Next, I would begin to plan, and imagine, what it will be
like. I would start thinking about all
the things I would want to see on my upcoming trip. Even if all I plan to do is vege-out and
spend my time eating, sleeping, and sitting in a pool somewhere, my imagination
can run wild with what peace or joy this might offer me and my wife with me. After the initial news, and the modest
planning, comes the execution. Certainly,
this is the stage where we believe we will have the most fun. In my experience, my level of fun has always
been in my ability to adapt to the reality of what is. When my expectations have been too high, or
too fixed, I sometimes find myself disappointed with reality. Nevertheless, it is the reality of the
execution of our trip that provides the photos, the memories, and the time we
spend in the paradise we have imagined.
Most importantly for me at least, the time in paradise with the one I
love.
Now imagine what a gift like this would mean to you if it
came at the lowest point in your life.
Imagine if you were offered this trip to whatever your version of paradise
was to be, when everything else in your life had gone as bad as it possibly
could. Wouldn’t the promise of the
change in your near future be even more meaningful, even more joyous. When you are at your worst, good news is
sometimes even more wonderful, than when you are at your best, or distracted by
so many other good things in your life, that one more good thing, is hardly
noticeable from the other noise. Luke
gives us a case study in such an event.
In his gospel letter to his friend about what we believe and why, Luke
tells us of the best news we could ever receive in our lives, coming at the
worst time, and therefore being even more meaningful because it does. Our study focuses upon the malefactor (or
criminal, his crimes never specifically identified in full) that is dying upon
a cross next to Jesus. Talk about
timing. If this criminal were to be sent
to Calvary only one day earlier or later, he might have missed Jesus
entirely. But for the mercy of God the
Father who would wish not even a single one of us perish, this criminal went to
his execution on the same day as His salvation in Jesus Christ.
And the entire gospel, the entire Bible, the entire reason
for the Bible; all of this wider story is found in the experience of this one
criminal who unlike his partner in crime finds that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of
God, and instead of making fun of Jesus, or demanding that Jesus find a way to
free them all from death, this criminal looks to Jesus with a humble plea of
mercy for what is to come. All of them
begin to realize death is to be certain.
Jesus will not be freeing them from death. But there is something more at stake. Luke picks up in chapter 23 beginning in
verse 42 saying … “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into
thy kingdom.” Let us examine this
simple plea. It comes at the worst time
in this man’s life, when he is set to die for his crimes. He deserves his fate, he has earned it, by
all the sin upon others he has committed in his life. He was simply caught in his sin, and
justifiably sentenced for it. Just like
us. This is us as we sit today. We are just like this poor criminal. Whether we have been sentenced by society to
pay for our deeds or not as yet; our sin still condemns us all for what we have
done. We deserve what should be coming
to each of us. This criminal deserves NO
mercy, but DESPITE what the criminal deserves, he looks upon the Lamb of God
dying next to him, and begs for mercy he knows he does not deserve. That takes a good bit of humility and audacity
at the same time. He begs the King for
his life, knowing he does not deserve the mercy.
And the modern Christian likes to apply much more in his
simple request than was there. We equate
this to a “death bed” confession of repentance and ask for forgiveness for what
this criminal has done. But no such
words appear from this man. He does not say
that “he repents”. Perhaps he is not
sorry. Perhaps he stole bread to keep
his wife and children alive, and therefore does not regret what he did, even though
it was still wrong. Or perhaps he killed
someone who threatened the life of his child, and even though he killed, he was
not sorry. We have no idea of his
circumstances. We have no idea of his
heart. And that remains the case
today. You have no idea who I am, what I
have been through, what I regret with every fiber of my being, even if I never
say it. You do not know how my heart has
pleaded with God for mercy for sins you may never thought me capable of. Nor do I know you. Only God could know either of us. And when the journey of salvation begins, I
dare say we are not so sorry for what we have done wrong. It takes time, and the Holy Spirit to convict
us, of the error of our sins, and reveal to us the pain and death they bring,
not only to us, but to those we claim to love the most. So while most Christians believe there is an
implicit declaration of repentance and request for forgiveness in the words of
this criminal, there were none. And it
is up to Jesus to know his heart, for none of us are capable of knowing it.
Timing is also interesting here. There is no presumption that anything is
about to happen right then. The request
is made to “remember me” when you come into your kingdom. The kingdom is to be the final one, a kingdom
that will only occur at the end of all things.
The criminal knows he will have been dead a good long time before the
final judgment of the world occurs, the final separation of sheep from goats,
and the beginning of heaven and our return to it begins. Further, the criminal knows he is but a goat. It will take the mercy of the King to change
this man from goat to sheep. It will
take the mercy of our God to see him for more than he is. To see him changed. To see him made new, transformed. And to be frank, there is no time for
transformation here at the end of his life.
There is only time for mercy, time to plea one final time for it. He asks Jesus to remember him, and remember
him fondly, through the lens of mercy.
The modern Christian likes to believe there was faith
here. But they hate to separate the
concepts of faith and doctrine or beliefs.
This criminal had time to believe in Jesus as having the power to save
his soul. He did not have time to
believe in every doctrine of any particular denomination. The views of this criminal on tithing or the
Sabbath are wholly unknown. Perhaps even
non-existent. We have no idea what his background
might have been relative to baptism.
Maybe he was graced by John the Baptist earlier with a Baptism for the
remission of sins. Or maybe even better
baptized by Jesus into a faith into Himself as the Messiah. Both Jesus and John baptized in the river
Jordan in recent years. But perhaps this
criminal had never even heard of the concept of baptism and had no idea what it
meant or how to do it. His plea for
mercy was not based on the fulfillment of doctrine. It was based in a raw faith in Jesus. He had no time to learn about anything. He was in the middle of dying for his
sins. So are we. And we so often forget that all of our
doctrines are supposed to be tools to help us find more insight into the Jesus
we believe in, instead of lists of do’s and don’ts meant to grant us entry into
heaven or keep us out of it. We are all
just sinners, dying in our sins, asking for mercy from the King, knowing we do
not deserve it.
Don’t get me wrong, the whole point of transformation is to
rid us of our sins; and it is the goal of our salvation. A goal we can only achieve through submission
of our will to Jesus Christ, who gladly offers to do this work inside of us,
changing us from the inside out. But
wherever we find ourselves on the road of transformation, we are always in need
of mercy from the King, and we still know we deserve none of it. Yet we ask anyways. And He is always faithful to provide it. But I suppose the biggest point I would like
to make in the case study doctor Luke offers us regarding this man, is that
while clearly not deserving mercy of any kind, he yet asks for it, and finds
it. Luke continues in verse 43 saying …
“And
Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To
day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
And here is where timing becomes everything. Was the criminal still alive to hear this
answer? We know he was. Did he drop dead that very instant? No, it would be later when the Romans would
break the legs of the criminals after the death of Jesus from a broken heart,
when this criminal would finally meet his earthly end. But when was his salvation offered? And when was it confirmed? When Jesus spoke those words. Even while still on the cross, even while
still unworthy, even before he met his end, he was SAVED.
The criminal was destined for paradise. Can you imagine this news came at his lowest
hour, and under the worst conditions possible in his life, when fear might
otherwise have wrung it from his heart.
But instead paradise was coming.
Jesus told it to him. Jesus told
it today. He did not have to wait until
some condition had been met. He was in
no position to meet any action to perform.
And Jesus did not require an oath of belief, or long list of repentance
for each sin he may have committed.
Jesus offered him blanket forgiveness for his life not only up to that
moment, but for the moments that would continue to the end of this man’s
life. A different kind of pardon than we
imagine. It is not our sin that keeps
out of heaven, it is our sin that keeps us away from Jesus who alone can save
us, and make us ready for heaven. We are
pardoned, for we are guilty and all deserving of death, none us worthy of
anything else. Our judgment has already
occurred. And we were found guilty,
worthy of death. But Jesus died in our
stead. So transformation is not about
making us worthy for heaven, it is about making us worthy to live from now to
forever, helping us understand what it truly means to live. Our salvation was written upon that cross by
Jesus, Savior of the world. We need only
ask for His gift, which He gladly gives, no matter what we understand about
doctrines.
Transformation is His further gift to us, to free us from
our sins beyond our salvation, to help us learn what it means to truly live,
and live in harmony with heaven.
Transformation is not about our salvation from sin, but our freedom from
sin, our freedom from wanting sin ever again, about living without the stain of
sin upon us, upon our hearts and minds, but instead gone forever more. It is only then that we can truly understand
life at all. We do not have to be
perfect to be saved. But having been
saved, it is perfection we are also offered.
We may be saved in our sins, but we are never intended to remain in our
sins, suffering the pain and death they bring.
And this gospel news comes today.
The moment we ask. The moment we
seek mercy from the King we find it. And
the journey of our transformation begins.
Only a faith in Jesus can begin that So many Christians get caught up in the idea
that the moment this criminal dies he is immediately transported to heaven to
be with Jesus, all because Jesus uses the word today. But that timing is simply off. Jesus did not go to heaven that day. We know he rested in the grave until the upcoming
Sunday morning. And even then He tarries
to greet Mary Magdeline and share the gospel with her “before” He goes to
heaven to see if His sacrifice has been enough to save us. So for 3 days Jesus does not even go to
heaven.
Obviously the “today” part of what Jesus said was not a
literal we are going to be there today.
But instead it was a declaration of when this criminal was to be
saved. He was saved today. His sins were forgiven today. His journey of transformation begins
today. And even if he has no time on the
journey of transformation at all, his salvation is still assured. And even if this criminal will rest in the
grave for 2000+ years waiting for the resurrection of the righteous, or whether
raised with Jesus on that Sunday, as a first-fruits offering to present to God
the Father, when the criminal is called back to life, he will be called back to
salvation, and transformed in the twinkling of an eye from criminal to saint. We can have absolute faith in the salvation
of our Lord for each of us. And
transformation then is not our punishment, but our relief from the sins that
would otherwise plague us in the life we have left to live. And the best news of all, is that paradise is
our destiny, it is coming to each of us, who have had the good sense to beg
mercy from the King, even if we know we do not deserve it.
This is the summation of the entire Bible, of the entire
gospel. We need only believe in Jesus,
to be saved and better than that, to be transformed by His power, into the
creatures He intended us to be. We yield
our will, our desires to Him, and He transforms our inherent wickedness into
righteousness, changing what we want, what we do, and how we love, into a
mirror reflection of His image. And
Jesus Himself says it begins today, it is assured today, it is here for you
today. Just ask. And today it comes. Timing is everything. I am excited about the paradise that is
coming for me, but more concerned that I do anything and everything I can to
help my wife be there at my side, and she does this for me. And we do this for our children, and our
parents, and our families, and friends, and even our enemies. The joy of paradise was not meant only for
me, but can only be enjoyed fully with those we love at our sides. Not only our spouses but every other precious
soul we come to love through the power of Jesus. Paradise is coming, I dare say a paradise
greater than any you have capacity to imagine.
For those who love a well-lit city, you have no idea how great a city is
coming. For those nature bugs, you have
yet to see the gardens God hangs in this world made new. And for those with imaginations too great to
be bound to one world, there are no limits to the worlds of creation that span
the universe you have yet to discover.
Shall we not learn to live now, like we would live then, in
perfect harmony with our God, and in perfect love of others? This is the gift He offers, starting now,
starting today, no need to wait. Timing
is everything, so when will your timing begin? …
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