39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” - Luke 23:39-43
What grand implications from such a seemingly insignificant passage. The life of this thief serves as a powerful reminder to all of us. Reading through the events leading up to Easter has already been challenging to me and has also been a wonderful reminder of what my Savior did for me. In his book, No Wonder the call Him the Savior, Max Lucado points out what this thief means to mankind. Here on a cross, dying by the Savior of the world, is a simple criminal. He is being punished for his wrongdoing and he is aware of his guilt. As far as we know and can assume, he has never done anything for God. In his final moments he has realized that the man dying beside him truly is someone special. He believes that Jesus will be going back to His kingdom and asks the Lord for mercy. Jesus honors his faith and promises to see him in heaven. Think about that. A dirty, worthless sinner. A criminal who is well on his way to death. A man who will never share the Gospel with anyone. A man who will never serve God or tell of Jesus' love. He will never be a missionary or a pastor or father a Christian family. He will never be used by God in any way. He has absolutely nothing to offer, but he doesn't need anything to offer. His offering would be useless even if he wasn't about to die. The glorious point of this whole story is that we have nothing to offer, yet we are offered everything. Jesus promises paradise to a man with nothing. No matter how hard I work I will always be in the same position as this thief. That sounds depressing but it is the most amazing part of God's redemptive plan. I can do nothing to get to heaven. Jesus does it all. No matter how dirty, how sinful, how poor, how rejected, Jesus does it all. When I see myself as the thief I appreciate what my Lord has done. I often get too caught up in my "good works" and find myself in the place of one of the Pharisees standing near the cross. The Lord calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. It isn't pretty. We aren't pretty. But it is in this ugly state that God is able to work His wonders and show His mighty power.
actually God did use this man, or at least his testimony - even in your blog. I guess one thing I see in this instance is that in dying we are actually serving. I have NOTHING to offer Christ that is worthy of His great gift to me but if I can die to my self and allow Him to use me, He can glorify Himself through me. Thanks for the thoughts and insights. Love ya, Dad.
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