The title of this book is “The Thief on the Cross Alongside Jesus.” God never wastes words or concepts, so this reference to the thieves who died alongside Jesus on Golgotha is there for a good reason. So let us look for that reason.
Apart from these two thieves being crucified alongside Jesus, we know no more details about them. There is nowhere in recorded history for us to determine what the lifestyle was of these two thieves. But we can presume they were not amiable and loving people. They were obviously criminals, and who knows what crimes they may have committed to earn the death sentence?
In the following four verses, we see the different attitudes of these criminals. One hurls insults at Jesus while the other one understands much better who Jesus is. We see the confession of this criminal. He admits he is guilty and deserving of the penalty he is now about to pay. He then makes a statement in verse 41 that Jesus has done nothing wrong, and in the next verse, he asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom.
Luk 23:39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
Luk 23:40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?”
Luk 23:41 “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Luk 23:42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
It is crucial to note here that he also said Jesus has done nothing wrong and then asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into His Kingdom. In doing this, he is acknowledging Jesus as his Messiah. Showing Jesus he has faith in who he is. Maybe this thief heard of some miracles Jesus had performed. Or perhaps he had actually seen some of these miracles for himself. This we do not know, but from the comments he made about Jesus, I feel he must have had some limited knowledge of who Jesus was.