Luke 23:43

 “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise”

These are the words Jesus said to one of the thieves on the cross. It is a reminder that
to those who have put their trust into Jesus, to those who acknowledged that we are
saved by His grace and His grace alone, we have this confidence and hope and this
assurance that one day, we would join Him in eternity in a place called heaven.

Why did Jesus respond this way? Why did this thief granted access to paradise with
Jesus? What does this mean for us and how do we receive the same access?

Let’s look at Luke 23:39-4

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, [a]“If You are the
Christ, save Yourself and us.”

But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you
are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward
of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

What we see is an interaction between the two thieves and Jesus. The first thief, the
bible says, blasphemed Jesus by saying, if you are the Christ, then save yourself and
save us. He was not acknowledging the power of Jesus or who Jesus was, but rather
he was challenging the identity and the ability of Jesus. He was asking Jesus who he
was and what power he had. He was saying, if you are Christ, you should have the
ability to save yourself and save us. The first thief is hanging there, mocking Jesus and
challenging Jesus yet Jesus does not respond, instead, the bible says, that as the
second thief hung their listening to the words of the first thief, he responds to the first
thief by asking him,

Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ? And we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done
nothing wrong.”

Here’s where we see the 1 st difference between the second thief and the first thief. The
2nd thief had a fear with God, we know that because he said, DO YOU NOT EVEN
FEAR GOD?. And having fear of God is where everything begins, as the bible said,
Proverbs 9:10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

When we look a God and we look at who He is, we see that He is so much greater, so
much bigger and so much more powerful. That He is so Holy and majestic that we
should have a healthy fear of God.
The 2nd difference that we see between the two thieves, is that the 2 nd thief
acknowledges his guilt. He acknowledges that he deserves to hang in that cross. He
acknowledges that they both deserved to be punished. He says to the first thief, seeing
you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due
reward of our deeds;

What he is doing is that, he is recognizing that he was a sinner, that he has sinned, and
that he deserved to be punished. This tells us that we have to recognize that we have
sinned, that we are sinners, and that Jesus is righteous and Holy. And when we
compare ourselves to His goodness, His righteousness, His holiness, we all fall short.
Why? Because we are sinners.

In fact the bible says this, Psalm 51:5

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.

Ecclesiastes 7:20

For there is not a just man on earth who does good

And does not sin.

Psalms 14:3

They have all turned aside,

They have together become corrupt;

There is none who does good,

No, not one.

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

we are all sinners, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, we all have
missed the mark, we are all not good and we are all not righteous, but Jesus is, and the
bible says, 2 Corinthians 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.

That’s why the 2nd thiefs looks to Jesus and says, “Lord, remember me when You come
into Your kingdom.”
He is recognizing Jesus as Lord and king and he is putting his trust in Jesus. He is not
challenging the identity and ability of Jesus, rather he is embracing, accepting and
trusting in who Jesus is and what Jesus could do.

We should reconcile with this;. That we are sinners and that we need salvation, and we
have to recognize who he is. That He is Lord, that He is king and He has the ability to
save us and when we do, when we call out to Him in repentance, He is so faithful and
just to respond to us the same way that He responded to this theif by saying assuredly
ssuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.

Isn’t it amazing that we have a God who always responds to the call of a repentant
heart.

It is a reminder that for those who realize their need, for those who realize their
brokenness, for those who have come to the reality of their sin in comparison to the
righteousness of Jesus, no matter how bad you messed up, no matter what sin you are
involved in, when you come to Jesus with a repentant heart and you call out to Him and
you put your trust in Him. He is faithful and just to save you. And you receive this
promise today, that you will be with Him in paradise.