"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise." [Lk 23:43]
When Jesus hung upon the cross for our sins, it is recorded,
“And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with Him [also] reviled Him.” [Mk 15:29-32]
In His greatest hour of hardship, Jesus was without comfort. From above, The Father had forsaken Christ; as Jesus spoke upon the cross, “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Mt 27:46] From beside, even the two thieves “reviled Him.” [Mk 15:32, Mt 27:44] And from below, “they that passed by railed on Him…likewise also the chief priests mocking said…He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Yes, even Jesus’ disciples had forsaken Him, as it was prophesied, “smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered;” and, “then all the disciples forsook Him, and fled.” [Zech 13:7, Mt 26:56] There were many people present at Jesus’ crucifixion, including some who loved Him; but in that moment Jesus was utterly without aid, destitute and destroyed: a man forsaken by God and men. From His perspective, Jesus speaks through David, saying,
“I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on The LORD that He would deliver Him: let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him.” [Psa 22:6-8]
But even though Jesus was so treated by those around Him, He was still full of love. Take for example the Pharisees, whom Christ addresses, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” [Lk 23:34] Those wicked religious rulers who for their own selfish benefit and out of envy delivered Jesus to death, their very own Messiah, Jesus forgives. Even in the midst of His suffering, even while being harmed and killed by them, Jesus was able to forgive them. And praise God for that: for in Romans we read, “for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly;” and, “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” [Rom 5:6, 8] If we have thought the religious hypocrites bad, who put Jesus on the cross, we may very well think again. For it is us too: wicked sinners, for whom Christ died. If it were them Jesus spoke of, saying, “father, forgive them,” then it is toward us too – for we are just as sinful and just as guilty.
Truly, the grace and mercy of God is great. It is higher than heaven is above earth; greater in depth than the ocean. We have seen how Jesus forgave and forgives those who harm Him, even those who put Him to death. And though many of them did not repent, yet Jesus forgave them still. But Jesus also forgave the thief who was dying beside Him, a man who perhaps after hearing Jesus’ merciful words, had second thoughts about his own reviling. It is to this man, and what Jesus tells him, that we shall now look.
Earlier in Jesus’ life He said, “whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him.” [Mt 12:32] Jesus proclaimed in advance He would forgive any-and-all who would speak ill of Him or about Him. Whatever the word, and whomever the source, Jesus promised to forgive them. And even to this day, Jesus still forgives similar offences. It was upon the cross that this claim was put to the test.
Remember how we read, “and they that were crucified with Him reviled Him.” Let us be careful to note that this includes both thieves. It was not just the “bad” one – not just the one who never repented; no, but both thieves. And though with one breath in one moment the thieves cursed Christ to His face, all while experiencing the same punishment, yet in the next moment with another breath out of the same mouth, one of the thieves repented, saying, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” [Lk 23:42] And in that moment Jesus proved what He said earlier in His life; for Jesus said to the man, “verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Jesus did not take offence at the previous curses and insults thrown upon Him by the thief; He did not revile back. Instead, Jesus forgave the man and allowed him into heaven, even that very same day. There was no cooldown period needed; there was no penance required; there was no purgatory (nor shall there be for any man); there was not a single shred of ill-will from Christ to that man. No, but there was only love and an immediate, full forgiveness. There is nothing that a man can do to sever Himself completely from Christ. Even in death, even hours before death, even while suffering for all the sins of mankind, Jesus’ love and mercy could not be diminished, but remained strong and remained willing to forgive and allow into heaven the repentant thief, despite his railings and expressed unbelief only moments before.
May Christ be praised. His mercy is everlasting. His forgiveness is real, enduring, and strong. And if Jesus were willing to forgive the thief in a moment’s notice, completely covering over his transgressions, then know that He is still willing today. And if Jesus displayed, yes and still does display, such mercy and grace, then we too, who belong to Him, should also display the same, walking worthy of the kingdom and calling to which we have been called.
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