One of the most beautiful scenes in Scripture is found in Luke 23:39-42. Here we find the crucifixion of Jesus. Luke includes what would be the last interaction of the God-man Jesus before the resurrection.
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! Luke 23:39
There are two criminals being executed with Jesus. The first one is in a panic. At first glance, it would be easy to believe he is genuinely asking about the identity of Jesus. We applaud this type of interaction every Sunday. Then we quickly see the selfish motive behind his questioning. He wanted the salvation of Jesus, not the identity and presence of Jesus. Sound familiar? It should. Many times when our lives reach a point of conflict, our prayers, thoughts, and conversations echo that of the first criminal. We wrap it up in spiritual language: “You are God, therefore you can save me.” Yet we wish only for our own benefit. We want salvation, not Jesus. This man failed to look past his own suffering to see the purpose behind it. Could his final gasps bring Glory to God? Absolutely. Yet sadly, he would never find this out. He wanted his glory first, and Christ’s second.
But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you no 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.” Luke 23:40-41
The second criminal is to be envied. This is a man whose reasons for being on this cross we can only speculate. Stealing? Assault? Murder? We have no idea, yet He knows the identity of Christ as well as the proper response; fear. We know from Scripture that this is where salvation and grace begin. We also know that what starts in fear, ends in both the glory of God as well as the glory of man.
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 Paradise.” Luke 42-43
First comes the fear, then the call for salvation. What I love most about the second criminal is that he would not be able to commit any good deed. He would never be able to attend a church service or tithe 10%. At the moment of redemption, his life is measured in breaths and seconds, and neither are in surplus. On that cross, while the first criminal dies, the second becomes alive. This is a beautiful picture of the life of the saint. We can never pay Him back for what He has done for us, in this or a million lifetimes. Jesus was murdering our idea of religion and establishing something greater.
Is your view of Jesus that of the first or second criminal?
Matt simon blog 