Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Luke 23:42

If you knew you only had a few more minutes, maybe hours to live, what would you want? What would be most important to you? I have often wondered what such a moment would be like, especially when I reflect on the story about that first Good Friday when three men were sentenced to die. Two were thieves, and the other was Jesus.

Shortly before His death, Jesus’ last moment with the thief provided deep assurance that he would be saved when Jesus stated, “Truly I tell you today, you will be with Me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). That statement echoed around the world tenfold and has provided unspeakable hope to all—that we would be saved from ourselves. Jesus’ interaction with the thief on the cross reveals several lessons we can learn as followers of Christ

A CHOICE TO MAKE

Scripture tells us Jesus willingly took our place on the cross so that we might be saved. In the Spring of 33 AD, Jesus was stripped, whipped, mocked, and beaten before being crucified. But He wasn’t alone. There on the hill, nailed to a cross on both sides of Him were two thieves. Though we don’t know their names, for the purpose of this devotional, we will name them: Haughty and Humble. Together they mocked Christ along with the crowd. They teased Jesus stating if He was the one true King—then why didn’t He get off the cross and save Himself.

Yet, as time passed, Humble realized Jesus wasn’t an ordinary man. Nor was Jesus a man deserving of such a painful and lowly death. By studying the facts of Roman crucifixion, you’ll find that crucifixion was about a lot more than pain and punishment. Their goal was absolute humiliation. It was also a means of producing social conformity. The thief on the cross knew he deserved to be crucified while at the same time, realizing Jesus didn’t. Scripture tells us:

"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: 'Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!' But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Don’t you fear God,' he said, 'since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.'

"Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise'" (Luke 23:39-43).

It is remarkable that while Christ was in excruciating pain of the cross, He had the heart to comfort this thief. It’s a miracle moment unfolding and yet, a stark reminder of how we can choose to accept or reject God. This is one of the many lessons followers of Christ can reap from this story.

We can either accept the call to repentance or we can ignore it.

Like Haughty and Humble, every person who has ever lived is a sinner. Regardless of how society judges sin, it doesn’t compare to the holiness of God.

No matter how society judges the severity of our sin, compared to the holiness of God, we are all violent, hardened criminals. Our sin has earned the death penalty. Throughout his last moments on the cross next to Jesus, we see he suffered to death without humility and without faith. “For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).”

We all have a choice when it comes to Christ. No matter our background, no matter how dark and dismal—God is there offering a way out. But it’s up to us. We can either die an angry, bitter person without hope, or we can choose life. We cannot sit on the fence. Failing to choose Jesus is choosing to reject Him. Everyone will choose, and everyone will go to one of two destinations because of the choice made. We can either be the thief who rejected Jesus or the one who humbly came to Jesus.

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son" (John 3:18).

The Thief Who Repented

As the thief Humble was about to die, he turned to Jesus for forgiveness, and Christ accepted him. This shows us it’s never too late to turn to God—even in our darkest hour. This pivotal moment also teaches us our deeds don’t save us, only faith in Christ.

The humble thief acknowledged his sin. He believed in Jesus. Sometimes I wonder if he had heard the stories of Jesus through the rumor mill. Did he know that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead? Did he know Jesus healed others? Did he understand that Jesus’ kingdom wasn’t a physical kingdom coming but one that saves our souls? Perhaps Humble had heard the legends and the rumors. Or perhaps, he was so contrite in the way he lived—he saw the hand of God on Jesus. Either way, Humble asked for mercy and forgiveness. And Humble trusted Jesus with his eternity. Jesus then comforted Humble with hope: “Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).

May we each turn to Jesus just like Humble, daily receiving God's mercy and the hope of eternity with Him.