This Day You Will Be with Me in Paradise
Luke 23:43
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.' 43 Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'" (Luke 23:39-43)
It was a terrible thing to be crucified. It also added insult to injury to be crucified between two obvious criminals. But there's a story here and a lesson. This brief passage relates one of the most amazing prayers and promises in the entire Bible.
Before we get into the story, however, it's important to realize that Jesus' crucifixion with other criminals was no accident of history. It is a fulfillment of prophecy:
"He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth....
He poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:9, 12)
The words most of us say in this life will not be known two thousand years later. However this criminal’s words are known. . Luke writes: ”One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’” (v. 39)
Our translations don’t bring out the full force of this man’s cursing. Luke in fact reported that the criminal blasphemed against Jesus. This was not ordinary rudeness. This man’s hostility was rage at full volume.
He was one of the many on Calvary to taunt Jesus. First were the Jewish rulers (v. 35), and then the Roman soldiers (vs. 36-37), and now this criminal. All three of them were low enough to look at a man in agony, soon to die, and still sneer at him.
We know that Jesus could have done what they asked - " Save yourself and us." . But it wasn’t the nails or the presence of Roman soldiers that kept him there. The Son of God had more than enough power to climb down. And they invited him to prove it. ‘If you are the Messiah, do it.’ It was the love for us that kept him on the cross.
Right at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, as he faces virtually the same temptation as right at the start. In the wilderness, two of the three challenges the devil put to Jesus was for him to prove himself:
“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3)
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.” (Luke 4:9)
Jesus didn’t yield then and doesn’t yield now. Certainly he could have proven who he was by avoiding death, but that would not be how he would save people from their sin. As has been said by many, the greatest miracle would not have been Jesus coming down from the cross, the greatest miracle was that he stayed on the cross. He heard their taunts and their challenges, and he refused to move
People in great pain will say anything, and a man suffering crucifixion was in unimaginable agony. So harsh words are understandable.
Both criminals had equal access to Jesus. Both could read Pilate's notice, "This is the king of the Jews" (Lk 23:38). Both could see and hear everything that was going on.
Take a look at the first criminal. Like the Pharisees and religious leaders, he hurled insults at Jesus (Lk 23:39). Imagine that.. A crucified criminal joined the choruses of others, mocking and attacking the Lord. How long did these insults come from his lips? One hour? Two hours? Three hours? We don't know. We aren't told.
Listen to his mockery: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" (Lk 23:39). Unknowingly, he hit on the truth. This criminal was desperate. He was looking for a way off the cross. He knew he was dying. He knew the pain was going to get worse. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus would perform a miracle and save him. Or maybe, just maybe, the authorities would have mercy on him because he was on their side and against Jesus.
He wanted to get off the cross, yet this first criminal had no fear of God. He remained defiant of God. So, standing on the threshold of death, he mocked and rejected Christ. His heart was so hardened by sin that he did not care for his soul. Even at the last hour he would not repent. The Bible speaks of such men who have rejected God throughout their lives.
Now, take a look at the second criminal. According to the gospel of Matthew and Mark, he joined with the first criminal and the crowds in hurling insults at Jesus (Mt 27:44; Mk 15:32). Telling us what? Telling us he was just as fallen, just as lost, just as wicked as the first criminal. He, too, deserved judgment and death. He, too, deserved the eternal wrath of God.
But something happened as he hung there next to Jesus. He started to change his mind about Jesus. He saw a man, like him, who was beaten, slashed, torn, ripped apart, barely alive, bones poking through the torn flesh, lungs gasping for air. But he also saw enough to realize Jesus was different to them (Lk. 23:41). He saw and heard the dignity and grace in Jesus. So he rebuked the first criminal, probably his partner in crime.
‘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.’” (vs. 40-41)
Four things distinguish this man from the first criminal.
His perspective is different. “Don’t you fear God?” he asks. This criminal isn’t riddled with self-pity. There is a concern about himself, but it’s because he knows he’s lived a life against God’s laws, and he fears what that will mean. He’s dying, and he’s not in a good place with God.
His awareness of his failings is different. He’s being punished justly and he’s getting what his deeds deserve. No doubt he regrets the way he’s lived, and there is no denial of his sin.
His recognition of Jesus is different. “This man has done nothing wrong,” he says. We’re not told how he knows that. Perhaps he witnessed some of Jesus’ interrogation, or he heard words from the crowd, or he may have heard of Jesus' teachings before he was brought to the cross. . How-ever it happened, he knew this was not a man to ridicule, for this was a good man.
His plea to Jesus is different. The first criminal’s words were taunting. The second criminal’s words are appealing. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” It’s remarkable he asked that, because it’s one thing to recognize innocence, and quite another to ask Jesus that he should be remembered when Jesus enters His kingdom. .
At that moment Jesus looked nothing like a king. He was under a sentence of death. He had been beaten brutally and then nailed to a cross. His naked body was drenched in blood from his head, hands, and feet. People stood around mocking him. Where were all the trappings of majesty? Where was his army of warriors? Where were his devoted followers?
Yet, though none of that was there, this criminal saw a king and appealed to him for mercy. He didn’t know much. Here was a man with as little faith as a mustard seed (Matt. 17:20), and he didn’t have long to live..
But his faith may have been small and his timing far from ideal, but still he cried out to Jesus and it was enough.
And Jesus didn’t make him wait. There was no bureaucratic request to put his appeal in writing, or delaying tactic of “I’ll think about it.” The man got an immediate promise.
“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (v. 43)
Now what is paradise? What did Jesus promise the thief ?"
But where is this paradise (Luke 23:43)? Is this heaven or is it a different place? Jesus told the church at Ephesus “To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev 2:7) so apparently paradise is where God is at because it is called the “Paradise of God” and Jesus told the thief that he would be with him in Paradise that very day.
Paul once stated that he “was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter” (2 Cor 12:3-4). It must be a place that is so wonderful that he cannot even describe it and was apparently told not to describe it or tell other what is was like. Paradise in the Jewish vernacular described heaven as being in the place where God is . It has been said to be “ the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:19-30 KJV). The Garden of Eden is sometimes referred to as Paradise, as some translations say in Genesis 3:8. The Jews word for Paradise is “pardes” and is actually a borrowed word from the Persian word that means “park” or “garden”.
To me, heaven is any place where God is at and it appears that Paradise is heaven, but it’s just another name for it.
The only real difference that I could find between heaven and Paradise is the use of the word. Both describe the presence of God. Both describe the absence of sorrow, suffering and sin. All of the Old Testament saints will be there along with those who are now departed and with the Lord. For those who have died in the faith, we know that they are present with the Lord right now because if a person is absent or deceased from their body, they are in the presence of the Lord (2 Cor 5:8). We know from the scriptures that anyone that has repented and trusted in Christ will be with the Lord after they breathe their last breath on this earth.
So this is what Jesus promised the criminal after his death.
One of the most excruciating experiences in life is to be left out, to be unwanted. I suspect that the thief on the cross knew the pain of rejection We also have his own admission that he deserved execution. So I don’t think we would be far off to imagine him as a misfit, a person abandoned and unloved, a person whose life of crime reflected a loveless, unloved life. My guess is that there was no one on Golgotha to mourn his death, to support him on his cruel deathbed. My guess is that he lived his life believing that no-one would want anything to do with him, especially someone who, unlike him, “had done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41).
Imagine then his shocked reaction when Jesus looked him in the eye and said, “you will be with me.”
Thankfully, the criminal experienced this love just before he died. Regrettably, he did not experience this love until then. How different his life would have been had he only lived it with Jesus walking by his side!
In verse 41, the thief declared "...this man hath done nothing amiss." He knew Jesus was without sin or guilt. How did he know that? Only by knowing Jesus earlier could he have known that!
In verse 42, (KJV) ". And he said unto Jesus, Lord,..." He called Jesus "Lord." Why would he call someone who was dying on a cross Lord? He had to have known Jesus before they were nailed to those crosses!
This man, being crucified next to Jesus apparently had a greater understanding of Jesus' teaching on the nature of the Kingdom of God than even the religious leaders present at the foot of the cross at this point in time.
How else could he know that Jesus was the promised King? Why else would he be willing to defend him so strongly? How else did he gain his understanding of the nature of Jesus' kingdom?
Look at the distinct and well-defined evidences of repentance that fell from his lips before he died. Those evidences deserve our closest attention for we can see his repentance in a different form.
The first step in the thief's repentance was his concern about his companion's wickedness in reviling Christ. "Do you not fear God," he said, "seeing you are in the same condemnation." He acknowledged the existence of God. (Luke 23:39-43).
The second step was a full acknowledgment of his own sin. "We indeed are just in condemnation. We receive the due reward of our deeds." He believed in a standard of right and wrong.
The third step was an open confession of Christ's innocence. "This man has done nothing amiss."
The fourth step was faith in Jesus Christ's power and will to save him. He turned to a crucified sufferer, and called Him "Lord," and declared his belief that He had a kingdom. That Jesus was a king with a kingdom.
The fifth step was prayer. He cried to Jesus when he was hanging on the cross and asked Him - even then - to "remember me..." .
These six points should always be remembered in connection with this penitent thief. His time was very short for giving proof of his repentance and conversion. But it was time well spent. Few dying people have ever left behind them such good evidences as have been left by this man.
At the very least, these expressions indicate that the thief believed it was possible to have association with the Lord after both of them were dead.
While it is not impossible, it does seem improbable, that this man could have accumulated this much theological information, with such clear implications, and under such excruciating conditions, in such a short period of time. It is obvious that he may have known about Jesus' teaching before this occasion.
For it is entirely necessary that this criminal repented of his sin before Jesus spoke to him
I am not suggesting that my proposition can be proved. I am simply saying that no one can make the dogmatic statement: “The thief did not repent before Jesus said 'today you will be with me...' .” .
Because forgiveness without repentance is a unknown concept in scripture.
According to the unanimous testimony of Scripture, repentance is absolutely necessary in order to be saved. Only those who turn from their sin, trust in Christ will be saved. Also we read Galatians 5: 19- 21. " The acts of the flesh are obvious....... that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." The apostle Paul makes it clear that those whose lives are characterized by sin “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10; see also Rom. 8:12-13, Gal. 5:21, Eph. 5:5).
So according to Paul the thief could not have entered Paradise unless he had repented.
Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32)
Jesus told his disciples to proclaim “repentance and forgiveness of sins” in his name to all the nations (Luke 24:47).
When the apostles preached in Acts, they called people to repent of their sins in order to be forgiven (See Acts 2:38, 3:19, 8:32, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20).
On the day of Pentecost, after Peter had preached and a number had been pricked in their hearts by the truths they had learned, these individuals requested to know what they needed to do (Acts 2:37). “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
The very first thing they were told to do in order to have forgiveness of sins was to repent. In his next recorded sermon, Peter said, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
Again, first repent and then their sins would be blotted out. There are many other passages pointing toward the necessity of repentance in order to have salvation, but these should suffice to convince any honest query on the matter.
So did the thief repent before Jesus told him " today you shall be..."
Absolutely yes.
