“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” – Luke 23:39-43
DEVOTIONAL COMMENTARY
Two thousand years ago, three men were crucified together outside Jerusalem. Two were criminals, and one was the blameless Son of God, Jesus. Despite a lifetime of sin, one of the criminals received a promise of eternal life when Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” The criminal recognized who Jesus was, acknowledged his own guilt, and placed his trust in Jesus. And Jesus graciously provided him assurance of salvation.
Luke’s account of the conversation between Jesus and the criminal is a compact but powerful picture of how we respond to the gospel after the Holy Spirit reveals and awakens us to the truth of who Jesus is.
Both criminals started out taunting Jesus (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32: “Even those who were crucified with him taunted him”), but then the second criminal was transformed from rebel to redeemed by the power of God.
The second criminal’s heart posture radically changed, and as he realized Jesus is God, he was filled with a fear of the Lord that led him to rebuke the taunts of the first criminal. He openly admitted his sentence of death was just punishment for the crimes he had committed, while acknowledging that Jesus, by contrast, was an innocent sufferer, a righteous man. Finally, the repentant criminal submitted himself to Christ’s authority as king of an eternal kingdom that cannot and will not be defeated at the cross and pleaded for saving grace: “Jesus, remember me.”
Jesus’s response is astounding. Jesus offered the repentant criminal hope in his final minutes on earth, even as he was bearing the curse of sin. And not merely hope of life after death, but the promise of an eternal relationship with Jesus.
The future Jesus promised was “paradise” because the criminal would be with him. Not just spared from judgment but brought near to Jesus himself. What did the criminal offer Jesus in exchange for this promise?
Nothing. What qualifications did the criminal possess to earn a place in paradise and a relationship with the Son of God? None. No time to change, no works to offer, no way to repay—only a plea for mercy. Luke provides no recitation of this criminal’s good works, his church attendance, the number of times he had read the Scriptures, or his record of tithing.
As Alistair Begg put it, the criminal entered heaven solely because “the man on the middle cross said I could come.” Jesus offered the repentant criminal assurance of salvation and adoption into the family of God on the sole basis of his confession—he was a sinner justly accused and sentenced to death who trusted nothing but the merits and mercy of Jesus for deliverance. And Jesus’s words can be trusted because he is the truth (John 14:6), and what he says always comes to pass.
For those of us in Christ, we are like the repentant criminal on the cross.
We start out as rebels who suppress the truth about God and resist him, and too often seek to use him and his blessings rather than worship him, as the first, unrepentant criminal did. Then the Holy Spirit softens our hearts and opens our minds, and in that moment, we realize we are standing before our awesome Creator, wearing the wretched rags of our iniquities.
Like the repentant criminal, we then confess our sinfulness without excuse and acknowledge that, without help from outside ourselves, we stand condemned to just punishment for our crimes against a holy God.
And then blessed hope breaks through the darkness, for we realize that Jesus lived the righteous life we cannot and willingly experienced an unjust sentence of death on a cross. Jesus died so that he might rise again victorious to establish his eternal Kingdom, into which God brings those who trust Christ alone for salvation.
The same assurance experienced by the repentant criminal is given to all who trust in Christ. If you share in the repentant criminal’s confession that Jesus alone is your hope for salvation from sin, death, and eternal punishment, then Jesus promises that you too will be with him in paradise. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
If you trust in Jesus alone, God will keep you in this life until you are united with him for eternity (Ephesians 1:11–14).
That said, we can experience doubts about our salvation. The lies of Satan and our own hearts and minds can shake our confidence in God and our assurance of salvation. This is why our loving God has graciously given us the church, that we might be surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ who can press in through all seasons of life to encourage us and identify fruit in our lives that is evidence of a heart changed and saved by the gospel.
This Holy Week, spend time rehearsing the gospel to yourself, remembering that your salvation is not by your works but by Christ’s sacrifice and victorious resurrection. Then rest assured of your salvation because Jesus is able to present you blameless before God (Jude 24–25), so you can trust him to bring you to himself, home to heaven.
Remember to joyfully share this blessed assurance with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Look again to Jesus, and rest not only in what he has done, but in who he is.
REFLECTION
• In what ways are you tempted to doubt your salvation? Who or what are you tempted to trust in for your salvation other than Jesus? Bring those doubts and idols to God in prayer, and ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of all that Christ did to redeem you.
• Get together with one or two brothers and sisters in Christ and encourage one another by sharing how you see the gospel at work in each other’s lives.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION & REPENTANCE
Eternal Father, thou art good beyond all thought, But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind; My lips are ready to confess, but my heart is slow to feel, and my ways reluctant to amend. I bring my soul to thee; break it, wound it, bend it, mold it. Unmask to me sin’s deformity, that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it. Thy loving Spirit strives within me, brings me Scripture warnings, speaks in startling providences, allures by secret whispers, yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt, impiously resent, grieve, and provoke him to abandon me. All these sins I mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon. Work in me more profound and abiding repentance; Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears, yet ever trusts and loves, which is ever powerful, and ever confident; Grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly the brightness and glories of the saving cross.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON & PEACE
“When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified…Let us now with meekness and boldness enter in the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, which he has opened for us.” – Hebrews 10:12-14, 19-20
CLOSING PRAYER
Almighty God, whose dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other that the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
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