Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise

There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.  And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.  Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."  And they divided His garments and cast lots.  And the people stood looking on.  But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."  The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."  And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "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."  Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."  And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

- Luke 23:32-43

Yesterday we read that as they led Jesus away to be crucified, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.  And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'   Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" '  For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"

 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.  And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.  Calvary is from Latin, and literally means "the Skull" (in the Greek Kranion, a translation of Hebrew Golgotha).  My study bible says that being crucified between the two criminals shows Christ's complete identity with fallen humanity and fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 53:9-12.

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."  My study bible tells us that this intercession isn't simply for those who sentenced and crucified Jesus, but for all of humanity; that is, for a people who have no insight into the profound mystery of God's salvation.  Jesus speaks these words, it says, not as a request, but rather with divine authority.    My study bible adds that their great sin would still have been forgiven them had they repented.   We know that one of the soldiers did repent (verse 47) and that he is considered to be a saint of the Church.

And they divided His garments and cast lots.  And the people stood looking on.  But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."  The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."  Save Yourself is, according to my study bible, yet another of the continuing temptation of Satan to deter Jesus from completing His mission (see 4:9-13). 

And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:  THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.    My study bible notes here that what was intended as an accusation and a mockery became instead a triumphant symbol that all nations would come under the reign of Jesus the King.

Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "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."  Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."  And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."   My study bible tells us that the first of the criminals wanted to use Jesus in order to avoid responsibility for his actions.  But the other accepts his sentence and asks only to be remembered.  This is the way to Paradise.   Jesus says that today he will be with Him in Paradise.  To be reconciled to Christ is to immediately be in a place where our sin is let go or forgiven, "in Paradise" (as in the state of our earliest ancestors, in Eden).  Moreover, my study bible adds, the souls of the departed are in the presence of God and experience a foretaste of God's glory before the final resurrection.

Jesus prays, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."  Certainly we can understand that the soldiers who crucify Christ at that moment have no idea of the Scriptures and their fulfillment, who and what the Messiah is, who and what Christ is, and no preparation in terms of the understanding of Jewish spiritual history.  But righteousness is something meaningful in all cultures, and the centurion's pronouncement that "certainly this was a righteous Man!" becomes clear to him in the presence of Jesus.  But in the bigger picture, upon which my study bible focuses, it is also true for all humanity, in the sense in which my study bible puts it -- Christ speaks for a people who have no insight into the profound mystery of God's salvation.  To some extent, that remains true for each of us, since such a mystery is infinite, and we can always continue more deeply into God's salvation through the journey of our faith.  We look also to St. Stephen, the first martyr, who prayed as he was stoned, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."  Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin," just before he passed (Acts 7:57-60).  Forgiveness is a tricky subject; but even as He is dying, Christ forgives.  Forgiveness does not mean God's own justice does not prevail.   It does not mean there is no judgment.  But it does mean that we place all things in the hands of God.  It is a way of giving up our own impulses for vengeance to our faith in God's justice instead.  After all, it is only God who really understands the extent to which people "know not what they do."  Therefore, it is truly only God who can judge.  The story of the Crucifixion does not teach us that there is no injustice in the world, nor that we will not suffer injustice -- quite the opposite, in fact.  But it does teach us that there is a higher justice that is at work.  Christ going first before all of us gives us a sense that our lives are to be lived in the light of God's justice, even when we suffer injustice.  There is a judgment that will come, but it is a much greater and larger reality in which we seek to participate through faith than we understand in the immediate circumstances of our lives.  And yet, each is precious to God, even Christ's fellow thief on the cross, who is promised that he will be with Him in His kingdom, even today.  Let us also remember Christ's prophecy about what is to come in Jerusalem.  In a very real sense, there are ways in which our choices work out in our own lives -- for the most part, we should be glad of this, because it means we have a chance to revisit and change our minds (the literal meaning of the word for "repent" in Greek).  But Christ's entire mission -- even here on the Cross -- is for the salvation of all, of each.  It is not vengeance nor punishment He seeks for all of us, even those who harmed Him, but salvation; that is, the capacity to be truly healed (see Matthew 13:15, in which Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:10).  Let us consider our own very real hurts and injustices in the light of Christ.  What if we gave up each of them to God, asking only for our own salvation and healing, and considering that we, too, like the thief, wish most of all for a place with Him in His kingdom, even today, here and now?  Would that not be good for our own lives, our perspectives, our forward-looking road of faith?  Let us consider how we fit into that bigger picture in light of the example He sets, and how He sets us each free to live our lives to the full, despite the hurts and harm of the past.