said to him, permit even this. And he healed him. He then allowed himself to be taken by the soldiers. And the soldiers took Jesus to a man named Caiaphas, where the Jewish religious leaders had assembled. Peter and John came into the courtyard. They sat with the guards. They were awaiting the outcome. The chief priests in the court were looking for evidence to condemn him to death. And many false witnesses had testified, but their testimony had conflicted. Finally the high priest asked him directly, are you the Christ, the son of the blessed? And this was not legal, but they used it to convict Jesus when he answered, I am. After convicting Jesus on the charge of blasphemy, they had led him away. Now Peter was still in the courtyard. He was warming himself by the fire when Jesus passed by. Now he had denied Jesus three times. And as he had denied him the third time, Jesus was being led past him. Jesus looked at him. Now Jesus had told him that he would do it. And when he had seen Jesus realizing what he had done, as we read our scriptures, the Bible tells us he went to pieces. In Luke 22, 61 through 62, it says, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. And Peter went out and he wept bitterly. It was still early in the morning, the religious leaders led Jesus to a man named Pontius Pilate. Judas at that time thought remorse for what he had done. He tried to return the money that he had been paid. It wasn't accepted. So in shame, he threw the money at the religious leaders and he committed suicide. As this is taking place, Pilate questioned Jesus about the charges that had been leveled against him. He was amazed that Jesus didn't defend himself. He desired to release him. He asked the people to choose to choose between Jesus to choose between Jesus and a robber by the name of Barabbas. And the people cried out. They said, away with this man, release to us, Barabbas. In Matthew 15, 12 through 14, we read, what shall I do then with him whom you call the king of the Jews? So they cried out again and crucified him. Pilate said, why? What evil has he done? But they cried out all the more, crucify him. Pilate could not dissuade them. He washed his hands. He released Jesus to them to be crucified. In Mark 15, 15, Pilate wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them. He delivered Jesus after he had scourged him to be crucified. The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard. They stripped him. They put on a scarlet robe. They twisted a crown of thorns. They put it on his head. They put a staff in his hand. They spat on him. They mocked him. After beating him, they removed the robe, put his own clothes back on him. They led him away. They led him to a place called Golgotha. And as they did so, they forced a man by the name of Simon from Cyrene to bear his cross. And when he was crucified, they offered him sour wine mixed with gall, but he refused it. They crucified him at 9 a.m. and his clothing was divided among the soldiers. At that time, Jewish men wore four articles of clothing, a turban, a sash, and outer robe and sandals. But Jesus had a fifth article, a seamless inner robe. It was a robe that would be worn by a priest. And this they gambled for because they didn't want to tear such an expensive garment. In John 19-24, John writes that this was done so that scripture might be fulfilled, which says they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots. And above his head, they placed the legal charge. This is Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. And that's where we're picking up this story. Because it says in verse 27, with him they also crucified two robbers, one on his right and the other on his left. So Jesus didn't die alone. Jesus died between two robbers. The word robber speaks of a violent man, somebody who was capable of murder. And these two were most likely part of a group, the group of men following a man by the name of Barabbas. Barabbas, the scripture tells us, was guilty of sedition and murder. And they may have been arrested along with him. And so Jesus is being crucified between these two robbers, these murderous thugs if you will. There was one on his right, there's one on his left, verse 28. So the scripture was fulfilled, which says he was numbered with the transgressors. They had broken both God's law and man's law, and they were suffering the death penalty. By being placed between the two thieves, Isaiah 53, verse 12 was fulfilled. Isaiah 53, 12 says he was numbered with the transgressors. When it says he was numbered with the transgressors, that word numbered speaks of being judged or accounted. It speaks of facts and not suppositions. They regarded him as a transgressor amongst transgressors. Now what made them think that Jesus Christ was actually a transgressor in this fashion? Well, in his ministry, Jesus spent time with sinners and that caused his enemies great problems. Luke 734 says the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say he's a glutton, a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. You see, Jesus Christ had come to the earth with the intention of bringing sinners to himself. In Matthew 913, Jesus said, I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. How can I accomplish this if I don't interact with them? It was his mission. It was his desire to reconcile sinners to his father, and he did it. He did it through becoming a man. He did it by yielding up his life on our behalf. John 12 32 and 33 says, When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. And John went on to say he said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. I'm going to die in the cross and in doing so I will draw you to myself. You see, it was his death that he ransomed us. It was in his death that he purchased us, and he did so with his own blood. In 1 Peter 118 and 19, Peter said, You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. When you get to the book of Revelation, one of the beautiful verses you find is in chapter 5 verse 9. It says they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Again, I say this every time I come across a scripture that says that. It doesn't matter to the Lord what your ethnicity is. It doesn't matter to the Lord what color your skin is. It doesn't matter to the Lord what your culture is, what your native language may be. It doesn't matter because God's word goes forth in every known language, continues to be translated into languages so that all can hear it. And it's God's intention to rescue all of us, all of us. And we are one in Jesus Christ. One of these days, and it's not that long from now, one of these days we're going to be together, those who love the Lord will be together in heaven. And together with one voice and one heart, with one accord, we will be singing glory and praise to God for thou art worthy to receive honor and glory because that's the song of the redeemed. And one of these days, because of what Christ has done, we together will be able to worship the Lord in a never-ending praise and honor to the one who gave his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. And if that isn't something worthy of praise in the Lord for it, I don't know what is. One of these days, and it's not that long, we shall see him face to face. And that's what the Lord intends to do. His salvation is intended to include everyone, everyone, everyone who is here in the Word of God. It would include those listening to this study. It would include those who are watching online his desires to save you all. It says in verse 29, those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, aha, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. Come down from the cross. Now, notice how it says, those who passed by, Jesus was crucified outside of the city gates. He was in a place that was filled with traffic. People were passing by. They would crucify people so that all would see as a warning. And people are passing by. And as they do so, they don't have a sense of human compassion or sympathy. They began to mock him. They're mocking him even as he's dying. Notice it says in verse 29, aha, you who destroy the temple build it in three days. Now, where did they get that from? Well, there was a false accusation made about Jesus Christ the night that he was tried. It's found again in Mark in chapter 14, 57 and 58. It says, some rose up and bore false witness against him saying, we heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another made without hands. As is common, the false charges had spread and lies had become facts. It says in verse 30, that they mocked him. They said, save yourself. Come down from the cross. This mocking of the Lord fulfilled a prophecy concerning how Messiah would be treated. It's found in Psalm 22, verses six through eight. I'm a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. All those who see me ridicule me. They shoot out the lip. They shake the head saying, he trusted in the Lord. Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him since he delights in him. And I want you to note that in this particular Psalm, Messiah says I am a worm and no man. That's not saying that I'm just some kind of little animal that you can squash easily, can't resist. It's really a powerful picture of the work of Messiah. Somebody wrote concerning this worm, when the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she attached her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were protected until the larvae were hatched in and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms, commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. This is a picture. It's a picture of Jesus dying on a cross, shedding his blood that he might bring many sons into glory. He died for us that we might live through him. In verse 31, it says the chief priests also together with the scribes mocked. Now these men were the most bitter because Jesus had pointed out their hypocrisy. They had desired to take him for some time, but they hadn't been able to do so. You see, Jesus had influenced the people and they were in danger of losing their positions of authority and superiority of prestige. In Luke 22 verse 2, it says the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. And these are by far the most wicked because they knew better, yet they still did this to him. So they say in verse 32, let the Christ descend from the cross that we may see and believe. Once again, their insistence on Jesus performing signs for them reveals their unbelief. Now Jesus had already made it clear what sign he would give them to convince them in Matthew 12, 38, and 39. He said, it reads some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign will be given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and Jesus would be in the bowels of the earth for three days. It's going to be a sign of the resurrection. Now, as this is taking place in verse 32, it says those who were crucified with him reviled him. I want to spend some time looking at this with you. When you read your scriptures, at first these thieves joined in with the others who were reproaching him. But eventually, one of those thieves began to have second thoughts. One of the reasons I'm sure that he began to have those second thoughts is because Jesus did something that was unheard of and this man was a witness to it. Jesus actually prayed for the ones who were killing him. Jesus prayed even though he was in mind numbing pain. When you look at crucifixion and you see the way that it was carried out and when you look at the torture that Jesus had endured, you get a better picture of it. I mentioned this before. I mentioned it again. Crucifixion was a very horrible way to die. We don't really understand the death of it because it just isn't common in our day to see such cruelty. It's an actual adaptation of the methodology of the Assyrians. When you read your Bible and you think of people like Jonah, Jonah didn't want to go and preach to the Assyrians. Why? Because they were horrible. They would put rings in the nose of their prisoners. They would take them in shackles and then they would take a post that was a small sapling and they would sharpen it like a pencil edge. They would lift up the prisoners that they had taken and then they would plunge them upon this steak, a torture steak. Jonah didn't want to go to speak to the Ninevites because of the bloodthirsty manner in which they treated prisoners. That was part of the reason that he wanted nothing to do with them. The Romans had taken the methodology of other tribes including the Assyrians and they had honed that particular way of death to the point where they could actually keep you alive on a cross for up to three days. That's the reason Pontius Pilate later on was surprised that Jesus died as quickly as he did because they would normally stay on that cross for two to three days and so they would get this rough tree and they would fasten the prisoner to a cross beam. They would hammer nails through the wrists and into the ankles, not hitting a bone but supporting the body. Then they would lift it up and drop that into a hole and the thud you can almost hear and the sound of the groans and the screams of the prisoners who were being crucified would be unbelievable and they would leave them there to die of suffocation over a three-day period because every time they would lift themselves up to breathe they had to because their ribcage was collapsing on their lungs and so they would actually have to lift themselves up and especially strong prisoners could remain alive for quite some time because they'd continue lifting themselves and eventually what happened is they succumbed to shock and blood loss and dehydration and ultimately they suffocated. It was a horrible way to die and yet Jesus is there in such pain and as he's there in this agony and pain and all he's praying for the Father to forgive them for they know not what they do. That's unheard of. That is something that nobody does. Why would Jesus pray like that? Because God is willing and desires us to forgive us of our sins because the Bible teaches us from Genesis to Revelation that God's desire is to forgive us of our sins and not to condemn us. The Bible makes it very clear that it's his desire to save any who would come to him in faith. In Ezekiel in Old Testament book chapter 18 verse 32 God says I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies say at the Lord God therefore turn therefore repent and live. God is not desirous that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God loved the world so much that he gave his Son Jesus Christ to take upon himself the penalty that was due to us. We have sin and fallen short of the glory of God. We are the ones whom he says there is none righteous no not one that's us he's speaking of. We're the sinners not Jesus Christ but because we could not save ourselves the Bible teaches us that God made it possible for us to be saved by doing something we couldn't do and so Jesus took upon himself the sin of the world he was the Lamb of God who did so. When they're saying come down from that cross he couldn't do that he wouldn't do it he had come to fulfill the will of his father. His father had sent him to be that one who calls the sinner to repentance. His father had sent him that he would be that Lamb who laid down his life that's why he came he can't come off the cross he won't come off the cross. He said a baptism to be baptized with and how straightened I am until it be accomplished. I've come to do my father's will and the volume of the book it is written of me that's why I came to lay my life down for you. Well this torture has been going on for some time one of the thieves is angry and he's desperate. Now at first both of them were lashing out at Jesus both of them were reviling him but one has been watching for some time well this one is angry and he's lashing out but the companion the one who's on the other side of Christ has a different response. He had heard Jesus pray he saw the way he was treating his own death and instead of crying out his innocence or cursing his tormentors he prayed for him and seeing the goodness of Jesus and his mercy well it cost him to change his view of who this man is. Now his companion kept verbally abusing Jesus but this other man changed his view in the gospel of Luke in chapter 23 verses 39 through 43 Luke records one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him saying if you're 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 and then he said to Jesus Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said to him assuredly I stand to you today you will be with me in paradise one thief had no fear of God he had no sorrow over sin he had no repentance over what he had done he had no awareness or conviction that he deserved his punishment that's a picture of a sin hardened man with no desire to repent be forgiven it's a man who doesn't think he's done anything wrong at all I haven't done anything wrong why should I be forgiven for something I haven't done it doesn't matter I'm just human so as this is going on he's telling Jesus save yourself and save us as I mentioned he couldn't save himself from death because that's why he came in John 12 27 Jesus said it like this he said my soul is troubled and what shall I say father saved me from this hour I know it was for this very reason I came to this hour Jesus would not come down to save himself because he came to die for our sins if he came down from the cross mankind would have been doomed forever in Matthew 20 verse 28 the son of man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many so one of the thieves was hardened in sin displaying no sign of sorrow having no repentance but the other one is being touched now these men saw and heard the same things but one was convicted and the other wasn't it has been said the same son that melts wax will harden clay the same message that is given that causes somebody to repent and say I want a relationship with God is the same message somebody else gets up and walks out on and and says this is nonsense I don't want to hear any of it I can't tell you how many times over the years when I've been given messages and all and then an invitation before the invitation came there'll be people popping up and walking out but there are others who are listening there are others who are allowing the Holy Spirit to work within their heart there are others who are aware of who they really are and what they've really done they have their their their awareness the self-awareness of the fact that they're not perfect they're not that good they have a need there's something within them and that's what's taking place here with this man and this man begins to speak and this man speaks to the Lord and as he speak in the plan of salvation and folds the thing we notice is that he he actually recognizes his own sin because in Luke 2340 he said do you not fear God you see the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge he's aware of this don't you fear God he also recognized Jesus his innocence he said we're being punished justly as he was saying this he's actually confessing his own sin as I mentioned Romans 3 10 all of sin fall short of the glory of God he said we're being justly judged because we deserve it but in doing so he is also acknowledging that Jesus was innocent but then he goes on to say he says to Jesus Lord he recognized and confessed that Jesus was more than just sir that Jesus was Lord in 1 Corinthians 12 3 Paul said it like this he said I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus and no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit in Romans 10 13 everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved and that's what's taking place here and then he makes a request and I want to look at this for just a moment he said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom remember me please don't forget me as I was preparing this message I'll be honest with you as I was going through it remember me stood out to me remember me there's nobody here watching me die there's nobody here it's just me I don't have anybody I have nobody to remember me I have nobody to mourn my death I have nobody to say words about me at a funeral I'm a nothing I'm alone I'm dying and nobody will remember me ever nobody will know my name nobody will ever remember me my life came and my life went it began in pain and it's and it's ending in pain but I've been watching you you didn't curse you didn't you didn't yell at people you didn't get angry I heard you pray I heard you say father forgive them for they they know not what they do and I'm one of those that needs forgiveness I'm not asking for a special place of honor I'm not asking for a special favor all I'm asking is that you'd remember me don't forget me I've watched you I've watched you suffering alongside of me and as I've been watching you I've come to believe you see the things that Jesus did were not done in private his fame had gone throughout the nation of Israel and even into borders of other countries they were aware of this man Jesus and they were aware of the things that he claimed to be and the things that he had done this man would have known of of who this man is he would have known of the things I mean right above Jesus's head it says Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews he wouldn't known who he was he would have known what he'd done I'm certain that he had heard things so he's saying to him remember me don't forget me I'm on a cross I too have been abandoned by men I'm abandoned and there's no one here watching me as I die I'm dying alone I'm forgotten by all I'm a dying sinner and I'm praying to a dying savior there are many who have heard of you and yet you are dying as I am dying alone yet I see that you're not alone you prayed to your father but I have no father so in remembering me forgive me Jesus I've committed many sins but I've come to believe that everyone can be forgiven by you remember me but don't remember my sins in Psalm 25 7 it reads do not remember the sins of my youth in my rebellious ways according to your love remember me for you lord are good according to your love remember me but please don't remember my sins that's what this man is asking I heard you pray I heard you pray father forgive them they know not what they do so I'm asking you forgive me and I'm asking you please remember me when you enter into your kingdom though you're dying I believe your kingdom will be everlasting remember me I want to partake of your kingdom I want to be with you forever and to this Jesus said today you will be with me in paradise now the word paradise let me share something about that the word paradise is actually a Persian word the word was used to speak of an enclosed park a garden of the king and the Greek translation of the book of Genesis is actually used to refer to the garden of Eden in Genesis 2 verse 15 it says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden he put him in paradise to work it and take care of it so Eden was actually referred to as the paradise of delight in Revelation the promise of eternal blessedness is described as paradise in Revelation 2 verse 7 whoever has ears let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches to the one who is victorious I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God Jesus was promising this man not something in the far distant future but that very day interestingly enough this thief never got baptized as a Christian the thief didn't go to a place called purgatory either he went straight to paradise he went to be with the Lord and the magnitude of this promise gave this repentant man joy as he approached death the scripture says you have main don't to me the path of life you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand remember me when you enter your kingdom remember not the sins of my youth the word of God tells us in Isaiah 43 25 I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins in Hebrews 10 17 I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more when you come to faith in Christ guys when you give your heart to Christ in faith and say God remember me the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses you from all sin if you confess your sin the scripture says he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness not somewhat unrighteousness but all unrighteousness and the Lord Jesus Christ was promising him something that he promises us today that we would be with him for where he is we shall be also our sin has made a separation between us and our God in the way that this man on the cross there die next to Jesus exemplifies but at a certain point he recognized who he was in contrast to who Jesus is and at that point he called him Lord and asked for a small favor remember me don't forget me don't forget me he's actually saying I'm trusting you the very end of my life he never had a chance to do any good works did he he never had a chance to to do anything other than to die and yet that at that moment Jesus says today you will be with me in paradise Jesus dies and later the thief's legs were broken and he died but though he died physically spiritually he was more alive than he had ever been is he had Jesus remained in the grave his promise would have been a lie but he didn't remain in the grave in this upcoming Sunday we get to celebrate the reality because three days later Jesus rose from the dead and in Romans 1 4 it says Jesus was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead Jesus Christ our Lord so because he lives we live too because Jesus is alive we're alive too and perhaps there are some watching right now online perhaps there are some who are in an overflow perhaps even in this room there are some who were like the thieves saying remember me maybe you've been lonely all your life isolated all your life nobody understands you nobody actually seems to care about you maybe you were abandoned I don't know I've met many people who have amazing testimonies of where they were what they've done I was speaking to someone recently who was sharing with me his testimony just as recently and and he said something to me forgive me I hope I'm not betraying a confidence and I don't think he said it in confidence but he said something that kind of made me think oh my goodness he said you know when you stab somebody you have to be careful where you stab them because you if you hit them in the rib then you're not and he's just talking as a matter of factly and I'm thinking are you thinking about doing that to me I mean what why are you telling me that and he shared how that he had killed the man and but there he is serving the Lord Jesus Christ why why because he had confessed his sin and God says if any man is in crisis a new creation old things are passed away behold all things from you that comes that comes through Jesus Christ for a moment think of yourself as we're about to close where were you what were you up to before you came to faith in Christ how many sins had you committed over a lifetime how many sins and then you said God be merciful to me I am a sinner forgive me and what did he do the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses you from all sin and you are now a new creation your name is written in the Lamb's book of life and God's Holy Spirit indwells you and you are completely brand new because of what Jesus Christ can do what a savior and that would not have happened that would not be true if Jesus Christ had remained in the grave but he didn't he died he was buried but the third day he rose again from the dead and he dwells in us by his spirit and we have life because he's alive and Father we bless you