Misplaced Pages

#393606

95-643: The Penitent Thief , also known as the Good Thief , Wise Thief, Grateful Thief , or Thief on the Cross , is one of two unnamed thieves in Luke's account of the crucifixion of Jesus in the New Testament . The Gospel of Luke describes him asking Jesus to "remember him" when Jesus comes into his kingdom . The other, as the impenitent thief , challenges Jesus to save himself and both of them to prove that he

190-629: A Homily on the Crucifixion and the Good Thief , which is a classic of Coptic literature . In Coptic Orthodoxy, he is named Demas. This is the name given to him in the Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea . The apocryphal Syriac Infancy Gospel calls the two thieves Titus and Dumachus, and adds a tale about how Titus (the good one) prevented the other thieves in his company from robbing Mary and Joseph during their flight into Egypt . In

285-412: A rock-hewn tomb , with Nicodemus assisting. The three Synoptic gospels also describe Simon of Cyrene bearing the cross, a crowd of people mocking Jesus along with the other two crucified men, darkness from the 6th to the 9th hour, and the temple veil being torn from top to bottom. The Synoptic Gospels also mention several witnesses, including a centurion , and several women who watched from

380-460: A Martian sandroot statue of Saint Dismas, to whom he frequently burns candles. At one point he runs out of candles and stuffs a large number of IOU's under the statue. He also comments "... Ho! Saint Dismas will think he was martyred in a grease fire.". Christian metal band Holyname’s last song on their self titled album is called “St. Dismas” and is about his and Jesus Christ's crucifixions. Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus

475-416: A chronological harmonization, wherein both thieves at first reviled Jesus, only for one thief to repent on the spot. Epiphanius—followed by Ambrose of Milan and Augustine of Hippo —contended that Mark and Matthew, for the sake of concision, employed a figure of speech called syllepsis whereby the plural was used to indicate the singular. Later commentators, such as Frederic Farrar , have drawn attention to

570-493: A distance, two of whom were present during the burial . The Gospel of Luke is the only gospel to omit the detail of the sour wine mix that was offered to Jesus on a reed, while only Mark and John describe Joseph actually taking the body down off the cross. There are several details that are only mentioned in a single gospel account. For instance, only the Gospel of Matthew mentions an earthquake, resurrected saints who went to

665-483: A fictional charity where they send and store their stolen loot. St. Dismas is prominently mentioned throughout the 1946 film The Hoodlum Saint starring William Powell , Esther Williams and Angela Lansbury . Dismas Hardy is the main protagonist in a series of legal and crime thriller novels by John Lescroart . San Dimas, California and San Dimas High School are featured in the Bill & Ted media franchise . In

760-490: A literary and theological creation. Geza Vermes noted the verse is cited in Aramaic rather than the usual Hebrew, and that by the time of Jesus, this phrase had become a proverbial saying in common usage. Compared to the accounts in the other Gospels, which he describes as "theologically correct and reassuring", he considers this phrase "unexpected, disquieting and in consequence more probable". He describes it as bearing "all

855-426: A number of analytical scenarios of that topic. In the 20th century, forensic pathologist Frederick Zugibe performed a number of crucifixion experiments by using ropes to hang human subjects at various angles and hand positions. His experiments support an angled suspension, and a two-beamed cross, and perhaps some form of foot support, given that in an Aufbinden form of suspension from a straight stake (as used by

950-564: A place popularly called the Garden Tomb , has been promoted since the 19th century. The Gospels describe various women at the crucifixion , some of whom are named. According to Mark, many women were present, among them Mary Magdalene , Mary, mother of James and Mary of Clopas , commonly known as " the Three Marys ". The Gospel of Matthew also mentions several women being present, among them Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of James and

1045-505: A reconciliation, e.g., based on the use of Roman timekeeping in John, since Roman timekeeping began at midnight and this would mean being before Pilate at the 6th hour was 6 a.m., yet others have rejected the arguments. Several scholars have argued that the modern precision of marking the time of day should not be read back into the gospel accounts, written at a time when no standardization of timepieces, or exact recording of hours and minutes

SECTION 10

#1732765753394

1140-565: A sign above his head stating "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" which, according to the Gospel of John , was in three languages (Hebrew, Latin, and Greek), and then divided his garments and cast lots for his seamless robe. According to the Gospel of John, the Roman soldiers did not break Jesus's legs, as they did to the two crucified convicts (breaking the legs hastened the onset of death), as Jesus

1235-420: A statement that Jesus was 72 hours in the tomb, and that the many references to a resurrection on the third day do not require three literal nights. In Mark 15:25 crucifixion takes place at the third hour (9 a.m. ) and Jesus's death at the ninth hour (3 p.m.). In John 19:14 Jesus is still before Pilate at the sixth hour. Scholars have presented a number of arguments to deal with the issue, some suggesting

1330-544: A wise man, ... He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles ;... And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross ... Most modern scholars agree that while this Josephus passage (called the Testimonium Flavianum ) includes some later interpolations , it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus with a reference to

1425-803: Is a street in the Old City of Jerusalem . It is marked by nine of the fourteen Stations of the Cross . It passes the Ecce Homo Church and the last five stations are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . There is no reference to a woman named Veronica in the Gospels, but sources such as Acta Sanctorum describe her as a pious woman of Jerusalem who, moved with pity as Jesus carried his cross to Golgotha , gave him her veil that he might wipe his forehead. The precise location of

1520-476: Is attempting to redeem himself after killing an innocent woman and her child. A special achievement is granted if both starting characters reach the game's final challenge, fittingly titled "On the old road, we found redemption." In the 1967 romantic comedy caper film Fitzwilly , butler mastermind Claude Fitzwilliam ( Dick Van Dyke ) and his larcenous staff operate St. Dismas Thrift Shoppe in Philadelphia,

1615-556: Is based on the New International Version . An early non-Christian reference to the crucifixion of Jesus is likely to be Mara Bar-Serapion's letter to his son, written some time after AD 73 but before the 3rd century AD. The letter includes no Christian themes and the author is presumed to be neither Jewish nor Christian. The letter refers to the retributions that followed the unjust treatment of three wise men: Socrates , Pythagoras , and "the wise king" of

1710-416: Is crucified, entombed , and resurrected from the dead. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more intense detail than any other portion of that Gospel's narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening. After arriving at Golgotha , Jesus was offered wine mixed with myrrh or gall to drink. Both the Gospel of Mark and

1805-533: Is disputed in a minority of versions and commentaries. The Greek manuscripts are without punctuation, so attribution of the adverb "today" to the verb "be", as "Amen I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise" (the majority view), or the verb "say", as "Amen I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise" (the minority view), is dependent on analysis of word order conventions in Koine Greek . The majority of ancient Bible translations also follow

1900-414: Is that as a place of public execution, Calvary may have been strewn with the skulls of abandoned victims (which would be contrary to Jewish burial traditions, but not Roman). Another is that Calvary is named after a nearby cemetery (which is consistent with both of the proposed modern sites). A third is that the name was derived from the physical contour, which would be more consistent with the singular use of

1995-634: Is the Messiah. He is officially venerated in the Catholic Church . The Roman Martyrology places his commemoration on 25 March, together with the Feast of the Annunciation , because of the ancient Christian tradition that Christ (and the penitent thief) were crucified and died exactly on the anniversary of Christ's incarnation . He is given the name Dismas in the Gospel of Nicodemus and

SECTION 20

#1732765753394

2090-557: Is the harmonized Diatessaron . The Curetonian Gospels and the Sinaitic Palimpsest appear to have been translated from independent Greek originals. The Syriac text of the codex is a representative of the Western text . Significant variant readings include: The manuscript gets its curious name from being edited and published by William Cureton in 1858. The manuscript was among a mass of manuscripts brought in 1842 from

2185-462: Is the narrator in Sydney Carter 's controversial song "Friday Morning". He is portrayed by Stelio Savante in the award-winning Good Friday film Once We Were Slaves directed by Dallas Jenkins St. Dismas is central to the early plot of the video game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in which treasure hunter Nathan Drake uses a St. Dismas cross to aid in his search for pirate treasure. In

2280-569: Is traditionally known in Catholicism as Saint Dismas (sometimes Dysmas ; in Spanish and Portuguese, Dimas ). Other traditions have bestowed other names: Two men were crucified at the same time as Jesus, one on his right and one on his left, which the Gospel of Mark interprets as fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 53 :12 ("And he was numbered with the transgressors"). According to the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, respectively, both of

2375-530: The Apostles' Creed (though neither text mentions the thief). Notable books that explore the place of the good thief in art include monographs by Mitchell Merback (The Thief, the Cross, and the Wheel), Mikeal Parsons and Heidi Hornik (Illuminating Luke, vol. 3), and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber (Le voleur de paradis). In Samuel Beckett 's Waiting for Godot , the main characters Vladimir and Estragon briefly discuss

2470-460: The Gospel of Mark , was crucified at the 3rd hour (9 a.m.), and died by the 9th hour of the day (at around 3:00 p.m.). During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews " which, according to the Gospel of John (John 19:20), was written in three languages (Hebrew, Latin, and Greek). They then divided his garments among themselves and cast lots for his seamless robe, according to

2565-567: The IHS monogram and a cross to symbolize the crucifixion. The placing of the nails in the hands, or the wrists is also uncertain. Some theories suggest that the Greek word cheir ( χείρ ) for hand includes the wrist and that the Romans were generally trained to place nails through Destot's space (between the capitate and lunate bones ) without fracturing any bones. Another theory suggests that

2660-570: The Nazis in the Dachau concentration camp during World War II ), death comes rather quickly. The Gospels describe various last words that Jesus said while on the cross, as follows: The only words of Jesus on the cross mentioned in the Mark and Matthew accounts, this is a quotation of Psalm 22 . Since other verses of the same Psalm are cited in the crucifixion accounts, some commentators consider it

2755-511: The Passion , Jesus's suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the central aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation and atonement . Paul is the earliest surviving source (outside of the Gospels ) to document Jesus's crucifixion. Scholars have used Paul's chronology as evidence for the date of the crucifixion. However, the earliest detailed accounts of

2850-646: The Syrian monastery of Saint Mary Deipara in the Wadi Natroun , Lower Egypt , as the result of a series of negotiations that had been under way for some time; it is conserved in the British Library . Cureton recognized that the Old Syriac text of the gospels was significantly different from any known at the time. He dated the manuscript fragments to the fifth century; the text, which may be as early as

2945-533: The Tacitus reference to the execution of Jesus by Pilate to be genuine, and of historical value as an independent Roman source. Eddy and Boyd state that it is now "firmly established" that Tacitus provides a non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Another possible reference to the crucifixion ("hanging", cf. Luke 23:39 ; Galatians 3:13 ) is found in the Babylonian Talmud : On

Penitent thief - Misplaced Pages Continue

3040-519: The 1st century AD, the time when the gospel accounts of the death of Jesus were written, likened it to the letter T (the Greek letter tau , which had the numeric value of 300), and to the position assumed by Moses in Exodus 17:11–12 . Justin Martyr (100–165) explicitly says the cross of Christ was of two-beam shape: "That lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of

3135-632: The 1st century AD, is an unidentified heel bone with a spike discovered in a Jerusalem gravesite, now held by the Israel Antiquities Authority and displayed in the Israel Museum . There is no consensus regarding the exact date of the crucifixion of Jesus, although it is generally agreed by biblical scholars that it was on a Friday on or near Passover ( Nisan 14), during the governorship of Pontius Pilate (who ruled AD 26–36). Various approaches have been used to estimate

3230-401: The 2022 film Clerks III , Elias mentions the Good Thief multiple times, quoting him as saying "Jesus did no wrong, whereas we are but thieves". In a running gag , everybody hears "but thieves" as "butt thieves" and wonders out loud what that means. In Poul Anderson 's Technic History (a science fiction story cycle), Nicholas van Rijn (2376 to c. 2500), CEO of Solar Spice and Liquors keeps

3325-840: The Church of the Good Thief in Kingston, Ontario , Canada—built by convicts at nearby Kingston Penitentiary , Saint Dismas Church in Waukegan , Illinois, the Old Catholic Parish of St Dismas in Coseley and the Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief , a Catholic church at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. The Eastern Orthodox Church remembers him on Good Friday , along with

3420-600: The Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:4), Jesus was raised from the dead ("on the third day" counting the day of crucifixion as the first) and according to the canonical gospels, appeared to his disciples on different occasions before ascending to heaven. The account given in Acts of the Apostles says that Jesus remained with the apostles for 40 days, whereas the account in the Gospel of Luke makes no clear distinction between

3515-706: The Curetonian manuscript, and fill some of its lacunae . The publication of the Curetonian Gospels and the Sinaitic Palimpsest enabled scholars for the first time to examine how the gospel text in Syriac changed between the earliest period (represented by the text of the Sinai and Curetonian manuscripts) and the later period. The Syriac versions of the New Testament remain less thoroughly studied than

3610-417: The Gospel of John. The Gospel of John also states that, after Jesus's death, one soldier (named in extra-Biblical tradition as Longinus ) pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, then blood and water gushed from the wound. The Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as

3705-454: The Gospel of Luke as the penitent thief and the impenitent thief . The Gospel of John mentions the soldiers and "the disciple whom Jesus loved ", who is with the women. The Gospels also tell of the arrival, after the death of Jesus, of Joseph of Arimathea (in the four Gospels) and of Nicodemus (only in John). Whereas most Christians believe the gibbet on which Jesus was executed

3800-433: The Gospel of Matthew record that he refused this. He was then crucified and hanged between two convicts. According to some translations of the original Greek, the convicts may have been bandits or Jewish rebels. According to the Gospel of Mark, he endured the torment of crucifixion from the third hour (between approximately 9 a.m. and noon), until his death at the ninth hour, corresponding to about 3 p.m. The soldiers affixed

3895-432: The Greek word for hand also includes the forearm and that the nails were placed near the radius and ulna of the forearm . Ropes may have also been used to fasten the hands in addition to the use of nails. Another issue of debate has been the use of a hypopodium as a standing platform to support the feet, given that the hands may not have been able to support the weight. In the 17th century Rasmus Bartholin considered

Penitent thief - Misplaced Pages Continue

3990-481: The Jews. Some scholars see little doubt that the reference to the execution of the " king of the Jews " is about the crucifixion of Jesus, while others place less value in the letter, given the ambiguity in the reference. In the Antiquities of the Jews (written about AD 93) Jewish historian Josephus stated ( Ant 18.3 ) that Jesus was crucified by Pilate, writing that: Now there was about this time Jesus,

4085-558: The Latin word for skull ( calvaria ), which is used in the Vulgate translation of "place of a skull", the explanation given in all four Gospels of the Aramaic word Gûlgaltâ (transliterated into the Greek as Γολγοθᾶ (Golgotha)), which was the name of the place where Jesus was crucified. The text does not indicate why it was so designated, but several theories have been put forward. One

4180-452: The Music "Vida Loka, Pt. 2", the brazilian rap group Racionais MC's , refers Dismas as a "First Thug Life of All Time". Dismas is the name of one of two starting characters in the video game Darkest Dungeon . He is also referred to as a rogue, thief, and highwayman in the in-game descriptions. A comic showing his backstory (as well the descriptions of some items in the game) imply that he

4275-528: The Roman period roughly according to the manner in which the crucifixion of Jesus is described in the gospels. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about AD 70, around the time of the Jewish revolt against Rome. The analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s. Another relevant archaeological find, which also dates to

4370-761: The Russian tradition, the Good Thief's name is "Rakh" ( Russian : Рах). The Catholic Church remembers the Good Thief on 25 March. In the Roman Martyrology, the following entry is given: "Commemoration of the holy thief in Jerusalem who confessed to Christ and canonized him by Jesus himself on the cross at that moment and merited to hear from him: 'Today you will be with me in Paradise. ' " A number of towns, including San Dimas, California , are named after him. Also, parish churches are named after him, such as

4465-546: The Temple is torn in two. Matthew follows Mark, but mentions an earthquake and the resurrection of saints. Luke also follows Mark, although he describes the rebels as common criminals, one of whom defends Jesus, who in turn promises that he (Jesus) and the criminal will be together in paradise. Luke portrays Jesus as impassive in the face of his crucifixion. John includes several of the same elements as those found in Mark, though they are treated differently. The comparison below

4560-552: The apparent contradiction between the account in Luke and the overlapping account in Mark and Matthew. Tatian omitted/rejected the Markan/Matthean tradition in his Diatessaron , and Ephrem the Syrian apparently followed suit. Origen of Alexandria , Eustathius of Antioch , and Epiphanius of Salamis described the differences as reflections of different, yet complementary authorial intent. Origen and his many heirs promoted

4655-549: The appearances of a genuine cry". Raymond Brown likewise comments that he finds "no persuasive argument against attributing to the Jesus of Mark/Matt the literal sentiment of feeling forsaken expressed in the Psalm quote". Curetonian Gospels The Gospels are commonly named after William Cureton who maintained that they represented an Aramaic Gospel and had not been translated from Greek (1858) and differed considerably from

4750-552: The canonical Greek texts, with which they had been collated and "corrected". Henry Harman (1885) concluded, however, that their originals had been Greek from the outset. The order of the gospels is Matthew, Mark, John, Luke. The text is one of only two Syriac manuscripts of the separate gospels that possibly predate the standard Syriac version, the Peshitta ; the other is the Sinaitic Palimpsest . A fourth Syriac text

4845-567: The canonical gospels, Jesus was arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin , and then sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged , and finally crucified by the Romans . The Gospel of John portrays his death as a sacrifice for sin . Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered vinegar mixed with myrrh or gall (likely posca ) to drink after saying "I am thirsty". At Golgotha , he was then hung between two convicted thieves and, according to

SECTION 50

#1732765753394

4940-404: The city and that Roman soldiers were assigned to guard the tomb, while Mark is the only one to state the time of the crucifixion (the third hour, or 9 a.m. – although it was probably as late as noon) and the centurion's report of Jesus's death. The Gospel of Luke's unique contributions to the narrative include Jesus's words to the women who were mourning, one criminal's rebuke of the other,

5035-417: The cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb." Irenaeus , who died around the end of the 2nd century, speaks of the cross as having "five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in

5130-417: The crowd of mourners following him, quoting Jesus as saying "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when

5225-444: The crucifixion of Jesus." Another preferred date among scholars is Friday, 3 April, AD 33. The consensus of scholarship is that the New Testament accounts represent a crucifixion occurring on a Friday, but a Thursday or Wednesday crucifixion have also been proposed. Some scholars explain a Thursday crucifixion based on a "double sabbath" caused by an extra Passover sabbath falling on Thursday dusk to Friday afternoon, ahead of

5320-414: The crucifixion remains a matter of conjecture, but the biblical accounts indicate that it was outside the city walls of Jerusalem, accessible to passers-by and observable from some distance away. Eusebius identified its location only as being north of Mount Zion , which is consistent with the two most popularly suggested sites of modern times. Calvary as an English name for the place is derived from

5415-597: The crucifixion. In Western Christianity , before the Renaissance usually four nails would be depicted, with the feet side by side. After the Renaissance most depictions use three nails, with one foot placed on the other. Nails are almost always depicted in art, although Romans sometimes just tied the victims to the cross. The tradition also carries to Christian emblems , e.g. the Jesuits use three nails under

5510-585: The crucifixion. The Synaxarion offers this couplet in his honor: Eden's locked gates the Thief has opened wide, By putting in the key, "Remember me." He is commemorated in a traditional Eastern Orthodox prayer (the troparion tou deipnou) said before receiving the eucharist : "I will not speak of Thy Mystery to Thine enemies, neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss; but like the thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord in Thy Kingdom.". According to

5605-479: The death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels . In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate places. All four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus's arrest , initial trial at the Sanhedrin and final trial at Pilate's court , where Jesus is flogged, condemned to death, is led to the place of crucifixion initially carrying his cross before Roman soldiers induce Simon of Cyrene to carry it, and then Jesus

5700-492: The difference between the Greek words used: "The two first Synoptists tell us that both the robbers during an early part of the hours of crucifixion reproached Jesus (ὠνείδιζον), but we learn from St Luke that only one of them used injurious and insulting language to Him (ἐβλασφήμει)." The phrase translated "Amen, I say to you, today you will be in paradise" in Luke 23:43 ("Ἀμήν σοι λέγω σήμερον μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἔσῃ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ." Amén soi légo sémeron met' emoû ése en tôi paradeísoi )

5795-448: The enjoyment of the divine glory. Hence to place, the thief went up with Christ to heaven, that he might be with Christ, as it was said to him: "Thou shalt be with Me in Paradise"; but as to reward, he was in Paradise, for he there tasted and enjoyed the divinity of Christ, together with the other saints. Only the Gospel of Luke describes one of the criminals as penitent, and that gospel does not name him. Augustine of Hippo does not name

SECTION 60

#1732765753394

5890-535: The eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy . Anyone who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover. Although

5985-529: The events of Easter Sunday and the Ascension. Most biblical scholars agree that the author of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles as a follow-up volume to the Gospel of Luke account, and the two works must be considered as a whole. In Mark, Jesus is crucified along with two rebels, and the sun goes dark or is obscured for three hours. Jesus calls out to God , then gives a shout and dies. The curtain of

6080-418: The execution of Jesus by Pilate. James Dunn states that there is "broad consensus" among scholars regarding the nature of an authentic reference to the crucifixion of Jesus in the Testimonium . Early in the second century another reference to the crucifixion of Jesus was made by Tacitus , generally considered one of the greatest Roman historians. Writing in The Annals (c. AD 116), Tacitus described

6175-420: The former term meant an upright stake or pole, but in Koine Greek it was used also to mean a cross. The Latin word crux was also applied to objects other than a cross. Early Christian writers who speak of the shape of the particular gibbet on which Jesus died invariably describe it as having a cross-beam. For instance, the Epistle of Barnabas , which was certainly earlier than 135, and may have been of

6270-475: The header of the future Kingdom and that a number of criteria- the criterion of multiple attestation and criterion of dissimilarity - establishes the crucifixion of Jesus as an enemy of state. Although almost all ancient sources relating to crucifixion are literary, in 1968, an archeological discovery just northeast of Jerusalem uncovered the body of a crucified man dated to the 1st century, which provided good confirmatory evidence that crucifixions occurred during

6365-455: The highlights of the Matins service on Good Friday. The earliest depiction of the thief may be the wooden relief of the doors of Saint Sabine in Rome. Here the good thief is apparently located to the right side of Jesus, similar to the famous late sixth-century depiction of the crucifixion in the Rabbula Gospels. In medieval art , St Dismas is often depicted as accompanying Jesus in the Harrowing of Hell as related in 1 Peter 3:19–20 and

6460-403: The historical Jesus, the baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be the two most certain historical facts about Jesus. Various criteria are used to determine the historicity of the elements of the New Testamentical narratives, and help to establish the crucifixion of Jesus as a historical event. The criterion of embarrassment argues that Christians would not have invented

6555-522: The historicity of the crucifixion, but contend that Jesus did not foretell his own crucifixion and that his prediction of the crucifixion is a "church creation". On the other hand, Michael Patrick Barber argues that the Historical Jesus predicted his violent death. Tucker Ferda argues that the Historical Jesus did believe he might die. Geza Vermes also views the crucifixion as a historical event, but provides his own explanation and background for it. Bart Ehrman states that Jesus portrayed himself as

6650-435: The inconsistencies between the Four Evangelists ' accounts of the penitent and impenitent thieves. Vladimir concludes that since only Luke says that one of the two was saved, "then the two of them must have been damned [...] why believe him rather than the others?" The thief features in Christian popular music, as in Christian rock band Third Day 's 1995 song "Thief", and the name of the Christian rock band Dizmas . The thief

6745-440: The liturgical scholar Robert Taft, this hymn was inserted into the Holy Thursday liturgy in Constantinople in the late 6th century. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, one of the hymns of Good Friday is entitled, "The Good Thief" (or "The Wise Thief", Church Slavonic : " Razboinika blagorazumnago "), and speaks of how Christ granted Dismas Paradise. Several compositions of this hymn are used in the Russian Orthodox Church and form one of

6840-632: The majority view, with only the Aramaic language Curetonian Gospels offering significant testimony to the minority view. As a result, some prayers recognize the good thief as the only person confirmed as a saint—that is, a person known to be in Paradise after death—by the Bible , and by Jesus himself. Thomas Aquinas wrote: The words of The Lord (This day ... in paradise) must therefore be understood not of an earthly or corporeal paradise, but of that spiritual paradise in which all may be said to be, who are in

6935-421: The middle, on which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails." The assumption of the use of a two-beamed cross does not determine the number of nails used in the crucifixion and some theories suggest three nails while others suggest four nails. Throughout history, larger numbers of nails have been hypothesized, at times as high as 14 nails. These variations are also present in the artistic depictions of

7030-723: The mother of Zebedee's children. Although a group of women is mentioned in Luke, neither is named. The Gospel of John speaks of women present, among them the mother of Jesus , Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas. Aside from these women, the three Synoptic Gospels speak of the presence of others: "the chief priests, with the scribes and elders", two crucified criminals, to Jesus's right and left, "the soldiers", "the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus", passers-by, "bystanders", "the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle", and "his acquaintances". The two criminals are described as λῃσταί (variously translated as robbers, rebels or thieves) and further discussed in

7125-572: The normal weekly Sabbath. Some have argued that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, not Friday, on the grounds of the mention of "three days and three nights" in Matthew 12:40 before his resurrection, celebrated on Sunday. Others have countered by saying that this ignores the Jewish idiom by which a "day and night" may refer to any part of a 24-hour period, that the expression in Matthew is idiomatic, not

7220-425: The painful death of their leader. The criterion of multiple attestation is the confirmation by more than one source, including multiple non-Christian sources, and the criterion of coherence argues that it fits with other historical elements. Although scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason and context for it. For example, both E. P. Sanders and Paula Fredriksen support

7315-445: The persecution of Christians by Nero and stated ( Annals 15.44 ) that Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus: Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus. Scholars generally consider

7410-466: The question of the equivalence of the identities of Yeshu and Jesus has at times been debated, many historians agree that the above 2nd-century passage is likely to be about Jesus, Peter Schäfer stating that there can be no doubt that this narrative of the execution in the Talmud refers to Jesus of Nazareth. Robert Van Voorst states that the Sanhedrin 43a reference to Jesus can be confirmed not only from

7505-528: The reaction of the multitudes who left "beating their breasts", and the women preparing spices and ointments before resting on the Sabbath. John is also the only one to refer to the request that the legs be broken and the soldier's subsequent piercing of Jesus's side (as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy), as well as that Nicodemus assisted Joseph with burial. According to the First Epistle to

7600-751: The reference itself, but from the context that surrounds it. Sanhedrin 43a relates that Yeshu had been condemned to death by the royal government of Judaea – this lineage was stripped of all legal authority upon Herod the Great 's ascension to the throne in 37 BC, meaning the execution had to have taken place close to 40 years before Jesus was even born. Muslims maintain that Jesus was not crucified and that those who thought they had killed him had mistakenly killed Judas Iscariot , Simon of Cyrene , or someone else in his place. They hold this belief based on various interpretations of Quran   4:157–158 , which states: "they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it

7695-604: The second century, is written in the oldest and classical form of the Syriac alphabet , called Esṭrangelā , without vowel points. In 1872 William Wright , of the University of Cambridge, privately printed about a hundred copies of further fragments, Fragments of the Curetonian Gospels, (London, 1872), without translation or critical apparatus. The fragments, bound as flyleaves in a Syriac codex in Berlin, once formed part of

7790-509: The thief dwelt in the desert and robbed or murdered anyone unlucky enough to cross his path. According to Pope Gregory I , he "was guilty of blood, even his brother's blood" ( fratricide ). According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops commentary on John 18:40, the term commonly translated as thief – léstés – can also mean "a guerrilla warrior fighting for nationalistic aims." Luke's unnamed penitent thief

7885-463: The thief said to Jesus, the child: "O most blessed of children, if ever a time should come when I shall crave Thy Mercy, remember me and forget not what has passed this day." Anne Catherine Emmerich saw the Holy Family "exhausted and helpless"; according to Augustine of Hippo and Peter Damian , the Holy Family met Dismas, in these circumstances. Pope Theophilus of Alexandria (385–412) wrote

7980-508: The thief, but wonders if he might not have been baptized at some point. According to tradition, the Good Thief was crucified to Jesus' right and the other thief was crucified to his left. For this reason, depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus often show Jesus' head inclined to his right, showing his acceptance of the Good Thief. In the Russian Orthodox Church, both crucifixes and crosses are usually made with three bars:

8075-760: The thieves mocked Jesus; Luke, however, relates: Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." The Gospel of John account of Jesus' death merely names both of these criminals as "....and two others" without naming their crimes. Various attempts have been made to reconcile

8170-400: The top one, representing the titulus (the inscription that Pontius Pilate wrote and was nailed above Jesus' head); the longer crossbar on which Jesus' hands were nailed; and a slanted bar at the bottom representing the footrest to which Jesus' feet were nailed. The footrest is slanted, pointing up towards the Good Thief, and pointing down towards the other. According to John Chrysostom ,

8265-419: The wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" The Gospel of Luke has Jesus address these women as "daughters of Jerusalem", thus distinguishing them from the women whom the same gospel describes as "the women who had followed him from Galilee" and who were present at his crucifixion. Traditionally, the path that Jesus took is called Via Dolorosa ( Latin for "Way of Grief" or "Way of Suffering") and

8360-598: The word, i.e., the place of "a skull". While often referred to as "Mount Calvary", it was more likely a small hill or rocky knoll. The traditional site, inside what is now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter of the Old City , has been attested since the 4th century. A second site (commonly referred to as Gordon's Calvary ), located further north of the Old City near

8455-406: The year of the crucifixion, including the canonical Gospels, the chronology of the life of Paul, as well as different astronomical models. Scholars have provided estimates in the range AD 30–33, with Rainer Riesner stating that "the fourteenth of Nisan (7 April) of the year 30 AD is, apparently in the opinion of the majority of contemporary scholars as well, far and away the most likely date of

8550-408: Was available, and time was often approximated to the closest three-hour period. The three Synoptic Gospels refer to a man called Simon of Cyrene whom the Roman soldiers order to carry the cross after Jesus initially carries it but then collapses, while the Gospel of John just says that Jesus "bears" his own cross. Luke's gospel also describes an interaction between Jesus and the women among

8645-491: Was dead already. Each gospel has its own account of Jesus's last words, seven statements altogether. In the Synoptic Gospels , various supernatural events accompany the crucifixion, including darkness , an earthquake, the tearing of the sanctuary's veil and the resurrection of saints (in the Gospel of Matthew). Following Jesus's death, his body was removed from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and buried in

8740-630: Was later assigned the name Dismas in an early Greek recension of the Acta Pilati and the Latin Gospel of Nicodemus , portions of which may be dated to the late fourth century. The name "Dismas" may have been adapted from a Greek word meaning "dying". The other thief's name is given as Gestas . In the Syriac Infancy Gospel 's Life of the Good Thief ( Histoire Du Bon Larron French 1868, English 1882), Augustine of Hippo said,

8835-439: Was made to appear to them [or it appeared so unto them], ... Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself". Some early Christian Gnostic sects, believing Jesus did not have a physical substance, denied that he was crucified. In response, Ignatius of Antioch insisted that Jesus was truly born and was truly crucified and wrote that those who held that Jesus only seemed to suffer only seemed to be Christians. In scholarship on

8930-458: Was the death of Jesus by being nailed to a cross . It occurred in 1st-century Judaea , most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels , referred to in the New Testament epistles , and later attested to by other ancient sources . Scholars nearly universally accept the historicity of Jesus's crucifixion, although there is no consensus on the details. According to

9025-466: Was the traditional two-beamed cross, the Jehovah's Witnesses hold the view that a single upright stake was used. The Greek and Latin words used in the earliest Christian writings are ambiguous. The Koine Greek terms used in the New Testament are stauros ( σταυρός ) and xylon ( ξύλον ). The latter means wood (a live tree, timber or an object constructed of wood); in earlier forms of Greek,

#393606