Both Thieves Started the Same Way | Passion Week Sermon Series | John Giftah

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, and Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:45 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Welcome to this edition of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta podcast. Even as we are stepping into the Holy Week and were you know, coming to that moment when we will remember what Jesus did on Lacross on Good Friday for a better resroductions. And here's the thing I want to talk to you guys today or for the couple of days that we have this Good Friday. I'm going to be speaking in two different churches. I just want you guys to keep me in your prayers and I'm going to share the same word in both the churches that they've given me, the word regarding the encounter of the two thieves with Jesus on the cross.

1:24 Speaker 2: Right, So I'm going to talk. I've been studying quite a bit about this for the last couple of days, meditating on the word studying because I always go back to this, I say, you know what, a lot of times, in a lot of churches, they follow this whole concept of the seven words of Jesus on the Cross, and sometimes it gets a little boring because the same thing is being repeated over and over again. And I was like, of course, I'm given this opportunity to minister, and I'm grateful to God for this. But I was like, God, I don't want the same Like I don't want to just go back and repeat the same thing.

1:55 Speaker 3: Over and over again.

1:56 Speaker 2: And I want to share things that will make a difference, you know what I mean. And I've been studying quite a bit, and so I want to share these things for the next couple of days. So today I've got to start with something that really caught my attention. This is something you may or may not know this, but I really want you guys to get this. So a lot of times, especially from the time when you are young, right, at least for me, we've often heard this story like there was a good thief and a bad thief.

2:22 Speaker 3: You know, we say that, you know one was.

2:24 Speaker 2: A good thief because he repented right basically, and the other one is a bad thief. But the truth of the matter is both a thieves.

2:31 Speaker 3: A thief is a thief. A thief is bad.

2:33 Speaker 2: You know what, Stealing is bad because by the ten commandments that you see, the scripture is very clear do not steal. So if you steal, you have broken the law. And according to God's standard, if you break one law, you've broken all of them. Right, even if you have not stolen something, the Bible says, by God's standard, if you eye someone lustfully, that means you have committed adultery. So if you're an adulter, you're also a murderer. Why because the Bible also says if you hate someone, we've already murdered them.

3:01 Speaker 2: By that logic, I'm sure we've all murdered a lot of people. Recommended I'd alter you with a lot of people. Why because if you've broken one law, you've broken all of that. By God's standard. None of us are, you know, in a sense where we can say that, you know what, I am blameless, I'm not committed any sin. No, we all had the same starting point. And what is interesting, even with regard to the two thieves, is that we think that, oh, one thief was so good and the other thief was bad. You know, that's how we generally think.

3:31 Speaker 2: But what caught my attention was the scripture says this. If you see to be clear, right, if you look at the first thing from Matthew chapter twenty seven, see, we generally talk about this incident from the gospel, according to Luke Okay, most churches focus on that because it is in the gospel, according to Luke, where the two thieves are saying something and then Jesus responds to the second team by saying, today you will be with me in paradise. So a focus is generally from this passage in Luke, you know, from chapter twenty three, verse thirty thirty nine onwards.

4:05 Speaker 2: But you have to understand that this incidence is also mentioned in the gospel according to Matthew as well as Mark Okay, and both of these gospels mentioned something that you need to focus on. Both of them point out because a lot of times there are people who think that, oh, there could have been been a lot of people who are crucified along with Jesus, you know, But both of these gospels say clearly. If you see Matthew twenty seven, thirty eight, it says there were two robbers. In some translation, two revolutionaries.

4:35 Speaker 2: Some would says two robbers, in some it says two thieves. In some it says two recalled rebels. Okay, why I'm saying that is to let you know that these guys, you know, broke the law in different accords, right, Like it was not like one reason they're going to be crucified, you know, like what I mean. So the focus is that there were two right who are crucified along with Jesus. One two is right, one to his left. Even if you look at Mark chapter fifteen, verse twenty seven, it says that there were two of them who were crucified along with Jesus, one to the left and one to the right, emphasizing that there were two thieves, right.

5:13 Speaker 2: And the Bible also says, okay, if you look at Matthew twenty seven, verse forty four, that both of them or the criminals who were crucified along with Jesus mocked Jesus. Okay, if you look at the same incident mentioned in the Book of Mark also says this in verse thirty two, that even those crucified alongside mocked Jesus. Why I wanted to emphasize these two verses was that there were two of them. It says, who were crucified also marked. Like if you say that there were, you know, ten people who were crucified.

5:50 Speaker 2: If somebody says that there were ten people crucified and you say that even those who crucified along with Jesus were mocking him, people can say that maybe there was one who did not mock him, Okay, and that's why that one repents. That's how we tend to think, like, oh, even out of ten, if nine of them crucifi marked, we would say that even those who were crucified along with Jesus mocked, right, we wouldn't look at the one who did not mock.

6:17 Speaker 3: We generally generalized the statement.

6:19 Speaker 2: So that's the reason I emphasized and said that the Bible clearly says both of them, there were two of them who were crucified along with Jesus, and both of them, okay, we are the criminals mocked, which I want to use to emphasize the fact that both of them had a similar starting point. Both of them started in the sense of mocking Jesus. Okay, it was not that one tie was very good and the other was bad. Both of them had the same starting point. I want you to get this in new spirit. Both at the same starting point, which I want to use to emphasize that we are all having the same starting point because of the fallen nature of mine.

7:01 Speaker 3: All of us are.

7:03 Speaker 2: Having the starting point as sinners, and that's why we need Jesus.

7:08 Speaker 3: That's why we need Jesus to save us. Right. I want you guys to understand this.

7:13 Speaker 2: Maybe something you already know, but it's a lesson to look at because sometimes we think, oh, I'm better off than them, because you know what, I'm a good person. You know, like the way we generalize and say one was a good thief, but both the good thief or quote unquote the good thief as well as the bad thief. Both of them started in sin. Both of them started in the same place where they were mocking Jesus. But one of them repented on the cross itself, and that is the one that we emphasize or talk about as the good thief.

7:47 Speaker 2: What I wanted to understand it is today you may have the same starting point where you're saying, I'm in a bad place. Maybe you made poor choices, you intentionally committed sin, you had a sinful lifestyle, you did things right.

8:01 Speaker 3: You know what you're talking about. You know exactly what I'm talking about. But here's the good news.

8:07 Speaker 2: Even if you are in a cross situation where you are messed up and you are in the consequence of your sin, even now, you have an option today as you're listening to this, to repent. Because both these thieves have an opportunity to have close proximity with Jesus, and one of them chose to repent in that situation, whereas the other heard in his heart. Today, my question to you is you may have the same starting point as the rest of the world in terms of starting out in sin. But today you can make that choice and say, I'm not going to let this define the rest of my life.

8:47 Speaker 2: Today, I'm going to make a choice to make a close correction, turn around and do what God has called me to do.

8:56 Speaker 3: Let this be that day you do that.

8:58 Speaker 2: Amen, Let's talk more about this incident and study a couple of more things in the taste to come. All right, God bleish you guys.

9:06 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John Gifted YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one best seller Unveil your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

9:41 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description, and if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www. Godjoongifted dot com. See you on the next episode of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta God bless you.