29th February 2024
The last words of Jesus from the cross: ‘…you will be with me in paradise.’
This is the second in a series of studies for the Easter Preparation season.
Jesus answered him [the criminal], ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’
Luke 23:43 (NIVUK)
The two men dying on crosses with Jesus were no ordinary thieves: they were revolutionaries and insurrectionists against the ruling power of Rome. One of the rebels turned on Jesus, hurling insults, and challenging him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ (v. 39). Luke uses the imperfect tense here indicating that he kept taunting Jesus over and over again. He wanted physical deliverance so he could carry on his crusade against the occupying forces.
The other criminal rebuked his comrade in arms, questioning whether he feared God, acknowledging that they were guilty, and admitting that Jesus was innocent (vv. 40-41). He then turned to Jesus and said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ (v.42). Again, the language used by Luke implies that this criminal repeatedly asked Jesus, not this time for physical deliverance from the cross, but for spiritual deliverance into eternity.
This second man asked this request of Jesus with complete confidence. He did not say if you come into your kingdom, but when. The Apostle Paul was later to write, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’ (Romans 10:13), and this criminal was no exception. Jesus’s gracious response was ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ There is no need for repetition. Jesus’s answer is a once and for all decision. ‘Truly I tell you’, says Jesus: this is certain, beyond all doubt.
The word ‘paradise’ Jesus uses here is a reference to the garden of the Lord and came to stand for the home of the righteous. In using this word, Jesus is saying that this unrighteous man will live among the righteous. But something even more incredible was happening that day: Jesus was not only confirming the salvation of an individual, but showing that humanity’s relationship with God was being restored through his death.
Because of sin Adam and Eve, and their descendants, were expelled from the Garden of Eden and alienated from God. But through Jesus’s death on the cross, there is a way back to enter the garden of the righteous, paradise, and take of the Tree of Life. The death of Jesus Christ is sufficient to make us right with a holy and righteous God. We do not need to add anything else to what Christ did for us on the Cross, after all, the dying criminal couldn’t do anything except look to, and trust in Jesus.
The death and resurrection of Jesus alone are sufficient to save the worst of sinners, as demonstrated in this little cameo from the cross. This interaction between Jesus and this criminal is so encouraging for us because it means no one is beyond Jesus’s saving work.
Before him, we stand as naked, helpless, and hopeless as this criminal, and yet if we put our faith in him as our Saviour, we too will hear Jesus say, ‘Truly I tell you…you will be with me in paradise.’
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for the words of grace you gave to the criminal dying alongside you, and thank you that this grace is available to all who place their trust in you. In your loving name, we pray, Amen.
Study by Barry Robinson
About the writer:
Barry Robinson is a minister in Grace Communion International and Regional Pastor for Southern England, the Midlands, and Wales
Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church