for the judge being set in the midst, the one
who believed was delivered, the other who mocked Him was condemned.
Already He has signified what He shall do to the quick and the dead;
some He will set on His right, others on His left hand." Thirdly,
according to Hilary (Comm. xxxiii in Matth.): "Two thieves are set,
one upon His right and one upon His left, to show that all mankind is
called to the sacrament of His Passion. But because of the cleavage
between believers and unbelievers, the multitude is divided into
right and left, those on the right being saved by the justification
of faith." Fourthly, because, as Bede says on Mk. 15:27: "The thieves
crucified with our Lord denote those who, believing in and confessing
Christ, either endure the conflict of martyrdom or keep the
institutes of stricter observance. But those who do the like for the
sake of everlasting glory are denoted by the faith of the thief on
the right; while others who do so for the sake of human applause copy
the mind and behavior of the one on the left."

Reply Obj. 1: Just as Christ was not obliged to die, but willingly
submitted to death so as to vanquish death by His power: so neither
deserved He to be classed with thieves; but willed to be reputed with
the ungodly that He might destroy ungodliness by His power.
Accordingly, Chrysostom says (Hom. lxxxiv in Joan.) that "to convert
the thief upon the cross, and lead him into paradise, was no less a
wonder than to shake the rocks."

Reply Obj. 2: It was not fitting that anyone else should die with
Christ from the same cause as Christ: hence Origen continues thus in
the same passage: "All had been under sin, and all required that
another should die for them, not they for others."

Reply Obj. 3: As Augustine says (De Consensu Evang. iii): We can
understand Matthew "as putting the plural for the singular" when he
said "the thieves reproached Him." Or it may be said, with Jerome,
that "at first both blasphemed Him, but afterwards one believed in
Him on witnessing the wonders."
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TWELFTH ARTICLE [III, Q. 46, Art. 12]

Whether Christ's Passion Is to Be Attributed to His Godhead?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ's Passion is to be attributed
to His Godhead; for it is written (1 Cor. 2:8): "If they had known
it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory." But Christ is
the Lord of glory in respect of His Godhead. Therefore Christ's
Passion is attributed to Him i