Today You Will be With Me in Paradise

There are two things that I would like to share regarding these words of Jesus.
As we all know, Jesus said, “Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who
does the will of my Father” (Mt 7:21); yet the Good Thief says “Lord,” and Jesus promises him paradise that very day.
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Besides acknowledging Jesus as Lord, in the short
time that he encountered Jesus and died with him on Mount Calvary, how else did he do the will of the Father?
Before addressing the issue, let us first understand who the “Good thief” was. He is Dismas. Dismas had not lived
a good life. He had lived the worst of lives. When he had his moment of clarity and repentance at the very end, he said
that what was done to him was just. Why did he acknowledge that his own suffering is an act of justice due to his sins?
This hideous end– a Roman crucifixion, hung up naked with metal spikes through the feet and wrists to suffocate in agony
over hours or days– this he felt to be a just punishment, for what he’d been in his life.
It should be noted that The exchange between Dismas and the other criminal (who has come to be known as
“Gestas”) and the ensuing conversation between Dismas and Jesus was recorded in the Gospel.
35 And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him
save himself if he is the Messiah[c] of God, his chosen one!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming
up and offering him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There
was also an inscription over him,[d] “This is the King of the Jews.” 39 One of the criminals who were
hanged there kept deriding[e] him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah?[f] Save yourself and us!” 40
But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of
condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for
our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come
into[g] your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke
23:35-43)
Other than those who are ridiculing Jesus and abusing him, Luke’s gospel (and also the other three gospels)
reports the speech of no other person at the foot of the cross, not Mary His mother, not the other Marys, not the apostle
John—we hear only the words of Dismas. Why did God inspire Luke to tell us about Dismas? Why was what Dismas said
more important than anything else said by anyone at the foot of the cross?
Let us consider what was going on. Dismas was nailed to a cross, bleeding profusely, dying in agony, as was
Jesus. Dismas knew he would die. But he spoke, probably between labored breaths as he pushed down on the nails in his
feet to raise his body up so his lungs can take in air, and he spoke, out loud, loud enough for those standing around to
hear. He had nothing left to lose. What else could they have done to him to silence him? But instead of cursing Gestas and
the soldiers, and condemning the leaders of the people, he called out and defended Jesus publicly, saying Jesus has done
nothing wrong. Scripture tells us that the only other person to deny Jesus’s guilt before He dies was Pontius Pilate himself
who declared Jesus not guilty.
And in this course of the event, Dismas experienced, even in a few short hours, the divine love and mercy which
Jesus shows to everyone. Dismas was there on the Way of the Cross to see Jesus’s kindness to those who tortured and
tormented Him. Dismas saw His gift to Veronica and he saw Jesus, in agony, comforting the weeping women of
Jerusalem. He heard Jesus seek forgiveness for those shouting for His crucifixion, for the leaders and priests urging them
on, and for those stripping Him and nailing Him to the cross. It took only these few hours in the presence of Jesus to
change Dismas’s heart.
As we can see, Dismas was not saved because he merely said Lord. Dismas accepted his cross, and so his
suffering was fruitful where grace touched and moved his heart to a make a perfect confession of not only his guilt and
deserved suffering, but also the innocence of Christ. He implicitly proclaimed the power of Christ’s divinity as he
requested that Jesus remember him in his kingdom. The confession of Dismas was this single act of pure love after a
lifetime of sin, and in God’s eyes it was the most precious thing he could have offered him.
He watched as Christ carried his cross to Calvary. He saw the Lord nailed to the wood and lifted up from the
earth. And through it all, he saw how differently Jesus suffered. There was pain and humiliation, but no fear, no panic, no
hatred. The Lord bore it all with purpose, determination, and serenity; he bore it like the King he truly is. And the good
thief recognized this. Hope kindled in his heart, even at that darkest hour. He looked into Christ’s eyes and made an act of
faith, a promise of loyalty, and he did not go unrewarded.
Dismas is a compelling example of conversion and openness to grace. All he asked in faith and humility was that
Jesus remember him. And how did Jesus respond? He gave him far more than he asked. Though he himself was in the full
agony of death, Jesus had room in his heart for the suffering of another. Jesus saw the possibility in Dismas, he looked
upon him with love and uttered words of grace and mercy: "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." His encounter with
Jesus is a lesson in compassion and forgiveness.
 Even in times of discouragement, we can reach out to the Lord and others to share grief, feelings of rejection, and
despair. When we reach out, we take the first step away from that which we share. We move toward life, away from
death. The Good Thief made such a step, even in the face of a doubting crowd. And the Lord responded with life.