"Christ on the Cross between Two Thieves", c 1619 by Peter Paul Rubens.
This is my fourth post, joining fellow Christian bloggers in reading Christian Classics. In this series we are reading Dr. A.W. Pink's, "The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross".
Lets read Pink's introduction to this chapter:
"It was no accident that the Lord of Glory was crucified between two thieves. There are no accidents in a world that is governed by God. Much less could there have been any accident on that day of all days, or in connection with that event of all events -- a day and an event that lie at the very center of the world's history. No, God was presiding over that scene. From all eternity He had decreed when and where and how and with whom His Son should die. Nothing was left to chance or the caprice of man. All that God had decreed came to pass exactly as He had ordained, and nothing happened save as He had eternally purposed. Whatsoever man did was simply that which God's hand and counsel "determined before to be done" (Acts 4:28).
Once again, A.W. Pink is going to take us deep beneath the text of this historic event and bring to light those things which are seemingly unseen.
Please join me...
One of the first questions that Pink asks and suggests a few answers to is, "Why did God order it that His beloved Son should be crucified between two criminals?
- To demonstrate the unfathomable depths of shame which He occupied as our substitute. Here He hung with common thieves.
- To demonstrate a "vivid and concrete representation of the drama of salvation and man's response thereto." In that scene was a Saviour with redemption, a sinner who repented and believed and finally another sinner who rejected and reviled Christ.
- To demonstrate the sovereignty of God. Here we see two wicked criminals hanging on the cross. Witnessing the same scene, experiencing the same pain and both facing certain death. How is it that that one sought forgiveness and believed and the other died in his sins? Pink states that this is certainly a mystery. God's sovereignty and human responsibility. "Both, Pink says, "are plainly taught in the Bible, and it is our business to believe and preach both whether we can harmonize or understand them or not." Is this not predestination and free will both happening at the same time? Even though a mystery, this one rings true with me. It is not for me, with my finite mind, to understand the infinite mind of God.
In this chapter, Pink now turns his attention to the dialog between the Saviour and the thief. Here are seven things that Pink observes:
- Here we see a representative sinner
- Both thieves are in the same place and there is no essential difference in the two. Both of them, along with the chief priests, scribes and elders, mocked Christ. Here we see the saved thief, in the final hours of his life mocking the Saviour
- Here we see that man has to come to the end of himself before he can be saved.
- To understand that we are lost sinners is not enough. We must also understand that there is nothing that we can do to help ourselves
- Here we see the meaning of repentance and faith.
- Something has happened in the short time since this thief mocked Christ. He asks of the other thief, "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..." Clearly the Holy Spirit has been at work and this thief is listening.
- Here we see a marvelous case of spiritual illumination.
- In just a few short hours, this man has learned a great deal from the Holy Spirit. Pink lists seven things this man learned hanging on the cross that day:
- He expresses his belief of a future life.
- He had a sight of his own sinfulness
- He bore testimony to Christ's sinlessness
- He confessed Christ as the Godhead
- He believed in the Saviourhood of the Lord Jesus
- He evidence hi faith in Christ's Kingship
- He looked forward to the second coming of Christ.
- In just a few short hours, this man has learned a great deal from the Holy Spirit. Pink lists seven things this man learned hanging on the cross that day:
- Here we see the Saviourhood of Christ
- Christ told this thief that, "Today you will be with Me in paradise."
- Here we see the destination of the saved at death.
- Jesus tells the thief that TODAY you will be with me. No sleeping of the soul, no purgatory but simply today.
- Here we see the longing of the Saviour for fellowship
- Jesus didn't tell the thief that today you would go to heaven. He told him today he would be WITH Christ in heaven. Jesus is there and longs for our fellowship.
I loved Pink's final in this chapter:
"That which makes heaven superlatively attractive to the heart of the saint is not that heaven is a place where we shall be delivered from all sorrow and suffering, nor is it that heaven is the place where we shall meet again those we love in the Lord, nor is it that heaven is the place of golden streets and pearly gates and jasper walls -- no; blessed as these things are, heaven without Christ would not be heaven. It is Christ the heart of the believer longs for and pants after --"Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth the I desire beside thee" (Ps. 73:45). And the most amazing thing is that heaven will not be heaven to Christ in the highest sense until His redeemed are gathered around Him. It is His saints that His heart longs for. To come again and "receive us unto himself" is the joyous expectation set before Him. Not until He sees of the travail of His soul will He be fully satisfied."
I have read these verses many times, over the years, and never before have I found such depth of understanding. There is much to consider here.
