THE TWO THIEVES

Matthew 27:38 There were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. (Luke 23:39-43)

Do you remember the Christmas story? The story about the night when Jesus was born? Well, just shortly before that there were two other little children born. The Bible doesn't give them a name, so we'll just call them Mr. Left and Mr. Right. We don't know exactly when they were born, but we'll say they were probably born one or two years before Jesus was born.

These two boys began life as regular boys. As they grew, they picked up some bad habits just like all boys and girls do.

We need to watch out for bad habits. You can break any habit when it is new, but if you don't try to break a bad habit, and it is no longer a new habit, it will become very hard to break.

There was one bad habit that each of these young men picked up that finally ended up killing both of them. That bad habit was stealing.

You should remember something about stealing. When you steal, you don't just take an item from someone, you take away part of their life. Let me explain. Each person has a given amount of time to live. We call that amount of time "life." Most of us spend our time in life working to earn money, to make a living. We use that money to buy things to make our life on Earth pleasant. If someone steals something which we have purchased with the money we have spent our life earning, they are stealing part of our life.

Even if you find something that belongs to someone else, you should try to return it. If you don't try to return it, you are still stealing. And, remember this: Even when you find something, it still belongs to the person who lost it. It will never really belong to you.

Now, back to our story.

As these boys grew older they continued to practice their bad habit of stealing. As they grew, Mr. Left didn't feel bad about the things he took such as bicycles, toys, coats, shoes, especially money from his mother's purse.

Although Mr. Right had the habit of stealing, he didn't always feel good about that habit. In fact, many, many times he tried to stop that bad habit, but just couldn't make himself break it. He always felt bad afterwards, but wouldn't take anything back because he didn't want to get caught. He wished and wished he could figure out some way to stop this bad habit.

As these boys grew older and became men, they would take more and more expensive things. They were both sent to jail, and prison many times.

They met each other in prison. Mr. Left would talk and brag about how he stole things from poor people, and rich people. By the way, it doesn't matter who you steal from, it is still just as much a sin either way.

One day while both men were in prison they heard about a man named Jesus who was going around claiming to be God. He must have been God because he could heal people of what ever problem they had. Even their sin. When Mr. Right heard about that, he knew he had to find this man named Jesus and get saved from his sin, and his bad habit. He asked everyone were Jesus was, but no one knew.

Finally Mr. Right, and Mr. Left were released from prison. Mr. Right told Mr. Left he was going to begin looking for Jesus in order to be saved from his bad habit. Mr. Left decided to stick around with Mr. Right because he was very skeptical and intended to make a mockery of this Jesus that Mr. Right was talking about.

One day, they learned that Jesus was going to be in Jerusalem. They had a long way to travel to get there, but Mr. Right didn't want to miss the chance to meet Jesus and see if he could heal his worst sin. Mr. Right traveled as fast as he could, and Mr. Left followed along very doubtfully. Neither stopped to rest nor eat. They just kept heading for Jerusalem.

When they arrived in Jerusalem they were very hungry and very tired. They knew Jesus was there because of the excitement of the crowd. They decided to rest, and founded an alley in which to sleep for couple of hours. When they woke up they were very hungry and thirsty. They went into the marketplace where bread was being sold. Mr. Right and Mr. Left were such good thieves it didn't take long before they had enough bread to fill their stomachs.

What they didn't realize was that someone had been watching, and they were arrested on the spot. But this was the last straw. Because of their bad record and their history of crime they were both sentenced to death on the cross.

At the same time this was taking place Jesus was being sentenced to death on the cross.

As it turned out, Mr. Right was placed on a cross on the right hand side of Jesus. This was not how he had wanted to meet Jesus. He wanted to find Jesus and get help. He didn't want Jesus to find him being punished for his sin.

Also, Mr. Left was hanging on the left side of Jesus. He was so mad because he had intended to mock Jesus, but now he was being punished in the same manner as Jesus. He mocked Jesus while he hung on the cross. He told Jesus, "If you are God why don't you just come down from that cross."

The Bible says Mr Right said these words to Mr Left. "Dost not thou fear God, seing thou art in the same condemnation? and we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise."

Mr. Right is like the rest of us. He didn't expect to have to meet Jesus in that condition. But Jesus didn't care, he still forgave him. Many times we feel so ashamed when we realize that Jesus is watching as we commit our sins. But what Mr. Right didn't realize, and what we often forget is that Jesus is watching us all the time.

After a short time all three men on the crosses died. Today the man on the left is still burning in hell. Today the man on the right is still with Jesus in Heaven.

If you have stolen, lied, swore or anything that is bad, you are exactly like the two men. You are condemned to hell. Will you be like the man on the left and someday join him burning in hell? Or, are you going to be more like the man on the right? Are you ashamed of your sin? Are you sorry for your sin? Would you like Jesus to help? Jesus is still able to help you.

Yes, Jesus did die on the cross, but he rose again and is alive and watches you and me every moment. He knows about your sin and he wants to forgive you for that sin. He is just waiting for you to ask.