(CEV) From “The Poem of the Man-God”, Vol. 5, p. 611
Descend from the cross!
The people, beginning with priests, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and the like, amuse themselves by going on a kind of roundabout […]. The fiercest are the members of the Temple, with the assistance of the Pharisees.
Three priests shout:
High Priests: «Well? You, the Saviour of mankind, why do You not save Yourself? Has Your king Beelzebub abandoned You? Has he disowned You?»
A crowd howls in chorus:
Crowd: «Descend from the cross and we will believe You” […]»
“Save Yourself and save us”
But the robber on the left hand side continues to insult from his cross. […]
Robber: «Save Yourself and save us, if You want people to believe You. You the Christ? You are mad! The world belongs to crafty people, and God does not exist. I do. That is true and everything is permitted to me. God?… Nonsense! Invented to keep us quiet. Long live our egos! Man’s ego alone is king and god!»
“Be silent. Do you not fear God?”
The other robber, who is on the right hand side with Mary almost near his feet, and looks at Her almost more than he looks at Jesus, and for some moments has been weeping murmuring:
The good robber (Disma): «My mothers”, says: “Be silent. Do you not fear God even now that you suffer this pain? Why do you insult Him Who is good? And His torture is even greater than ours. And He has done nothing wrong.»
But the robber continues to curse.
Jesus is silent
Jesus is silent. Panting as a result of the effort He has to make because of His position, because of His fever and heart and breathing conditions, the consequence of the flagellation He suffered in such a violent form, and also of the deep anguish that had made Him sweat blood, He tries to find some relief by reducing the weight on His feet, pulling Himself up with His arms and hanging from His hands.
Perhaps He does so also to overcome the cramp that tortures His feet and is revealed by the trembling of His muscles. But the same trembling is noticeable in the fibers of His arms, which are constrained in that position and must be frozen at their ends […].
The Judaeans, driven beyond the open space, do not stop insulting, and the unrepentant robber echoes their insults.
The other one, who now looks at the Mother with deeper and deeper compassion, and weeps, answers him back sharply, when he hears that She also is included in the insult.
The good robber (Disma): «Be silent. Remember that you were born of a woman. And consider that our mothers have wept because of their sons. And they were tears of shame… because we are criminals. Our mothers are dead… I would like to ask mine to forgive me… But shall I be able? She was a holy woman… I killed her with the sorrow I gave her… I am a sinner… Who will forgive me? Mother, in the name of Your dying Son, pray for me.»
The Mother for a moment raises Her tortured face and looks at him, the poor wretch who through the remembrance of his mother and the contemplation of the Mother moves towards repentance, and She seems to caress him with Her kind gentle eyes.
Disma (the name of the good robber) weeps louder, which raises even more the mockery of the crowd and of his companion.[…]