The second word: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
The Apostle Peter openly denied his Lord, and the repentant thief openly acknowledged Him, crying out: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” The Lord Jesus’ response was immediate, as He said to him: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43). Thus the forgiven thief was saved, and he was the first to enter Paradise. But he remained a thief because he had stolen the Kingdom by the grace of God through repentance! A spiritualist ponders this by saying: “Today,” what an immediate response! “You will be with Me.” What company! “In Paradise.” What a place, O Lord!”
Man cannot bear to have his memory completely wiped off the face of the earth. No signs, no monuments, no foundations can preserve our memory from oblivion, for all these will turn to dust. But the only thing that preserves our memory is our faith that God knew us before we were born and that He will remember us throughout eternity! The crucified thief, with deep sorrow in his heart for his sins, turned to the Savior, asking to be remembered in His Kingdom. In the last moment of his life, he asked to be remembered, and the Lord remembered him. The Lord addressed His great promise, not to a great king or saint, but to a thief, an enemy of the people, whom tradition has taught us to be called “Demas.”
A woman spent her life in sin, and while she was being carried to the emergency room at the hospital, the nurse asked, “Do you think that God is a man like me?” The nurse replied, “Of course, He took care of the thief on the right, the adulterous woman, and the dishonest tax collector, and He takes care of the flowers and the sparrows. He certainly takes care of you, “Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7)! In fact, the prophet Isaiah tells us that the Lord said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15).
The Lord Jesus remembered us, not only during his crucifixion, but also in his resurrection: “Because I live, you will live also… I go to prepare a place for you… that where I am, you may be also” (John 14:19, 2-3). The resurrection means that after death God will not forget anyone: “Eye has not seen… what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Is there a greater memory or inheritance than that?
The reason why many people feel that God has forgotten them is because they have forgotten God. If we remember Him, He will remember us forever and love us as His children. If we experience this divine remembrance and love, we can pass this experience on to those who feel forgotten and despised. Our names will remain forever written in the Book of Life, not because of our deeds on earth, for what deeds did the thief perform up to the hour of his death on the cross? All the thief did was his final faith and repentance. God’s eternal remembrance of us is a gift of His grace, for every repentant soul that says, “Remember me, O Lord,” receives His immediate response: “Today you will be with me in Paradise”!
Aren't we all thieves? Don't we steal the reputation of others by gossip, and assassinate them with the swords of our tongues?! Don't we steal the time allocated to God and waste it? Don't we steal our souls, which Christ bought with His blood, and keep them for ourselves?! If we have realized that we are no better than this thief, let us come forward humbly, confessing to the Lord with repentance and faith, so that we may obtain His company in Paradise! This was the last prayer in the life of this thief, and perhaps the first, for he knocked once and prayed and begged once, and with this boldness he won Heaven!
What if the Lord remembered everything you did in your life and what you deserved? Then how can you face the Day of Judgment?! Let our request be: “Remember me, O Lord, whoever I am. Remember me in your mercy.” And He will surely answer! The disciples asked who was the greatest among them in the kingdom, and even James and John asked for two main places next to the Lord. But this thief only asked for the Lord to remember him in his kingdom, and He gave him paradise because He gives “far more than we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20)! Thus the Church imitated this thief and made his request our request on Good Friday, and even every day at the ninth hour!
The title placed on the cross of Christ: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” was considered a mockery, because how could the one crucified in such humiliation and shame be a king? But the thief saw Him with the eye of faith as a king, especially after he asked his heavenly Father to forgive his crucifiers. Although his throne was the cross of execution and shame, his crown was a crown of thorns, the nails in his body instead of the scepter of kingship, and his followers were the mocking, gloating mob, and despite his nakedness, the thief recognized the King of the universe whose kingdom will never end. Although Christ’s disciples doubted Him because of this shameful death, the thief recognized Him as the Savior of humanity and asked to remember Him in His kingdom! His faith was strong because he was sure of His coming in His kingdom or kingdom, even though he saw His body torn on the cross!
The Lord’s promise was immediate and direct. He did not promise him the fire of his purgatory or a preliminary period of time, but rather promised him paradise: “Today” and “You shall be with me.” It is the most amazing promise that humanity has ever heard! It is what the Lord had said before: “Many who are first shall be last, and the last shall be first” (Matt. 19:30). And here is the last and least of all: a thief who is executed, becomes the first to enter paradise, and with the Lord Himself. This is the place that Christ wants for all of us forever: “Father, I desire that they also whom You have given Me may be with me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24)! And who can promise paradise but God? This is the first time the Lord uses the word “paradise” in the Gospel. And to whom? To a sinful, outcast human being! And paradise begins in us from here and lasts forever. And as in the parable of the laborers, the one who works one hour receives the same wage as those who endured the burden and heat of the day.
If a person lives his life without God, his heart becomes so hardened that the last thing that comes to his mind when he dies is not the remembrance of God, but rather his worldly affairs that he cared about. Therefore, God’s word to us at all times is: “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). A man asked his young friend who lived in the testicles to repent, but he said to him: “I still have a long time to do that. Remember the thief on the cross!” His friend said to him: “Which thief do you mean? Because there was another thief, this one who had not even reached the eleventh hour!”
We also notice that the Lord Jesus died between two thieves. This is because His whole life was for sinners, so also in His death He did not separate from them. His entire mission on earth was to seek and save those who were lost! “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
