"And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. (33) And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left."
In reading the former of those verses, I beg the Reader to observe, that a stop should be put after the word other: for then the sense of the passage will be clear, And there were also two other: (which were) malefactors. For the Lord Jesus himself was no malefactor. H e did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22. He stood forth indeed in the eye of the law, being the Surety of his people, and their Representative, as the greatest of all malefactors. Yea, Jehovah considered him as such. But, though laden with the sins of all his people, yet there was no shadow of sin in him. Sin was, put upon him, not in him. The Lord laid on him, it is said, the iniquity of us all, that is, the Church. Isaiah 53:6. Reader! do you discover the blessedness of the distinction? If so, think how complete must be his sacrifice! For this purpose, God would have him loaded with all sin, and with all the possible shame of sin, as sin had made his Church marked to our shame, so Christ, the Surety, shall bear both. And hence the conclusion the Holy Ghost makes from hence, for the everlasting joy of the Church, He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21.