The Man Who Stole Paradise

‘Boo!’ One of the centurions glares at him. ‘Drink it all!’ one of the soldiers shouts into his face. It is myrrh and vinegar. He is going to be crucified.

He drinks with revulsion. The soldiers strip him of his ragged clothes, tie his arms with ropes and drag him up a ladder. So now his wrists, elbows, knees and feet are fastened to the cross on which he is going to be executed, or on which he is going to die, whichever comes first. What does it matter? He looks to the left of him and hears the man in the middle cry out, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!’ He looks farther to the left of the man in the middle and hears the third man shout, ‘He’s crazy!’ And in his heart, he knows: We’re all dead. But the man in the middle is mad. As in insane.

There is no other explanation except insanity, he tells himself. The man in the middle is the same man whom he has heard say, Be good to them who are bad. If your enemy strike you on the left cheek, present him the right also. Do not repay evil with evil; rather, repay evil with good. For of such is the kingdom of God. Or words to that effect.

Absurd, isn’t it? Ridiculous! This man must be a false prophet. Certainly, this one has been a very controversial person. He has also been teaching in parables. Who cares about parables?

Parables. Unless the explanation is that it is all a paradox, he thinks. And if it is a paradox, how can I understand it, much less believe in it?

Scenes of his past life now pass swiftly before his eyes. He has been a thief and a robber. He is the proverbial one who has never entered any sheepfold by the door but always climbed in by another way. He has always wanted to get to Heaven but in his own way, or to some other place of happiness. In other words, he has always been a wolf. At least, he has not been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He has been true to his ‘calling.’ Unlike some who have pretended to be what they are not, he has not been a hypocrite. He hates hypocrisy!

No, he has not only been a thief but also a robber. A thief is a petty criminal; a robber steals and attacks and kills. A fine distinction. Judas is a thief, Barabbas is a robber. He and the man to the left of the man in the middle, his partner, have been accused of murdering a woman who, with her children, have been traveling from Jerusalem to Joppa. Even as disguised as rich merchants, they have been arrested at a castle which Pilate has frequented. Some people have made this a den of thieves and robbers. They deserve to die. The punishment fits the crime.

Another wrenching cry from the man in the middle. ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!?’

Have we not all been forsaken by God? he thinks. I, because I’ve been a robber all my life. I have never known peace. My partner there, to your left, may be more ruthless than I am, but we’ve been both brigands just the same, robbers and killers. Not simply controversial persons but criminals.

He notices the woman.

Woman, behold your son!’

Suddenly the face of the woman they have murdered appears before his eyes. He shivers. He looks at the woman beneath the cross. The soldiers are slowly killing her too. He sees a young, beautiful face, a sad and smiling countenance, a calmness about her. She looks lovingly at the man beside her.

Behold your mother!’

The man beside her looks at the woman. They hug each other and cry silently. She is losing a son, he is losing his Master.

I thirst!’

That’s more like it, he thinks. I’m thirsty too, but what the hell! What do I need water for? And if I ask for a drink, they will give me that bitter liquid.

But wait a minute … ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do! My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!? Woman, behold your son! Behold your mother! I thirst!’

The father he speaks of, a forgiving God, must be God the Father. And for whom is he asking forgiveness from Father God? I know. The ones who have washed their hands off his case even if they knew he was innocent of the crime of rebellion. The ones who have called for his crucifixion. The ones who have abused him. The ones who have betrayed him. The ones who have abandoned him. His friends and his enemies. Sinners all.

Gestas, his partner in crime, taunts the man in the middle. ‘Aren’t you the Christ? Son of a God! If you are half as good as you say you are, come down from that cross and save us all!’

That’s blasphemy, my friend. A great big sin. ‘Have you no fear of God?’ he tells Gestas, ‘seeing you are under the same sentence? We deserve it, after all. We are only paying the price for what we’ve done, but this man has done nothing wrong.’

Gestas utters a guttural sound, the cry of an unrepentant sinner, he thinks. A protestant sinner? Yes, he is asking God the Father for the forgiveness of sins of, of course, the sinner. Like Gestas, who deprecates what he hears. Like me, who is trying to understand. Three things remain, these three: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of this is love. The man’s voice reverberates in his memory. I have never known love, he tells himself. The paradox is love, he suddenly realizes. That explains everything. Love covers a multitude of sins, didn’t he hear him say that? What is love? Now he remembers his name. Now he is now going to ask for his love.

Jesus,’ he begs the man in the middle, ‘please remember me when you reach Paradise.’

Truly,’ he hears the man in the middle say, ‘I say to you, today, you will be with me in Paradise.’

That is my final prayer, he tells himself. That is my last prayer. This is my very last chance and I don’t want to botch it. This is the end of me. This is the end of us all.

It is finished!’

Man, what do you mean it is finished!? he asks himself. We’re almost dead, if that’s what you mean. We’ve been hanging here for hours, and while I haven’t been nailed like you, the cross is the same and the agony is killing me!

Hanging on a cross was the most disgraceful, agonizing, and cruel form of death penalty. In those times, such a death penalty was imposed only on the most hardened criminals: thieves, murderers, instigators of rebellion, and felons. The torture of a crucified man is impossible to describe. Besides unbearable pain in every part of the body, the crucified underwent the ordeal of terrible thirst and spiritual suffering (up to the point of death). Death was so slow that many suffered on the cross for several days. Even the executioners, habitually brutal people, could not keep their composure while looking at the suffering of a crucified man. They prepared a beverage by which they tried to quench his unbearable thirst; or by adding various substances, they tried to temporarily dull consciousness and alleviate the suffering.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’

And he sees in the corner of his eyes the man in the middle go limp. He is dead.

And he knows it is his turn next; if not today, tomorrow. He also knows he will die happy.

He slips into unconsciousness. When he comes to again, it is mid-afternoon and dark, the sun nowhere to be seen. He breaks into a great smile. ‘What are you smiling at?!’ shouts the centurion at him. ‘You are mad!’

Yes, I am barmy,’ he says, as loud as he can. ‘Finally, I am really nuts. I believe in a fantastic world of love that I’m leaving behind, that I didn’t know I could have helped create. I believe in an incredible world of love that is waiting for me at the other side of life. I believe in love.’

He sees Gestas, The Protestant Thief, complaining, gesturing, dying. He glares at the tormenting centurion and, wide-eyed, he too dies, wearing nothing but a ridiculous huge smile on his lips. His name is Dimas, aka Dismas. The Penitent Thief indeed, The Great Thief certainly. From the man in the middle, he has just stolen Paradise.

Credits: Image of Dismas, detail of a painting by Michelangelo. Jesus being ‘a very controversial person’ (Henry F Schaefer III, origins.org/). Difference between thief and robber (JR Hyland, all-creatures.org/). Identifying Judas as a thief (John Rutis, antelope-ebooks.com/). Murder of a woman between Jerusalem and Joppa (sacred-texts.com/). The long quote, in italics, on crucifixions, from a surprising website (Orthodox Church, orthodoxphotos.com/). Inspiration: ‘Ang Huling Habilin: Siete Palabras’ (The Last Will: The 7 Last Words) presented by the Preacher in Blue Jeans, Bo Sanchez, aired in the Philippines on ABC Channel 5 on Good Friday, April 2007, Manila time. It has been the most inspiring Friday of my life.