They may have been a team.....pickpocketing the crowds in Jerusalem.....where one bumps into a Rabbi and says....."Oh excuse me teacher"....while the other one lifts the small bag of coins....from wherever they kept those small bags of coins. So they were arrested by the temple guard....probably not their first time....and sentenced to death by crucifixion.
Surely they knew of this Jesus! Everyone in Jerusalem knew of this man who performed miracles and allegedly said that He was the Son of God! They probably figured out a lot as they carried their crosses to Golgotha and heard some of the people wailing....and what Jesus said to them? So they both mocked Jesus....we know that....but you can only mock so long before you are thinking back to your own pain again. However those few hours transpired....we know that something happened....for the one thief who mocked....came to see that this truly was the Son of God next to him.Forty years ago....in a coal-fired power plant control room....as a new believer....a control room operator said to me in response to what was probably attempts to reach him for Christ...."Special Dog....one bible account says that both thieves cursed Jesus....and another account says something totally different. The bible is just a book written by a bunch of men." Maybe I responded with a pause and then said...."Let me get back to you on that."
You can believe what you want....but I see that complaint of his as even more evidence that these were true accounts....one writer witnessing so much....and another writer witnessing a little bit more. An alternative would have been that they all sat down later to coordinate testimonies....and that obviously never happened.
Here is my point in this post. That thief may not ever have been around Jesus. He may have never heard even second hand anything that Jesus said to the people. He probably didn't care one dove dropping about the temple or the law of Moses or anything....yet he was changed in a moment as was Saul....and Jesus said to him...."Truly, I say to you, Today you will be with Me in paradise."
That's only half of it....the other half may be you....who heard about Jesus since you were knee-high to a grasshopper....(I never used this expression before in my life)....you may have been a churchgoer your whole life....with born agains all around you....and no one knowing that you really cannot say that you actually believe what they think you believe....nor do you particularly care....for it all seems to be working out....and here....if this account is true....that thief with a fox hole conversion had more faith in a couple of hours than you have ever had....and a saving faith that you never had.
I don't want that to discourage you. Think about it this way....that thief probably only had a few minutes of his entire life to believe in Jesus....but you have the rest of your life....however long that will be. I just happened this morning to listen to an audio reading of a letter that John Newton....yes....the John Newton....famous ex-captain of a slave ship....sent to his congregation....exhorting them.....and he reminded them of how he was a blasphemer....and was injurious to so many....and yet the grace of God extended even to him! I could give you a similar personal story. No one has seniority....let this be the day that you say....'Lord....help my unbelief!"
