⁴²And he [thief on the cross] was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” ⁴³And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

We have the privilege of being an audience to one of the most intimate moments of fellowship with the Lord. This is not the tale of a faithful follower who relinquished everything to follow Jesus for three years. Nor is this about someone who gives up his life in martyrdom for the Lord. No. Jesus promised eternal life in a place of bliss to the condemned convict.

The story is more poignant when we understand this criminal’s background. The Gospel writer, Luke, earlier referred to him as a “criminal,” or as the KJV translates the word, “malefactor.” The Greek term refers to “one who commits gross misdeeds and serious crimes” (BDAG). Matthew’s Gospel account calls him a “robber” (Matt. 27:28), which seems relatively benign for a crucifixion. But the ancient Greeks also used this word to describe a “revolutionary, insurrectionist, guerrilla.” He was not an ordinary thief, guilty of a misdemeanor. Don’t forget Barabbas, whom Pilate offered as a replacement for Jesus—he is described as a murderer and among the “insurrectionists” (Matt. 15:17). So, the two “robbers” crucified alongside Jesus were likely of the same breed of men, rebels against Roman authority.

All this to say, this man calling out to Jesus, “Remember me when you come in your kingdom,” may have still been clinging to the hope of a new governing authority to replace Rome. The difference now is that after meeting Jesus in a shared execution event, he realized that Jesus’ kingdom is entirely different than all other movements he may have joined against Rome. The hope he had nurtured for better government, politics, and life was now transferred to the person of Jesus Christ, who was being executed! What faith that was, to trust in a dying man to return as a victorious conqueror to set up a new kingdom that would move the people of Israel out from under their Roman overlords! Consider how the prophet pictured the suffering of Christ:

So His appearance was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. (Isa. 52:14b)

He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. (Isa. 53:2b)

Yet the rebel on the cross saw beyond the outward optics of a man tortured under a whip; beaten to a pulp and mocked; bleeding from excruciatingly painful thorns pressed into His head; pierced with old, probably very rusty, spikes driven through His body; pinned by those spikes to a rough-hewn timber cross. The man himself was also experiencing the same sharp, aching pain as Jesus. In his last recorded words, he cried out, “Remember me.”  Does this not remind us of the same words Jesus uttered in the intimate surroundings of the Last Supper shortly before His crucifixion and departure to return to His heavenly Father, “Remember me”? And here we have the thief asking Jesus the same. Intimacy of faith and fellowship amid suffering!

Little did the man know when he made this request that it would lead to the truth of the psalmist: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones” (Ps. 116:15). One moment he was a condemned criminal on shameful public display, and the next moment he was a godly person, intimately precious to God. Jesus’ answer is far greater than the thief imagined. He would not have to wait to be accepted into God’s kingdom; before the day was over, he would be given a grand entrance into paradise (which we take as a glorious description of heaven with absolute bliss).

Finally, we must note that this was not said to the other thief, who mocked Jesus along with the crowd. Salvation is contingent upon repentance, without which there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus understood the man’s heart from what he said. Although the words “I repent and believe” were not vocalized, the heart attitude of repentance was clear to Jesus. The promise rests secure.

What hope this gives to all of us. If Jesus promised salvation to a man of such a criminal background at the last minute before death, He can also promise that anyone who repents and believes in Jesus Christ will gain eternal life (John 3:16). But at a more telling level, this story shows how extraordinary God’s grace is. Indeed, He is worthy to be worshiped and praised.

Lord, I worship You because You saved me from my rebellious, sinful life and have given me the promise of paradise, that is, eternal life with You forever!