Editing Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God (section)

== Friday, February 21: Three crosses on Calvary ==
My RCIA students went blank when I showed them an image of Calvary with the three crucifixes. Huh? Why three? They had never heard about the thieves.

At the simplest level, one is damned the other is saved, so they offer a blunt reminder of our own possible choices and destinations:

* both sinful
* both prideful
* only one repents
* Christ absolves him

But it may be worth further contemplation. They were not there by happenstance: God wanted them there, so let's consider why.

First, let's look at the Gospel accounts, The "thieves" -- a word not used in my translation -- are mentioned in all four Gospels, so the Evangelists all agreed on the importance of their presence. The only detail they all share is the placement of the Crosses, which Jesus crucified in the center. Matthew expands on Mark, Luke expands on Matthew, and John tells us that all three were to have their legs broken by the soldiers, but since Jesus was already dead the centurion stabbed him instead.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Matthew
!Mark
!Luke
!John
|-
|Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27:38 Mt 27:38])
The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27:44 Mt 27:44])
|With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left
([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/15:27 Mk 15:27])
|When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/23:33 Lk 23:33])
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.”
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/23:39 Lk 23:39-43])
|There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19:18 Jn 19:18])
Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. 
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. 
But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 
([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19:31 Jn 19:31-34])
|}
Lots to review there, including thoughts on what happened to the bodies of the thieves, and how, since they were still alive, they witnessed the eclipse of the sun, the earthquake and, perhaps, even, the bodies of the saints raised (?).

'''Bonus points''' if you can answer this: ''who was the first person in the Gospels, outside of Mary, to recognize that Jesus is God'' (Answer [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/27:54 Matthew here] and [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/15:39 Luke here]; the answer is suggested by Luke [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/23:47 here] ).

We might have a look at two unrelated Gospel readings that help us dig deeper into the story of the good and bad thieves.

First is one of the more famous ones, in this year's cycle, from [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/8?34 Mark 8:34]:<blockquote>Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.</blockquote>Then we'll take a look at the [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/20:1 Parable of the Workers (Mt 20:1-16)] , which must have so infuriated the scribes, and certainly was part of the resentment of the Early Church "Judaizers," who resented all these new Christians who didn't follow the Law.

Let's see what we can learn!
----Great discussion, as always, and always great to be confronted by the Mysteries of the Lord and of our Faith!

We found today that in the context of the "two thieves" (the King James Version uses "thieves"), the salvation of the one came of his humility, while the other kept his pride. As says the poet in the Old Testament, "Pride cometh before the fall" (KJV, Proverbs 16:18).

The Parable of the Workers and Mark 8:34 are all about pride. In Mark 8, when Jesus says, <blockquote>Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.</blockquote>the key word is "deny himself" -- that means to shed pride. It's one thing to pick up one's burdens, and bear it as a cross, but it's altogether another to "deny" oneself. The thieves may or may not have carried their crosses, we don't know, but we do know that one kept his pride, while the other shed it, and received the Lord's welcome in Paradise.[[File:Mosaic_of_the_exorcism_of_the_Gerasene_demoniac_from_the_Basilica_of_Sant'Apollinare_Nuovo.jpg|thumb|Mosaic of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, dating to the sixth century AD]]