To Encourage You

Luke 23:39-43 “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ’Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

Here in this short account from Luke 23, we see the situation in  which each and every person will find themselves at the time of their death.  Here we have two thieves, two lawbreakers, in the process of dying alongside Jesus.  They each had a perspective of Jesus at the time of their death, but those perspectives were in direct contrast to one another.  The one reviled and mocked Jesus. In essence he was saying “So, you are the Messiah, are you? Well if you’re so great, then do something about this situation.  You call yourself the Messiah, yet you hang here with us, dying, when you could save both us and yourself.  What kind of Messiah are you?  If you are who you say you are, then why is something so bad happening to me?  If you are God, why is there such evil in the world?!”  Isn’t that the perspective of so many?  They have the view that if there is a God, then why is there so much evil in the world? Why such pain, such suffering, and such death?  What kind of being is this that would allow such things to occur?  Those with that perspective of Christ, will reject Him even with their dying breath. 

On the other hand, we have the perspective of the other thief.  In essence he is saying “What are you talking about?! We are condemned because we deserve to be condemned. We are lawbreakers. We brought this on ourselves. But here is One who has done nothing wrong, yet He is being subjected to the same suffering and death that we are?  He doesn’t deserve any of this, but we do!  He’s dying with us – indeed, He is dying FOR us?  How can you reject such great love?” Then he turns to Jesus in repentance and asks the only One who can give him life to save him – not in this life, but the next.  In his dying breath is great awe of this One who died with him, and he worships the lover of his soul. 

In the end, each and every one of us will find ourselves on one side or the other of the cross. We will either reject Jesus right to the end, wondering how, if He was who He said he was, we have suffered whatever we have suffered in this life. We will think we deserve so much more and, if anything, we will blame Him for our fate. On the other side are those who have come to recognize that “the wages of (their own) sin is (rightfully and deservedly) death” (Romans 3:23). Yet, despite this, Jesus has died for us, suffering the same fate we do, yet so undeservedly.  It is those on that side of the cross who will turn to Him in repentance and faith with the perspective of great awe and love toward this One “because He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).

So which side of the cross do you find yourself on at this moment?  For no matter what, each one of us must choose one of them.