9-19-2020

 Good Morning All, 

          Luke 23: 42-43; “And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

     How do we view these verses?  This is part of the exchange between Jesus and one of the men who were crucified with Jesus.  We have both men, suffering incredibly, and yet there is dialogue, there is interaction.  It begins with those who are watching the crucifixion hurling taunts and insults at Jesus.  Soon one of those who were also being crucified joined in.  The other man rebuked the first and then said to Jesus “remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus answered with the familiar, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”  How do you view these verses?

    For some, these are troubling verses.  We know little of this man other than “the thief on the cross”’ we don’t know his name or anything about him.  He does not seem to be a follower of Jesus or that he even particularly believed in Jesus.  Je made a request for Jesus to ‘remember me.’  There was no apparent confession of sins; there was no apparent repentance; there was no apparent confession of faith in Jesus as Lord over all; there certainly appears that there is no baptism, at least at this time.  Some have suggested that the thief had experienced the baptism by John the Baptist.  It is possible but nothing in Scriptures suggests this.  We only have this short exchange and in it, we hear Jesus making the statement that today you will be with me in paradise.

    Many people struggle because the thief did not ‘do anything’.  He should have had to do something to show that he had received Jesus.  He should have had to do something.  Many think that they give up something to be a Christian.  I remember one young man saying he was going to wait to be a Christian because he wanted to have ‘fun first’.  It is strange what we think is fun.  We abuse our bodies, we abuse other people with shallow or non-existent relationships; we scheme, connive, contrive, and make all sorts of foolish ventures.  Through it all, we try to avoid God, his grace and peace, and think we are having fun.  So, if I must give up my ‘fun’ why didn’t he?  It is as if he got in for nothing and that is exactly the point.

   The man was given paradise by a merciful Jesus; that is the same way we get paradise.  It is given to us by a merciful Jesus.  These verses should give us a lot of comfort and hope.  It was not what the man did or did not do; it was that Jesus showed him mercy; the same mercy that he has promised to show you.  The only possible way for the thief to enter Paradise was for Jesus to allow him to enter, for Jesus to have mercy on this thief and to bring him into paradise solely and completely out of love; the same way you and I get in.  “Jesus, remember me in your kingdom.”

Lord Jesus, remember me in your kingdom.  I only have your grace to save me.  I am only a worthless beggar before you and so I beg for your mercy and you give it to me without reservation, without demands, without restrictions but with total love.  Keep me safe in your arms.  In your precious and loving name, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret