“Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.”
As done before, let’s pull up the verses around these words of Christ.
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 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.”
Luke 23:39-43
The crucified Christ just spoke, for all to hear: ‘Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’
The rulers scoffed at Him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”
The soldiers also mocked Him, saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
And if that wasn’t enough, even one of the crucified criminals joined in the ridicule, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
…But not everyone participated in making fun of Him. The other crucified criminal “rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” “
I could imagine that both criminals were in great pain, just as Christ was… One joined the masses in their collective cry, of mockery and goading, but ultimately of unbelief (‘Are you not the Christ?’) but we can see in the other’s choice of words, that he was making quite the observation, leading to a realization.
Let’s look at his rebuke: “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds;”
Through the pain, one spoke in short-sighted abandon, but this criminal spoke in resignation, past the immediate shock and despite the chaos. He spoke of the facts of their situation: That they were condemned and crucified as a consequence of their actions.
And did you catch how he preceded his rebuke? Before rightly addressing the other criminal of their true situation, he started off with, ‘Do you not fear God’? Here, friends, I am reminded of another verse in the New Testament. In his second epistle to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of a godly grief which ‘produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.’ (2 Corinthians 7:10)
Because of their plight, this other criminal was brought to the fear of God, leading him to a realization regarding this other Fellow who was crucified with them.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. This is what it means to fear God. It’s not to flee from Him in terror, but to respect Him, starting simply by realizing, agreeing that He is who He says He is… and at this time, the criminal saw Him as One who ‘has done nothing wrong’.
We talk of repentance and people say that it involves confessing our sins, going to the ‘altar’, saying a specific prayer. Still others would say that repentance is seen in our turning away from our sins, and committing to follow Jesus, or openly stating our belief in Him. I don’t disagree that these may happen when someone repents – but that’s the thing, I believe they’re the possible EFFECTS of repentance, but they do not define the mindset behind it.
To take the words of the other criminal – Repentance means to realize who we are (‘under the same sentence of condemnation… receiving the due reward of our deeds’), and who Christ is (‘…this Man has done nothing wrong’)…
…and when we realize how hopeless we are, and how good and glorious Jesus is, THAT’s when we cry out to Him, just as he did: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Yes, I understand that we’re here to talk about Christ’s last words primarily… But I believe all that needed to be stated before we went any further. We could be distracted by the world, even in our times of greatest pain. But in our own godly sorrow, let us consider that the repentance it produces has us accepting who we are, believing in who God is, and finally has us speaking, at the very least:
“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
To this, Christ responds with what I believe is the base definition of salvation:
“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
He not only assures the criminal (‘Truly’) but takes ownership (‘I say to you’). Of what? That not only will He remember him, but that he will be WITH Him IN paradise.
Now, I first thought to just omit ‘today’, but now I’m led to just share something I believe, for your consideration. In the case of the two condemned in discussion, Jesus and the other criminal, they were both at the final chapters of their physical lives. This would mean that He was correct in saying ‘today’, as in ‘today, when our bodies expire’… but I submit that there’s more to ‘today’ than just that.
I have cause to believe that the salvation we receive is one where we are WITH Christ, IN paradise… but it’s not reserved for us to experience when we die, but we are saved, now, as in today.
In other words, the moment – or, the day – we cry out for Jesus to remember us is also the day when we are WITH Him, IN paradise.
We continue to exist in this reality, but through Christ (with Him) we are also born again – in eternal paradise.
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14
And how can we make such a bold claim? It’s by the Holy Spirit that we can say that not only is Christ with us here and now, but that we are also in paradise – that is, we are seated in the heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6). It is only by the Holy Spirit that we not only have proof and a seal of our salvation and inheritance.
I could go further but for lack of time, I’d like to wrap up here. To summarize:
Repentance is our saying, “Jesus, remember me (when you come into your kingdom)”
Salvation is Christ telling us, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Let us pray.
Father, thank You for Jesus, who we remember today. We thank You because He kept it simple for us – We cried out to Him, and He assured us that You are with us. Help us always to remember who we are, who You are, and how we always depend on You. Thank You for Your love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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