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.” (Luke 23:39-43 ESV)
Jesus was looking all around at the crowd looking for someone, anyone, who would trust Him and reverence Him for Who He was - the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. As we often see in the Gospels, He found Him in the most unlikely place - on the cross right next to Him. This man was willing to admit the sinner he was, fear God, and ask Christ for the grace only He could give. It is a pivotal event in the flow of a horrible day, as we will see in what happens next...
No comments:
Post a Comment