“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).
Gracious God, we who have been drawn to the Savior, because of His great love, demonstrated at Calvary, would like to be instruments in the hand of the Holy Spirit, to help draw others to Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray, Amen.
As we continue this conversation, I would like to introduce someone, whose name is not mentioned in Scripture, but whose story has brought hope to many, the thief on the cross. I should add the “repentant” thief. His complete story is found only in the Gospel of Luke.
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘ ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” ‘ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘ “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ‘ Then he said to Jesus, ‘ “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” ‘ And Jesus said to him, ‘ “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” ‘ ” ‘ ” ‘ ” ‘ ” (Luke 23:39-43, emphasis provided).
This was the thief’s confession of his sinfulness, and also his confession of Jesus, as Lord!
Luke is the only Gospel writer who is not a Jew, and in his Gospel are found some of the most interesting stories, in which the person least expected is the hero or heroine of the episode. He also includes some very interesting details as he narrates these stories. I will run a series on these special personalities in the near future. Please remind me in the Comment section, if I don’t!
Here are two thieves flanking Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ cross is in the center, identifying Him as the worst of the three! The King on the Cross, identified as the worst of the three! Sacrilege par excellence!
The life is ebbing out of the Savior. We know this, because a few verses later, we read the following: “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘ “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” ‘ Having said this, He breathed His last” ‘ ” ‘ ” (vv. 44-46).
The well known evangelist, E. E. Cleveland, made mention of this, in this beautiful statement, “Jesus stopped dying long enough to save the thief’!” (Not a verbatim quote). What a precious, descriptive manner to highlight the depth of divine love toward the sinner!
There on the cross, He witnessed His first convert, as “He was lifted up from the earth” on a cross that was not His, as the “chief of sinners.” “He who knew no sin,” assured a repentant sinner, that he would be saved!
The thief called Jesus, Lord! That must have sounded like music in the Savior’s ear, and the glad refrain was echoed back to the sinner, “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Please note that I made a a change in the position of the comma within the sentence. At the close of this three part series, I will explain the reason for that change. So please return to hear the conclusion.