Reality One:
- The criminal finds himself undergoing the worst shame imaginable, pinned naked to a Roman cross.
- He knows that the agony and shame he feels are justly deserved. He has brought it on himself through his own rebellious actions (Luke 23:41).
-
He has presumably lived a life of rebellion
toward his Maker. (When he asks the other
criminal, “don’t you fear God?” he speaks of God as someone whose existence is indisputable in his mind, yet clearly he has not lived a life of obedience to Him). He is likely reminded now, as he hangs on the cross, of some of those
choices which brought him to this point.
- His life (and death) seem to be a classic representation of Romans 1:18-32. Although [he knew] God’s righteous decree that those who do [fill in the blank] deserve death, [he] continued to do those very things…”
- As an object of God’s wrath (Romans 1:18), he not only suffers the physical agony of the natural consequences of his actions as well as the emotional agony of having his shamefulness exposed for all the world to see, but he also experiences the spiritual agony of his own life-long rejection of God and His good purposes.
Then, everything changes. Miracle of miracles, it dawns on the criminal that the man crucified beside Him is the Son of God and that His crucifixion will in no way keep Him from “coming into His kingdom” (verse 42). HOPE enters the rebel’s consciousness, he blurts out His belief in Christ, and he asks the God-Man to remember Him. Jesus, in one sentence, pronounces a whole new reality for the criminal. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Reality Two:
- Though the physical agony remains, his shame is gone. The Son of God Himself has vouched for him before all those present, and all spiritual powers and dominions the world round. It’s settled.
- Now, instead of receiving each moment of pain as just punishment, every breath he takes, the criminal is renewed in his spirit and reassured of the glory that awaits him (2Cor 4:16-18; Luke 23:43).
- The circumstances which constituted God’s wrath only moments ago, are now transformed into God’s context for the criminal’s spiritual formation.
- The very cross which represented his damnation has become the vehicle which not only brought Him face to face with Love Himself, but which now facilitates his own spiritual offering of WORSHIP to God. Indeed, as the criminal moment by moment accepts his suffering in submission to his King, God receives it as a holy sacrifice, beautiful in His sight. (Romans 12:1)
- As the criminal surveys the scornful crowd, takes in the sounds of groaning and weeping, tastes his own blood, and breaths in the aroma of death, LOVE is birthed within his soul, and a world of possibility characterized by “all things new” takes his glass which was way more than half empty, and fills it to overflowing.
I’m struck by the stark contrast between hope and hopelessness as represented in this criminal’s final hours. He moved from a place of spiritual dying to one of spiritual renewal and life. He whose very existence was branded a mistake, was clothed with the righteousness of Christ. A life which seemed futile and purposeless was written into THE story of the ages.
And it’s my story too. I too have moved from dying to LIFE. My suffering too has taken on immense significance, as God accepts my feeble, “Thy will be done,” and uses it to accomplish my great GOOD (Romans 5:3-4 & 8:28). I too have been granted access into the life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no more need for me to view life any other way. I’ve been granted spiritual sight to see God in action, and extend hope of redemption into every corner of the world.
I believe the criminal on the cross tasted eternal life as he continued to hang there awaiting the fulfillment of the promise. Because salvation isn’t just for the future.
He has granted us new birth
into a living hope... AND into an inheritance kept in heaven for us (1Peter
1:3-4). He grants us both.
Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1Peter 1:8-9)
We know that we HAVE passed from death to life… (1John 3:14)
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness REIGN IN LIFE through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:17)
