[Feature Article] The difference of the records about two robbers on the cross
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July 18, 2021 |
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When you read the four Gospels, you will find that the contents of the robbers on the left and right of Jesus when He was crucified are slightly different in each book. In Matthew 27:44, it is said, “The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words”, and in Mark 15:32, it is said, “… now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believer!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” On the other hand, in Luke 23, it is recorded that one robber not only rebuked the other robber, but also repented and received Jesus as the Savior and was saved. Then, why are there such a difference in the biblical record?
This was not written in error by the writers of the Bible, but was permitted in God’s providence. The Bible is a book that implies a very large amount of information about God’s providence and history. This is because thousands of books would not be enough if you record all the stories in great details. Today, there is a video, so if you take a video of the scene of an event, future generations can see it too, but in Jesus’ day, there was no such tool. So, it was impossible to leave even a picture of a scene no matter how important. There was only one way to record it in writing, but from the words recorded differently in the Gospels, we can infer the situation more realistically.
Thousands of people followed when Jesus was preaching the gospel. Among them, there were those who wanted to hear the word of life, those who wanted to see wonders and signs, and those who wanted to get food. Also there were those who loved Jesus so much that they even sold their possessions to serve and follow Him. In Luke 9, Jesus performed a miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fish to feed his followers, and at that time, there were more than 5,000 men (Luke 9:12-17). So, how many people must have been at the place of Jesus’ execution, including those who loved Him, those who hated Him, and other people who came to see Him?
As large crowds surrounded the cross, the Roman soldiers held spears and shields in both hands to stop the crowd from rushing in. So, you can imagine a scene in which people stand in a semicircle a little far from the cross. At this time, the high priests, scribes, and a large crowd gathered around the cross and were saying evil words to Jesus. So, which side of people would be able to hear the sound accurately? It is such a tumultuous situation that only those who stood close to the robber would know it exactly. But the robber on the other side was also looking at Jesus and speaking, as if he was insulting Jesus. In fact, this robber was rebuking the other robber who cursed Jesus, but when the people on the other side saw him, it was seen as if he was cursing at Jesus who was hung on the cross in the center. In such a situation where it was difficult to hear the other robber, some of those who saw the scene from afar said that the two robbers cursed Jesus. However, if you look at the Gospel of Luke, who knew exactly the situation at that time and recorded it, you can see that the robber did not curse Jesus but rather repented and came to salvation.
Because what people in different locations said were recorded in the Bible as they were, we can feel the situation at that time more accurately and realistically. So, God, who knows everything, has allowed these differences in records so that future generations can accurately discern the situation. The Bile is the Word of God, without any smallest error.
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