Two Thieves
7-Jul-12
Guilty criminals all around;
Rioters, thieves, killers abound. Our grungy cell’s clanking gate; One of us, escaped his fate. Every year, one prisoner released; The governor’s custom during Feast. What! Not him, the notorious one! He should be killed for all he’s done. I’ve not done as bad as he, But I’m convicted to die you see. Only a few small things I took; Guess it does make me a crook. The law was there, caught & guilty; Hate the feeling – dirty, filthy. Accomplice & I, our time had come; Time to pay for what we’d done. Stripped & beaten – humiliation, Paraded examples to the nation. Now joining – another fellow; Beaten worse, yet he’s mellow. Two of us – cursing the air; Mad at the world, so unfair. Our petty crimes, stiff penalty, Rumored savior. Where could he be? It’s him! The battered, bloodied third. All his talk – How absurd! A king? Royalty? Another pretender. Scourged, punished as an offender. This is it! Here come the nails! Piercing pain, crimson trails. Son of God – Do something! Taunting, mocking, cussing him. Suddenly – it then occurred; What we got, we deserved. But this Jesus did no wrong; Though reviled by the throng. I’m not sure, but somehow know; Back to heaven, You will go. Jesus, I’m guilty – my mercy plea; In Your kingdom, remember me. Forget you not, He did say; For you will go with Me today. Jesus then, went up first; The other thief, remained cursed. That lonely villain missed paradise; Lived only once, now dying twice. Denied Christ, didn’t confess; Perpetual torture, dark, endless. I died once, then on to live; God in flesh, life to give. Paid my debt, now set free, Jesus’s life ransomed me. Everyone guilty, like us thieves, Must decide before he leaves. Pay yourself, the full sin price? Or completely trust in Christ? |
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. - Mt 27.41-44
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
- Lk 23.39-43
In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. - Mt 27.41-44
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
- Lk 23.39-43