THE SECOND SAYING—REACH OUT TO OTHERS

THE SECOND SAYING—REACH OUT TO OTHERS

In Luke 23:43 Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Two thieves were crucified with Christ—one to His right and the other to His left. In response to the request of one thief—“Jesus, remember me when You come in Your Kingdom!” (Luke 23:42)—Jesus replied, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Our Lord died bringing the truth of eternal life to a damned soul.

It’s hard to imagine how Christ, hanging on a cross, feeling the venomous hate of His persecutors, and bearing the punishment of all who would believe throughout the ages, could at the same time be immediately concerned with the salvation of one sinner. But He was. Christ was never too preoccupied to not be interested in leading someone to salvation. His life commitment was to bring men and women to God.

The conversion of that thief is both remarkable and dramatic. At that moment, what was so convincing about Jesus? There wasn’t yet an outward sign that He was the Christ of God, Savior of the world, the Messiah, and the coming King. From a human standpoint, He was but a victim. He was dying because He had been totally rejected. At the time of the thief’s conversion no one was saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). There was none to affirm that Jesus was the Son of God—even His friends had forsaken Him. He was weak, in disgrace, and in a position of extreme shame. His crucifixion would have been considered totally inconsistent with anything related to the Messiah. His lowly condition is a stumbling block to the Jews from the very first, and the circumstances of His death can only intensify that. In fact, the thief speaks to Christ and Christ to him before any of the supernatural phenomena occur that might have convinced him that this was a work of God. The earth had not yet quaked (Matt. 27:51), the darkness had not yet come (Mark 15:33), graves had not yet opened (Matt. 27:52), and the centurion had not yet said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54).

In the most unfavorable and unconvincing circumstances imaginable, the thief was convinced that Jesus Christ was the Savior. Although at first he joined his companion in mocking Christ (Matt. 27:38, 44), he obviously had a change of heart and rebuked the other thief by affirming Christ’s sinlessness (Luke 23:40–41). In asking Jesus to remember him, he was pleading for forgiveness. Therefore he understood Christ’s sinlessness and His identity as Savior. His request that Jesus remember him when coming into His kingdom shows that the thief affirmed Christ’s resurrection and Second Coming—he knew that death wasn’t the end. The request also indicates he understood Christ’s sovereignty—all affirmed under the most unlikely of circumstances.

How was it possible for the thief to come to Christ under those conditions? There’s perhaps no clearer illustration that salvation is not a work of man, but the sovereign work of God. God—not circumstance—moved on the thief’s heart to convince him of the truth about Jesus Christ. Too often, professing Christians seek to account for salvation by the cleverness of human influence and instrumentality, or pointing to favorable circumstances, rather than attributing it to the matchless grace of God. Some think salvation happens because the preacher spoke well, or as a direct result of prayer. But while salvation may indirectly result from those factors, it is the direct result of God’s intervening grace.

When God shattered the darkness of that thief’s heart, he believed. But nonetheless it was through Christ who was sensitive to be used of God to bring a damned soul to salvation. 

Christ’s desire for the salvation of sinners was constant. He came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Paul wrote that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). He accomplished that even while dying on a cross. He is our example for reaching out to others with the truth of the gospel. He died forgiving those who sinned against Him, and He died bringing the truth of eternal life to a damned soul. That’s how to live.