Today…Paradise
TRANSLATION
(39) One of the criminals hanging there hurled insults at him saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” (40) But the other responded, rebuking him, “Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence? (41) We are being punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” (42) He then said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (43) And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
OBSERVATIONS
While no repetitions occurred in this segment, the three-way dialogue between those hanging on crosses has long fascinated the readers of Luke’s Gospel. First, we read the taunt of the unrepentant thief, challenging Jesus to save all three of them if he really was the Christ (vs. 39). His statements echoed what Jesus’ accusers had been shouting at him all day: “If you really are the King of the Jews, save yourself” (vs. 37). Then we are startled by the words of the second criminal, rebuking the taunts of the first, confessing his own guilt, and defending Jesus’ innocence. Remarkably, this man turned to Jesus with a simple request, “Remember me” (vss. 40-42). Finally, we are even more astonished by Jesus’ response: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The second criminal somehow had come to understand that Jesus was able to do something for him and appealed to him for mercy. Little did he realize that the faith he manifested was enough for Jesus to grant him forgiveness and eternal life in God’s presence forever.
OUTLINE
I. One thief joined the crowd to mock Jesus. (39)
II. The other thief rebuked the first and asked Jesus to remember him. (40-42)
III. Jesus assured him that he would soon be with him in paradise. (43)
IDEA STATEMENT
The Father’s saving grace is always available to those who turn to Jesus in faith.
APPLICATION
What does it take for a sinner to be made right with God? The constant message of Scripture is that simple faith alone is all that we need to be justified, that is, declared righteous in God’s sight. John’s Gospel makes this abundantly clear in the great promise Jesus gave us: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5:24). Nothing else is necessary, neither repentance, nor baptism, nor good works, nor any other prerequisite. The pledge Jesus gave to the thief on the cross supports this truth. All that this condemned criminal did was simply acknowledge who Jesus was and make the request, “Remember me.” That was enough to secure his salvation. The size of his faith did not matter as much as the fact that the one exercising faith, despite his past mistakes, simply needed to shift his trust from himself to the Savior regarding his eternal destiny.
One other misunderstanding that Jesus’ statement to the thief resolves is the mistaken idea set forth in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus “descended into hell” before he rose from the dead. Based on a misguided interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19, this view, sometimes called “the Harrowing of Hell,” asserts that, after his death, Jesus descended to the place of the dead to bring salvation to the righteous souls that had died since the beginning of the world. If Christ promised Paradise to the thief and then, before he died, prayed, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” there is no basis for claiming that Jesus descended to the underworld after he died. Nor is there any basis for claiming that Old Testament saints were relegated to Hades before Christ’s resurrection. For those facing death, the promise Jesus gave to the thief holds true for all who have placed their faith in the saving work of Christ. As Paul succinctly expressed it in 2 Corinthians 5: “(to be) absent from the body (is to be) at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). What a great comfort it is to know that, at the moment we die, we enter the presence of our Savior!