The "Good Thief"

One of my readers asked me to comment on Luke 23:39-43.

In this short sequence, Jesus is hanging on the cross between two "thieves" who were also being crucified. One of the thieves mocks him. The other thief rebukes the first thief saying "We deserve this death. Jesus did not". Then, the "good thief" asks Jesus to remember him in paradise.

At first glance, this appears to be a story of ancient law administering capital punishment to common thieves. But there is probably more to the story than is revealed by a casual reading that does not comprehend history.

Background

There were two levels of law in Israel* at the time. There was the "civil law"  which stoned women caught in the act of adultery. And there was the law of the Roman Empire.

Since crucifixion was NOT a method sanctioned by Mosaic law, the two "thieves" were executed for violating Roman law.

In all likelihood, the real crime they committed was that they were revolutionaries. Perhaps they killed a Roman soldier and stripped him of his weapons and armor. That would be both "revolution" and "theft". Perhaps they attacked a tax-collector carrying taxes to the Roman treasury.

Even deeper background

There were at least three viable attempts to overthrow the Romans in the time of Christ (roughly 30 years). One of those attempts was led by Judas of Galilee in 6 A.D. and his home-base was about four miles from Nazareth. 

The Romans were very, very sensitive to any indications of revolt. Perhaps that explains the disdain many ordinary Jews had for Jesus when they learned he came from Nazareth (John 1:45,46). Judas of Galilee's failed revolt undoubtedly caused an intensification of Roman repression of Jewish religious and economic freedoms.

That environment explains the authorities intense interest in John the Baptist and, later, Jesus. It also provides context for Herod's seemingly over-the-top reaction to the news of Jesus's birth and the killing of all male infants in Bethlehem. 

That environment turned Israel into a political pressure-cooker and ultimately led to the destruction of Jerusalem in the 72 A.D. time-frame.

Why did Rome care about Israel?

For one thing, Israel is strategically placed at the east end of the Mediterranean. Any operations in Egypt or down the west side of the Arabian peninsula required a "pacified" Israel.

Additionally, Israel blocked access to the Dead Sea which represented a very-easy to mine source of salt. Not only were there vast deposits of solid salt easy to access from the ground, but it was only five or six days away from the coast by donkey or camel train.

Another factor is that Israel was a crucial link in the ancient spice, perfume and incense trade routes. Gold traveled in one direction and raw materials like frankincense and myrrh traveled in the other. Sound familiar? In a world without deodorants or a functional understanding of sanitation and hygiene, pleasant smelling materials were in very high demand.

How did a typical Jew in the time of Jesus see Rome?

The Jews were the first (or one of the first) people to have a written language that was accessible to everybody. Consequently, nearly every adult Jew was intimately familiar with their history.

The earliest Jewish people survived Sodom thanks to Divine intervention.

They escaped the Egyptian captivity; Egypt being the major power of the world at that time. 

The forty years in the desert was probably the pivotal event in the formation of the Jewish people. The "selection pressure" was intense and all of the weak parts left the body.

Then the Jews conquered the tribes who occupied the Promised Land.

In approximately 735 B.C. the Jews were defeated by the Assyrians, the major power of the world at that time. About ten years after the defeat, the Assyrians deported vast numbers of them. Many of the Jews fled the Promised Land to avoid the Assyrians. That is seen as the first "diaspora" in the Old Testament. A remnant of the families who were deported trickled back to Israel after the Assyrian empire collapsed.

In approximately 597-587 B.C. the Jews were defeated by the Babylonians and many of them were exiled to Babylonia; at that time the major power of the world. The exiled Jews were able to return to Jerusalem approximately 540 B.C. when the Babylonian empire collapsed.

So, the attitude of the typical, Jewish man with regard to the Romans was "Meh. Been there, done that. We will out last these heathens."

When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in approximately 70 A.D., there were already communities of Jews scattered throughout the known world thanks to the previous two diasporas. Incidentally, those Jewish communities were instrumental in allowing Christianity to spread like wild-fire across the Roman Empire.

* I use the term "Israel" to refer to the "Promised Land" and "Jews" to refer to the descendant of Abraham who adhered to Mosaic Law.