Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 23:39

"And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, Art not thou the Christ? save thyself and us." — Luke 23:39 (ASV)

One of the malefactors. Matthew 27:44 says, the thieves— cast the same in his teeth. See the apparent contradiction in these statements reconciled in the Notes on that passage.

If thou be Christ. If you are the Messiah; if you are what you claim to be. This is a taunt or reproach of the same kind as that of the priests in Luke 23:35.

Save thyself and us. Save our lives. Deliver us from the cross. This man did not truly seek salvation; he did not ask to be delivered from his sins; if he had, Jesus would also have heard him.

Men often, in sickness and affliction, call upon God. They are earnest in prayer. They ask God to save them, but it is only to save them from temporal death. It is not to be saved from their sins. The consequence is that when God does raise them up, they forget their promises and live as they did before, just as this robber would have done if Jesus had heard his prayer and delivered him from the cross.