In these weeks that lead up to Easter, we’ve been looking at various groups of people that the Gospel writers tell us were clustered around the cross of Christ. Two weeks ago, we looked at the soldiers who crucified Him. And then last week, at the scoffers who gathered to mock Him. Now this week I want to think about the two robbers who were crucified along with Him. All four gospels record the same basic facts. Jesus was crucified first, and then the two condemned criminals crucified with Him, one on each side, all part of our Lord’s comprehensive, public humiliation. John Calvin says, “They gave Jesus first place as though He were the thieves’ leader.” Interestingly, Matthew and Mark tell us once He was nailed to His cross, the passersby, chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people all mocked Jesus, and so too did both criminals who were crucified beside Him. Only Luke reports the fact that one of the two had a remarkable change of heart. And so it’s to Luke’s account that I want to turn your attention today to linger over this exchange between the dying thief and his dying Lord, an exchange that has ever since rightly become immensely precious to every sinner saved by grace.
So take your Bibles in hand please and turn in them with me now to the New Testament scriptures to Luke’s gospel, chapter 23. We will take up the reading in verse 32. You can find that on page 884 if you’re using one of our church Bibles. As we read the passage, I want you to be on the lookout for three things. First of all, I want you to see the contrast between these two men crucified with Christ. It is a contrast that actually shows us why faith matters. Why faith matters. A contrast that shows us why faith matters. Secondly, you’re going to hear a confession on the lips of one of these two men showing us what faith believes. So a contrast to show us why faith matters, a confession to show us what faith believes, and then finally in response to that confession of faith, a commitment is made by the Lord Jesus Himself showing us what faith receives. Alright, so a contrast to show us why faith matters, a confession on the lips of one of these two crucified thieves to show us what faith believes, and a commitment from Christ in response to show us what faith receives. That’s where we’re going this morning. Before we look at it together, let’s pray once more and ask for the Lord’s help and then we’ll read the passage. Let us pray.
O Lord, we bow now before You and we ask You please to send us the light and the ministry of the Holy Spirit that He may take up these words and illuminate our sin-darkened hearts and understanding, Show us ourselves in the mirror of Your Word that we might be brought to renewed repentance or perhaps to repentance for the very first time. And more, show us Christ in His sufficiency to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him and draw us to Him by Your mighty, irresistible call. For we ask this in Your holy name, amen.
Luke chapter 23, beginning at the thirty-second verse. This is the Word of God:
“Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’
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.’”
Amen.
A Contrast that Shows Us Why Faith Matters
Alright, let’s think about the contrast first of all. Here’s why faith matters. A contrast to show us why faith matters. Consider for a moment the situation of these two men being crucified with Jesus. I suppose they are as alike in background as any two men can be. Matthew calls them robbers, although as we saw last week, that word “robber” could also refer to a revolutionary, someone inciting sedition against Roman oppression. Here, however, in our passage, Luke simply called them “criminals.” The word refers to an evil-doer, a habitual crook, a hardened thug. So whatever the precise nature of their crimes, whether it was petty theft or violent insurrection, the point is, these are bad men. These are bad men. One of them actually acknowledges that fact in verse 41 when he says they are being executed justly. He acknowledges this is what they both deserve for the lives that they have led. They are alike in their background.
They are also equally alike in their present circumstances in this moment, aren’t they? They have both received the same sentence. They both experienced the same indignities and agonies at the hands of their killers. They both have access to the same information about the third man being crucified between them. Whatever they understood about Jesus before this moment we have no way to know, but on this day as they hung there beside Him on either hand, they certainly heard all His major claims clearly enough, although they are now being hurled back at Jesus as accusations and insults. But they heard that He is King of the Jews, that He saved others, that He is the Christ, the Son of God, the chosen one. And as they looked over at Jesus’ cross, they both saw the same things. All they could see what a King, as Ralph Davis puts it, “wearing a crown of thorns whose throne is a cross, whose robe nakedness, whose glory is a body shredded by Roman whips, whose court consists of caustic blasphemers and whose enemies had apparently conquered Him.” Not much of a king at all, in other words.
And as they take all that in, they’re also alike, at least in their initial reaction to Jesus. Matthew and Mark both say, “Those,” plural, “Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.” So they both at first take up the taunts of the crowds. And consider for a moment what that would have involved for them. Hauling themselves up on the nails driven into their hands and pushing down on the nail driven through their feet, searing agony, all in an effort to fill their lungs with enough air to raise their voices and spend their precious breath, one of their last breaths in this world, in hurling insults at Jesus. Even in the face of their own imminent demise, their hearts are both full of nothing but bitterness and anger and they vent it on Jesus Christ. The words of the one that Luke records we can be sure are a sample of the sentiments of them both, at least for a while. He said, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” These are words that are dripping with sarcasm and hatred. “What a cruel twist of the knife to crucify a failed Messiah next to us. This isn’t the Christ. He can no more save us than He can save Himself.” That’s the implication.
But then very soon, it seems, the insults fade from the lips of one of the two even while the other one carries on oblivious. The heart of one of them is changed towards Jesus Christ while the other one continues to scream out his vitriol along with his pain. Both of them are dying, both are confronted with Jesus, both see the same sights, hear the same sounds, but while the last few hours of the life of one is consumed with hatred, the other receives the assurance from the mouth of Christ that today he would be in paradise. And now what is the great difference between these two men? What is it that compels Jesus to make this promise to one and not to the other? Think about it. They’re both naked, so they have no riches to give. They can’t buy their way to heaven. Their hands and feet are nailed to the cross, so no work to offer, no possibility of good deeds now to win the approval of Jesus. They are both entirely out of excuses and out of options. And so what is it then that can take such an unlikely prospect, such a perfect specimen of sin and failure as this man was, and secure for him the certainty of paradise? Well, nothing except faith in Jesus Christ crucified. That’s the only discernible difference between these two men. One of the believed and was saved.
Now I’ll admit, frankly, that there are some complicated passages in holy Scripture where it is easy to twist the meaning, cynically, or to misunderstand the message. But there’s no possible way to misconstrue this story and somehow conclude after reading it that Jesus assured this dying thief of paradise because of some quality of his, some work he performed that compels this gracious response from Jesus. It’s unmistakable here, isn’t it? Unambiguous. What saved this man? Only faith – empty, unworthy, the faith not of a mighty, sinless doer, but of a helpless sinner who can do nothing but plead for mercy. That’s what drew from Jesus the promise that he would be saved.
My wife’s maiden name is MacLennan, and the Latin motto of the Clan MacLennan is Dum Spiro Spero – “While I breathe, I hope.” And that’s part of the lesson, isn’t it, of this last minute, eleventh hour conversion, surely. What good news it is – while you draw breath, there remains yet time for you to find mercy from the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe you’ve lived a long and selfish life, you’ve filled your days with greed and pride, you’ve been harsh and bitter, you’ve been lazy and entitled, you’ve made a god of your wealth or your lusts or your family or your career or your reputation. Maybe there’s a trail of broken relationships and moral failures and squandered privileges littering your path. And now here you are facing your final years and you’ve begun to wonder if it’s too late. Well let the dying thief, dying here beside the Lord Jesus, let him preach Gospel hope to you today. “Dum Spiro Spero” he would say to you. There is hope for you yet while you draw breath. You can make the same discovery that he did, even now at this late hour.
I wonder if you see that you can no more earn Christ’s welcome of you in this moment here today than could this thief while he hung on the cross all those years ago. Your hands and feet are not bound as his were, but do you recognize that you are today just as powerless to save yourself as he was, hanging there immobilized by Roman nails? Amidst all his helplessness and his unworthiness, he understood while his own deeds could certainly damn him, there were no deeds of his that could ever save him. And then he saw the man dying beside him, Jesus the Christ, and he knew, “He can save me. Only He can save me. He can save me to the uttermost.” Can you see yourself in the crucified thief, I wonder. Well if so, right now, no more delay, while there is yet hope, before your window closes, would you follow in his steps and put your trust in Jesus Christ? “Dum Spiro Spero” – there is hope yet.
But maybe you’re reading the story of God’s mercy to this man in the final moments of his life and you’re wondering if perhaps you can purposefully delay your repentance. “I’ll go indulge my appetites, sin with impunity, delay my repentance till the eleventh hour, and then just before the end, like this dying thief right here, I’ll quickly repent and that way I’ll have all the pleasures of sin in this life and all the pleasures of heaven in the next.” Well what a wicked, not to mention precarious scheme that is. There is no guarantee, is there? There is no guarantee that any of us will ever know when our end approaches. Surely tornadoes in the Delta and gun deaths in Nashville have made that point with all the grim force we could ever need. We need to remember that our souls may be required of us at any moment, at any moment. And so the lesson of the repenting thief here is not that we can wait to repent till the last possible moment. The lesson of the thief is, whenever we are presented with Christ crucified, we should respond then and there, not with grand gestures or extravagant gifts but with repentance and trust in Jesus alone to save us without delay, without hesitation, right now before it’s too late. Someone once said there’s only one deathbed conversion in the Bible. Here it is. There is one that we might never lose hope, but there is only one that we might never presume upon God’s grace. So there’s a contrast here, do you see it, between these two men. It shows us why faith matters. It’s the only difference between them. He believes and is saved.
A Confession to Show Us What Faith Believes
Then secondly, I want you to see there is a confession here that shows us not just that faith matters but what faith believes. Faith in what, precisely, saves? Well let’s look at the confession of faith made by this dying man. First of all, you’ll notice faith sees himself in a new light. Actually, whenever saving faith springs up in a human heart, it is always accompanied by conviction of sin and by true repentance. The other criminal condemns Jesus. He hurls his insults at Jesus. There is no remorse in him, no ownership of his guilt; just anger at everybody else. But look at verse 40, “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.’” He confesses frankly his deeds deserve all that he receives, including the cursed death signified by his cross. He is agreeing with God in his own condemnation of sin. Everybody else was denouncing Jesus. This man is denouncing himself.
You see, you actually can’t trust in Christ without denouncing yourself. Did you know that? You can’t trust Christ without denouncing self. We are so often like the little child who reaches through the narrow fence to steal his neighbor’s toy. And while he holds the toy in his hands, he can’t pull it through the bars, so now he’s stuck. He can hold onto his elicit treasure and be imprisoned, or he can let it go and be free, but he can’t do both. One thief won’t repent. Oh sure, he’d take salvation from Jesus if Jesus could provide it. “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But he’s stuck. Do you see? Unless he lets go of his self-acquittal – he’s blaming everybody else, he’s mad at everybody else, he will not judge himself – unless he lets go of his self-righteousness and agrees with God that he is a guilty sinner, he cannot be saved. “Now wait a minute,” you say, “what kind of self-righteousness does this man possibly lay claim to? I mean, look at him.” But isn’t that part of the point? It doesn’t matter how wretched our sin, the human heart invariably blames everybody else and acquits itself. But unless and until you come to repentance to denounce yourself, you can’t take hold of Jesus.
The other thief on the cross of course sees that clearly, doesn’t he? He owns his sin without any pretense, without any art. He repents. Faith repents when it looks at itself. I wonder if you’ve come to that point yet. Maybe you think you can have Jesus, but you simply cannot denounce yourself. Well these two thieves tell you it’s got to be one or the other; you can’t have it both ways. Faith repents when it looks at itself.
But then, notice what faith sees when it looks at Jesus. The dying thief knows that Jesus isn’t like him somehow. Or like his colleague in crime, verse 41, “This Man has done nothing wrong.” Christ’s innocence, His righteousness, cannot be hidden, not even beneath the blood and the shame and the degradation of the cross. It’s actually quite remarkable when you think about it, that the faith of this dying crook saw in Jesus what no one else at Golgotha saw that day. Everyone else saw just another naked, dying, wretched victim worthy of scorn maybe, a few well-aimed barbs perhaps, but not much else. But this man dying beside Jesus saw the truth. Somehow he saw that Jesus was holy, harmless, and undefiled and separate from sinners. He saw that He is the One who knew no sin. Being here, made sin for us, tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He has done nothing wrong. Jesus Christ the righteous who is the propitiation for our sin.
What was happening? Why is the innocent dying among thieves as though He were the chief thief among sinners, as though He were the chief sinner? “Christ suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.” That’s what was going on. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s what was going on. He knows Jesus is righteous. He also knows Jesus is a King. Verse 42, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” There is a kingdom that belongs to Jesus. He really is who the mocking crowds say He is – the Christ of God, His chosen One. And as the other dying thief suggests in cruel sarcasm, this King really can save. He somehow knows that Jesus’ death is not the end of His Kingship, but rather its foundation. The cross of Christ doesn’t spell the downfall of His kingdom, but its establishment. Jesus’ kingdom into which this man is asking to be brought, lies on the other side of Calvary, beyond the grave. The cross, he somehow seems to grasp, will be the means of his salvation, not a barrier to it. And vitally, you will notice, when he takes all of that in, he does not ask Jesus to remember his works. He doesn’t even ask Jesus to remember his words. He asks Jesus to remember his person. “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” He’s not cutting a deal, do you see. This isn’t a foxhole prayer trying to cut a bargain with God to be let off the hook one more time. He’s throwing himself on Jesus and he’s asking for extravagant, undeserved grace, for pure, unalloyed mercy. That’s what faith believes.
And please understand, this is not just sort of an extreme example, an unusual case that does not apply to you. You’re not like him, after all. You know, you’re upright and moral. Your shirt is tucked in. Your shoelaces are tied. Your hair is brushed. You’ve got a good job. You’re a moral person. You contribute meaningfully to society. You don’t need dying-thief faith, do you? Please understand, this man is here not to show you the exception that proves the rule, but to show you the rule. Unless you come to Jesus like this thief – naked and helpless, abandoned entirely to Him for mercy – you never will come to Him at all. There’s no other way to receive from the mouth of Christ the assurance of paradise forever with Him but this way. What faith believes. A contrast that shows us why faith matters. A confession that shows us what faith believes.
A Commitment to Show Us What Faith Receives
And then finally and quickly, there’s a commitment in response from the mouth of Christ that shows us what faith receives. Look how Jesus responds. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” Every word is rich with Gospel truth. Let’s take a moment to look at it together. First, Jesus offers him certainty. Faith receives from Jesus certainty. “Truly, I say to you…” The word is “Amen – Amen, I say to you.” “This promise of Mine,” Jesus is saying, “has the character of a sacred oath, a holy pledge upon which you can depend entirely. The word spoken by the chief priests and by the crowds and by the other criminal from his cross, they are full of lies and hatred. But My voice speaks only truth.” “Truly, I say to you…” When faith trusts in Jesus, the salvation He promises is not in any doubt. There’s no ambiguity. There’s no maybe. There’s no perhaps in the Gospel.
As a pastor over the years, I’ve counseled people who doubt their salvation. The sight of their own sin is so real to them, so clear, so overwhelming they cannot believe that Jesus would or could or has saved them. But the truth is, your sin is no worse than this man’s, dying beside Jesus here for his crimes. And the same assurance that met his fragile faith will meet yours too. “Truly, I say to you. For sure. No question. No doubt. No hesitation. No qualification. You can bank on it. I am dying to provide for sinners. I am dying to give you this certainty, this assurance – you will be with Me.” Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and He says to you, to you today, “Truly you will be with Me.” Look, you’re not a special case. You’re not the only one, unique in all human history, the only sinner beyond the reach of Jesus Christ. So you can go to Him and put your hope in Him and trust Him to save you and He will. He will say, “Truly, truly for sure, you will be with Me.” Certainty.
Secondly, notice all of that rests on His authority. “Truly, I say to you…” This is not second hand assurance. It’s not a mere deduction or an inference, much less is it a fond and desperate hope. It is the word of Jesus Himself, spoken in the very act of securing what He promises. “Truly, I say to you.” Now to doubt your salvation in the face of those words is to make Jesus out to be a liar. How dare you doubt His power to save you! “I give you My word,” He says. There’s certainty here. It rests on His own authority.
And thirdly, wonderfully, there’s mercy here. “Truly, I say to you. To you – not to the chief priests, not to the great and the good, not to the worthy – to you, a wretched, dying gangster who deserves not just the cross but the wrath of hell. To you I am making this promise. For you I am shedding My blood. For you, in your room and stead, instead of you, I obey and bleed and die.” Look, if mercy is wide enough for the thief on the cross, it’s wide enough for you. There is no sin in you so grim that it will not meet with wonderful mercy in Jesus Christ. Certainty. Authority. Mercy.
Immediacy. Faith receives immediacy. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me.” He doesn’t say to you, “Truly, I say, if you pass one more test you will be with Me.” He doesn’t say, “After you pay for your remaining sin in purgatory, you will be with Me.” He doesn’t say, “Once you have proven yourself, you will be with Me.” He says, “Today you will be with Me. Without delay. With nothing intervening, nothing more required. Now. Today. With Me.” “Perfect redemption the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God. The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” Certainty. Authority. Mercy. Immediacy.
And to crown it all, a glorious destiny. “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise” – “with Me in paradise.” The word “paradise” is used twice more, in two other places in the New Testament – Revelation 2:7, “To those who overcome, He gives the right to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God.” Second Corinthians 12:3, “Paul was caught up to the third heaven, to the paradise of God, to hear things that cannot be told.” He’s talking about what we call heaven. Paradise. That’s where He promises to take this man – paradise. Of course the only thing that makes paradise, paradise, is what immediately precedes this word in His promise in verse 43. It’s not just a promise of elysian fields, of happy days and a bright sunshine. That’s not the promise. The promise that makes paradise, paradise, are these two words – “with Me, with Me.” “The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land.” Jesus makes paradise, paradise, which actually means when you think about it, even as he is expiring here on the cross through his agony, as Jesus speaks peace of mind and hope to his heart, right there already he gets to glimpse and taste a little bit of paradise because now he’s not just beside Jesus, now by faith he is really with Him at last – joined to Him, united to Him. And the glimpse of paradise that is open to his view in the promise of Christ is about to open all the way to welcome his soul along with the soul of Jesus Christ into the presence of God where he will rest until the resurrection of the body at the last day. What a destiny Jesus promises to everyone who trusts in Him. You will be with Him forever in the paradise of God.
The dying thief’s confession of faith in Jesus. It was remarkable. He saw what no one else saw. Amazing! But what is far more amazing is the commitment of Jesus Christ to him in response. Do you see how comprehensive and complete the salvation that Jesus died to provide us really is? It comes with certainty, resting on His authority, dripping with mercy, erupting into every believer’s heart with immediacy and it guarantees a glorious destiny. Who would not want a salvation like that? And so would you trust in Christ and do it now, without any further delay, because time is shorter than you think. And may the Lord help you to begin to sing from your heart, “The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there have I, as vile as he, washed all my sins away.”
Let’s pray together.
Lord Jesus, we worship You, we bow and we adore You, that Your mercy is so wide and free, so great, so extravagant as to embrace any sinner, every sinner, the vilest offender who truly believes, to grant pardon immediately to all of us, every one of us, to make us clean. So now before You, like the dying thief, we make no boast of our own. We offer no excuses. We don’t blame anyone else. We own our sin. We are guilty and we deserve the wrath and curse of God. But Lord Jesus, You are able to make the foulest clean, so would You wash us and cleanse us and forgive us and welcome us that even now, today, here we might know that we are with You and You are with us. For we ask this in Your name, amen.