“Today … with Me in Paradise”
2. The Word of Assurance
“VERILY, I SAY unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.”
One day upon Golgotha
Three men died
A thief—the Christ—a thief
Were crucified.
A cross of hope for one,
Hope not too late
His fellow died upon
A cross of hate.
Between these two—all space
Were not more wide—
Between them—and for both
Christ Jesus died
DOROTHY B. THOMPSON
Three men were hanging upon three crosses. All three appeared to be criminals, for around the neck of each hung a board on which was written a record of their crimes. Two of them were patriots, doubtless associates of Barabbas in his ill-starred insurrection. In order to achieve their ends, they had resorted to robbery and even to murder.
And the One on the center cross, what was His crime? Surely something revolting for him to be found in such company. Yet the record of His life is strangely out of keeping with such a character. “[He] went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). “They wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luke 4:22). Even before He died, one of those hardened, blasphemous criminals who was crucified with Him said from deep inner conviction, “This man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41).
One of the most incredible facts of the whole event is that those seasoned criminals became anxious for their reputations through being crucified in His company! Lest they be credited with being His friends or associates, they joined company with the passersby, the chief priests, scribes, and elders. As they taunted and mocked Him, the thieves “cast the same in His teeth” (Matthew 27:44). Hurling their abuse at a fellow-sufferer when they were so near their own end indicated the depth of their depravity. Their animosity toward One who had done them no ill was a revealing demonstration of the enmity toward God of the carnal mind (Romans 8:7).
But in condemning them, let us not forget our own complicity in the crucifixion. Horatius Bonar has expressed it for us:
And of that shouting multitude
I feel that I am one,
And in that din of voices rude
I recognize my own.
‘Twas I that shed that sacred blood,
I nailed Him to the tree,
I crucified the Son of God,
I joined the mockery.
A sudden change of attitude came over one of the thieves. Had he been a spectator of what transpired in Jesus’ trial before Pilate? Had he been so impressed by the contrast between his companion and Christ that He could explain it only on the basis of deity? Had the Holy Spirit in response to his penitence revealed our Lord’s true identity to him?
The Scripture does not say, but the suppositions may be true. In any case, he turned on his brother-robber: “Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due rewards of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss.” Then, turning to Jesus he pleaded, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom.”
In his rebuke to his companion, the dying thief revealed a state of heart that made it possible for the Lord to answer him as He did. In the thief’s statement, three elements are present.
Reverence. “Dost not thou fear God?” He evinced not merely fear of the due reward of his deeds, but fear and reverence for God, the supreme Judge and Ruler of the universe. The fear of God is indeed the beginning of wisdom.
Self-accusation. “We receive the due reward of our deeds.” He acknowledged the justice of his sentence—”we indeed justly”—and attempted no extenuation of his crime. A self-confessed sinner is not far away from a forgiving Savior.
Vindication. “This man hath done nothing amiss.” The deeper the conviction of his own sinfulness, the more sure he was of the innocence of the Lord.
A. W. Pink draws attention to the pains God took to guard the spotless character of His Son. “Especially is this seen towards the end. Judas was moved to say, ‘I have betrayed the innocent blood.’ Pilate testified, ‘I find no fault in Him.’ Pilate’s wife said, ‘Have thou nothing to do with this just man.’ And now that He hung on the cross, God opened the eyes of this robber to see the faultlessness of His beloved Son, and opened his lips so that he bore witness to His excellence.”
John Calvin comments on the amazing content of his prayer. It is perhaps possible for us to read into such words a meaning that is the outcome of our greater illumination, but Calvin exclaimed: “How clear was the vision of the eyes which could thus see in death life, in ruin majesty, in shame glory, in defeat victory, in slavery royalty. I question if ever since the world began there has been so bright an example of faith.”
What may we find in this prayer?
A confession of Christ’s deity. “Lord.” His faith may have had only a small content of knowledge, but what a faith it was to see in a fellow-convict one who was worthy of his faith and devotion. And this in spite of the mocking challenge he had heard from the priests: “If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Even that sarcasm and sneer had been unable to quench the spark of faith that had been kindled in his heart.
A confidence in Christ’s saviorhood. “Lord, remember me.” To be remembered is the opposite of being forgotten, which means being excluded from the Kingdom. He had heard the Savior pray for the forgiveness of those for whom His death would avail, and he dared to include himself in its wide embrace. Had he not believed in the Lord’s Saviorhood, what would be the point of appealing to Him for remembrance?
A conception of Christ’s royalty. “Thy kingdom.” True, everything about Him seemed to belie His kingship; the superscription, The King of the Jews, placed in irony over His head, did not serve to make likely any imminent coronation, but the thief’s faith pierced through the appearances of the moment. Dim though it was, he saw a vision that far outdistanced that of the Lord’s intimate disciples. He anticipated the day of His coming to His kingdom. All the disciples saw was His imminent descent into a dark tomb.
If the first word from the cross was the intercession of our Lord as High Priest, the second was His promise as king of glory: “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
It should be noted that Jesus did not answer the exact petition of the thief. He did something better. He granted the desire of his heart. The thief little knew that his request, as he had worded it, postponed the desired boon for the two millennia that would elapse before Christ came into His kingdom. And what an answer it was.
| What certainty! | “Verily I say unto thee” |
| What speed! | “Today” |
| What glory! | “In paradise” |
| What company! | “With me.” |
There is a divergence of view among biblical scholars concerning “paradise” here, some saying it refers to the bliss of heaven and others that it does not. One view is that paradise was one part of Hades to which the blessed went, the other part, for the wicked, being Gehenna. That paradise in Paul’s time is said to be in heaven, implies that at the resurrection a change took place, and Hades was emptied of paradise. If correct, this view would seem to explain the following passage:
“Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things)” (Ephesians 4:8–10).
Among others, these comforting truths emerge from this second word from the cross:
The survival of the soul after the death of the body. One writer has pointed out that each of the seven sayings from the cross is the deathblow of an error. This word refutes the dogma of soul-sleep. Death is no sleep of the soul. Death is not the end of life, but the gateway to new life. It also deals a deathblow to the doctrine of purgatory. If ever a man needed the cleansing of the purgatorial flame, it was this man.
The separate existence of soul and body. “With me.” The body of the thief was not in the tomb with that of Christ, but his soul was in conscious presence with Him in the place of departed spirits. This was Paul’s longing. “Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23). What a joyous anticipation—not unconscious sleep but conscious union. If the dead are unconscious, this assurance would afford little comfort.
The sudden entry of the redeemed upon the bliss of eternity. “Today.” Anderson Berry points out a designed correspondence between the thief’s request and Christ’s response. The form of the response appears to be designed to match in its order of thought the robber’s petition.
And he said to Jesus
And Jesus said to him
Lord
Verily I say unto thee
Remember me
Shalt thou be with me
When thou comest Today
Into Thy Kingdom In paradise.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
By this arrangement of the words, it is seen that “today” is the emphatic word. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” Not purgatory but paradise.
The Savior’s prompt response to penitence. Our Lord can never resist the plea of the penitent. To the taunts and jeers of the mob He deigned to give no answer, but the plea of the repentant thief drew an immediate response.
The thief asked only a place in Christ’s memory. He was granted a place in His kingdom.
They stood there grimly upon Calvary;
Each bore a victim suffering bodily.
But in the attitude of soul we see
A strange unlikeness in the suffering three.
Behold, upon the centre cross is He
Who, to atone for sin, hung on the Tree.
Of His own will He died for rebel’s guilt,
Though by man’s cruel hands His blood was spilt:
Pardon for all believers did Christ win,
Since upon Calvary He died for sin.
Now see upon the left a sufferer
Who even to the last did curse and swear.
Write underneath the picture of his cross,
He died in sin bringing eternal loss.
Now turn you to the sufferer on the right.
How different the picture, and how bright!
He owns his sin, laments his evil ways,
Then turns him to the centre cross and prays.
Christ pardons him. The thief now dead to sin.
Enters, with Him, the Golden Gates within
Reader, he sure since Christ for sinners died,
Thou canst find pardon through the Crucified.
WILLIAM OLNEY