Who was the Good Thief? Who was that man who, despite his suffering, felt compassion for Jesus and managed to “steal” Paradise from him?
We know nothing certain about his life, except that he was sentenced to death for his crimes along with another man. In the Gospels, the Greek word kakourgoi is used to describe the thieves, a word referring to men who have committed heinous crimes. The Gospels tell us that both were crucified on Calvary along with Jesus: one on his right, the other on his left, as specified by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. “Two others, who were criminals, were also led away to be put to death with him. When they came to the place called The Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right and the other on his left” (Lk 23:32-33). The evangelist Luke gives us the fullest account of those moments while John does not dwell on these figures.
“Remember me when you come into your kingdom”
From the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, we learn that both thieves insulted Jesus, while the evangelist Luke records something different: “One of the criminals hanging there insulted him: ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ The other, however, rebuked him, saying: ‘Have you no fear of God, you who are condemned to the same punishment? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’” (Lk 23:39-42). The Good Thief is a repentant man who acknowledges that he deserves punishment for what he has done. Even in a situation of great suffering, he feels compassion for Jesus and has such faith in him that he asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
What do the apocryphal texts tell us about the two thieves?
The apocryphal texts add many details to the concise Gospel account. They even give names to the two thieves: Gestas, the first, and Dismas or Dimas, the second, who soon became very popular. He was venerated in many places during the Middle Ages, sometimes under the name Good Thief, sometimes under the name Dismas.
In Christian antiquity, many legends about the Good Thief spread. One of them recounts that Dismas took part in the abduction of Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus during their flight to Egypt.
These fanciful accounts confirm the importance Christians have attached to him since the very earliest times, venerating him immediately as a saint.
The intimacy of God’s embrace with sinners of every age
In that “today you will be with me in Paradise” are the Lord’s embrace and the reference to that kingdom of light and peace that Jesus had announced through his preaching.
On that day of anguish and extreme suffering, the two crucified men said nothing else to each other, but those few words, spoken with difficulty, still resound today as a sign of trust and salvation for those who have fallen into sin but have also believed and hoped, even if only in the final moment of life.
