The Only Innocent Man

Thieves by T. A. Noton

The Fiction Story

Don't let storytelling tricks fool you, main character, Marcus is a low down dirty thief. How else would he have fallen in with, and thrived, among a band of thieves outside of Jerusalem at the dawn of the first century?

As is the case with men, thieves, and fictional characters everywhere, Marcus is complicated. He seeks freedom from the cut-throat world that he is a part of when he meets a girl and falls in love. After all, crime is no respectable way to support and raise a family. His new passion leads him out of the band of thieves and into a leather-smith's shop for honest employment.

True to life (and good story!) the past is not willing to stay in the past. Marcus's old friends return, forcing him to participate in yet another heist; this one, mangled up in the affairs of the temple priests and a deeper plot to rid the city of a growing problem, a teacher named Jesus.

They have all heard of this Jesus. His story looms subtly in the background. Occasionally he is spoken of. Did he really feed five thousand with two fish and a loaf? Did he really raise a man from the dead? Is he just a teacher or is he the promised Messiah?

The Christian Story

Thieves Everywhere: The book is obviously named after the band of men that Marcus falls in with. They live in a hideout in the hills outside of Jerusalem. It is clear from Chapter one that these thieves have a future encounter with the notorious teacher, as all men do.

In a scene at the temple one of the thieves looks down into the courtyard from a portico, and speaking of the priests he remarks, “Thieves, all of them.” It takes one to know one. The line was crucial in the story because it causes the reader to pause and reflect on the title. Just what thieves is this story really about?

Later, another one of the thieves labels the merchants in the street as crooked thieves. (it's almost as if they don't know that they themselves are thieves) The escalating charge is a subtle reminder of the depravity of all men. It is a reminder that there are only two types of people who have ever lived; there are the guilty, then there is the one you have heard about; the one and only righteous!

Thieves don't care. If their next job means his death, so be it. The story leads ultimately to the cross and to the gospel of the mangled savior... so that when he is finally revealed to the reader, and to Marcus, he is nearly unrecognizable as the man that they have all heard about. His eyes are sunken, his flesh is torn. He staggers forward like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Marcus, the thief, sees him. He is a man like himself with flesh that bruises and tears. But also he is a man like no other man. He is an innocent man, dying a guilty man's death. (It takes a guilty man to see this innocent man.) He was the one he had heard about. He was that man from Isaiah 53.

Thank you for reading! If you're looking for a gospel-centered book, please, Let me recommend one. Or check out one of my own books.

Until the next book, remember Christ the author of salvation and the reader of your heart.