Five Crucified

As we move deeper into the holy spirit field, it will become increasingly more important to check and track the details in God's word. Life is in the details and it is no different with the bible. The best way I know to illustrate this is with the others crucified with Jesus Christ. Tradition teaches that there were two others, but what does the bible say?

There are four gospels, and there are four gospels for a reason. If every detail on every situation was written in all four gospels there would be no need for four, one would do. You cannot get all the available information from studying just one of the gospels, so you have to layer them over each other to see the bigger picture. This method of interpreting the bible is usually referred to as narrative development or scripture build-up. I call it layering as you have to overlay the records to see the full story.

When it comes to understanding the bible we can't afford to guess at what it is saying. There are four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and they are all necessary. They are not identical and they don't all give the same information. Why didn't God put everything about Jesus Christ's ministry into one book, one gospel? He could have if he'd wanted to, right? I mean, he's God and he can do anything. The reason is that each gospel highlights a different aspect of his life and views his ministry from a different perspective, from a different viewpoint.

In Matthew, Jesus Christ's life as the Christ, as the messiah is emphasised and illustrated, while in Mark his life as a servant is emphasised and illustrated. In Luke his life as a man is emphasised and illustrated, while in John his life as the son of God is emphasised and illustrated. By piecing information together from all four gospels and overlaying it we gain a fuller understanding of what God is saying. That's why they do not all give the same information and that's why four gospels were needed. You have to put the four records together, you have to overlay them, overlap them if you like, to get the full story.

To see how this works, let's look at the others crucified with Jesus Christ. Can the traditions of men be trusted? Let's compare tradition (which teaches there were three crucified) with the word and see what we can discover.

Luke 23:32-38
And there were also two other, malefactors [kakourgoi], led with him to be put to death.

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews [Judeans], save thyself.

And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS [Judeans].

We can see that a number of events took place here over a period of time. How long did it take to get to the place of crucifixion? How long did it take to nail the three men to the stakes and raise them into position? How long did it take for the soldiers to gamble for his garments? How long did it take to set up his superscription over his head? We don't know exactly, but we do know it all took some time.

The Greek word for malefactors is kakourgoi which means evildoers or criminals. The word does not tell us what their crime was, all we know is that it warranted the death penalty under Roman law. Let's see what else we can learn from Luke.

Luke 23:39-43
And one of the malefactors [kakourgoi] which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

But the other [heteros] answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

The record in Luke is very clear when it says that only one of the malefactors attacked Jesus with vicious words, while the other [heteros] stood with him. In return, Jesus promised him that he would be with him in paradise. The word heteros is defined in Thayer's bible dictionary as the other of only two. Remember this as we will be back to it.

It is also interesting to note in this record how a wrongly placed comma can cause confusion. We already know that when you die you stay dead until Jesus Christ comes back for his church or until the resurrections of the just and the unjust, yet verse 43 seems to imply that Jesus told the malefactor he would be with him later that day in paradise. Well, for a start, Jesus didn't go to paradise that day, he died and was dead for three days and three nights until God raised him from the dead. So what's the answer? It's a wrongly placed comma. Move the comma from before the word today to after it and read it again.

Luke 23:43
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee To day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.

See, there are no contradictions in the bible, just errors and forgeries by translators. Always remember, there was no punctuation in the original texts so all punctuation is private interpretation inserted by men and it can't be trusted.

Let's quickly recap on what we've learned from Luke before moving on.

~ Jesus was led away to be crucified along with two malefactors (kakourgoi).

~ When they arrived at the place of crucifixion, Jesus was crucified with a malefactor on each side of him.

~ They parted his garments and cast lots.

~ The soldiers mocked him.

~ A superscription was set up over his head.

~ Only one of the malefactors attacked him with words while the other defended him.

Keeping all this in mind, let's now look at the information in Matthew.

Matthew 27:31-38
And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull,

They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

And sitting down they watched him there;

And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS [Judeans].

Then [THEN] were there two thieves [duo lestai] crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

Here is the sequence of events recorded in Matthew.

~ Jesus was led away to be crucified.

~ When they arrived at the place of crucifixion he refused painkilling drugs.

~ He was crucified.

~ They gambled for his garments.

~ They sat down and watched him.

~ They set up his accusation over his head.

~ THEN, after all this time, then two thieves were crucified with him.

How does this information compare with Luke?

~ Jesus was led away to be crucified along with two malefactors (kakourgoi).

~ When they arrived at the place of crucifixion, Jesus was crucified with a malefactor on each side of him.

~ They parted his garments and cast lots.

~ The soldiers mocked him.

~ A superscription was set up over his head.

In Luke, Jesus was led away with two malefactors and they were all crucified together before they parted his garments, before the soldiers mocked him and before they set up his accusation over his head. In Matthew, after all these events, two thieves were crucified with him, one on either side. The Greek words for thieves is Duo Lestai - two robbers. We know what these two did to warrant being executed, we are told their crime - they were robbers. A thief sneaks in quietly to steal stuff and such a crime wouldn't warrant the death penalty under Roman law, but a robber uses weapons and violence. What other information does Matthew give us?

Matthew 27:39-44
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,

And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said,

He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

The thieves [robbers] also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

Putting the two records together and overlapping them informs us that two malefactors were led away with Jesus and crucified with him, one on either side, a series of events took place and then two robbers were crucified with him, one on either side. Only one of the malefactors cast the same in his teeth while both robbers cast the same in his teeth. Despite traditional teaching that there were only two others crucified with Jesus, clearly the two robbers and the two malefactors cannot be the same men or words have no meaning and the bible cannot be trusted. However, the bible can be trusted and it is the traditions of men that have no meaning.

Mark adds nothing new to either record so we'll now look at John.

John 19:16-18
Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

There are a number of things here and we will start with the word midst which is most revealing. Let's look at an example to see what we can learn.

Matthew 18:1,2
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,

Here we have a bunch of disciples and Jesus sets this child in their midst. Now compare this with the following record.

Acts 12:6
And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.

Here Peter is sleeping between two soldiers. Why doesn't the word say Peter was sleeping in the midst of two soldiers? Well, simply it's because grammatically you can't be in the midst of two. To be in the midst of people you need three or more. If there had only been two others crucified with Jesus, he would have been between them, not in their midst. Grammatically, you cannot break God's word. The accuracy and precision of the word is absolutely astonishing. There were two malefactors [kakourgoi] and two robbers [duo lestai] crucified with him and he was crucified in their midst.

That's not all either, there is more. Read this verse below and then compare it with the interlinear translation of the Stephen's Greek text from which the King James was translated.

John 19:18
Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side [one], and Jesus in the midst.

See the word one which I've bracketed in red? Notice that in the Greek interlinear Stephens text from which the KJV was translated that this word one is also in a parenthesis and that it has no corresponding Greek word above it.

What does this tell us? It tells us that there was no such word in the Greek texts. The translators of the King James bible left the word one in brackets to let us know they added it. In other words, the word one is not in the bible, it is another forgery. Now read the verse without the forgery and see what it says.

John 19:18
Where they crucified him, and two other with him on either side, and Jesus in the midst.

Now things are making sense and our bible is fitting together beautifully. But as if that's not enough, there's more!

John 19:31-33
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other [allos] which was crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

Let's make one thing perfectly clear here. Read these verses carefully.

Matthew 27:38
Then were there two thieves [duo lestai] crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.

Mark 15:27
And with him they crucify two thieves [duo lestai]; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.

Luke 23:33
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors [kakourgoi], one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

John 19:18
Where they crucified him, and two other with him on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

All four records state that Jesus Christ was crucified with the others on either side of him, on his right hand and on his left. Why does God make this point in all four gospels? God has made it very clear that the men were crucified in a straight line, that they were not crucified in a circle or in a haphazard fashion. All five of them were in a straight line. Now read the following verses in John 19 again.

John 19:32,33
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other [another - allos] which was crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

The soldiers started at one end of this straight line of men and broke the legs of the first criminal. Then they came to the second man and broke his legs. Then they came to Jesus, who was third in line on the centre cross and found he was dead already. There is no need to be stupid and religious and try to explain how the soldiers somehow didn't see Jesus and wandered past him with their eyes closed to get to a bloke on the other side of him. The accuracy of the word is simply stunning. You cannot break it.

Did you also notice that the word translated other here was not the word heteros that we saw earlier? Heteros is defined as the other of only two, however allos is defined as another, or other when more than two are involved. If there were only two others, the word heteros and not allos would have been used here in John 19:32.

Well, I think that covers it adequately. How many were crucified with Jesus? There were two malefactors and two robbers, making five men in total. This is a brilliant example of how the bible interprets itself when we layer similar records over each other to see the bigger picture.

Knowing that the word can be trusted in minute detail, that it cannot be broken, that it is grammatically flawless is fundamentally important to where we are going in this class. As to the traditions of men? They can't even count to five so stay out of their shithole churches. If you have an opportunity, tell them the truth, and if they don't like it walk away. When it comes to choosing between truth and error, we choose truth. If others choose error, we confront them with the truth when we have an opportunity. If they reject it, we walk away. We must learn to love God more than we love people.

Chapter 57 - The Hope