One of the worst things about being
confined to my home has been missing being with my church family. This Easter,
the warm hugs and handshakes on that blessed Sunday were verboten, so our
greeting and reply of “He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!” were said to faces on
a computer screen. Although I’m grateful for the technology that lets us
continue to worship with each other, maybe that’s why I was a little more
contemplative this year in the days leading up to Easter.
At my
church, our Good Friday service consists of hymns and Scripture reading
arranged around a theme of “In the Shadows.”
One of the last sections is The Shadow of Crucifixion: The Seven Last
Words compiled of readings from the four Gospels. One of the readings from
Luke’s account gives us the criminal’s repentance:
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 [i]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
23:36-43 NKJV)
I’ve
been thinking about the penitent criminal’s words at lot this week and, having more
free time because of circumstances, I decided to do a little Bible study and see
what other, more learned, minds have said about this passage.
While
I believe all Scripture is inspired, I also believe the Holy Spirit chose particular
men with specific personalities and perspectives to record the events so their accounts
vary. Luke, a Gentile, champions the outsider or underdog in his gospel. He may
very well have been a freed slave, considering being a physician didn’t carry
the social standing it does today. Luke has an eye for things outside a strictly
Jewish context and it is only Luke who records the penitent criminal’s words.
Matthew and Mark attribute the slurs to both criminals. John Calvin offers a
simple explanation for this. He says this attribution, “ought not to be
accounted harsh; for the two Evangelists had no other design than to show that
even the robbers who were fast dying, did not spare Him. . ..” Even with
omission of the penitent’s words, “. . .
there is no inconsistency in the statement; that Christ was despised by all,
down to the very robbers; for they did not speak of particular individuals, but
of the class itself.” Perhaps Luke was inspired to include this because he was
more sensitive to the repentance of an outlier.
Another
item I wanted to study was the connection of Jesus’ crucifixion with Joseph, an
Old Testament type (or preview) of
Christ, and his imprisonment. Joseph was imprisoned with two others, the king’s
baker and cupbearer, each having troubling dreams, which he interprets. The
interpretation of the dreams is the baker is doomed, but the cupbearer will be restored
to his position:
And
Joseph said to him, “This is the
interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh
will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put
Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his
butler. But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness
to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For
indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I
have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”
Unfortunately,
the Bible tells us, “Yet the chief butler
did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.”
The interesting thing here is the way this passage
mirrors our passage in Luke. In Genesis, Joseph, who is in prison with the
cupbearer, prophesies the cupbearer’s release (salvation) and the baker’s doom.
The Joseph proclaims his innocence and asks to be remembered. The other
prisoner faces death. Compared to the crucifixion passage, two criminals don’t
ask for help, but rather one hurls insults and the other rebukes him. He proclaims
Jesus’ innocence and acknowledges Who He is when asking to be remembered, “when
You come into Your kingdom.”
As he’s
dying, the criminal makes a remarkable profession of faith! A passage in Amos came
to mind, “And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning.” (4:11)
Unlike the cupbearer and Joseph, Jesus will not forget him, “Assuredly,
I say to you, today you will be with
Me in Paradise.”
The
more I looked into it, the more I realized there’s a lot in the brief exchange
between the two criminals and Jesus. Though it will gain him nothing, one hurls
attacks at Jesus. In his commentary, Calvin writes, “Thus desperate men are
wont to take obstinate revenge for the torments they can’t avoid. . .They
ought, indeed, to be tamed to humility by strokes; but this shows that the
wicked heart, which no punishments can bend, is hard like iron.”
His
penitent companion rebukes the insults with “Do you not even
fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?”. Calvin continues, “…even when reduced to the lowest
straits, he doesn’t even begin to fear God.”
The
whole scene where two criminals flank Jesus at His crucifixion is a little
ironic considering some of the disciples had argued over who would have
prominence in His kingdom with the mother of James and John going so far as to
ask Jesus, “Grant that these two sons of
mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your
kingdom.” Jesus had warned, “You do
not know what you ask.” Then said, “…but
to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those
for whom it is prepared by My Father.”
N.
T. Wright writes of the disciples in Jesus and the Victory of God, “They
thought, as one might well imagine, they were going to Jerusalem to sit on
actual physical thrones, and they disputed as to who would get the most
important ones…[they] still cherished ambitions for the nation of Israel, and
for themselves within Israel, which showed that they had not grasped the
radical nature of Jesus’ agenda.”
“but it is for
those for whom it is prepared by My Father”
– The two criminals were providentially designated to be there and at least one
was eternally elected unto salvation. The penitent criminal who would never
have asked to be there at Jesus’ right
or left hand will nevertheless have a place in the kingdom because of what
happened at the cross. He calls on the Man hanging on a cross beside him with
faith in the Man’s ability to provide salvation. As Matthew Henry puts it, a “dying sinner to
a dying Savior.”
Calvin
writes, “For who would ever have thought that a robber, in the very article of
death, would become not only a devout worshipper of God, but a distinguished
teacher of faith and piety to the whole world. . .I know not that, since the
creation of the world there ever was a more remarkable and striking example
of faith…”
I’ll
never read that passage the same way again. For the probably the first time, I’m
grateful to be confined with time on my hands.
