The Thief on the Cross; and what is faith, anyway? 


Do you know of anything more remarkable than a dying man asking another dying man to "remember me when you take over as king"? 

One of the more poignant moments in the Easter story is in Luke 23:39-43 :

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself – and us, too, while you're at it!" But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you are dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn't done anything wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."

We know almost nothing about these criminals except what we read here. A parallel passage calls them "bandits." They were not murderers, but they were nevertheless convicted of capital crimes under Roman law (justly, according to one of them). Their deaths were well under way. These was no hope of escape from a cross.

One of them joined the crowd around the cross in heaping insults on Jesus. He wanted Jesus to do his "Christ" thing, and save them all. It was a blatantly selfish request.

Who can say they would do any differently than he did? Who can say they would do as the other did? For it was truly extraordinary: he called on Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom.

Let's not let the antiquity of the situation separate us from the reality. The three of them were strapped in their electric chairs, with the switch ready to be thrown. They were on the gurney for their lethal injection, with the IV already dripping and the fatal drugs attached and ready to be delivered. Oh, as I write it I shiver! I don't know your beliefs about capital punishment, but you just agree there is a point when all hope is gone.

This is when the second criminal asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom. Think of it! By all appearances, Jesus was a dead man. What did he see in Jesus to make him think there was the slightest hope of him becoming a king? Had he seen Jesus preaching around Judah? Had he heard of his miracles? Had he been told that Jesus would rise from the dead? (I doubt that; even the disciples didn't recognize what Jesus meant when he said that would happen.) Did he see something unique--divine--in Jesus' response to his torture, execution, and the mockings?

There must have been something there. There must have been some reason he made this request. Do you think it's at all likely that anyone else, ever in history, has made a similar request of someone with whom he was sharing the gallows?

I've read two sources recently that refer to faith as belief without evidence (one of them I referred to here recently). There are few misconceptions as far off the mark as this one.

Faith is belief based on evidence. I have faith in my wife, that she will love me, care for our kids, be there when I get home. Is this mere guessing and hoping? Of course not! I have years of experience with her; I know her; I have a base of evidence that says she can be trusted.

There is plenty of evidence for the truth of Scripture. There are hundreds of fulfilled prophecies; there is the phenomenon of the growth of the church (built on a man who had been buried); there are the changed lives of Jesus' followers; there is the unparalleled impact on history from the life of Christ.

For those who come to know him, there is more evidence of experience in the knowledge of God. As I can trust my wife, because I've seen her and known her, I can trust God, because I have seen his work in me and I know him. He works behind the scenes, to be sure, but his work is nonetheless certain. Faith is based on knowledge and on evidence.

And yet...

... and yet, there is still something extraordinary about that thief's request on the cross. I say extraordinary, but I do not say nonsensical. He saw something real. Oh, and let's not forget Jesus' response: this dying man said "yes" to this remarkable request. Three days later, Easter morning, he proved he had what it took to conquer death and say yes to the rest of us. For we are all doomed to die; we all need a rescuer, just as that thief did. May we all turn to him and say, "I know I have done wrong and I deserve to die, but I look to your grace. Remember me when you come into your kingdom." 

Posted: Wed - March 23, 2005 at 08:38 PM           |


© 2004-2007 by Tom Gilson. Permission is granted to quote up to two paragraphs of any blog entry, provided that a link back to the original is included or (in print) the website address is provided. Please email me regarding longer quotes. All other rights reserved.

Weblog Commenting and Trackback by HaloScan.com
Web Analytics Web Analytics