If God is perfect, and He is, then His Word must also be perfect. John 17, 18 -- And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus and the midst.
There is one small word in verse 18 which should arrest our attention, and that is the word "midst". This word is a keyword because grammatically one individual cannot be crucified in the midst of two. Always, with the use of the word "midst", 4, 6, or 8 are indicated. This is not hard to understand and it also clearly demonstrates the minute accuracy of God's Word when it is rightly divided and researched.
Now here is a little diamond that should really drive our point home and remove any doubt from your mind. John 18 -- where him they crucified, and with him, others two on this side and on that side [one], and in the middle Jesus. As I am examining this verse in the Interlinear, it is clear that there is a corresponding Greek word above every English word except the word "ONE".
And also, as you can see, the word "one" is placed in brackets. This is to indicate that the translators added the word "one". Now go back to the verse and read the verse without the word "one". And there it is, the perfect accuracy of God's Word. There were two on one side of Jesus Christ and two on the other side of Jesus Christ.
Two plus two equals four. Now let's study this point a little further so we are absolutely clear on how and why this happened.
It is true that truth needs no defense. We should be completely convinced that Jesus Christ was crucified in the midst of four, and not two. However, we're going to go to God's Word one final time and conclude our study with a very simple, but very convincing example from the Holy Scriptures. Even though we need to learn to walk by the spirit, God knows that we need to be able to understand and make sense of what we believe. This final example is as straightforward and simple as can be.
It is my heart's desire that you are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt and that you know that you know that you know the truth and minute accuracy of the Word of God concerning how many were crucified with Jesus Christ. Let's conclude with this final example and may God bless your heart for your diligent effort to learn and apply His Word in your life.
John 32, 33 -- Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which [who] was crucified with him. The criminals were led away to be crucified with Jesus, and were immediately crucified next to him. Luke and 33 ESV 32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. In contrast to these two criminals who Luke says were crucified with Jesus, Matthew 27 says the two robbers were crucified after Jesus had been crucified and the guards had divided his garments by casting lots and had sat down to keep watch over him.
This would have taken some time, and the soldiers would not have done those things if they had other men waiting there to be crucified. Note the flow of events as told by Matthew:. Matthew —38 ESV 35 And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. What we have seen so far is that the gospel of Luke tells us that two criminals kakourgos were led with Jesus when he was led forth to be crucified.
It seems that from reading Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and by using the principle of narrative development, we can conclude that there were four other men, not just two other men, who were crucified with Jesus. Now we turn our attention to the gospel of John. If John is accurate in the ESV, then we must be wrong about there being four others crucified with Jesus, because it clearly says there were two others with him, one on each side. When we come to a situation where there seems to be a problem that we cannot resolve in the English, we must check the Greek text to see if the translation is correct.
If you have a Greek text available, or it you have a Greek Interlinear translation available, you can check the Greek for yourself. It simply reads:. There were four others crucified with Jesus, as John says, two others on either side. The tradition that there were only two men crucified with Christ leads translators to support that tradition even though the textual evidence is against it. There is another piece of very solid evidence that there were four others crucified with Jesus, not just two, and is has to do with the soldiers breaking the legs of the men who were crucified.
John and 33 ESV 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.
John and 33 do not make any sense if there were only two men crucified with Jesus. If that were the case, the soldiers would break the legs of the first man, and then come to Jesus. But that is not what these verses say. If we can get a mental picture of the five men being crucified, here is what we would see: Jesus would be in the middle, and next to him on both sides would be the criminals, who were crucified at the same time he was.
Nevertheless, there was a great and very essential difference between these two criminals. One was hard and unbelieving, while the other was tender, acknowledging, and believing. One was impenitent, and therefore remained outside, while the other entered into Paradise with Jesus. That is how it is with every sinner who is converted only at the very end of his life. We must all begin like the one thief, with a plea for mercy and forgiveness for our sins. Many are called and given the opportunity to follow the One crucified on the middle cross and to walk in the steps which He left behind—He who never did His own will but always lived a crucified life.
There is no condemnation for the judgment that takes place in the body over sin in our nature, because it takes place within the body. There is a growth of the body, a salvation of the body and a judgment of the body, so that everyone will be rewarded according to what he has done with his body. God does everything double. He provides an outward salvation through Jesus Christ. He provides an outward and an inward salvation through the same Person. However, the enemies of the cross of Christ are opposed to this inner salvation, and like the thief, they are satisfied with the forgiveness of sins.
This is not so with the bride of Christ. She wants to be a partaker of His holiness and has counted the cost. She is flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone. She is willing not only to share the joy with her Bridegroom, but also to suffer and die with Him — not only die to the curse of the law, but die to the nature of Adam in the body.
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