Jesus' Words To The Dying Thief

"VERILY I SAY UNTO THEE, TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE"

The three crosses represent the state of all men: the unredeemed, the redeemed, and the Redeemer. The Savior, the saint, the sinner.

Just as there are two sides to every story, in this story there is two eternally different results.

How many people cried out for salvation at the scene of the cross? The answer may surprise you. Two. That’s not counting the centurion’s remarkable confession.  Two sinners’ prayers were offered that day from the two crosses on either side of the Savior.

In this account we have two robbers, two responses, and two results. The first demanded, Luke 23:39 (KJV) …If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. The second implored, Luke 23:42 (KJV) …Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

The request, “Save yourself and us” was impossible to grant. How could Christ saved that wretched man if He first saved Himself from impending death? If He had come down from the cross he would have not been able to save anyone. What kind of Savior would He be?  Jesus could have temporarily saved him from death and he could have lived for a while but without his sins atoned for he would have eventually died in his sins. 

The repentant thief openly confessed Jesus as Lord. From his own three of death he pleads for life. He calls out in simple faith, “Remember me.”  This thief recognized that while the three men on Calvary shared a common punishment, there was one thing they did not have in common: the thieves were sinners dying for their own sins, while the man in the middle was the sinless One dying for the sins of others. "Lord remember me."  Before a person can be saved, he must realize his own sin and weakness. What could the dying thief do?  Arthur Pink explains, “He could not walk in the paths of righteousness, for there was a nail through either foot. He could not perform any good works, for there was a nail through either hand.  He could not turn over a new leaf and live a better life, for he was dying.” He could do nothing to be saved except confess his belief and plead with Jesus to remember him.

A prayer was answered, a divine pardon was granted, and a price was paid that even the thief’s terrible cross could not satisfy. In an instant, a common, worthless, condemned thief becomes a royal son of the Most High and is given a promise of eternal paradise. 

This man, for a moment of faith, was given more in an instant than he'd ever stolen. He was given eternal life. How can this be?  Because another Son hangs next to him. The only one who can take his place and bear his penalty at the same time. In an incredible display of unconditional love the thief dies with Christ and yet lives with Him.