Eleventh Station: Jesus promises his kingdom to the repentant thief

And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise. (Lk 23:39-43, Douay-Rheims Version)

We do not know if the two criminals crucified with Jesus were partners in crime. What we do know was that both had really committed crime. The one who spoke kindly to Jesus is often called the repentant thief. While the Synoptic Gospels were quite clear that they were thieves or robbers, only St. Luke records a conversation. The other two state that the two that were crucified with him also reviled him (see Mt 27:44; Mk 15:32). St. Luke’s account showed one of the thieves being just and recognising the innocence of Jesus whilst the other spoke unkindly to Jesus. We assume that the thief that stood up for Christ was repentant because he admitted his crime and was willing to pay for it. As a consequence, he heard another of the last words of Jesus on the cross, and entered paradise with Jesus. After all, if he did not repent, could he have entered paradise?

In the sacrament of reconciliation there are four essential parts: Contrition, Confession, Satisfaction and Absolution. The thief who was kind to Jesus had definitely received Absolution for he was promised paradise by Jesus himself. He accepted the punishment he received; that would be satisfaction. He freely admitted that he had committed evil; that would be confession. He did not express any sorrow for his sin. As the word contrition means one is remorseful or sorry for sin, the question is: Was he contrite?

In the gospel, the words proclaimed by Jesus was: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1:15, Revised Standard Version). The word repent has its root in the Greek metanoia, which means a change of direction. It has the idea of changing from living a life that moves away from God to a way of life that moves closer to God. The repentant thief may not have voiced sorrow for his sin but he was certainly repentant as he expressed his desire to be with Jesus and to be removed from the evil he has done. We may say that there is regret in the evil he had done.

Contrition is good, there is no doubt about it. However, we must also realise that being remorseful for one’s sin must lead one to repentance. We assume that is the case in the person who celebrates for the Sacrament of Reconciliation because one wants to come back to God. However, there might be different motives for someone who comes to confession. Sometimes it is to fulfil a requirement that he or she is absolved from serious sin to receive the Eucharist. Sometimes, it is the fear that if one dies in mortal sin, one would not be able to go to heaven. I often ask myself when I go a another priest of confession: Am I making confession for the right reason? I must confess that the motives are not always pure: fear of hell is one element that is sometimes present.

In my spiritual exercises, I have to constantly purify my intentions and motives in my relationship with God. There are time when I relationship with God serve to advance my own agenda. That is when I am like the thief that reviled Jesus. The thief obviously believed that Jesus was someone from God and had the power from God. He tried to provoke Jesus to do what he wanted: to be free from the cross. He did not end up in paradise with Jesus. The repentant thief only wanted to be with Jesus. He was probably the first to enter heaven after Jesus. My motive to be reconciled must be more and more like the repentant thief who had his sights only on Jesus, and less and less about me. I hope that I would truly hear the words of Jesus when he encountered the repentant woman who was a sinner: Your faith has saved you; go in peace. (Lk 7:50, Revised Standard Version)