³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine ³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸ There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

1) How did the rulers, the soldiers, and the first criminal respond to Jesus’ crucifixion?
The religious rulers scoffed at Jesus when He was crucified. The soldiers mocked him and cast lots to divide his garments. The first criminal joined in their mockery. All these people treated Jesus with contempt because they did not believe that He was the Son of God.

2) How did Jesus respond to the rulers and the soldiers?
Jesus’s response to this mocking, and to the crime of killing an innocent man, was to ask His Father to forgive them. Jesus understood that they did not understand who He really was, and that they were really fulfilling God’s ultimate purpose of providing an ultimate payment for sin through Jesus’ death.

3) How did the second criminal respond to Jesus’ crucifixion?
The second criminal understood who he was before God—a guilty man who was getting what he deserved. But he also understood who Jesus was—an innocent man who did not deserve to die. When he asked Jesus to remember him in His kingdom, the criminal showed that he did believe that Jesus was the Son of God. His response was one of faith.

4) How did Jesus respond to the second criminal?
Jesus responded to the second criminal by accepting him into His kingdom. Because of his faith, Jesus forgave the criminal’s sins, and because of Christ’s death, those sins were paid for.

1) How did the rulers, the soldiers, and the first criminal respond to Jesus’ crucifixion?
The religious leaders knew all about the prophecies that promised a Messiah would come. But they had a certain idea of what that Messiah would look like, and Jesus didn’t match up. So instead of letting go of their expectations and accepting Christ, they dug into their own ideas about the Messiah and rejected Him. The soldiers likely didn’t understand the Scriptures, and likely didn’t know who Jesus was or really claimed to be. They saw Him as an insurrectionist, someone who was out to usurp the authority of Roman rule. Their rejection of Him was more ignorant than the Jewish religious leaders, but they rejected Him just the same. All these people, if they died still rejecting Christ, ended up with the same eternal destiny, apart from Christ. There is no excuse for rejecting Christ!

2) How did Jesus respond to the rulers and the soldiers?
Jesus asked His Father to forgive those who wronged Him. He is the ultimate example of meekness and forgiveness. No matter what wrong has been done to you, even if the offender was never sorry, Jesus’s example of forgiveness can give us the strength to forgive others!

3) How did the second criminal respond to Jesus’ crucifixion?
The second criminal gives us an example of the right way to respond to Jesus. This man saw himself for the sinner that He was, and asked Jesus to save him. Have you realized the depths of your sin against God? Have you seen yourself for who you really are—a person who desperately needs Jesus’s forgiveness? And have you called on Jesus to save you? Do not delay!

4) How did Jesus respond to the second criminal?
Jesus offers us forgiveness and acceptance. Although our sin is greater than we want to believe, the love God has for us is greater than we dare to hope! Praise You, Father, for your great love, for providing a way for us to be reconciled to You! And Praise You that we are never too far gone to call on Your name!

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Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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