Morning: We looked at Luke 23:39-43. This passage contains the saying, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." As one of the "seven sayings of the cross," the passage reveals to us important truths concerning the nature of redemption. The starting point was the driving question, "Why does this man see what no one else sees?" Matthew tells us that as they are marching Jesus out to the place called the Skull, both of the criminals railed at him. They both were mocking him and ridiculing him. However, when we get to this scene, we see one of the thieves is so repentant, he is willing to spend some of his dying breaths to defend Jesus. Why? Again, its hard to answer the why question without speculation, but by considering other passages we can understand it.
If we backup and read Luke 23:32-38, we see the the only thing that could have lead to a change of heart. We see the beaten and bloody Jesus praying for his attackers to be forgiven; a Jesus who is silent before his mockers. The crowd sees a blasphemer rightly executed for his crime, a fool justly punished for his foolishness, a pretender to the throne to be scorned, but this thief sees a king coming into his kingdom. Where others see a man dying in weakness, this thief sees a king coming into power. Even Jesus' disciples didn't understand and Jesus had told them that he must coming into his kingdom through great suffering. How did this man see it?
It could be that this man, who acknowledges his guilt and correctness of his punishment, may have been plying his trade at times when crowds had gathered to hear Jesus teach. He could have been moving through the crowds picking pockets as Jesus taught and heard Jesus teach on coming into the kingdom through suffering. We have no way of knowing the specifics, however what we do know is that something in Jesus' prayer for his enemies to be forgiven and his silence in the face of mockery must have had a profound impact on the thief.
Although this passage doesn't say it outright, we can draw the safe conclusion that this thief's response is a work of the Holy Spirit. Why would I say it is a work of the Spirit? Remember when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was? How did he respond to Peter's state, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Did he say, "Boy, Peter, you sure are smart"? No, he said, "Blessed are you Simon son of John, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven." Therefore, the pattern is established: when people come to truly understand who Jesus is and seek him for salvation, it is the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. The process of redemption begins when the Spirit convicts the sinner of their sinfulness, convinces them of the righteous judgment to come, illuminates the inner man to the reality of who Christ is and what he has done, and compels them to call out in faith and repentance to Jesus Christ.
This scene also demonstrates that Jesus is willing and able to pay for the vilest sinner. This man readily acknowledges his sin. His speech implies that the fear of God has rested on him. He states, "Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:40-41). Here he admits that crucifixion, for him, is justice. He had done the crime, he was now paying the penalty. Yet, just a few moments before he had been content to blaspheme and mock Jesus.
How could Jesus forgive him? Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemes of men will be forgiven of them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin" (Mark 3:28-29). So the unforgivable sin is the blaspheme of the Holy Spirit. Some may say, "I though the only sin that could be forgiven is unbelief." In the context of the passage of Mark, the blaspheme referred to was the accusation that Jesus used satanic powers to preform "miracles," when in fact, he was preforming miracles in the power of the Spirit. However, unbelief is a form of blaspheme of the Spirit. The Scriptures call the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth and say that he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. When someone hears the gospel, the Spirit is present confirming the truth. For that reason, the author of Hebrews warns us not to harden our heart against the Spirit. It is an unforgivable sin.
Yet, the thief not only receives the Spirit's testimony he cries out to Jesus for help, but he does so in a important way. When he asked Jesus to remember him, his is indirectly asking Jesus to save him. This thief want to be a part of Jesus' kingdom. Notice, however, he doesn't say, "Lord" or "Your Majesty," but simply says, "Jesus remember me." We must remind ourselves that the name Jesus means the Lord saves or Savior. The angel direct Mary and Joseph to give him this name, because he would save his people from sin. When the thief says "Jesus remember me" he means no disrespect; he is simply acknowledging his trust in Jesus' ability to save him from his sin.
When this man came to Jesus in trust, Jesus received him and said something important that we must all hear and understand. Jesus tells him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." The statement, "I tell you the truth," often translated in the King James as "Verily, Verily" was not Jesus' way of saying he hadn't been truthful before. It was Jesus' way of calling his hearing to listen to what he was saying with great attention and to be assured that is was without a doubt absolutely true.
Many wonder what Jesus meant by paradise. Some understand it to be heaven. In Jesus' day it was a common belief the "Sheol," the Old Testament concept of the grave, was divided into two parts. One part was a place where the righteous (faithful) dead rested, and the second part was a place where the unrighteous (unfaithful) dead were tormented until the coming day of judgment. The place of the righteous was often called the Abraham's bosom. We see this division in Jesus' story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16: 19-31). Peter tells us that Jesus, "also went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built" (1 Pet 3:19-20). Paul reminds us of a statement from Scripture, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men"(Eph. 4:8; see 4:9-10). Many have combined these two passages to suggested that Jesus went into the "grave" and like Abraham did with the rich man he preached to the "spirits in prison" from the righteous side of the impassible gulf. Then when he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven he took the souls of the righteous dead with him thus emptying out "paradise." And they conclude, for that reason, that Paul states, "to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord.
But the location of paradise isn't the important matter. The important part is that the thief will be with Jesus. "Today you will be with me." With me. We must let this reality sink in to our hearts. If we have faith in him, we are in him and he in us. We are always in his presence. What our eyes see, he sees. What our ears hear, he hears. What our body does, he does. The power of this truth is unimaginable, if we will truly grasp it.
We looked at one other important reality we learn from this passage. Faith in Jesus will not remove difficulty and suffering. In a few hours from this conversation, Jesus will breath his last, but this man will continue to slowly sufficate. The sun will begin to set, and the crowd will call for an end to be made of these men. The Romans will come and shatter the legs of the first thief and then the legs of the second thief, so they sufficate faster. But, they will find Jesus dead and just to be sure they will pierce his side with a spear. In spite of the fact that he forgave the man's sin and that Jesus welcomed the thief into his kingdom, Jesus didn't remove the struggle. There was a purpose and a plan when hardship comes into our life. We must hold to the truths that God loves us, that hardship speaks of his love to us, and that all of our suffering is not worthy to compare to the glory we will inherit.
Evening: We did evangelism training. A couple of gracious volunteers did an excellent job of displaying a witnessing encounter for us. Good questions were raised. We had a few good laughs. More imporantly, we saw that although it is difficult to witness, it isn't impossible.
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