Two sinners and a Savior – the Three Men

Two sinners and a Savior

Three different types of men, two kinds of sinners and a Savior, have existed throughout the history of the world. I will go on record here at the beginning and say this in no way means this post does not apply equally to women. The term as it is used here, should be considered a reference to mankind in general. Keep reading through this post, including the Bible verses below and you will understand why this post should begin with that title and how it affects each and every person; every man, woman and child who ever lived through past and future history.

On a hill called Golgotha long ago were three men, two sinners and a savior, Jesus Christ. These men represent every person who ever lived. We know little about the lives of two of these men, these two sinners. Their names, their history, their crimes, where they came from; these things are not written. We do however know a great deal about the third man though, our Savior, how He lived His life on earth and some things about where He is now. The account below is taken from the Gospels on the Holy Bible and tells of these three men, these two sinners and a Savior, who in some ways represent every adult human being who has ever lived or ever will live. We will address what this means to children, briefly, after we get through the adult side of things.

The Scripture

The Bible verses for the parallel accounts from the four gospels in the Bible are below, providing the background for this idea.
“Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing”. Matthew 27:38 & 44 (NKJV)
“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. John 19:17-18 (NKJV)
With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.‘ “Mark 15:27-28 (NKJV)
“There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left”. Luke 23:32-33 (NKJV)
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise‘”. Luke 23:39-43 (NKJV).

There is no person ever formed by GOD in their mother’s womb who is not included in this. These three men, three types of people, three representations of humanity, two sinners and a Savior, are the unrepentant sinner, the repentant sinner and Jesus Christ, the sinless Man/God who came to die for our sins. There is a sense in which all things in the past and the future were leading to or built from this one single event, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. All things in the universe and in history surround this moment in time when two sinners hung on their own crosses, both in need of a Savior. Only one of those sinners reached out with faith. That sinner is the first man.

The First Man – The Unrepentant Sinner

The three men are two sinners and our Savior. The first man is the unrepentant sinner. This person is represented by the criminal who mocked Jesus, telling Him to save Himself if He was actually GOD. We often hear skeptics, atheists and others who oppose the Bible as truth today asking why things in the world are still broken. They will ask “If GOD is real, why is there suffering”? They point to all the things wrong in the world and say that if there really were a GOD who cared about us, none of those things would be broken. This is similar to the approach of the criminal in this story. The text does not give any detail about this man, it does not tell us what his crime was, where he was from or how long he had been waiting for execution. Compare what we know of the timeline of Jesus’s trial and crucifixion to this criminal though. Justice, or at least what was being passed off as justice, was swift for the Lord, although in truth that was GOD’s plan and all things worked then, as they do now, to fulfill His Will.

The trial and sentencing for the criminal hanging on the cross next to Jesus was probably very similar. He would have been in Jerusalem during the same time Jesus was and ‘the talk of the town’ was all about Jesus. Think about the Bible verses which tell the story of people proclaiming Him King as he rode a donkey into town (John 12:12-19). Every person in the area probably heard about these events and knew the story of the great teacher and miracle worker. This criminal would also have heard the good news, that Jesus is the Son of GOD, the Messiah, but even then this man has chosen not to believe. His view is the same as modern skeptics who ask for evidence that GOD is real, wanting GOD to “fix what is broken” and provide yet another proof that He is GOD.

This criminal wanted to see Jesus save Himself if he really was GOD. He ignored all the other evidence and asked for more proof. Any person who was in Jerusalem during these days would have had the opportunity to witness, in one or more ways, directly or indirectly, the evidence that Jesus Christ is the Lord. All people have had general revelation available to them through GOD’s creation. Many have had special revelation through GOD’s Word that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, Immanuel, GOD in human form and they simply choose to deny it. The first man of these three, the two sinners and the Savior, probably fits into this category.

This person, convicted of a crime and sentenced to death, had no pretense on which to make this choice. He was not going to save face with his friends. There was no way to maintain any existing favor with the Pharisees who murdered Jesus. He merely did not believe and was not repentant. He was dying, sentenced to hang on a cross until dead and he knew this. His motives for making this choice are not known but his choice is clearly written. We have no idea what went through his mind in those hours and moments or what his feelings may have been. We can imagine that he chose defiance, perhaps much like he may have lived his life, rebelling against the society he was part of. Perhaps his crime was a mistake or a moment of passion, perhaps his crime was one more incident in a lifetime of crime against man and sin against GOD. These details are not written.

We know only what is revealed to us in the Scripture, that he denied the Lordship of Christ in his last hours, even though he most likely had been exposed to the same information that led the second man to repent and seek the saving grace of the Lord. This first man represents many people now and through history. General and special revelation is all around them but they refuse to examine the evidence, they ridicule faith of any kind and they deny the Lord who died for their sins. This person, like all of us, is in need of GOD’s mercy and grace but it is only available to those who choose to seek the narrow gate. We should always remember that this is the place where we all began. All of us at one time were sinners in need of GOD’s mercy and grace. Some will choose to remain in this place and others will repent. That day at Golgotha there were two sinners and a Savior. This is the first man.

The Second Man – The Repentant Sinner

The second man is the repentant sinner. This criminal who hangs on the other side of Jesus represents every person in the world who repents of their sins and believes on the Lord. He turns to Jesus, even as they both hang on the cross, and it becomes apparent that something, some word, some event, something … has convicted him in his heart that he is a sinner and that the man hanging on a cross beside him is actually GOD in human form and this one person, Jesus Christ, would be able to save him from his fate. He asks the Lord to remember him when he comes into His kingdom.

Think for a minute about how that played out. This man was a criminal convicted in the courts of the day and was sentenced to death. He hung on a cross knowing that he would die soon, probably only a few hours from that moment. He was in indescribable pain, fighting to breathe, unable to gain relief from even a single one of the many agonies inflicted on his body at the time, the life slowly bleeding out of him as he grew weaker. You can learn more about crucifixion here; it was a horrible painful way to die. There was no way he was going to have any earthly reward for what he asked Jesus to do. We know his fate now just as he did then, so we can see that his belief must have been genuine.

It seems unlikely that he was looking for a word of comfort from the man hanging next to him. He clearly stated that he knew Jesus had done no wrong and he clearly stated that unlike Jesus, he knew he deserved the punishment he was receiving. Why would a person in this situation ask for the random man hanging next to him to ‘remember me when you come into your kingdom’? What could he be hoping for unless he really believed Jesus was truly the Son of GOD and had the power to do what he was asking? The scripture indicates his request was sincere and he had a repentant heart. This man chose to Seek the Narrow Gate.

We know that his word was sincere because we also know what the Lord’s said to him in response. Jesus said that he would be with Him in paradise that very day. The man’s faith must have been genuine or Jesus would have replied differently, just as He did throughout His earthly ministry, always telling everyone around Him the truth. This is the second type of man, the repentant sinner who asks for forgiveness. This man had an opportunity to do what no one today is able to do. We can all ask Jesus for forgiveness, grace and mercy but this second man, the repentant sinner, asked Jesus Christ in person, in human form, as a man who was and is GOD, to save him from his own wretchedness. He repented and sought forgiveness. Forgiveness was granted by the third man, the Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is noteworthy that we only see a few things happen during this interaction.

1. The sinner repented – he acknowledged his sin and had remorse.
2. The sinner believed – he believed Jesus was the Son of the Most High GOD and had the power to redeem him from his sin.
3. The sinner had faith – he believed that if he trusted Jesus, he would not be forgotten; he would be redeemed and saved.

Jesus gave him a reply that shows us he was sincere and had been granted GOD’s mercy and grace, that he was saved: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” Luke 23:39-43 (NKJV). This man fulfilled GOD’s ultimate purpose for his life at the very end, even after being convicted of a crime and sentenced to death. This repentant sinner found GOD’s will for him and in that moment Jesus played out His role as eternal High Priest, fulfilling the Father’s will: “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day” John 6:40 (NKJV). The Bible verses that show the elements of salvation are clear and found in many places through scripture but you can read more about that here on our page about Salvation.

These three things are all the elements and the only elements necessary for a sinner to be redeemed. Nothing else happened. Nothing else was or is necessary for salvation. The story of the repentant sinner on the cross clearly shows us this is true. We all begin as the unrepentant sinner but we all can choose to repent, believe and place our faith in Jesus Christ. That day at Golgotha there were two sinners and a Savior. This is the second man.

The Third Man – The Savior – Jesus Christ

This third person is unique. Jesus Christ was – and is – GOD in human form. Only once in the history of the world has GOD ever entered into the earthly realm by being born as a human being. Jesus lived and grew up among other humans and fulfilled the mission that was planned before the foundation of the universe. Jesus has many names, among them is Immanuel which means ‘GOD among us’. The crucifixion of Jesus on the cross was not a tragedy, it was a triumph. GOD entered His own creation in a specific special way, began the act of restoring the fallen world to His plan, and provided a path to redemption for all His children.

Jesus walked the same earth as the people around him; He experienced many of the same things they did; He walked lonely roads on foot as did others and at times was weary from his journey (John 4:6); He ate meals with others (John 21:9-13). He experienced things that would be temptations for mortals and still was not tempted (Matt 4:1-11); He was joyful and wanted joy for His followers (John 15:9-11). He knew sorrow and wept (John 11:30-44) and experienced life as many other people of the time did, living among sinners and not with wealthy or powerful people. These Bible verses and others give us a picture of what Jesus’s earthly life was like among other people. Jesus Christ was wholly a man while he walked the earth in the 1^st century. He was also wholly GOD at the same time He was a man, which is made clear in the story of the blind man being healed (John 9:1-38).

Yeshua, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the lamb of GOD and the Lion of the Tribe of Judah; all of these are the same person, Jesus, who lived a sinless life as no human could. No other man could ever accomplish that but Jesus, Who was and is actually GOD, Who never sinned, Who never transgressed the will of The Father. This allowed Him to be a suitable sacrifice, ‘a lamb without blemish’, so that through His death we might die to sin if we believe and through His resurrection that same belief can bring us eternal life. Jesus Christ was our Passover sacrifice. The Passover was initiated by GOD at the Exodus of the nation of Israel from Egypt. The lamb without blemish was to be slain and the blood spread on the doorposts of each home of the children of Israel. The blood of the lamb was the sign to the destroyer (Exod 12:23) to pass over (and from this we get the term passover) the homes of the Israelites and not kill the firstborn in that house. The Israelites were saved from this by the blood of the lamb. Every person today is one of the two kinds of sinners and in need of a Savior. Believers today can be saved from their sin by The Blood of the Lamb, just as the children of Israel were saved in Egypt by the blood of a sacrificed lamb two thousand years ago.

The lamb for the sacrifice was to be slain with no bones broken (Exodus 12:46). It would be many centuries later that a Roman soldier chose specifically to defy his orders to break the legs of all three men on the crosses. This soldier instead thrust a spear into Jesus’s side, thus fulfilling the prophetic model – or type – of the Lord’s own sacrifice being foretold by the slaying of those lambs in Egypt, where no bone would be broken. The idea that a Roman soldier defied standard orders is itself sort of an indication that GOD’s hand was moving in these events. This man hanging on the center cross was also Immanuel, GOD among us, Who prayed for those who killed Him even as he hung on the cross to pay the price, by his own choice, for their sins and the sins of the entire world. That day at Golgotha there were two sinners and a Savior. This is the third man.

The Children

The popular Christian children’s song, Jesus Loves the Little Children, is perhaps a good place to begin here. Jesus clearly saw all children as innocents and worthy of protection and of His grace. There is a general acceptance among Christians, whether scholars, theologians or believers, that children are innocent in the eyes of GOD and numerous Bible verses support this idea. There comes an age of reckoning (a term applied by the author) in every person’s life when they become aware of their own sin and when this is true, they become accountable to GOD for their sin. They gain the knowledge at this time, when they hear the Gospel, of their need to repent and ask for GOD’s mercy and grace in their lives. We are not given a clear definition of how this works or when it happens but if children are freely given the Grace of GOD and adults must repent, this age of reckoning must exist, unique to each individual. Before this age, children who pass from this world are destined, without question, for Heaven and a life in the presence of our Lord. Jesus said of children “ … of such is the kingdom of heaven … ” and ” … unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven … ”. King David said he would see his son again, indicating his assurance that his son was in heaven. Full verses are below.

“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.‘” Matthew 19:13-14 (NKJV)

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10 (NKJV)

King David fasted and prayed in the hope of saving his son after his intentional sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uzziah her husband. 2 Samuel 12:21-23 (NKJV)

¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, ³ and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18:1-6 (NKJV)

That day at Golgotha there were two sinners and a Savior and all people in the world will grow from childhood into sinners. Certainly some are saved as children, putting their faith in the Lord at an early age and these may, in some way, bypass the phase of being an unrepentant sinner. Every person though, will at some point in their lives be one of the two sinners and in need of a Savior. The Bible gives enough examples to teach us that children are destined for heaven until the age of reckoning which is unique to each person. The special souls of this world, born with Down’s Syndrome or Autism and others like them, are also gifted with GOD’s Grace and assured a place with the Savior for eternity, once they depart their mortal shells. It is the adult, represented by two of the three men above, who must Seek the Narrow Gate in order to find salvation. Children should also be taught to walk in GOD’s ways and commandments though so that when they grow older, they may return to the things they were taught, embrace the Gospel, and themselves Seek the Narrow Gate.