Matthew tells us that both criminals initially taunted Jesus. They came to fight for Jewish freedom from the Romans, and this guy in the middle had turned out to be a disappointment: rather than lead a revolt against Roman authority, they viewed him as submitting to Roman authority like a coward.

At some point during their time on the cross, one of them changed. He began to see Jesus differently. He listened to Jesus care for others even during his most agonizing torture. He heard him crying out for the Father to forgive those who had put him there. This criminal’s eyes began to open to the reality of Who was hanging next to him, and though Jesus’ body was torn and bloodied, the criminal saw a king. He saw THE King.

Later, while the other criminal continued his taunting, this one rebuked him saying, “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then came a simple request: “Jesus, remember me when You come into your kingdom,” to which Jesus replied, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

It was a remarkable scenario and it mirrors every person’s situation . Consider it:

Three men died on three crosses.

• One died FOR sin to secure eternal life for those who believe.
• One died IN sin and received eternal punishment because he refused to repent.
• One died BECAUSE OF sin but received eternal life because he believed and repented.

Romans 3:23, along with our own experience, informs us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard of righteousness and that the penalty for that rebellion is eternal death (Romans 6:23a). Since nobody gets out alive, meaning we’re all going to die, this is a massive, eternal problem! There was no hope, until…

Jesus came and willingly died on a cross to redeem us from the penalty of sin and give us grace and life beyond the grave (Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 5:21). The Good News is that the eternal gift that was received by the thief who died BECAUSE OF sin can be ours, as well, through faith and repentance (John 3:16, Romans 10:13, Romans 6:23b).

The fact that the thief on the cross could do nothing to earn this gift reminds us that we cannot earn it, either. It wasn’t because he was stuck on a cross but because he was stuck in sin. Like the thief, none of us are able to completely stop sinning now, nor can we fix the sin we’ve done in the past. Salvation only comes because Jesus was on that third cross and paid the full penalty of our sin-problem. He took the punishment we deserve so that we don’t have to!

Not only do we get eternal life when we die, but Jesus also gives us abundant life now as we trust Him and follow Him. This is a life that provides lasting joy and purpose, even when we deal with the difficulties in life (John 10:10, Philippians 3:7-14).

So, we know we’re all going to die – nobody makes it out alive. And because each of us are sinners, we will die because of our sin, like both criminals.

The question you have to ask is which one of the two crosses are you going to be on.

That is the question that everyone must answer. Our desire is to provide opportunities to ask it.