Gestas

Who was Gestas?

GESTAS is one of the two thieves that were crucified alongside Jesus. According to tradition, he was crucified on the left of Jesus central cross. The other thief was Dismas. GESTAS was cousin of Dismas and older than him. He was about fifty when he was arrested and crucified. Just as Dismas was son of a rich Jewish merchant, GESTAS' parents were poor peasants. Although they were friends, the comparation with Dismas made GESTAS violent and rebel. It is said that in 1848 an Irish politician denounced Isaac Disraeli, the famous English Premier, as a Jewish traitor, "the heir at law of the blasphemous thief that died upon the cross."

The personality of GESTAS was stronger than Dismas' and slowly Dismas was corrupted by him. Both became malefactors. Finally their lifes ended at the tragic hill of Calvary. Among his doings was that he stole the holy vessels of the Temple and stripped naked the daughter of Caiaphas, Sarah by name, who was priestess of the sanctuary. So defiant was GESTAS. But finally Dismas and GESTAS were caught by the assesination of a woman who with her children was going from Jerusalem to Joppa. They were imprisoned for a long time before being brought to trial. The Roman governor, Pilate, put them to death by crucifixion. Just before his execution GESTAS received a cruel flagellation and was obliged, like Jesus and Dismas, to carry his cross to the hill of Calvary. GESTAS staggered under the weight of his cross, his eyes and teeth glared with fear. Dismas and GESTAS sweated, watching the crosses being arranged on the ground. On arriving there and after giving him some myrrh and vinegar, the executioners stripped off his ragged clothing and gave him a loincloth. Then they nailed him on the cross. They put him on the cross and first nailed his hands at the wrists on to the cross beam of the cross and then they nailed down the feet. He cried in despair due to the pain. GESTAS groaned and screamed with pain of his injuries. No doubt he suffered both in his body and in his soul. He beared the same torture as his companion; his feet and his hands were nailed to the cross, as were the feet and hands of Jesus and Dismas. He suffered the same slow suffocation, the same burning thirst, the same wracking of the muscles strained and convulsed. Yes, he suffered; no rest for his body; no peace for his heart. He saw the patience and the meekness of Jesus, but it was not enough to open his eyes. GESTAS painfully thrust his body upward with the nailed feet so he could hurl a challenge at Jesus: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us with you". "If you really were the Messiah, you would work a miracle; you would save yourself and you would save us." Through his rebellion the bad thief did not gain anything. His punishment was not taken away: he continued suffering and he died like his companion. His sufferings were not diminished. The pain he felt was severe. On the contrary, his rebellion and despair made them all the more cruel. He suffered without hope. His cross was a shameful cross. Except a tiny loincloth, all of his clothing was taken away, and his nakedness was exposed to everyone. The only thing he is interested in and would like to have is continued life, to escape from death, to escape from suffering. He was in complete loneliness. There was no one to encourage him or support him. According to a legend, after mocking Jesus, GESTAS' eyes were mercilessly pecked out by a crow. Finally, after several hours of excruciating sufferings, the executioners decided to conclude the torture. They did not come because they felt any ‘kindness’ towards the two thieves. They just wanted to remove the crucified off their crosses. They came with clubs in order to break the legs of the two thieves who were still hanging alive. Two soldiers went near the crosses where Dismas and GESTAS were grappling with death, and raising their thick clubs, they landed violent blows on their knees and legs, crushing the bones of the two...