"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 23:42 - 43 NKJV
There were two criminals either side of Jesus, each on a cross. They had divided opinions about Jesus, as is common in the world even today. One cursed Him, 'If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.' This statement was completely blasphemous and selfish. He had the audacity to tell Jesus what he wanted Him to do, 'Save Yourself and us.' There was no repentance, no guilt, nothing, except hardness of soul. He was following the crowd, who were screaming for bloodshed. It never fails to surprise me, how many people love to witness an execution. This first thief was with the crowd, totally ridiculing Jesus and all He stood for.
On the other hand, the second thief defended Jesus. He openly rebuked the first thief by saying, 'Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? Basically, he was saying, 'we deserve this punishment but, He doesn't, He is innocent.' This thief was full of repentance and recognised that Jesus should not have been there, about to suffer this awful punishment. He looked at Jesus and said, 'Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.' Jesus straightaway replied, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.' They are the most important words that we could ever want to hear, and furthermore, Jesus' words, confirm that we will not linger in the grave but, we will be with Jesus, in Paradise, the moment we die. It is a problem that many fear - dying and laying in a grave for years until we are resin. But, don't forget, when we die, time ceases, there is no measurement of time at all. Therefore, it can be deduced that at the moment of our death, we will be with Jesus, if, of course, we believe in Him and have asked Him into our hearts.
Just think for a moment about these words from Pastor Jerry Vines:
'That morning, the thief had breakfast with the devil. That night, he had supper with Jesus'. Copyright Jerry Vines, The Vines Expository Bible
This verse in Luke 23:42-43, is a reference point for prayer life, 'Remember me Lord.' My guess is that He will answer, 'My child, I can't forget you.'
Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard
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