Impenitent thief

Crucifixion by Hans von Tübingen showing the Penitent Thief on Christ's right (the left of the picture), and Gestas the Impenitent Thief on Christ's left with a devil. Depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus often show Jesus's head inclined to his right, showing his acceptance of the Good Thief.

The Impenitent thief is a man described in the New Testament account of the Crucifixion of Jesus. In the Gospel narrative, two bandits are crucified alongside Jesus. In the first two Gospels (Matthew and Mark), they both join the crowd in mocking him. In the version of the Gospel of Luke, however, one taunts Jesus about not saving himself and them, and the other (known as the penitent thief) asks for mercy.

In apocryphal writings, the impenitent thief is given the name Gestas, which first appears in the Gospel of Nicodemus, while his companion is called Dismas. Christian tradition holds that Gestas was on the cross to the left of Jesus and Dismas was on the cross to the right of Jesus. In Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend, the name of the impenitent thief is given as Gesmas. The impenitent thief is sometimes referred to as the "bad thief" in contrast to the good thief.

Quotes

• (To Jesus on the Cross) Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
  • Luke 23, 39 (NKJV).

Quotes about

• This miserable wreck can only be the impenitent thief, ultimately a man of integrity, who has retained enough conscience to prevent him from pretending to believe, under the protection of human and divine laws, that a minute of repentance is enough to redeem a lifetime of wickedness or a single hour of weakness.
  • Questo misero relitto può essere solo il cattivo Ladrone, in fin dei conti un uomo rettissimo, cui è rimasto quel po' di coscienza che gli impedisce di fingere di credere, al riparo di leggi umane e divine, che un minuto di pentimento basti per riscattare una vita intera di malvagità o una sola ora di debolezza.
    • José Saramago, Il vangelo secondo Gesù Cristo (O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo), traduzione di Rita Desti, Feltrinelli, 2010. ISBN 88-07-72169-4

See also

• Penitent thief
• Impenitence

External links

• Media related to Gestas on Wikimedia Commons

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