Sermon 2 of 7 from the Seven Last Words of Jesus series
February 1991 – It is Friday in Jerusalem. The smell of death is in the air. Outside the city wall, just north of the Damascus Gate, in a place long reserved for public executions, three crosses stand beside a road. A crowd has gathered this day. Not that crucifixion was unusual. But this day is different. An unusual man is being crucified.
He wasn’t an ordinary criminal—not a thief or a murderer or a pickpocket. In fact, there were those who thought he wasn’t guilty at all. But no matter. There he was on the middle cross. On either side, two men were crucified with him.
A Portrait of Two Thieves
Who were they? The translators use different words to describe them … “Thieves, robbers, malefactors, bandits.” Luke’s word means “members of the criminal class, professional criminals, members of the underworld.” These men were hoods, thugs, cutthroat killers, men who killed for fun and profit, assassins.
Tradition suggests that these men were political revolutionaries bent on overthrowing the yoke of Roman rule. If so, we ought to think of them as ruthless men who thought nothing of using violence to achieve their political aims.
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Beyond that, we know little else about them. We do not know their names or their hometowns or the specific crime they committed. We assume that they had been partners in crime, but that is not certain. Some suggest they were brothers, but there is no way to be sure.
We would not know them at all except for this: They are supporting players in the greatest drama of all time, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
It may appear that these two men are exactly alike. They were both criminals who were sentenced to die together at the same time at the same place on the same day. Both had been severely beaten before they crucified, both were stripped naked before the leering crowd, both were covered with blood and dirt. Both men were dying and both would soon be dead. No one could look at them and tell any difference.
But in reality, no two men could be more different. These two men who were crucified on the outer crosses differed on one main point: How they viewed the man in the middle. They saw him differently and therefore asked him for different things.
—One man wanted escape, not forgiveness.
—The other man wanted forgiveness, not escape.
Amazing Faith
Pause with me and let us look together at the man who wanted forgiveness. Was any man ever in a more des-perate situation? Brutally crucified, he is dying in agony for sins he had committed, crimes he had done. He is a guilty man justly punished. He deserves to die and he knows it. By sundown, he will be dead.
His case has been tried, the judgment announced, the sentence carried out. All purely legal avenues have been exhausted. This man is as close to death as you can be and still be alive. Now at the last moment he makes one final appeal to the Supreme Court of the Universe: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (42)
I submit to you that here we have the most amazing example of saving faith in all the Bible. Jesus is hanging next to him, a bloody mess, a sight awful to behold. The disciples are long gone, having run for cover when things went bad the night before. The man’s feet and arms are nailed to the cross, ropes hold his body upright so it won’t fall off. Every movement is agony, every breath torture. Beneath him and behind him the howling mob screams for blood. They jeer, they hiss, they curse, the spit, they roar like wild hyenas. They cheer as he coughs up blood, they roar with approval when someone aims a rock at a piece of tender flesh. It is garish, hellish, brutal and inhuman. Yet it is here—amid the blood and gore—that this man comes to faith.
Somehow this man saw Jesus bleeding and naked and yet he believed that he would someday come in his kingdom. No man ever looked less like a king than Jesus did that day, yet this man saw him as he really was.
This is made more amazing when you consider that this man had none of the advantages the disciples had. He never heard Jesus teaching by the seashore, he never saw Jesus heal the sick or raise the dead, he knew nothing of Jesus’ great parables and never saw any of his miracles. This man missed all the outward signs of Jesus’ kingship. Yet he believed.
He knew nothing of the virgin birth, the Old Testament prophecies, the conversation with Nicodemus or the raising of Lazarus just one week earlier. The coming miracle of the resurrection was unknown to him. All the things we take for granted, he knew nothing about.
Yet there on the cross, he came to understand the heart of the gospel. In the crucified Jesus, beaten, mocked, forsaken, his life blood ebbing away, this thief saw a king and another crown than the crown of thorns.
Saved at the Very Last Second
In that light his words seem all the more remarkable. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your king-dom.” By saying that, he didn’t mean “Remember my name” or “Erect a monument to me.” He simply meant, “At the end of the world, make a place for me in your kingdom.” It is the modest prayer of a man who knows he does not deserve what he is asking for.
When you put the totality of his words together you can clearly see how great this man’s faith really is:
“This man has done nothing wrong” —Faith in the Person of Christ
“Jesus, remember me” —Faith in the Power of Christ
“Jesus, remember me” —Faith in the Mercy of Christ
“When you come into your kingdom” –Faiith in the Kingdom of Christ
What about this prayer? It is a bit unusual. But it reminds us that God judges the sincerity of our hearts and not the accuracy of our words. When you go to the doctor, you don’t usually know exactly what medicine you need. You just need to go to the right doctor and he’ll make sure you get the right medicine.
Likewise this poor dying thief didn’t know all the right words to say, but what he said was good enough because he said it to the right person. When he said, “Jesus, remember me,” he didn’t know all that he was asking for; before sundown he received far more than he expected.
This thief on the cross was dying for his sins—a guilty man justly punished. He cried out to Jesus and at the very last second he was saved.
A Promise With Three Parts
How do we know this thief was saved? We know he was saved by the answer Jesus gave in verse 43: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus answered his request by giving him a promise with three parts.
1. Immediate Salvation. In the Greek the word “Today” is the first word in the phrase. Jesus put it there for emphasis. Literally, it reads “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Meaning, “This very day, the day of your crucifixion …” Whatever or wherever “paradise” is, Jesus told this thief that he was going there that very day.
2. Personal Salvation. Again, the Greek words are very important. The phrase is met emou, which means to be “with me in a very personal way.” It is not “You over there and me over here” but “You and me together, side by side.” It means to be in the personal presence of another person. Wherever Jesus was going, this thief would be right by his side.
3. Heavenly Salvation. “Paradise” is the crucial word. The scholars tell us that it originally referred to the walled gardens of the Persian kings. When a king wanted to honor his subjects, he would invite them to walk with him in his garden in the cool of the day. This same word was used in the Greek Old Testament to refer to the Garden of Eden; in the book of Revelation (2:7) it refers to heaven. It is a place of beauty, openness and inexpressible blessedness.
If you take these three promises together, you see what a remarkable thing Jesus is saying. He is promising that this thief—who has lived his entire life in crime—will, upon his death, be transferred to heaven where he will be in the personal presence of Jesus Christ. Truly, this thief received much more than he asked for.
What a day this was for that misbegotten criminal. In the morning, he’s in prison, at noon he’s hanging on a cross, by sundown he’s in paradise. Out of a life of sin and shame, he passed immediately into eternal blessedness.
Key Questions Answered
These words of Jesus answer many important questions.
1. Where did the spirit of Jesus go between his death on Friday and his resurrection on Sunday? I think this verse (Luke 23:43) answers that question sufficiently. He did not “descend into Hell,” if that statement means that he entered the abode of the damned and suffered with them (or preached to them). If, however, “descended into Hell” means that he entered the realm of the dead, that statement is true because Jesus was indeed dead between Friday night and Sunday morning. But where did his spirit go? The answer is that the spirit of Jesus went into the presence of God the Father. He was physically dead and in that sense, he fully entered into the realm of the dead. But his spirit went immediately to paradise, which is the state of eternal blessedness in the presence of God.
2. What happens to a believer when he dies? Here the words of Jesus are a great comfort as we bid farewell to our loved ones. Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” At the very moment a believer dies, he passes immediately ("Today") into the personal presence of Jesus in heaven. That, I think, is what Paul meant when he said that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8).
This forever puts an end to any notions of “soul-sleep,” the false doctrine that suggests that when we die our souls “sleep” in the grave until the moment of the resurrection. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When Christians die, they go directly to heaven. The original constitution of this church puts the matter very succinctly: “We believe that the souls of those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation do at death immediately pass into His presence, and there remain in conscious bliss until the resurrection of the body at His Coming.” (Article XIII, p. 7, from the Constitution of the Madison Street Church, ca. 1919)
3. When does heaven begin for the believer? The answer is the one Jesus gave to the dying thief… “Today.” Heaven begins the moment we cross the narrow divide between this life and the next. Not 50 years after we die, or 150 years later, or 1500 years later but TODAY! We have the word of Jesus on this.
4. What about purgatory? After all, if any man ever needed purgatory, it was this poor fellow. He had lived such a rotten life that everyone was glad to see him dead. Surely he needed to sit in the cooler for a few hundred years so his soul could be made ready for heaven.
But No! This man did not go to purgatory because there is no such place. Purgatory is the invention of people who have a hard time believing in salvation by grace alone. The Bible does not teach purgatory; it teaches the free grace of God.
SCRIPTURES REFERENCED
Luke 23
* The Man Who Would Be King: Christ Speaks to the Problem of Frivolous Curiosity
* A Time to Die
* Forgiving the Unforgivable
This man—this thief, this scoundrel, this wastrel, this sorry excuse for a human being, this professional criminal, this thug—this man who, if he showed up in church today would scare us to death, this man who, if he moved to Oak Park would make us want to move out, this man went directly from the cross to paradise. And he didn’t stop in purgatory along the way!
Lessons of Hope and Encouragement
As I read this story, I take from it three lessons of hope and encouragement.
1. It is never too late to turn to Christ. Sometimes people say, “I’m too old for this” or “I’m too old to try that.” Sometimes it true on the physical level. As you get older, there are some things you just can’t do any more. But thank God, no one can ever say that about turning to Jesus. It’s never too late to turn to him. As long as there is life and breath, as long as the heart still beats, the invitation still stands.
Those of us who are praying for our loved ones should take great hope from this principle. Sometimes we look at people and say, “They are just too far gone. They will never come to Jesus.” Then we get discouraged and stop praying for them. But if this story teaches us anything, it is that no one is ever too far gone. It’s true, he waited until the very last second … but it’s also true that in that last second he was saved. Don’t ever give up on those you love. They may, like this wretched thief, waste a lifetime and then at the end turn to Jesus Christ.
Don’t despair … for yourself or for anyone else. It’s never too late to turn to Christ.
2. Even the very worst can be saved at the very last moment. Sometimes we hear people make fun of “death-bed” conversions, as if such things never happen. Well, let me tell you that they do happen. And why not? If a man knows that he is dying, is he not likely to be thinking about the hereafter and where he will spend eternity?
I do not mean to suggest that anyone should wait until the last moment to be saved. Far less do I intend to suggest that anyone should live a profligate life with the intention of coming to Christ just before he dies. People who live that way aren’t serious about salvation. They are putting off until tomorrow that which they ought to do today. I’m sure if we could speak to this thief who was crucified with Jesus, he would say, “Don’t delay. Don’t wait. Give your heart to Jesus now.”
But the fact remains, that this man who was a very bad man was indeed saved at the very last moment. Thank God it is so. He had lived an absolutely rotten life, yet he died a Christian death. It happened by the grace of Jesus Christ.
I know that some people feel that they are too far gone in sin to ever be forgiven. Some feel so enslaved by their habits that they despair of ever being set free. Many people would do anything to be forgiven but they think that forgiveness is impossible.
Let me put the matter plainly. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been sleeping. It doesn’t matter what you’ve been drinking. It doesn’t matter who you’ve been hanging around with. It doesn’t matter what sins you’ve committed. It doesn’t even matter if you’ve broken the Ten Commandments—all of them, one by one—this week. It just doesn’t matter. You can be saved right now.
If this man can be saved, anybody can be saved. If there’s hope for him, there’s hope for you. If he can make it to heaven, so can you. If Jesus would take him, he’ll certainly take you.
3. God has made salvation simple so every person can be saved. Consider what we have in this story:
—Salvation independent of the sacraments. This man was never baptized, never took the Lord’s Supper and never went to Confession. But he made it to heaven. Therefore, we know you don’t have to be baptized or take the Lord’s Supper or go to Confession in order to be saved.
—Salvation independent of the church. This man never went to church, never walked an aisle, never attended catechism class and never gave his money. But he made it to heaven. Therefore, we know that you don’t have to go to church, walk an aisle, attend catechism class or give your money in order to be saved.
—Salvation independent of good works. This man could not lift a hand for the Savior for his hands were nailed to a cross. He could not run any errands for the Lord for his feet were nailed to a cross. He could not give his money for he had not a penny to his name. For this man, there was no way in but the mercy of God.
He was pardoned before he lived a single righteous day. In one transforming moment, a man who was not fit to live on earth was made fit to live in heaven.
There May I, Though Vile as He
I take my stand with him. I claim the same mercy. We all get to heaven the same way, by the grace and mercy of God.
Over two hundred years ago William Cowper wrote a famous hymn that includes a verse about the dying thief. To my knowledge, this is the only hymn that mentions this man:
There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins.
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see,
That fountain in his day.
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
All that God wants from us … and all that he will accept … is simple faith in his son, Jesus Christ. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, in that very moment we are saved.
The question is simple. Are you ready to die? You have nothing to fear if you know the Lord. You are not ready to die if you don’t. Do you know him? What will you do if you don’t know him?
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