Luke 23:39-43 (NIV)
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.”
The Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers were not the only ones who were mocking Jesus, taunting Him, and challenging Him to prove Himself. One of the thieves also challenged Him, albeit for a very different reason.
This convicted thief, obviously guilty of the crime for which He was being executed (verse 41), challenged Jesus to not only prove that he was the Messiah by freeing Himself from the cross, but to prove that He was the Messiah by freeing both him and his confederate as well. His reasoning seems to have been that the Messiah, as the true king of Israel, would hate the Romans, and would set about ousting them. They were all being punished by Rome. So, if Jesus really was the Messiah who could do miracles, he should start destroying these Romans immediately, and in the process, He should save them, who were being subjected to Rome’s power.
But Jesus would not respond. The people still didn’t get who this Messiah was and why He was hanging on the cross. This thief had no idea that Rome was only a bit player on the stage of history. The real enemy that He had come to defeat was sin, and its cohort, death. He was, even then, engaged in the truly mortal struggle with those two that would end with the breaking of their power over the people of God’s kingdom forever.
This man knew that he had only a couple of hours left to live. But he did not yet realize that, with his defiant attitude toward God, shown by his brazenly breaking the seventh commandment, the moment he died would not be a moment of release from suffering, but the moment eternal torment would begin. His only hope, even then, was repentance; not challenging Jesus, but believing in Him.
The other thief somehow got it. Instead of continuing in His defiance, his suffering and the nearness of death had cause him to reevaluate his life, and to realize that he was living far from God, outside of His blessings. This man had heard of Jesus, and now, even with Him hanging helpless on the cross an arm’s-length away, he saw something of who He really was shining through. He had heard Jesus’ prayer for the forgiveness of those who had nailed Him to the cross, and his rapidly thawing heart craved forgiveness, too.
This man was full of real repentance and didn’t need Jesus to prove who He was before He put his whole trust in Him for forgiveness and restoration. He merely asked, humbly, to be remembered by Jesus when He came into His kingdom.
There was no time or opportunity for baptism or discipleship classes. There was no chance for any ceremonies to mark the occasion. There was merely repentance, trust, and surrender. But that was enough. Even though the man-once-a-thief would die that day, shortly after Jesus Himself, He would immediately find himself in Jesus’ company in paradise, where he would begin the adventure of eternal life.
Father, just as Jesus did not even respond to the challenges that were thrown in His face that day on the cross, so it is today. Those who challenge Jesus or You to prove Yourselves before they will believe in You are headed down a dead-end. Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection are all the proof that is needed of who You are and what You have done. The only way we can approach You in our sinful state is like the thief came: humbly, and in full repentance; “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13-14) Only then can we find forgiveness and real life. Thank You for receiving me when I came to You just that way. Thank You for Your forgiveness, and for the life and calling that You have given me. Amen.