How Many Crosses Do You See?

Take a look at these verses with me:

Matthew's Account of the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:32-44)

32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull).
34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.
35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there.
37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
38Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.
39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads
40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him.
42"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Luke's Account of the Crucifixion

26As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
27A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.
29For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'
30Then " 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"
31For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed.
33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.
34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
38There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."


There seem to be two contradictions between Matthew's account and Luke's account.

1) Matthew says that there were two thieves there who were crucified with Jesus. Luke on the other hand says that two criminals were led with Jesus to be crucified.

This may seem like a small contradiction, and maybe it is, but this is not simply a difference in translating, where you see that the translators chose to use thieves in Matthew and criminals in Luke.

There are actually two different Greek words used:

Lestes- robber or plunderer (used in Matthew)

Kakourgos- evil doer (used in Luke)

2) More significantly, Matthew says that both thieves "hurled insults" at Jesus. But, Luke says that one of the criminals insulted Jesus while the other one stood up for Jesus.

How do we resolve these apparent contradictions?

The answer is in John's Account of the Crucifixion:

16Then, therefore, he delivered him up to them, that he may be crucified, and they took Jesus and led [him] away,
17and bearing his cross, he went forth to the place called [Place] of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha;
18where they crucified him, and with him two others, on this side, and on that side, and Jesus in the midst.

I will also reference verse 32&33:

32The soldiers, therefore, came, and of the first indeed they did break the legs, and of the other who was crucified with him,
33and having come to Jesus, when they saw him already having been dead, they did not break his legs;

Verse 18 is an interesting verse.

Some versions include the word "one" after the commas, whereas the word one does not appear in the original Greek. When read the way it was written as seen above from Young's Literal Translation, it seems as though there were 5 crosses, not three, a reality which resolves the apparent contradictions between Matthew and Luke.

Jesus+2 thieves (Matthew)+2 criminals (Luke)=5 crosses (John)

Now, it makes sense that both thieves mocked Jesus while only one of the two criminals insulted Him.

To further solidify my case, I will appeal to your logic. We know that Jesus was in the middle, right? But, John 19:32 tells us that when the soldiers went around to break the legs of those on the cross, they broke the legs of two men before they came to Jesus. Then, seeing that he was already dead they passed over Him.

If there had been 3 crosses, with Jesus being the middle man, then in order to have broken the other two men's legs before coming to Jesus, the soldiers would have had to skip over Jesus in the first place and then come back to Him. How much sense does that make? Wouldn't it have made more sense to go to the first man, then to Jesus and finally on to the other outside man? Of course it would have!

But, if there were 5 crosses, Jesus would have been the third man in line, then the soldiers would have gone on to the last two men.

When you lay the 3 accounts side by side, the only way that they make sense is in light of the fourth and fifth crosses.

You might be wondering why this matters. It matters for two reasons.

1) If I said that your spouse had blond hair when in fact his/her hair was black, you would correct me, because you love your spouse and you want him/her to be spoken of correctly. We should have the same desire for our King.

2) We should also be ready and able to answer all who would have questions about our faith.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. -2 Timothy 2:15