A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF FAITH.
ALL along the course of Sacred History there stand out some wonderful examples of faith, examples clear, salient, strong, to inspire the heart of the student in the various conflicts of life. Not the least of these is the figure of a malefactor limned against an oriental sky in the afternoon of a vernal day in the year A.D. 31. There were three figures there, hung on brutal Roman crosses. On one side was a hardened malefactor, who died with curses on his lips. In the center was the Anointed of God, the Innocent One, dying as a malefactor, condemned as guilty of blasphemy by His own nation, as guilty of sedition by Rome, and yet innocent of both. On the other side of the Innocent One was another malefactor, justly condemned, but penitent, in the light of the patience and meekness of Christ. Doubtless in his marauding career, mingling in the great gatherings of the people, he had heard Christ preach. Being a Jew, he recognized Him as a prophet. But in the light of ancient prophecies fulfilling in the life and character of the One by his side, he saw in Jesus the Messiah foretold, and that His kingdom was of the future. So when his companion in crime cursed, he turned to Jesus with the prayer, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” Luke 23:42. 1. His request was pre-eminently Scriptural. Jesus truly affirmed, “My kingdom is not of this world [cosmos];” that is, of this earth in its present sinful state. Neither is Christ’s kingdom on high. He there occupies a throne, but it is the Father’s throne of grace. See Heb. 8:1; Rev. 3:21; Ps. 110:1. There Christ will sit as priest-king till His mediatorial ministrations are finished. 2. When Christ’s priestly work is past, when the last human sheaf has been garnered, when the last subject of the eternal kingdom has been sealed, when from the Father the Saviour of men has received His right to reign eternally (Luke 19:11, 12; Dan. 7:13, 14), then Christ shall lay aside His priestly attire, put on the regal robes, and come to claim His own from “the land of the enemy,” and begin His eternal reign. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” Matt. 25:31. Then shall “the kingdom of the world . . . become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” Rev. 11:15, R.V. 3. It is at the second coming of Christ that the dead shall be raised and rewarded. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” See 1 Thess. 4:15-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-54. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16:27; Rev. 22:11, 12. It was to Christ’s coming and kingdom, and the resurrection and reward of the righteous, that the prayer of the penitent thief had reference, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” 4. It was marvelous faith on the part of the thief. Christ’s own people, especially the learned and reputedly wise, had rejected Him, had denounced Him as a false prophet, and condemned Him as a blasphemer; His own disciples had forsaken Him and fled; He had suffered untold ignominy and insult; He was dying upon the cross, with His mission a seeming failure. Notwithstanding all these appearances, the thief believed. His faith pierced the gloom-cloud of the cross, and saw the eternal triumph and glory beyond. 5. The reply of Jesus meets with royal assurance the strong faith. “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee to-day”—“to-day,” when all looks so dark to eyes of unbelief, to human vision; “to-day,” when seemingly I have no power to perform My promise; “to-day,” the very eve of the death-struggle and sealed sepulcher and the rejoicing of the powers of darkness; even “to-day,” as thou hast had faith to believe, I have the authority to promise, “shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,” in that day when I come into My kingdom. How glorious the promise that meets the faith! 6. “But did not Christ mean that the thief would be in Paradise with him on the day the words were spoken?” asks one. “Does not the comma preceding ‘to-day’ indicate that?”—Not at all; for, (a) the thief, in all probability, did not die that day. Sometimes the crucified lived two or three days. (b) Paradise is “the third heaven,” where the tree of life is before the throne of God the Father. 2 Cor. 12:2, 4; Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2. Jesus did not go to Paradise on that day; for the third day after He said to Mary, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father.” John 20:17. Jesus, therefore, did not go to Paradise on that day. (c) As to the comma, it is not a matter of inspiration; it has been in use only a few hundred years. It was placed before “to-day” because the exigency of theology seemed to demand it. There are other instances of misplaced commas. A parallel expression to Luke 23:43 is found in Zech. 9:12: “Turn ye to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even to-day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;” that is, at the time of their deliverance. And so Jesus assured the dying thief on that day of Satan’s seeming triumph, thru which faith saw the glory beyond, that when He came into His kingdom, at His coming, He would remember the faithful sleeper, and save him to His eternal kingdom. The incident is a glorious illustration of the triumph of faith.