Jesus, Remember Me

(The Gospel According to a Believing Criminal)

Luke 23:1-56

Key Verse 23:42

Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Obviously, the man who prayed to Jesus like this was a Jew. As a Jew he must have known God's promise to send the Savior of the world. While hanging on a tree, he must have seen what was going on with Jesus, and it must have dawned on him that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world. Based on this revelation, he prayed to Jesus, "Jesus, remember me," and he was saved. Let us then go back to the Jerusalem of about 2000 plus years ago, to the mount of Calvary. In so doing let us put ourselves in the shoes of the believing criminal, and try to find out what the man must have seen in Jesus, so we too can pray as the man did and get saved.  

First, Jesus the king of the Jews (1-25)

The first thing he saw was Jesus’ kingship. It was not too difficult for him to see this, because Pilate made the job easy by posting a banner above Jesus: "This is the King of the Jews." 

The religious leaders of Jesus' day did not acknowledge Jesus' kingship. Yet, Jesus affirmed it saying, "Yes, it is as you say." So Jesus is the king of the Jews. 

What then does “the king of Jews” mean? What does his kingship have anything to do with our salvation? We find an answer to this question in the word “King” and the word “Jews.” 

Ultimately, “king” means a conqueror. Elvis Presley is called the king of rock and roll. By his ability to rock and roll he conquered the world of rock and roll. But he himself got conquered by a lot of problems, such as drug problems, and died prematurely. In a way Pilate was also a king. Like Arnold Schwarzeneggar the California governor, Pontus Pilate was a governor of Judea. Most likely he must have exercised diligently, pumping iron regularly at a gym. It is quite possible that like Arney the body builder, the ex-movie star, Pontus Pilate must have been one of the macho men of his day. And he won the competition in a political job market. In this way he was a conqueror in a political society. However what he conquered does not amount to much. If he mastered anything, he mastered the art of compromising. As a politician he also must have mastered the art of telling a lie, for one Jewish saying goes, "One is politic, two are politics, and three are lies." And the Bible says that all liars are going to hell only to be thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 

But this is not so with Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate conqueror. He came to conquer all that must be conquered. Particularly, he came to conquer the power of sin and death, demons, and the devil. Thus far Jesus' career as a servant of God proved this true. In opening up his ministry, he first overcame the devil's temptations. Then with God's power Jesus drove out demons, made the lame to walk, opened the eyes of the blind, and raised the dead. Now he is heading for the cross of mission, the mission to give the devil a knock out punch, and save men from the power of sin and Satan. 

Yes, it is as you say. Indeed, Jesus is the king of salvation. Speaking of this truth, Jesus declared to a Samaritan woman saying, "Salvation is from Jews." 

Second, weep for yourselves and for your children

The second thing the believing criminal must have seen and learned from was what Jesus said to the women mourning for Jesus. Look at verses 26-27. "As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him." It has been said, "A road to destruction is paved with a lot of good intentions." The women who mourned for Jesus and even wailed for Jesus had good intentions. They meant good for Jesus. They loved Jesus so much that they could not understand why such a good man like Jesus had to be led away to be crucified. 

How did Jesus respond to them? Look at verses 28-29, “Jesus turned and said to them, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, “Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!”’” Here by "the time" Jesus means the time when some forty years later the Romans would besiege the city and utterly destroy it and its citizens. When this happens what will they say? Look at verse 30. “Then they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’” Look at verse 31 also. "For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?" Most likely this is a metaphor for the greatness of the disaster that will visit the guilty Jerusalem. When the Romans treat Jesus like this, who is innocent, how much more mercilessly would they treat the people (or daughters) of Jerusalem who would rebel against the Roman rule? 

Jesus' prophecy teaches us that rejecting Jesus the king of the Jews is not a good idea. In fact it is a terrible idea, for it will be an invitation to life which is full of violence. 

Third, they crucified him

The third thing the believing criminal must have seen and experienced first hand and learned a lesson from it is recorded in verses 32-33, "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left." All of us know that Jesus was innocent. The believing criminal also knew that Jesus did nothing wrong. Yet they "crucified him." This must have caused a powerful question to arise in his mind: Jesus is innocent. Yet why did God allow this to happen to him? I think he knew the answer far better than all of us; Jesus has to suffer like this because of someone else's sin. 

Who then is the someone else? The Prophet Isaiah answers the question in Isaiah 53:5, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah uses the word "our." Here “our transgressions” and “our iniquities” mean my transgression and your transgressions, my iniquities and yours as well. John the Baptist is more direct on this point, for looking at Jesus he said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes the sin of the world!" 

So we can say that the believing criminal must have seen one important truth: Jesus was crucified to put an end to the life of sin, and thereby to save man from suffering from the consequences of sin. 

As we saw in the previous Sunday worship message, the Prophet Daniel saw this in advance and said in Daniel 9:24, "Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy." 

Later the Apostle Paul understood this truth and said in Romans 6:6, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." He then said in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." He also states that “[t]hose who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires... May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 5:24; 6:14).

A.W. Tozer understood what the Apostle Paul was saying so he said, "People who are crucified with Christ have three distinct remarks: 1. They are facing only one direction; 2. They can never turn back; and 3. they no longer have plans of their own." 

Fourth, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Now there is a fourth thing the believing criminal saw and received God's light of salvation from. Look at 34. “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.” We do not know how closely the believing criminal was to Jesus. Maybe he was hung a few feet away. So while Jesus uttered words of prayer, he must have heard the words of prayer with great clarity. And every word of Jesus' prayer must have touched him. 

Let us now put ourselves in the position of the believing criminal and think about the prayer Jesus offered. What did Jesus pray at that crucial moment? I think we can divide Jesus' prayer into two parts: prayer for reconciliation and prayer for enlightenment. 

No. 1 Prayer for reconciliation 

“Father, forgive them.” Once upon a time, a man went out and found a construction job. During the framing work, he was driving nails into two by fours. But accidentally, instead of hitting the nail, he hit his thumb. The thumb was smashed. Guess what was the first word that came out of his mouth? "Ouch!" Then guess the next word that fell out of his mouth: the four letter word that begins with S. As Jesus' body was being smashed the first word that came out of his mouth was "Father!” The next word was "forgive." The third word was "them." Jesus prayed to God the Father for those who were driving nails through his body! 

“Father, forgive them!” The important truth here is that Jesus not only took the punishment for the sins of the world on his body but also prayed on behalf of sinners. When a man sins, he sins first against God and then against man. In the parable of a prodigal son, when he came back to his senses he said to his father, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you." So every sin is sinning against God the Father. God is the God of justice. It is impossible for God to allow any sin (even a hint of it) to go unpunished. In order for God to be able to forgive anyone, someone must step in and pay the penalty for the sin. Otherwise God cannot and is not going to accept sinners into his presence. But the greater tragedy is that there is no one who does not sin. All have sinned. No one is righteous. But there is one exception: Jesus is sinless. He is without sin. Now that Jesus is offering himself as an atoning sacrifice, and as he asks God the Father to forgive sinners of their sins, God is in a position to forgive the sins of the world. In fact, since Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world, God will have to accept what Jesus asks God to do. This we call the prayer of reconciliation. This prayer is effective. We owe our position (that is the life under his grace with the hope to live in God's presence) in the Lord to Jesus who offered the prayer of reconciliation. 

No. 2 Prayer that all sinners would come back to their senses and turn to God the Father

Jesus also prayed to God the Father by saying, "for they do not know what they are doing." This is a prayer for enlightenment. It is the prayer for all sinners to come back to their "senses" that they would no longer sin and thereby break themselves as well as break the heart of God.

Jesus asked God to forgive sinners for they do not know what they are doing. This provision (or the reason for God to forgive) is based on Jesus' knowledge that everyone who is truly enlightened would not continue to sin. It is based on the biblical truth that as a result of a man having become foolish, man ends up sinning. But when man comes back to his own senses, he will surely realize that the life of sin, the life that disobeys God is truly the life of emptiness, the life that is truly foolish. And Jesus knows that as a sinner comes back to his or her senses, he or she will surely repent, and come back home. 

I think the believing criminal finally came to his own senses, when he arrived at the point where he reached. I do not know exactly what kind of life he used to live. But most likely he lived like a prodigal son. But when he first started out his life of sinful rebellion, like the prodigal son in Jesus' parable, he must have thought that every thing was going to be fine; he must have thought that his life would be full of fun, thrills, and excitement. But he was wrong. All he reaped at the end of the road was guilt and shame. Then he was hit by the consequence of his sinful rebellion: crucifixion. And it was too late. 

Was he too late? Oh, no. Luckily he had Jesus hanging on a tree next to him. And he heard Jesus praying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." When he heard this prayer new hope arose in him, the hope to make a brand new beginning. So what did he do? 

Fifth, Jesus, remember me. 

Shepherd Jay Irwin will rise and read for us verses 35-42. Let us altogether read verse 42. “Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’” 

How did Jesus respond to the man's desperate plea? Look at verse 43, “Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’” 

Sixth, the curtain was torn in two

Clearly, the believing criminal was saved. And he did receive salvation in a record period of time. On seeing the man’s case one may ask, "What about me, a sinner? Is there hope for me as well?" Yes, there is. 

On what basis do I say this? I say this on the basis of the following Bible passage, that is, vs. 44-56. While this passage deserves days, months, if not years of Bible studies, for our own purpose, we would like to focus on one point: the curtain of the Lord's temple was torn in two, This curtain is symbolic of the sin barrier that exists between God and men. Because of this sin barrier, man was not able to come back to God, and God cannot come back to men. But Jesus the Lamb of God took away this sin barrier so that for all who sincerely repent and turn to God based on the blood sacrifice of Jesus, they can now ask God for the forgiveness of sins, and the right to live as a child of God. Speaking of this truth, Hebrews 10:20 says, "By a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body," 

This way is left open for us who are still physically alive. 

One word: Jesus, remember me

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