[Mrs. Don-o]

Oh! That's right! It does say the soldiers broke the other two men's legs to make them die faster, but they saw that Jesus was already dead so they "made sure" by stabbing Him in the heart.

Therefore Jesus had died first.

So Jesus was waiting for the "Good Thief" with open arms, and, yes, with all of the myriads of the saved, streaming into Heaven from the Abode of the Dead --- Adam and Eve too ---he rejoiced!

[ealgeone]

And the other key thing to notice here is this: the thief appealed straight to Christ.

He didn't go through a priest.

He didn't appeal to Abraham or any other person from antiquity.

He didn't appeal to Mary, who was right there, to "put in a good word" to Jesus.

He didn't wholly devote himself to Mary....or appeal to her in any way.

The lesson of the thief's confession and appeal to Christ, and only Christ, is one to look to.