Thieves in the Bible

Two Thieves
Jesus was crucified between two thieves. Jesus will come like a thief in the night.
Mark 15:27,28
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left… 

A Thief in the Night
The return of Jesus Christ is likened to the coming of a thief in the night. Two passages use the wording “a thief in the night”: Matthew 24:43, “Understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into,” and 1 Thessalonians 5:2, “You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks of His second coming at the end of the tribulation. Paul calls it “the day of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians 5. This is a day of divine retribution featuring astronomical upheaval and the visible “sign of the Son of Man” in the heavens (Matthew 24:29–30). Jesus says it will happen “after the tribulation of those days” (verse 29, ESV), a description that distinguishes this event from the rapture, which happens before the tribulation.
Luke 12:37
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds on watch when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve and will have them recline at the table, and he himself will come and wait on them.
Luke 12:39
But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.
1 Thessalonians 5:2
For you are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
1 Thessalonians 5:4
But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
Revelation 3:3
Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
Revelation 22:7
"Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of prophecy in this book."

Why would Jesus describe himself as that which he was previously crucified between? Were the two thieves at Jesus' crucifixion likewise the two witnesses at the Rapture?