As the Bandit Will I Confess You: Luke 23,39-43 in Early Christian InterpretationThe story of the so-called Good Thief as found in Lc 23, 39-43 has a vibrant and diverse afterlife in early Christianity. Synoptic and eschatological disparities raise concerns and provoke a variety of harmonizations. Controversies notwithstanding, early interpreters occupy themselves most of all with the episode's potential for exhortation as they identify themselves and their hearers with the good bandit. He becomes a model of Christian practices, beliefs and virtues including worship, faith (even Nicea's formulation), justification by faith, conversion, catechesis, confession, martyrdom, baptism (in many modes), endurance, asceticism, simplicity of language, penitence, and last-minute salvation. A wide variety of typological readings fashion the bandit as the first to return to paradise and even a key participant in the pivotal moment of salvation-history. By around the late 4th century, the episode becomes a standard Good Friday lectionary reading and sermon topic in the East. |
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1st-century BCE 2nd-century CE date alluding allusion analysis apocryphal Augustine banditry bandits Barabbas beatitude Bovon Brock canonical passion Christ Chrysostom co-crucified commentaries Corpus Christianorum critical editions cruc crucifixion CSCO death of Jesus Diatessaron divergent dramatic heart early 2nd-century early Christian early reception echoing Ephrem Esbroeck eschatological Eustathius Georgic Gospel Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Greek hades Henoch aethiopicus history of interpretation homilies Hornik and Parsons interpretation of Lc intertextual Jerusalem Jewish Josephus Klinghardt late 1st late antique Lazarus Lc 16 Lucan account Lucan passion Lucan story Luke’s LXX Gn Markan Markan/Matthean tradition Matthean Matthew Origen paradise parenetic passion narratives patristic interpretation potential Rabbinic recent reception-history references righteous Sadducees Samuel second criminal sylleptical Syriac Syriac texts texts and traditions theme zealotry zealots δὲ δύο εἶ εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ καὶ οἱ λῃσταί μετ οὐδὲν σήμερον σὺ σὺν αὐτῷ Τὸ τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ