I was observing the other day how one of the thieves on the cross started off being nice to Jesus...
The thief no doubt saw Jesus as: 'hope', even if he wasn't a spiritual man. The thief was probably clinging to any hope he could find in those moments, - even if the idea of a 'heavenly kingdom' which probably seemed like fairy-tale, make-believe to him.
"Remember me when you go to your Kingdom", he said to Jesus.
"Today you will be with me in paradise", Jesus replied.
As the thief hung there (perhaps in the blazing sun), as the nails continually tugged at his hands or wrists and his beaten body ached and his tongue dried up and stuck to the roof of his mouth, and his eyes dried fixed to their sockets and his heart started to malfunction from heatstroke and loss of blood, and panic and fear set in... He got more desperate... - He started hurling insults at Jesus.
"Come on!" The thief probably shouted desperately with his fading breaths... "If you really are the Son of God, get us down from here".
I'm just writing this as an observation of the process of suffering... I saw the parts about the thieves on the cross in a different light the other day as i pondered it. Suffering is all part of our journey and it takes a lot not to: 'curse God and die' - to REALLY grasp the necessity for evil and suffering - ESPECIALLY when it's happening to us and it gets unbearable.
Any thoughts, feel free to share. :HeartThrob:
A song by the band: 'WASP'.
The song is called: 'Golgotha' and is written from (what the writer interprets) the thieves perspective to be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lq5UQ8gWU-A&ab_channel=NapalmRecords