What Changed?

[Nancy]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

 

[farouk]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

@Nancy Evidently he was given the grace of repentance just in time...

There is the saying:

"True repentance is never too late;
Late repentance is seldom true."

 

[rockytopva]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

Did the other writers of the Gospel know about the one who found grace with the Lord Jesus Christ? Luke's account is different. He may have learned about the thief who found grace later on in the ministry.

39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. - Luke 23

 

[Preacher4Truth]

@Nancy Evidently he was given the grace of repentance

It is obvious in the things he said he was regenerated, repentant, redeemed.

 

[farouk]

It is obvious in the things he said he was regenerated, repentant, redeemed.

It would seem so, just in time...

An application for today would be in reminding ppl of the urgency of the Gospel.

 

[Preacher4Truth]

It would seem so, just in time...

An application for today would be in reminding ppl of the urgency of the Gospel.

Yes, so true my dear brother!

 

[Nancy]

Thank you for the replies!
It still seems an awfully quick conversion; from calling Christ names and mocking Him to suddenly calling Him King, and seemingly realizing Jesus was the messiah. But then, nothing is impossible for God :)

 

[Candidus]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

Salvation is a crisis, not a process. What I mean is, everyone that is saved gets saved in a moment, in a fraction of time they step out of the darkness and into the light. They are on their way to Hell one moment, and a moment later they are on their way to Heaven. You are a Christian or you are not. It would not be surprising to see someone receive the grace of God on the cross.

 

[Stranger]

Thank you for the replies!
It still seems an awfully quick conversion; from calling Christ names and mocking Him to suddenly calling Him King, and seemingly realizing Jesus was the messiah. But then, nothing is impossible for God :)

Yes, it was a quick conversion. But, time wasn't on his side. It's interesting to think about that that thief was one of God's people. One of those that the Father called and gave to the Son, even though he had no time to live out a long Christian life. (John 6:37)

Scripture also states that all the disciples forsook Christ. (Matt. 26:56) Yet, in the end, John was there. (John 19:26) John had to have had a change of mind also and gone back.

Stranger

 

[Pearl]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

Never noticed that before.

 

[Nancy]

Never noticed that before.

Neither have I Pearl, it was mentioned during Sunday services (online) and, I never remembered that part! We're doing a series on the attributes of God and I'm really loving it. Wanted to ask him about it but...too big a Church so, thought I would ask on here what you all thought? It just seems like an awfully quick repentance! Something had to make him change his heart and mind. Thanks for the reply!
xo

 

[Nancy]

Yes, it was a quick conversion. But, time wasn't on his side. It's interesting to think about that that thief was one of God's people. One of those that the Father called and gave to the Son, even though he had no time to live out a long Christian life. (John 6:37)

Scripture also states that all the disciples forsook Christ. (Matt. 26:56) Yet, in the end, John was there. (John 19:26) John had to have had a change of mind also and gone back.

Stranger

Thank you Stranger,
Yes, they all did forsake Him. Funny how the Holy Spirit made them so bold afterwards. They were running like scared little girls, then their boldly preaching the Gospel!
God Bless!

 

[Giuliano]

While reading the accounts of the thief on the cross in the Gospels, it seems that the thief came upon his repentance in the short time on the cross, but what changed his mind, between the time he was reviling Jesus and when he "repented"? In two accounts:

“Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Matthew 27:44)
“Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32)

And then in Luke we have: Luke 23:39 "One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day? He goes from mocking Jesus to calling Him a King, really. It just hit me strangely, and has me wondering... :)

I think the thief became as a little child. He had always wanted to be good but thought it was impossible.

I think there are countless people in the world who excuse their bad behavior by saying, "The world is a dangerous place. Everyone is out for himself. You can't trust anyone." Somewhere along the line, they lose the innocence they had as children.

I think the thief looked at Jesus and saw it was possible to be good in an evil world. He regretted buying the lie that you have to be selfish to survive, and the innocence he had lost came back to him. He had wasted his life -- a basically good person pretending to be bad and acting bad.

 

[Stranger]

Thank you Stranger,
Yes, they all did forsake Him. Funny how the Holy Spirit made them so bold afterwards. They were running like scared little girls, then their boldly preaching the Gospel!
God Bless!

Yes. But John did return and this was prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Stranger

 

[Eternally Grateful]

Thank you for the replies!
It still seems an awfully quick conversion; from calling Christ names and mocking Him to suddenly calling Him King, and seemingly realizing Jesus was the messiah. But then, nothing is impossible for God :)

It shows we should not take quick forms of repentance for granted, and count them off as nothing. Like some tend to do..

God works in ways we do not understand.. To him goes the glory

 

[marks]

Thank you for the replies!
It still seems an awfully quick conversion; from calling Christ names and mocking Him to suddenly calling Him King, and seemingly realizing Jesus was the messiah. But then, nothing is impossible for God :)

Hi Nancy,

John 3
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Just my own speculation here . . .

Maybe as he hung there for a while, he stopped being in denial over his own sins, and realizing that Jesus hadn't sinned.

At first following after his usual habit of just going along with everyone, but then faced with his own mortality, and the innocence of this Man, he couldn't take it any more.

Much love!

 

[Enoch111]

What was it that changed the mind of the thief who was to see Jesus in Paradise that day?

This thief was no dummy. He was actually quite astute theologically. No doubt he had seen and heard Jesus somewhere along the way, but had never repented. He was fully aware that Jesus was innocent, and had been crucified because of the hatred and malice of the Jewish religious leaders and the rabid mob.

But he also noted the inscription above Christ while on the cross, declaring Him to be King of the Jews. And then he noted both the grace and majesty of Christ, who did not murmur or complain, but hung there with dignity, and forgave His enemies. He may have overheard the instructions that Jesus gave to John regarding His mother.

Therefore he came to the realization that Jesus was truly the Messiah and the King of the Jews, and he rebuked the other malefactor for reviling Christ. Finally he called Him "Lord" and confirmed that he believed in Christ's future Kingdom on earth (unlike many Christians today). Therefore he asked to be remembered in that Kingdom.

 

[Grailhunter]

On this thread we have Gluliano, Marks, and Nancy.....no dummies among them!
So put it together and figure out what was happening there.
There are scriptures to give you a few clues.
Where did Christ say He was going for three days?
Where did all people go that were not saved.....?
Where do you think all the Jews where that died?
How hell plays into this is a different topic. Maybe a different thread.
Hell cannot be described as paradise.
Nor did Christ go to heaven from the cross.

 

[Nancy]

This thief was no dummy. He was actually quite astute theologically. No doubt he had seen and heard Jesus somewhere along the way, but had never repented. He was fully aware that Jesus was innocent, and had been crucified because of the hatred and malice of the Jewish religious leaders and the rabid mob.

But he also noted the inscription above Christ while on the cross, declaring Him to be King of the Jews. And then he noted both the grace and majesty of Christ, who did not murmur or complain, but hung there with dignity, and forgave His enemies. He may have overheard the instructions that Jesus gave to John regarding His mother.

Therefore he came to the realization that Jesus was truly the Messiah and the King of the Jews, and he rebuked the other malefactor for reviling Christ. Finally he called Him "Lord" and confirmed that he believed in Christ's future Kingdom on earth (unlike many Christians today). Therefore he asked to be remembered in that Kingdom.

Thank you Enoch,
Seems pretty plausible to me!

 

[Nancy]

Hi Nancy,

John 3
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Just my own speculation here . . .

Maybe as he hung there for a while, he stopped being in denial over his own sins, and realizing that Jesus hadn't sinned.

At first following after his usual habit of just going along with everyone, but then faced with his own mortality, and the innocence of this Man, he couldn't take it any more.

Much love!

Thank you Marks,
I suppose it would cause one to face their morality when about to get crucified!