Luke 23:43 - And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Imagine that you were the thief on the cross that day. You had committed a crime deserving of death and there was no getting out of the punishment coming your way. The cross was coming, and there was nothing you could do about it. Think of the anxiety that you might feel about the moment that the nails would pierce your hands and feet. How severe must that pain be on its own, you wonder. But then you think about the force of the cross being lifted up and the intense pain you would feel as the cross is dropped into the hole that would hold it upright.
Then imagine that as you hang there in agony, barely able to breathe, you see a man collapse below you from carrying his own cross up the hill. You watch as his hands and feet are nailed to the wood of his cross, and he is lifted up next to you. On his head is a circle of thorns, like a crown, and his body is covered in so many cuts, deep lacerations and bruises that you can’t understand how he could possibly still be alive.
A crowd then forms, and there are religious leaders mixed in with commoners. You know they haven’t come to watch you die, and you are sure of it when a sign is nailed above this man’s head which reads, “King of the Jews”. People are yelling at him to save himself, including the other man nailed to a cross on the other side. They want proof that he is the messiah, but they don’t believe it. How could he be, hanged to a tree an inch from death’s door?
You had heard stories about this man. You had heard that he was sent from God, and you had heard that he often talked about God’s kingdom. You don’t remember every detail and through your physical agony it’s hard to get your thoughts together at all. Yet, for whatever reason, you look at this King of the Jews, and you decide that in your deserved punishment, he might just be your only hope. So while you feel the punishment of your sins in the physical agony of the cross, you call out to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom!” He looks at you and says, “Truly, today you will be with me in paradise.”
What an amazing statement this was for Jesus to make to this man. They are both in terrible pain. A crowd is yelling curses at Jesus. He himself has been so abused that he doesn’t even look human. It’s chaos and sin and evil and destruction all happening at once. But in this moment of darkness, Jesus promises light. Even this evil darkness is not too much for Jesus to still bring hope to a sinful man, and this man didn’t persuade Jesus to say this through reciting deep theological truths or quoting scripture that he had memorized as a child. This man was going to be in paradise simply because he believed that Jesus would save him even though everything seemed hopeless. It was his sin that brought him to the cross leading to death, but it was Jesus who would be his only hope leading to life.
No matter what sins are in your life or what pain you are suffering or what difficulty you are experiencing, Jesus can bring a word of light and hope into that darkness. If Jesus can bring hope to this man, certainly he can bring hope to you. Trust him today. Paradise with him awaits.
