Among the Evildoers

We are familiar with the expression, “In the wrong place at the wrong time.” Many people have been guilty of this. They thought they were with friends, and the friends got mischievous. Although innocent, their association with their friends made them equally guilty.

This is the picture we get next. Jesus, the innocent, was led to be crucified along with two “evildoers” (Luke 23:32). He was in the wrong place at the wrong time! Luke didn’t explain what evil those two evildoers did. Nevertheless, when they reached a place called “the Skull,” they crucified all three of them: one evildoer on Jesus’s right side and the other on his left side as if Jesus was one among them (23:33). While they hung on those crosses, the soldiers took Jesus’s garment and divided among them by casting lots (23:34b).

Since Luke’s audience was Theophilus, a Roman official, Luke didn’t explain the significance of the soldiers dividing Jesus’s garments among themselves. It fulfilled a verse from the messianic Psalm 22. David wrote this psalm when he ran away from his enemies and felt God abandoned him (22:1). He further said, “The enemies divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment” (v. 18). Without explaining this association, Luke narrated this event to Theophilus.

Some of the early Greek manuscripts we have do not have the first part of verse 34, which says,

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.’”

That’s why many English translations have verse 34a in parenthesis. Since one of Luke’s themes is forgiveness, and Jesus characteristically extended forgiveness to others (see v. 43), we may take this as an authentic saying for Jesus. Within a few years, Stephen would follow his example and say a similar prayer before his death (Acts 7:60).

While Jesus was praying for the people’s forgiveness, only one sought it. The people, rulers, and soldiers mocked Jesus, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the elect” or “If you are the king of Judahites, save yourself.” (They knew he was the king of Judahite because such an inscription was written about his head on the cross, stating that was his crime.) One of the evildoers, too, joined the mockery, saying, “Are you not Christ? Save yourselves and us” (23:35–39).

But the other evildoers rebuked the other, saying, “Don’t you fear God while you are being sentenced in this way? We are condemned justly and received the just punishment, but this one did nothing out of place” (23:40). He just happened to be in the wrong place [?] at the wrong time. Then, that evildoer said to Jesus,

“Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom/rule.” (23:42)

While everyone around Jesus mocked him and ignored his offer of forgiveness, one evildoer took the offer and asked for a place in Jesus’s rule. The Lord said to him,

“Amen, I say to you: Today, you will be with me in paradise.” (23:43)

Paradise, paradeisos, means “a garden” in Greek. The Garden of Eden was Paradeisos of Eden. In the NT, paradise occurs here and in two more places. In 2 Corinthians, it refers to the third heaven (12:2), and in Revelation, it refers to the new Eden (2:7). Regardless of which place it referred to, Jesus’s promise to that evildoer was “Today, you will be with me.”

This same promise waits for anyone who seeks Jesus for forgiveness. He always replies, “Today, you’ll be with me.” That’s the joy of sharing the gospel.