The Second Criminal

Luke 23:42- Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."

   When Jesus was crucified, two other men were hung alongside of Him. Now the Bible doesn't really go into great detail about who they were or what their crimes were. But one thing to remember is that at this particular time, crucifixions of Jews or Romans was pretty rare. Death sentences were common, but to be crucified was so painful and embarrassing/degrading that it was reserved for only the worst offenders (Further proof of Jesus' taking all of our sins, but I digress). So this conversation between Jesus and these criminals is short but impactful.

   The first guy, at the end of his life and already nailed to the cross, is still demanding proof of Jesus' Lordship. "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" Luke 23:39b. I love how he tacked himself on at the end! "Oh yeah, save me too!" How many times have we done that when faced with hard times? "God, show me you're God by getting me out of this. Prove your Godness and save me will you're at it!" That could be a whole other blog post. But for now I really want to focus on the other criminal.

   Reading this, I've been struck with some realizations that totally changed my view of this passage. Notice the criminal doesn't ask Jesus for forgiveness; in fact in verse 41 he states: "We are getting punished justly, for we are getting what we deserve." This man instead asks Jesus for something much less than forgiveness; he just asks to be remembered. All he wants is for Jesus, at some point, to remember him; remember he wasn't always a criminal, not always bad; remember that at one time he was a good man. How often is that our cry to Jesus?  "Remember me! I wasn't always a pitiful sinner! Please, I know I'm guilty of everything and I'm not even asking for forgiveness; but if you could only, at some point, remember my name and not be angry that will be enough." This was his plea to Jesus, to just have his name remembered. It appears he might have even believed Jesus was Messiah, and he was content if he was only committed to His memory.

    Jesus answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise" Luke 23:43. This is an incredibly powerful statement; however to me, even more powerful is what Jesus didn't say. He never verbally said, "I forgive you", He didn't agree to remember the criminal, and He didn't argue with the fact that the criminal deserved his death sentence! By saying, "Today you will be with me," Jesus covered all those things. In those days if men didn't forgive another, they definitely wouldn't be found in each others company. Because the criminal would be with Jesus in eternity there was no reason for this man's name to become just a memory. Lastly, Jesus did not need to fight that man's death sentence because death was moments away from bowing down once and for all to His never-ending authority!

   Like I said before, so many times we can identify with the second criminal; content just to be remembered in passing. Bu Jesus isn't content with that! He isn't satisfied with just committing our names to His memory. He offers forgiveness before we can speak the words, we simply need to accept it. He invites us to feast at His table, we just need to step up to it and sit down. Will we be content with just being in God's memory instead of in His forgiveness?