Jesus Promises his Kingdom to the Repentant Thief
Luke 23:36-43
by Steven Darst
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar
37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
(Luke 23:36-43)
A moment of clarity is all that is needed- A time when we can just see clearly what is right before us, as a flicker of light from a dying ember however so briefly.
“We are getting what we deserve, but he did nothing,” said the thief on the cross. In this final hour of his life we see that he is no longer clinging to life and to a false narrative with every fiber of his being… but willing to submit to the truth. We, like the thief, out of our anguish and clarity must confess: We are not innocent bystanders. We have hurt those we have sworn to love. We have betrayed trust. We were and did wrong. We have caused the sufferings of others. We are not just products of our environment, we have planted the seed, watered it daily, and worked vigorously for the roots to take hold. We have worked for the wrong side, suffered greatly, and thus caused others to suffer greatly. And instead of pleading our case, searching for a loophole to articulate our own righteousness- frantically grasping for a chance to pull the fleece over the world’s head once again, we can, like the criminal on the cross, admit that we have willingly taken part in a hurting world. And we can look upon the one who did it differently. Who insteading of cursing those that persecuted him, he prayed for them. Instead of returning a fist with a fist, he took up his cross. Instead of seeking to hoard power and influence, muster an army, fight for his right to rule… he hangs on a cross. And all we can say in response is, “Please remember me when you enter into your Kingdom.”
And as a the Good Shepherd of all the world, with his affection for every last one of us, not wanting even one to go astray, he turns his face towards the hollow shell of a man hanging on a cross with him and says, “I tell you that you will be with me today in paradise.” The one out of one hundred sheep went astray and he found the one. One out of ten coins fell to the ground and he saw it. The one out of two sons ran away, but he saw him and ran to him. With his words, Jesus embraced the man on the cross, welcomed him as a child into his Kingdom, for this child of God was lost but now is found.
This man was dead, but now, here at his death, he has finally found life. With a gasping for air, he makes a plea to the only innocent one to have ever existed. Not a plea for vindication, not a plea for looking into his case and helping him validate his claims of indignation, but a simple plea of remembrance. Remember me.
May it be so with us, may the suffering and the strife in this world, that has left us so imbittered and prone to return violence and hatred for more and more, give way to a moment of clarity: we are in need of a Savior. Lord, remember us- welcome us- embrace us.