“Two other men, both criminals were also led out with him to be executed.” Luke 23:32
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:39-43
Isn’t it awesome that one of the criminals that was hung on a cross at the same time as Jesus was assured that he would be with Jesus in paradise that day? How his heart must have jumped for joy even with the intense and excruciating pain of nails in his hands and feet. At the same time, it was heartbreaking that the other criminal had chosen to throw insults at Jesus and have no concern to where he may go at the time his heart stopped beating. He was still demanding, as others, for Jesus to save Himself, unaware or uncaring that Jesus was dying on the cross in obedience to the Heavenly Father for the complete salvation of our sins.
Many people feel they can wait and put off turning their lives over to Christ thinking they have all the time in the world. They will think about it later when life isn’t so hectic or when there isn’t a million things to do. But the “risk” is that they don’t know when their life will end … it could be 50-years from now or it could be today.
One of my favorite movies is “God’s Not Dead.” It’s a story of a professor who became an atheist after his mother died when he was a young boy. He wondered how a loving and caring God could take her away from him when he (and his mother) were so young. A college student in his philosophy class proved to him and others that God is not dead. God is alive. The professor, a short time later, was struck by a car that crushed his ribs to the point of death. A couple of pastors were near the scene and ran to him as he lay dying on the street, and asked if he believed that Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior. The professor said, “Yes,” just seconds to taking his last breath and passing on. This scene reminds me of the criminal on the cross, professing Jesus as Lord and Savior just seconds prior to his passing with the assurance he would arrive in paradise that very day and spend eternity with Jesus.
Some say it doesn’t seem fair that someone can sin their whole life and then turn their life over to Jesus just seconds to taking their last breath. However, the sorrowful thing is that they waited to be “saved” and not only risked their salvation, but missed out on the privilege and honor of knowing the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ during their lifetime, and the blessings that Jesus provides to all those who believe and trust in Him. The important thing is that they accepted Jesus as their Savior prior to dying.
Today is Palm Sunday, and we are entering into what represents the final week of Jesus’s life as He prepared Himself and His disciples for His crucifixion on the cross. May we contemplate not only Jesus’s life on earth, but His death and crucifixion on the cross and what it represents for all of us. None of us know the time allotted to us on this earth. Let us stop and think of what God has done for each of us in giving us His one and only Son to die for each of us on the cross for our sins.
“For God so love the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
The poem stanzas above are from the poem , “The Thief on the Cross,” which you can read in its entirety in my book, “The Fingers of God,” available online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Background Photo to Poem by Aaron Burden on Unsplash