Which criminal am I hanging next to Jesus?
If I’m honest… I’m one of them.
Can you imagine it? Hanging on a cross, facing your own execution, surrounded by a crowd—and still choosing to be defiant, angry, arrogant. Still mocking the very person beside you.
Two criminals were crucified next to Jesus. Both guilty. Both suffering. And yet both found the breath to insult and taunt the man between them—a man they didn’t even know.
And I read that, and I think… that’s me.
Most nights I lay my head down and wonder, how many words today do I wish I could take back?
A careless comment. A backhanded compliment. A joke that didn’t need to be said. A moment where I lifted myself up when no one asked.
I can go on and on.
Romans says it plainly:
“There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10–18)
Every time I read that, I think—that is me.
Guilty. Not sometimes. Not partially. Fully.
Caught in some things, sure. Got away with others. But in all of it… still wrong.
And yet, something incredible happens on that cross.
After both criminals had been hurling insults, one of them changes. Something shifts. Maybe it was hearing Jesus speak. Maybe it was watching how He responded—with grace instead of anger, with forgiveness instead of retaliation.
Whatever it was, there was a pivot.
“Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And Jesus—so full of mercy—responds,
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
That’s the moment that gets me.
Because I am that criminal on the cross.
But the one I want to be is the one who realizes it.
The one who says:
“I am guilty. I need a Savior.”
So today, on Good Friday, that’s my prayer:
Lord, grant me that pivot.
Let me see my own sin clearly—but even more, let me see You.
Let me be changed not just by my guilt, but by Your grace.
Today is a good day to reflect on the cross—
the one You died on for the world,
for the criminals beside You,
and for me.
Humbled and grateful. Truly.
Love being in Badgers with you guys!
Eric