And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Jesus was speaking to the thief that day to assure him of a future place with Him in paradise, with the word today belonging to the making of the promise and not to the time of entering paradise. He Himself did not go to paradise or ascend to the Father that day, but died and lay in the grave, and after His resurrection still said He had not yet ascended to the Father. The thief therefore did not enter paradise that day, but will be with Christ in paradise and in His kingdom when the kingdom comes and when he arises from the dead, while one holds that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day. On the cross in apparent defeat He revealed Himself as the sin-pardoning Saviour to the last of His work, asserting royal right and divine power to forgive transgression and to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. In answer to the condemned man's plea to be remembered when Jesus comes into His kingdom, the dying sinner who acknowledged his guilt, confessed Christ's innocence, and believed in Him as Lord and King with a coming kingdom was granted mercy and a place in the kingdom, proving the vilest sinner may find pardon and salvation at the eleventh hour through the merits of Christ's blood.
Sense of Today
The word today belongs with the making of the promise, not with the time of entering paradise, for Jesus was speaking to the thief that day to assure him of a future place with Him in paradise. The promise means, in effect, I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise, a present assurance given while He hung on the cross of a home to come rather than an entrance that day. Even while suffering He had royal power to promise the thief a place in His kingdom. This reading harmonizes the verse with His later statement that He had not yet ascended to His Father.
Jesus Himself did not go to paradise or to His Father that day, so the thief could not have gone there with Him that day. He died and lay alone in the grave like a grain of wheat, and after His resurrection on the third day He still said He had not yet ascended to the Father. The words I say unto you today identify the day Christ made the promise, not the day the thief would be in paradise.
The thief therefore did not enter paradise that day, but will be with Christ in paradise and in His kingdom when the kingdom comes. He who received and believed shall have life with Christ in the paradise of God when he shall arise from the dead with those who believe on Him who is the resurrection and the life. The repentant sinner need not wait until Christ receives His coronation, for pardon flows even in His humiliation, yet its fulfillment awaits the rising from the dead. One statement presents the promise as meaning the man would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.
Paradise is Christ's kingdom and the future home with Christ, the place Satan was cast out of because of his rebellion. To be told that day of a place in Christ's kingdom is to be promised that future home with Him. The promise was spoken openly on the cross in a clear distinct voice from pale and quivering lips, reaching far and near so that the dying penitent, the revilers, and all around heard every word. Spoken amid darkness it pierced the gloom around the cross, arrested those mocking the Son of God, made those reviling Him tremble, and was remembered afterward when the sealed tomb was raised.
Setting at Calvary
The promise belongs to the way to Calvary after taking neither food nor drink since the Passover supper with the disciples, agonizing in Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies, enduring betrayal and the forsaking of the disciples, being taken to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate then to Herod then again to Pilate, suffering insult upon insult and mockery upon mockery and torture by the scourge twice through scenes trying the soul to the uttermost without failing and speaking no word but what tended to glorify God and bearing Himself with firmness and dignity, and falling fainting beneath the cross prepared for Barabbas because human nature could bear no more. The crowd following showed no compassion but taunted Him because He could not carry the heavy cross, and He was to suffer death at the same time with two companions of Barabbas upon whom also crosses were placed. He was led from the judgment-hall to the place called Calvary after news of condemnation spread throughout Jerusalem. That place lay outside the gate and outside the boundaries of Jerusalem where felons and murderers were executed. People of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion, and the priests and rulers left His followers unharmed so that disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed Him.
By direction of the priests and rulers He was crucified in the midst between the two thieves to indicate He was the greatest criminal of the three. This fulfilled that He was numbered with the transgressors, while in truth His central cross stood in the midst of a world lying in sin. His death belongs to the account in which a criminal was the one person confessing His mission, a confession standing in contrast to the apparent failure of His work. Salvation was secured at infinite cost, bought with the infinite price of the Son of God suffering on the cross of Calvary with nails in hands and feet and mockery and abuse from those He came to save. He was lifted up and dying as a malefactor in whom the disciples' hopes of eternal life were centered, seen in the hands of wicked men with His own nation clamoring for His blood, with Herod and his soldiers plaiting the crown of thorns for His brow and clothing Him in the purple robe and bowing before Him and striking Him with the reed, thought destined to take His place on David's throne yet scourged as the worst of criminals with the murderous Barabbas chosen in His place. This descent into the depths of humiliation as the Bridegroom taken away brought days of trial and temptation that gave cause to mourn and fast, trying faith and causing hope and courage to fail.
The promise of paradise to the repentant thief was spoken on the day He was suffering and dying on the cross, answering the appeal to be remembered in His kingdom. It was spoken while both were hanging on the cross, giving comfort and a place with Him in paradise. The words "I say unto thee today" assure the dying man of the promise even as Jesus Himself is suffering and dying. It was spoken that day amid suffering and mockery while hanging helplessly beside the criminal, and it marked Satan's defeat while Christ bore the insult and reproach of the cross for humanity. It was answered while Himself enduring the excruciating tortures of death, and with the prayer for murderers, the last conquering cry that it is finished, the reeling earth, darkened heavens, rent veil, and shivered rocks, it spoke with powerful distinctness to the heart of Nicodemus. It was a merciful answer to the dying thief's prayer even while suffering on the cross, among the remarkable events pressing evidence of divine identity upon the minds of condemners.
The two thieves suffered the same physical torture with opposite hearts. One was only hardened and made desperate and defiant by pain and joined the priests in mocking. The other was not a hardened criminal; his morals had been corrupted by base association, but his crimes were not so great as those of many who stood beneath the cross reviling the Saviour. In common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come, had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings, but through the influence of priests and rulers had turned away and sought to drown conviction in pleasure, and corrupt associations led him farther into wickedness until arrested for open crime and condemned to die. During the day of trial he had been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary, had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, had marked His godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of tormentors, and in his heart acknowledged Him to be the Son of God. The verse falls within the account of the crucifixion showing the suffering and self-sacrifice endured, in one place without further explanation of the promise to the condemned man.
Christ's Power Revealed
The promise was spoken that day in apparent defeat, yet it proves that though nailed to an ignominious death and counted by all as a deceiver suffering justly, His hands were not shortened so He could not save and His ear was not heavy so He could not hear, with divinity flashing through suffering humanity. Spoken from pale and quivering lips amid darkness and heard by the dying penitent and all around the cross, it pierced the gloom and bore final testimony to His dignity and the glory of the Father that His ear still hears and His arm still saves, even while He was giving His life for the world and taking the sinner's guilt upon Himself to bring life and immortality to light. It gives evidence of His divine attributes, Godhead, kingly power, and redeeming power, revealing that even in suffering humanity He has power to forgive transgression and sin and to save to the uttermost with mercy, love, and pardon.
On the cross He revealed Himself to the last of His work as the sin-pardoning Saviour, answering at once with love, compassion and power that only He could speak. Even in the agonies of death and in humiliation and apparent defeat He asserted His royal right and divine power to forgive transgression and to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him, which no suffering, shame or human cruelty could take from Him. As humanity's Advocate with the Father He had divine authority and right to make this promise to a repentant believer, showing even while suffering humiliation and persecution that He had power to save sinners. The thief's faith grasped that truth of a sin-pardoning Saviour able to pardon sin, and Jesus showed Himself able to save to the uttermost all who receive Him.
He did not exercise kingly power and divinity by coming down from the cross to prove He is the Son of God, but by speaking life-giving words of pardon in death. His death has life-giving power for all who believe on Him in His humiliation, and the repentant sinner need not wait until He receives His coronation, for pardon flows from the Father through Him even in humiliation and the Sin-pardoner opens the door and bestows the most precious gift to mortal man. Though bound by plan and covenant agreement to remain on the cross as substitute and surety for a guilty world and unable to come down, as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world He was free to undertake the suretyship of the guilty criminal and speak forgiveness. While His humanity suffered hatred and revenge because He had acknowledged Himself the Son of God, His divinity was at work, and He alone could answer the suffering thief who reached out by faith to grasp His hand as the only hope of salvation.
In dying agony He acted as Conqueror, though to all other eyes with Satan and the chief priests triumphing and disciples broken-hearted He appeared conquered, while hanging helplessly as the subject of mockery and bearing insult and reproach for humanity. The opposites met in His person as Son of Man yet infinitely higher than the angels, equal with the Father yet with divinity clothed with humanity to stand at the head of the fallen race. The faith of a dying sinner laying hold upon a dying Saviour shone with distinct brightness amid moral darkness at deepest midnight, just as God would have it, and the promise marked Satan's defeat. Even in agony and persecution and in the most intense agony of mind and body He could enter into sympathy with people in temptation, and with meekness and lowliness He thought only of others and encouraged the penitent soul to believe, answering at once with quick, tender love, compassion and power. His forgiveness displays a love for people stronger than death, offering salvation to the sin-polluted and dying who confess just suffering and His innocence.
That loving compassion to this sinful soul reveals the tender consideration He has for all who now look in faith to Him, trusting in His power to save them and give them victory, as those who looked on the uplifted serpent in the wilderness lived. It pledges pardon and eternal life to all who repent and turn to Him and place confidence in the merits of the Lamb of God, proving He looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender in sincerity, and that the Son of God gave His life to uplift and ennoble all who repent, accept mercy, and trust His saving power. His mercy toward a guilty person unable to save himself, spoken in the hour of His greatest suffering, displays the self-giving mind His followers are called to have, and brings a gleam of comfort in bitter loneliness with peace and assurance.
Thief's Faith Described
The promise answers the condemned man's plea to be remembered when Jesus comes into His kingdom, granting his request for mercy and a place in the kingdom. It was spoken on the day Jesus was suffering and dying on the cross while the thief was being executed beside Him, with today marking the day the assurance was given, not the time of entering paradise. Because he acknowledged Jesus in humiliation, Jesus accepted him and pardoned his sins, showing how fully Christ can reach and save a sinner even in the agonies of death and in apparent defeat. His right and power to forgive sin and to save to the uttermost all who receive Him were asserted in that humiliation, and His words showed Satan that he had failed to overcome the Son of God and that his case was lost.
The dying sinner acknowledged his guilt and just suffering, confessed that Jesus had done nothing amiss, and entrusted himself to the Saviour, believing in Him as Lord, Messiah, Lamb of God, and King with a coming kingdom. His morals had been corrupted by base association, yet his crimes were not so great as those of many revilers beneath the cross, and in common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come. He had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings but had turned away under priestly influence to drown conviction in pleasure, until corrupt associations led him farther into wickedness, arrest for open crime, and condemnation to die. During the day of trial he had been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary, had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, and had marked His godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of His tormentors, and in his heart acknowledged Jesus to be the Son of God.
Under illumination of the Spirit he joined together what he had heard of Jesus healing the sick and pardoning sin, the words of weeping believers, the title above the cross, Pilate's verdict and Christ's deportment. He discerned link after link that the bruised, mocked victim condemned like himself was the Messiah, the Son of God, the world's Redeemer and the sinner's Friend and Saviour, though rejected by priests and elders and doubted even by disciples. He called Jesus Lord when no one else would call Him Lord dying on the cross. His conversion at the close of probation on the brink of eternity in guilt and physical suffering was genuine for a special purpose, testifying to all beholders that Jesus was no impostor but sustained His character and carried out His mission to the closing scene of His earthly life. No utterance of faith in His whole ministry was more grateful to Him than that utterance amid blasphemy and taunts, and Christ received such intelligent faith even at the last moment.
His faith reached out to grasp Christ's hand as his only hope, casting his helpless dying soul and body on a dying Saviour in consciousness of sinfulness and entire dependence, with anguish mingled with hope, patience, contrition, earnestness, trust and love. He was convicted of fear of God and a future to tremble at, and knew he would be eternally lost without Him, yet fully realized Jesus could save him. Jesus honored it at once with love, compassion and power, speaking words of forgiveness that meant much to the dying criminal and making redemption and salvation known even while appearing unable to be the Redeemer. Though it came at the last hour like the eleventh-hour laborers who receive as much as those who labored many hours, his faith received full reward with peace, comfort, acceptance, pardon and assurance of being with Christ in paradise. Christ looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender themselves to Him in sincerity as the thief did, and the thief's faith in the redeeming Saviour would not be forgotten.
Salvation for Sinners
Even the vilest sinner may find pardon and salvation at the eleventh hour through the merits of Christ's blood, for the dying criminal at the brink of eternity received peace and comfort of acceptance with God. It is never too late for Christ to hear words of repentance and to answer with compassion and sympathy. No one is too weak or sinful to grasp by faith the salvation offered and finally receive everlasting life in the kingdom of glory, and hope belongs to those who cast themselves helplessly on Christ rather than relying on their own righteousness.
As those who looked on the uplifted serpent in the wilderness lived, so those who now look in faith to the lifted Saviour are pardoned and receive eternal life. Without shedding of blood no one can be saved. The gospel was preached even to a dying man on the cross, and Jesus accepts all who receive and believe in Him. The thief prayed directly to Christ, showing that salvation comes through Christ alone. Those facing death may likewise call upon God in distress and be heard.
The repentant sinner need not wait until Christ receives His coronation, for pardon flows from the Father through Him even in humiliation. The thief who received and believed on Him shall have life with Christ in the paradise of God when he shall arise from the dead with those who believe on Him who is the resurrection and the life.
The eleventh-hour salvation warns against neglecting present opportunities and delaying repentance in presumption upon a death-bed repentance. Every ray of light neglected leaves the sinner in greater darkness until deception takes possession of the mind and the case becomes hopeless. Unlike the thief who waited until the last moment when he had no light, those who have been shown their duty in God's Word should not delay serving God and preparing for the home He is preparing. Yet when enlightenment comes at the last moment and is accepted with intelligent faith, such penitents find favor with Christ.
Jesus freely forgave and saved the thief when he turned to Him, and Judas too could have been forgiven and saved if he had yielded and confessed his betrayal. The quick, tender answer given at once with love, compassion and power pledges pardon and eternal life to all who repent and place confidence in the merits of the Lamb of God. It calls Christians to deal with the tempted and tried with the same sympathy and compassion, showing His love and mercy to others. His mercy toward a guilty person unable to save himself displays the self-giving mind His followers are called to have.
Those who sincerely surrender to Christ, repent of their sins, accept His mercy, and trust His saving power may be uplifted and ennobled. Christ looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender themselves to Him in sincerity as the thief did. The Son of God gave His life to uplift and ennoble all such.
Victory and Witness
The promise spoken to the dying thief sounded the defeat of Satan and the death-knell of his hope. It showed that he had failed to overcome the Son of God in the contest for victory and had failed to make Him sin, and that his case was lost. It showed also that he had failed to overcome those who believe in Christ as Saviour, for Christ's vindication would place the pardoned thief forever beyond Satan's power to overcome him.
The words were a rebuke to Satan and his synagogue united with priests, rulers, crucifiers, and the mocking mob. In deceived zeal they closed the door of hope and paradise to themselves while He opened it to the thief, bestowing the most precious gift on mortal man at the very time they thought His claim as King was laid in the dust. In giving the promise He counted the thief far less guilty than those who had condemned Him to death, far less guilty than the priests, scribes, and rulers who took an active part in demanding the death of the Son of God.
Those words arrested those who were mocking the Son of God, and those reviling Christ heard them and trembled. Those who mocked Him were moved by this evidence that He was the Son of God. They remembered the words afterward when the One they had crucified and sealed in the tomb was raised from the dead.
The merciful answer, together with His prayer for His murderers and the other remarkable events of Calvary, pressed the evidence of His divine identity upon the minds of those who had condemned Him. Spoken by the loving Saviour in pardon that forgave the penitent's sins, it kindled a light that will shine to the earth's remotest bounds. With the Roman centurion who commanded the guard and the man who bore His cross, the thief became one of three widely different men who declared faith in Christ on the very day of His death, giving fresh evidence of fulfilled prophecy and new witness to His divinity that even in death the Redeemer would see the fruit of the travail of His soul.
Recalled on the Sabbath while Christ lay in the grave, that answer spoke with powerful distinctness to the heart of Nicodemus the learned councilor. Joined with His prayer for His murderers, His last conquering cry that it is finished, the reeling earth, the darkened heavens, the rent veil, and the shivered rocks, it forever settled his faith and made no longer mysterious the words spoken to him in the night interview in the mountains that the Son of man must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. It convicted him of loss in not openly connecting himself with Jesus while He lived on earth, and with Joseph it forever established their faith and convinced them of the divinity of Jesus at the very time the hopes of the disciples were destroyed. On the cross Christ thus pitied and forgave the dying thief who had been ensnared by Satan.
Jesus was speaking to the thief that day to assure him of a future place with Him in paradise, with the word today belonging to the making of the promise and not to the time of entering paradise. He Himself did not go to paradise or ascend to the Father that day, but died and lay in the grave, and after His resurrection still said He had not yet ascended to the Father. The thief therefore did not enter paradise that day, but will be with Christ in paradise and in His kingdom when the kingdom comes and when he arises from the dead, while one holds that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day. On the cross in apparent defeat He revealed Himself as the sin-pardoning Saviour to the last of His work, asserting royal right and divine power to forgive transgression and to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. In answer to the condemned man's plea to be remembered when Jesus comes into His kingdom, the dying sinner who acknowledged his guilt, confessed Christ's innocence, and believed in Him as Lord and King with a coming kingdom was granted mercy and a place in the kingdom, proving the vilest sinner may find pardon and salvation at the eleventh hour through the merits of Christ's blood.
Sense of Today
The word today belongs with the making of the promise, not with the time of entering paradise, for Jesus was speaking to the thief that day to assure him of a future place with Him in paradise. The promise means, in effect, I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise, a present assurance given while He hung on the cross of a home to come rather than an entrance that day. Even while suffering He had royal power to promise the thief a place in His kingdom. This reading harmonizes the verse with His later statement that He had not yet ascended to His Father.
Jesus Himself did not go to paradise or to His Father that day, so the thief could not have gone there with Him that day. He died and lay alone in the grave like a grain of wheat, and after His resurrection on the third day He still said He had not yet ascended to the Father. The words I say unto you today identify the day Christ made the promise, not the day the thief would be in paradise.
The thief therefore did not enter paradise that day, but will be with Christ in paradise and in His kingdom when the kingdom comes. He who received and believed shall have life with Christ in the paradise of God when he shall arise from the dead with those who believe on Him who is the resurrection and the life. The repentant sinner need not wait until Christ receives His coronation, for pardon flows even in His humiliation, yet its fulfillment awaits the rising from the dead. One statement presents the promise as meaning the man would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.
Paradise is Christ's kingdom and the future home with Christ, the place Satan was cast out of because of his rebellion. To be told that day of a place in Christ's kingdom is to be promised that future home with Him. The promise was spoken openly on the cross in a clear distinct voice from pale and quivering lips, reaching far and near so that the dying penitent, the revilers, and all around heard every word. Spoken amid darkness it pierced the gloom around the cross, arrested those mocking the Son of God, made those reviling Him tremble, and was remembered afterward when the sealed tomb was raised.
Setting at Calvary
The promise belongs to the way to Calvary after taking neither food nor drink since the Passover supper with the disciples, agonizing in Gethsemane in conflict with satanic agencies, enduring betrayal and the forsaking of the disciples, being taken to Annas then to Caiaphas then to Pilate then to Herod then again to Pilate, suffering insult upon insult and mockery upon mockery and torture by the scourge twice through scenes trying the soul to the uttermost without failing and speaking no word but what tended to glorify God and bearing Himself with firmness and dignity, and falling fainting beneath the cross prepared for Barabbas because human nature could bear no more. The crowd following showed no compassion but taunted Him because He could not carry the heavy cross, and He was to suffer death at the same time with two companions of Barabbas upon whom also crosses were placed. He was led from the judgment-hall to the place called Calvary after news of condemnation spread throughout Jerusalem. That place lay outside the gate and outside the boundaries of Jerusalem where felons and murderers were executed. People of all classes and all ranks flocked toward the place of crucifixion, and the priests and rulers left His followers unharmed so that disciples and believers from the city and the surrounding region joined the throng that followed Him.
By direction of the priests and rulers He was crucified in the midst between the two thieves to indicate He was the greatest criminal of the three. This fulfilled that He was numbered with the transgressors, while in truth His central cross stood in the midst of a world lying in sin. His death belongs to the account in which a criminal was the one person confessing His mission, a confession standing in contrast to the apparent failure of His work. Salvation was secured at infinite cost, bought with the infinite price of the Son of God suffering on the cross of Calvary with nails in hands and feet and mockery and abuse from those He came to save. He was lifted up and dying as a malefactor in whom the disciples' hopes of eternal life were centered, seen in the hands of wicked men with His own nation clamoring for His blood, with Herod and his soldiers plaiting the crown of thorns for His brow and clothing Him in the purple robe and bowing before Him and striking Him with the reed, thought destined to take His place on David's throne yet scourged as the worst of criminals with the murderous Barabbas chosen in His place. This descent into the depths of humiliation as the Bridegroom taken away brought days of trial and temptation that gave cause to mourn and fast, trying faith and causing hope and courage to fail.
The promise of paradise to the repentant thief was spoken on the day He was suffering and dying on the cross, answering the appeal to be remembered in His kingdom. It was spoken while both were hanging on the cross, giving comfort and a place with Him in paradise. The words "I say unto thee today" assure the dying man of the promise even as Jesus Himself is suffering and dying. It was spoken that day amid suffering and mockery while hanging helplessly beside the criminal, and it marked Satan's defeat while Christ bore the insult and reproach of the cross for humanity. It was answered while Himself enduring the excruciating tortures of death, and with the prayer for murderers, the last conquering cry that it is finished, the reeling earth, darkened heavens, rent veil, and shivered rocks, it spoke with powerful distinctness to the heart of Nicodemus. It was a merciful answer to the dying thief's prayer even while suffering on the cross, among the remarkable events pressing evidence of divine identity upon the minds of condemners.
The two thieves suffered the same physical torture with opposite hearts. One was only hardened and made desperate and defiant by pain and joined the priests in mocking. The other was not a hardened criminal; his morals had been corrupted by base association, but his crimes were not so great as those of many who stood beneath the cross reviling the Saviour. In common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come, had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings, but through the influence of priests and rulers had turned away and sought to drown conviction in pleasure, and corrupt associations led him farther into wickedness until arrested for open crime and condemned to die. During the day of trial he had been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary, had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, had marked His godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of tormentors, and in his heart acknowledged Him to be the Son of God. The verse falls within the account of the crucifixion showing the suffering and self-sacrifice endured, in one place without further explanation of the promise to the condemned man.
Christ's Power Revealed
The promise was spoken that day in apparent defeat, yet it proves that though nailed to an ignominious death and counted by all as a deceiver suffering justly, His hands were not shortened so He could not save and His ear was not heavy so He could not hear, with divinity flashing through suffering humanity. Spoken from pale and quivering lips amid darkness and heard by the dying penitent and all around the cross, it pierced the gloom and bore final testimony to His dignity and the glory of the Father that His ear still hears and His arm still saves, even while He was giving His life for the world and taking the sinner's guilt upon Himself to bring life and immortality to light. It gives evidence of His divine attributes, Godhead, kingly power, and redeeming power, revealing that even in suffering humanity He has power to forgive transgression and sin and to save to the uttermost with mercy, love, and pardon.
On the cross He revealed Himself to the last of His work as the sin-pardoning Saviour, answering at once with love, compassion and power that only He could speak. Even in the agonies of death and in humiliation and apparent defeat He asserted His royal right and divine power to forgive transgression and to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him, which no suffering, shame or human cruelty could take from Him. As humanity's Advocate with the Father He had divine authority and right to make this promise to a repentant believer, showing even while suffering humiliation and persecution that He had power to save sinners. The thief's faith grasped that truth of a sin-pardoning Saviour able to pardon sin, and Jesus showed Himself able to save to the uttermost all who receive Him.
He did not exercise kingly power and divinity by coming down from the cross to prove He is the Son of God, but by speaking life-giving words of pardon in death. His death has life-giving power for all who believe on Him in His humiliation, and the repentant sinner need not wait until He receives His coronation, for pardon flows from the Father through Him even in humiliation and the Sin-pardoner opens the door and bestows the most precious gift to mortal man. Though bound by plan and covenant agreement to remain on the cross as substitute and surety for a guilty world and unable to come down, as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world He was free to undertake the suretyship of the guilty criminal and speak forgiveness. While His humanity suffered hatred and revenge because He had acknowledged Himself the Son of God, His divinity was at work, and He alone could answer the suffering thief who reached out by faith to grasp His hand as the only hope of salvation.
In dying agony He acted as Conqueror, though to all other eyes with Satan and the chief priests triumphing and disciples broken-hearted He appeared conquered, while hanging helplessly as the subject of mockery and bearing insult and reproach for humanity. The opposites met in His person as Son of Man yet infinitely higher than the angels, equal with the Father yet with divinity clothed with humanity to stand at the head of the fallen race. The faith of a dying sinner laying hold upon a dying Saviour shone with distinct brightness amid moral darkness at deepest midnight, just as God would have it, and the promise marked Satan's defeat. Even in agony and persecution and in the most intense agony of mind and body He could enter into sympathy with people in temptation, and with meekness and lowliness He thought only of others and encouraged the penitent soul to believe, answering at once with quick, tender love, compassion and power. His forgiveness displays a love for people stronger than death, offering salvation to the sin-polluted and dying who confess just suffering and His innocence.
That loving compassion to this sinful soul reveals the tender consideration He has for all who now look in faith to Him, trusting in His power to save them and give them victory, as those who looked on the uplifted serpent in the wilderness lived. It pledges pardon and eternal life to all who repent and turn to Him and place confidence in the merits of the Lamb of God, proving He looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender in sincerity, and that the Son of God gave His life to uplift and ennoble all who repent, accept mercy, and trust His saving power. His mercy toward a guilty person unable to save himself, spoken in the hour of His greatest suffering, displays the self-giving mind His followers are called to have, and brings a gleam of comfort in bitter loneliness with peace and assurance.
Thief's Faith Described
The promise answers the condemned man's plea to be remembered when Jesus comes into His kingdom, granting his request for mercy and a place in the kingdom. It was spoken on the day Jesus was suffering and dying on the cross while the thief was being executed beside Him, with today marking the day the assurance was given, not the time of entering paradise. Because he acknowledged Jesus in humiliation, Jesus accepted him and pardoned his sins, showing how fully Christ can reach and save a sinner even in the agonies of death and in apparent defeat. His right and power to forgive sin and to save to the uttermost all who receive Him were asserted in that humiliation, and His words showed Satan that he had failed to overcome the Son of God and that his case was lost.
The dying sinner acknowledged his guilt and just suffering, confessed that Jesus had done nothing amiss, and entrusted himself to the Saviour, believing in Him as Lord, Messiah, Lamb of God, and King with a coming kingdom. His morals had been corrupted by base association, yet his crimes were not so great as those of many revilers beneath the cross, and in common with the Jews he had believed Messiah was soon to come. He had heard Jesus and been convicted by His teachings but had turned away under priestly influence to drown conviction in pleasure, until corrupt associations led him farther into wickedness, arrest for open crime, and condemnation to die. During the day of trial he had been with Jesus in the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary, had heard Pilate declare Him a just man, and had marked His godlike deportment and pitying forgiveness of His tormentors, and in his heart acknowledged Jesus to be the Son of God.
Under illumination of the Spirit he joined together what he had heard of Jesus healing the sick and pardoning sin, the words of weeping believers, the title above the cross, Pilate's verdict and Christ's deportment. He discerned link after link that the bruised, mocked victim condemned like himself was the Messiah, the Son of God, the world's Redeemer and the sinner's Friend and Saviour, though rejected by priests and elders and doubted even by disciples. He called Jesus Lord when no one else would call Him Lord dying on the cross. His conversion at the close of probation on the brink of eternity in guilt and physical suffering was genuine for a special purpose, testifying to all beholders that Jesus was no impostor but sustained His character and carried out His mission to the closing scene of His earthly life. No utterance of faith in His whole ministry was more grateful to Him than that utterance amid blasphemy and taunts, and Christ received such intelligent faith even at the last moment.
His faith reached out to grasp Christ's hand as his only hope, casting his helpless dying soul and body on a dying Saviour in consciousness of sinfulness and entire dependence, with anguish mingled with hope, patience, contrition, earnestness, trust and love. He was convicted of fear of God and a future to tremble at, and knew he would be eternally lost without Him, yet fully realized Jesus could save him. Jesus honored it at once with love, compassion and power, speaking words of forgiveness that meant much to the dying criminal and making redemption and salvation known even while appearing unable to be the Redeemer. Though it came at the last hour like the eleventh-hour laborers who receive as much as those who labored many hours, his faith received full reward with peace, comfort, acceptance, pardon and assurance of being with Christ in paradise. Christ looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender themselves to Him in sincerity as the thief did, and the thief's faith in the redeeming Saviour would not be forgotten.
Salvation for Sinners
Even the vilest sinner may find pardon and salvation at the eleventh hour through the merits of Christ's blood, for the dying criminal at the brink of eternity received peace and comfort of acceptance with God. It is never too late for Christ to hear words of repentance and to answer with compassion and sympathy. No one is too weak or sinful to grasp by faith the salvation offered and finally receive everlasting life in the kingdom of glory, and hope belongs to those who cast themselves helplessly on Christ rather than relying on their own righteousness.
As those who looked on the uplifted serpent in the wilderness lived, so those who now look in faith to the lifted Saviour are pardoned and receive eternal life. Without shedding of blood no one can be saved. The gospel was preached even to a dying man on the cross, and Jesus accepts all who receive and believe in Him. The thief prayed directly to Christ, showing that salvation comes through Christ alone. Those facing death may likewise call upon God in distress and be heard.
The repentant sinner need not wait until Christ receives His coronation, for pardon flows from the Father through Him even in humiliation. The thief who received and believed on Him shall have life with Christ in the paradise of God when he shall arise from the dead with those who believe on Him who is the resurrection and the life.
The eleventh-hour salvation warns against neglecting present opportunities and delaying repentance in presumption upon a death-bed repentance. Every ray of light neglected leaves the sinner in greater darkness until deception takes possession of the mind and the case becomes hopeless. Unlike the thief who waited until the last moment when he had no light, those who have been shown their duty in God's Word should not delay serving God and preparing for the home He is preparing. Yet when enlightenment comes at the last moment and is accepted with intelligent faith, such penitents find favor with Christ.
Jesus freely forgave and saved the thief when he turned to Him, and Judas too could have been forgiven and saved if he had yielded and confessed his betrayal. The quick, tender answer given at once with love, compassion and power pledges pardon and eternal life to all who repent and place confidence in the merits of the Lamb of God. It calls Christians to deal with the tempted and tried with the same sympathy and compassion, showing His love and mercy to others. His mercy toward a guilty person unable to save himself displays the self-giving mind His followers are called to have.
Those who sincerely surrender to Christ, repent of their sins, accept His mercy, and trust His saving power may be uplifted and ennobled. Christ looks on sinners not as they are in themselves but as they may become if they surrender themselves to Him in sincerity as the thief did. The Son of God gave His life to uplift and ennoble all such.
Victory and Witness
The promise spoken to the dying thief sounded the defeat of Satan and the death-knell of his hope. It showed that he had failed to overcome the Son of God in the contest for victory and had failed to make Him sin, and that his case was lost. It showed also that he had failed to overcome those who believe in Christ as Saviour, for Christ's vindication would place the pardoned thief forever beyond Satan's power to overcome him.
The words were a rebuke to Satan and his synagogue united with priests, rulers, crucifiers, and the mocking mob. In deceived zeal they closed the door of hope and paradise to themselves while He opened it to the thief, bestowing the most precious gift on mortal man at the very time they thought His claim as King was laid in the dust. In giving the promise He counted the thief far less guilty than those who had condemned Him to death, far less guilty than the priests, scribes, and rulers who took an active part in demanding the death of the Son of God.
Those words arrested those who were mocking the Son of God, and those reviling Christ heard them and trembled. Those who mocked Him were moved by this evidence that He was the Son of God. They remembered the words afterward when the One they had crucified and sealed in the tomb was raised from the dead.
The merciful answer, together with His prayer for His murderers and the other remarkable events of Calvary, pressed the evidence of His divine identity upon the minds of those who had condemned Him. Spoken by the loving Saviour in pardon that forgave the penitent's sins, it kindled a light that will shine to the earth's remotest bounds. With the Roman centurion who commanded the guard and the man who bore His cross, the thief became one of three widely different men who declared faith in Christ on the very day of His death, giving fresh evidence of fulfilled prophecy and new witness to His divinity that even in death the Redeemer would see the fruit of the travail of His soul.
Recalled on the Sabbath while Christ lay in the grave, that answer spoke with powerful distinctness to the heart of Nicodemus the learned councilor. Joined with His prayer for His murderers, His last conquering cry that it is finished, the reeling earth, the darkened heavens, the rent veil, and the shivered rocks, it forever settled his faith and made no longer mysterious the words spoken to him in the night interview in the mountains that the Son of man must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. It convicted him of loss in not openly connecting himself with Jesus while He lived on earth, and with Joseph it forever established their faith and convinced them of the divinity of Jesus at the very time the hopes of the disciples were destroyed. On the cross Christ thus pitied and forgave the dying thief who had been ensnared by Satan.