The Wise Thief

The Wise Thief is one of the two robbers crucified with our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who repented on the cross and received the promise of paradise. The Gospels do not give his name or tell anything of his earlier life. The Orthodox Church remembers him above all on Holy and Great Friday, in the service of the Holy Passion, and the Church of Rome remembers him on 25 March.

In the Gospel

Two criminals were crucified with Christ, one on the right and one on the left. The Evangelist Mark sees in this the fulfilment of Isaiah 53:12, "he was numbered with the transgressors." According to Matthew and Mark, both robbers reviled the Lord. The Evangelist Luke shows, however (23:39-43), that only one of them blasphemed: "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us."

The other rebuked him: "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Some of the Fathers understood that at first both reviled Him, and that one repented at once, seeing what took place.

Name and tradition

The Gospels give no name. The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate), an apocryphal writing parts of which may date from the fourth century, calls him Dismas and the other Gestas, which is why the West calls him Saint Dismas. In Russian tradition he is called Rakh, and in the Arabic Infancy Gospel, Titus. That writing tells that during the flight into Egypt Titus stopped his companions from robbing the Mother of God and Joseph. These are apocryphal writings and not the teaching of the Church.

Veneration

The Church sees in the Wise Thief an image of repentance at the last hour and of trust in the Lord. The service of Holy Friday says that the Lord made him worthy of paradise in a single moment, and in the prayer "Of Your mystical supper" the faithful say before Communion: "Like the thief I confess You: Remember me, O Lord, in Your kingdom." In the icon of the Crucifixion he stands at the right hand of the Lord.