The Gospel Story by Ronald Knox &
Ronald Cox pp. 400-401
Luke 23 The Good Thief |
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Narrative
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Explanation
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The soldiers, too, mocked him, when they came and offered him vinegar, by saying, 'If you are the king of
the Jews, save yourself.'
And one of the two thieves who hung
there fell to blaspheming against him; 'Are you not the
Christ?' he said; 'save yourself, and us too.'
But the other rebuked him; 'What,' he said, 'have you no fear of God, when you are undergoing the same sentence? And we
justly enough; we receive no more
than the due reward of our
deeds; but this man has done'
nothing amiss.'
Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come in the glory of your kingdom.'
And Jesus said
to him, 'I promise you, this day you shall be with me in Paradise.'
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The soldiers joined
in the mockery (an
old tradition
here makes mention of the
crown of thorns
still on Jesus' head). One of
the thieves (called Dismas in early Christian
writings) was moved by our
Lord's silence under
such insults: he seemed buoyed up by some inner force, a peace
of soul that raised him above and
beyond all about him. He must be the Messias, as 'the title said, and
the Jewish leaders taunted. Dismas' defence of Jesus shows
his awareness of his
own sinfulness, the first
step to true repentance (p. 294). Humbly he asks a small favour
of his King; maybe he
might hold his horse's
bridle. He was thinking of the Jewish
kingdom after
the Resurrection (p. 316). But Jesus promises him much more: the joy of sharing
his own divine happiness
this very day. Dismas is
the only person canonized before death.
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----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Donald ...
To: William J ...
Cc: Donald Nunraw
Sent: Mon, 22 November, 2010 20:24:08
Subject: Re: [Blog] Dysmas and Gestas
Dear, William,
Thank you for pursuing my concern of Gestas.
At the moment I have this Fr. Z's from Roman Martyrology and sending from this PC to the other while a Scan from Ronald Knox on Dismas is for the Blog.
Knox is so purely simple in the face of the confusion from the Net World of controversy on Luke 23.
Knox is so purely simple in the face of the confusion from the Net World of controversy on Luke 23.
Browsing in rich pastures.
Donald
+ + + + + + +
Roman Martyrology 25 March: The Good Thief
Posted on 25 March 2009 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf
I almost forget… today is the feast day of the Good Thief.
In the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum.
2. Commemoratio sancti latronis, qui, in cruce Christum confessus, ab eo meruit audire: «Hodie mecum eris in paradiso».
I find it quite appropriate that today should be the day for his feast.
Can anyone guess at why I think today is a good day for his feast (aside from any historical connection maybe to a translation of relics, etc., of which I am unaware)?
Fr.Z’s Blog – What Does The Prayer Really Say? http://wdtprs.com/blog/2009/03/martrom-25-march-the-good-thief/
Sancti Latronis, 'of Holy Thief'. "Dismas is
the only person canonized before death." (Knox)
From: William J...
To: Donald ...
Sent: Mon, 22 November, 2010 19:48:43
Subject: [Blog] Dysmas and Gestas
Dear Father Donald,
Alas, I have searched web to seek some text that exonerates 'Gestas', the other Thief, according to your concern, which I share the more I reflect upon his fate... (attached for interest / comparison to your own findings). A very compelling research. Intriguing note re Orthodox crucifix.
With my love in Our Lord, William.
Saint Dismas comes to the top on Wikipedia.
There is plenty of space to find if there is an apologia for the other Thief / Robber / Criminal / Malfactor.
At least that is my concern.
There is plenty of space to find if there is an apologia for the other Thief / Robber / Criminal / Malfactor.
At least that is my concern.
Dysmas and Gestas
Role
Yeshua Ha-Notsri is crucified together with Dysmas and Gestas. Gestas sings quietly a hoarse, senseless song, something about grapes. His head, covered with a turban, occasionally sways, and then the flies rise sluggishly from his face and settle on it again. Dysmas suffers more than the other two, he claws the ends of the crossbar with his nails, keeps his head turned towards Yeshua's post. "'Silence on the second post!". In the fifth hour of their suffering the threesome gets something to drink, and are then killed by the executionor with a spear.
Background
In the gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) the names of the thieves who were crucified together with Jesus, are not mentioned. So how could Bulgakov know them? That's because there exist much more gospels than the four we know from the New Testament. In 367 the archbishop of Alexandria distinguished Gospels "inspired by God" and the so-called apocryphal gospels. His list of by God inspired books corresponds to the New Testament as it is known today. And most of the apocryphal texts were forbidden.
There are apocryphal gospels written by Judas, Thomas, Nicodemus, Philip, Bartholomew and much more, there's even one written by Maria Magdalena. This last one became famous by the Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown.
In the Gospel of Nicodemus, also called The Acts of Pilate because it is focussed on Jesus' Way of the Cross, the two names are mentioned. In Book IX:5 Pilate says: "Thy nation hath convicted thee as being a king: therefore have I decreed that thou shouldest first be scourged according to the law of the pious emperors, and thereafter hanged upon the cross in the garden wherein thou wast taken: and let Dysmas and Gestas the two malefactors be crucified with thee."
In christian tradition Dysmas, who was crucified at Jesus' right side, is often called the good thief, or even the good muderer. He asked for mercy and was saved. He could join Jesus in heaven. Gestas taunted Jesus about not saving himself and went to hell. The typical Russian orthodox crucifix reminds to it. There is a bottom slanting bar. It signifies that the thief on Christ's right chose the right path while the thief on the left did not.
They are not unknown in the Orthodox tradition, where larger icons of the Crucifixion can show two crosses flanking Christ's.
According to tradition, Dismas, on Christ's right, repents and eventually joins Christ in Heaven, while Gestas blasphemes and ends up in Hell. At the moment of Christ's passing, he writhes in agony and his feet jerk, pulling the lowest crossbar askew. On the traditional Russian Orthodox cross, the lowest crossbar is at an angle, with the right side up (Dismas went to Heaven) and the left side down (Gestas went to Hell).
GESTAS is one of the two thieves that were crucified alongside Jesus. According to tradition, he was crucified on the left of Jesus central cross. The other thief was Dismas. GESTAS was cousin of Dismas and older than him. He was about fifty when he was arrested and crucified. Just as Dismas was son of a rich Jewish merchant, GESTAS' parents were poor peasants. Although they were friends, the comparation with Dismas made GESTAS violent and rebel. It is said that in 1848 an Irish politician denounced Isaac Disraeli, the famous English Premier, as a Jewish traitor, "the heir at law of the blasphemous thief that died upon the cross." The personality of GESTAS was stronger than Dismas' and slowly Dismas was corrupted by him. Both became malefactors. Finally their lifes ended at the tragic hill of Calvary. Among his doings was that he stole the holy vessels of the Temple and stripped naked the daughter of Caiaphas, Sarah by name, who was priestess of the sanctuary. So defiant was GESTAS. But finally Dismas and GESTAS were caught by the assesination of a woman who with her children was going from Jerusalem to Joppa. They were imprisoned for a long time before being brought to trial. The Roman governor, Pilate, put them to death by crucifixion. Just before his execution GESTAS received a cruel flagellation and was obliged, like Jesus and Dismas, to carry his cross to the hill of Calvary. GESTAS staggered under the weight of his cross, his eyes and teeth glared with fear. Dismas and GESTAS sweated, watching the crosses being arranged on the ground. On arriving there and after giving him some myrrh and vinegar, the executioners stripped off his ragged clothing and gave him a loincloth. Then they nailed him on the cross. They put him on the cross and first nailed his hands at the wrists on to the cross beam of the cross and then they nailed down the feet. He cried in despair due to the pain. GESTAS groaned and screamed with pain of his injuries. No doubt he suffered both in his body and in his soul. He beared the same torture as his companion; his feet and his hands were nailed to the cross, as were the feet and hands of Jesus and Dismas. He suffered the same slow suffocation, the same burning thirst, the same wracking of the muscles strained and convulsed. Yes, he suffered; no rest for his body; no peace for his heart. He saw the patience and the meekness of Jesus, but it was not enough to open his eyes. GESTAS painfully thrust his body upward with the nailed feet so he could hurl a challenge at Jesus: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us with you". "If you really were the Messiah, you would work a miracle; you would save yourself and you would save us." Through his rebellion the bad thief did not gain anything. His punishment was not taken away: he continued suffering and he died like his companion. His sufferings were not diminished. The pain he felt was severe. On the contrary, his rebellion and despair made them all the more cruel. He suffered without hope. His cross was a shameful cross. Except a tiny loincloth, all of his clothing was taken away, and his nakedness was exposed to everyone. The only thing he is interested in and would like to have is continued life, to escape from death, to escape from suffering. He was in complete loneliness. There was no one to encourage him or support him. According to a legend, after mocking Jesus, GESTAS' eyes were mercilessly pecked out by a crow. Finally, after several hours of excruciating sufferings, the executioners decided to conclude the torture. They did not come because they felt any ‘kindness’ towards the two thieves. They just wanted to remove the crucified off their crosses. They came with clubs in order to break the legs of the two thieves who were still hanging alive. Two soldiers went near the crosses where Dismas and GESTAS were grappling with death, and raising their thick clubs, they landed violent blows on their knees and legs, crushing the bones of the two thieves. GESTAS and Dismas shouted, cursed and screamed; thieves' legs were broken below the knees, but seeing that GESTAS was still crying, the executioners finished him off by three heavy blows of a cudgel on his chest. The three, Jesus, Dismas and GESTAS, had been on the cross almost five hours. So was GESTAS tragic end. He gained nothing, and lost everything. He hardened himself completely in his sin, his pride, his rebellion and hatred. He died desperate and probably was damned as he died at Jesus's side. [Also known as: the Bad Thief, the Unrepentant Thief, the Blasphemous Thief, Gesmas, the Unpenitent Thief
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