Word of Salvation – Vol.50 No.14 – April 2005

 

The Promise of Paradise

Sermon by Rev John Haverland on Luke 23:39-43

 

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 22; Luke 23:26-43

 

Congregation.

Theme: Jesus responds to the believing prayer of the criminal with a promise of paradise.

Purpose: To highlight this remarkable faith and prayer as an example to imitate and to take encouragement from Christ’s promise of paradise.

All of us have probably heard or read stories of ‘death-bed’ conversions where someone turns to the Lord in their dying moments. Sometimes that happens slowly during a long illness – say, from cancer. During that time this person has opportunity to reflect on their life and what they have done and on where they are going. Maybe they have time and inclination to read the Bible. The Holy Spirit uses all this to bring them to repentance and faith in Christ.

Sometimes these conversions happen dramatically. A person has an accident and they know they are dying. Their life flashes before them. They are suddenly and acutely aware of all the things they have done that were wrong. They think of all the things they should have done which they failed to do. They cry out to God and he hears them. Those of us who have family members or friends who have not known the Lord Jesus before their death hope and pray that they may have called out to the Lord in their dying hours.

Bishop Ryle writes that the Bible records one such conversion so that we might have hope. He also writes that the Bible records only one conversion like this so that no one may presume. In other words, no one should count on being able to turn to the Lord at the last minute.

The Scriptures call us to believe here and now – today! “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). This passage records the only example of a ‘death-bed’ conversion found in the Bible. It also records the other possible response to Jesus – that of unbelief and rebellion, the opposite reaction.

These two men hung on crosses each side of Jesus. Both men spoke to him out of the same situation. Both spoke to him in their dying hours.

One rejected Jesus, the other received him.

One refused him, the other rejoiced in him.

One turned away from Jesus in unbelief, the other turned to him in faith.

As we consider these two men, we will see:

1. An Unbelieving Demand;

2. A Believing Prayer;

3. A Reassuring Promise.

First of all, then, AN UNBELIEVING DEMAND (vs 39).

As Jesus hung on the cross he was mocked and insulted by those standing around him. The rulers sneered at him; “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One” (vs 35). “The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself'” (vss 36-37). Jesus was hung between two criminals. One of them also hurled insults at him, “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

All this fulfilled the words of David in Psalm 22 who described his own experience of being rejected by men. “All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him” (Vs 7). This messianic psalm pointed ahead to what would happen to the Lord Jesus.

One of the men hanging next to him continued to hurl insults at Jesus. Here was a man who had lived a life of crime and terrorism. No doubt he was hard, bitter and angry. He had heard people refer to Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the One expected by the Jews. But he didn’t believe those stories. So he “blasphemed” Jesus. This is another possible translation of the words “hurled insults”. This man failed to recognise who Jesus was. He did not recognise his power. His abuse was blasphemy against the Son of God.

But he demanded that Jesus save them: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” He was not asking to be saved from his sin. He wasn’t asking for deliverance from guilt. Rather, he was asking that Jesus would get him down off this cross, this instrument of torture and death.

Many people have cried out to God to save them from situations of danger, disaster or drowning. Many make all sorts of promises that if God will save them they will go to church or give to charity or lead a better life. We call this fox-hole religion. But if God does rescue them, many (not all) of these people forget about their promises. This man, however, did not make any promises. He only made a demand. “Save yourself and us!” Get us out of this mess.

But even as he said this, he didn’t believe that Jesus would or could. His tone is bitterly sarcastic. “Aren’t you the Christ? Who do you think you are?” His tone is full of scorn and ridicule and unbelief.

Of course, Jesus could have come down off the cross if he had chosen to. In the Garden of Gethsemane he told Peter to put away his sword. “Do you think I cannot call on my Father and he will at once put at my disposal twelve legions of angels?” (Mt 26:53). Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” God was in control of this situation. Jesus did have all power, but he chose not to use it at this time because he was fulfilling the will of his Father – he was bearing the punishment for the sin of his people.

But this man refused to believe in the Lord Jesus. He did not recognise who Jesus was – the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of the world.

Secondly, let’s contrast his unbelieving demand with THE BELIEVING PRAYER of the other.

He rebuked the other fellow: “Don’t you fear God since you are under the same sentence?” His words showed that he was aware of God’s judgment. He said to the other man, “Doesn’t this punishment make you fear God?! Doesn’t this cross make you think about his wrath? In all this suffering don’t you even pause for a moment and consider what you owe to God? Is your heart so hard and are your ears so blocked?!” His words showed that he was thinking about these very things.

He also acknowledged his own sin. Verse 41: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” He knew his own sin. He, too, had lived a life of crime. He had broken the law. Now he had been caught and he was being punished. He was getting what he deserved.

At the same time he recognised that Jesus was innocent. “But this man has done nothing wrong” (vs 41b). This had come through in the trials. When he had been questioned by the Sanhedrin, they could not find anything to pin on him. No two witnesses could agree on a crime. He had lived a perfect life. And after Pilate had questioned Jesus, he came out of his palace and said, “I find no basis for a charge against this man… He has done nothing to deserve death” (Lk 23:4,15).

Maybe this criminal on the cross had heard some of this. He also knew it for himself. Here was an innocent man. He didn’t deserve to be here. He acknowledged his own sin and at the same time proclaimed Christ’s innocence. Then, in a remarkable prayer, he confessed Jesus as king: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Of all the people standing around the cross that day, he was the only one who saw the Lord Jesus as king. He was the only one to have a clear insight into the kingdom of Christ. He even saw more than any of the disciples saw.

At one point in his ministry Jesus was amazed at the faith of a Roman centurion. No doubt Jesus was amazed at the faith of this man. This criminal on the cross is another striking example of faith in the Lord Jesus. Here was Jesus – beaten and torn, bleeding and naked, weary and close to death. Yet this man could see past the humiliation of the cross. He could see past the indignity of the crucifixion. He could see past the blood and the thorns. He could see Jesus with the eyes of faith – and he could see him as king!

Calvin writes that he could see “life in death, exaltation in ruin, glory in disgrace, victory in destruction, kingship in slavery.” He could see Jesus as he really was – he could see Jesus, the Son of David, the King of Glory, the Lord of All!

If this man could see Jesus as King in that situation, can you see him as King? If he could see Jesus with the eyes of faith as he hung there on the cross, can you see him with all that you know about Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus as King? Do you believe in his kingdom? Can you see past the suffering and the cross and the grave? Can you see through to the resurrection? Can you see the Ascended Christ in all his glory?!

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” It is hard to know just what he understood by these words. Did he expect Jesus to go directly into his kingdom when he died, or was he thinking of the return of Jesus when he would come back in all his kingly glory? It doesn’t matter a great deal which of these he meant. What is important is that he believed in Jesus as King.

With all this in mind, he asked Jesus to “remember” him. He had heard Jesus pray for his murderers. He had heard Jesus ask for their forgiveness. Then he asked to be included in that prayer. He asked for the same forgiveness to be extended to him. He threw himself on the mercy and kindness of the Lord Jesus and asked for pardon, cleansing and forgiveness. He asked that the forgiveness that Jesus was achieving on the cross would also be applied to him. He could not have put it like this and he didn’t understand how all this worked, but he knew that Jesus could help him. “Remember me.”

Here we have two men. Two criminals. One each side of Jesus. One makes an unbelieving demand. The other offers a believing prayer. One hardens his heart against the Saviour of the world. The other opens his heart to the King of all Glory.

These two men are a picture of all of the people of the world. Everyone in the world responds to Jesus in one of these two ways. How about you? Children? Young people? Each one of you? How have you responded to Jesus? Do you believe in him? Do you see him as the King? Have you asked Jesus to remember you?

If you have, then you can take comfort from the words of Jesus, where he gave this man A REASSURING PROMISE: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” This is the third point we will consider from this passage.

Notice that this was an immediate promise – “today”.

Some have tried to interpret this as Jesus saying, “Today I tell you, you will be with me in paradise”. It’s as though he was saying, I’m telling you this today, not tomorrow. Those who follow this interpretation do so because they believe in “soul-sleep”; that when a believer dies their soul goes into a sleep and they don’t wake up until the return of Christ. But this is not what Jesus said. To follow this interpretation takes away from the immediacy and comfort of Jesus’ words. Jesus assured this man that when he died he would be with him in paradise, immediately, today, that very day.

The promise was one of immediate happiness. This would have been of initial comfort because it assured this man that he would die that day. Some men hung on their cross for a few days in a lingering, agonising death. This man would die that day because the Jews wanted the bodies off the cross before the beginning of the Sabbath. That was why the Roman soldiers, later that afternoon, broke the legs of the two criminals who had not yet died so as to hasten their death.

But the more significant comfort was the promise that when he died he would go to be with the Lord in paradise. There would be no suspense, no delay. There would be no purgatory as the Roman Catholics teach. There would be no soul sleep as some believe. No, he would go to be with the Lord that day.

This is the comfort of all believers when our family members die with faith in Christ. While we are still mourning our loss at their funeral they are already in heaven with the Lord! The promise was immediate.

It was also a glorious promise. The word “paradise” was a Persian word that had been taken over into the Greek language. It pictured a beautiful walled garden full of trees and shrubs, fountains and flowers. The word pictured a place of beauty and delight, a cool place in a hot climate. In biblical imagery it went back to the beauty of the original paradise of God in the Garden of Eden. This man, dying in agony and indignity, would soon be in paradise! In heaven! In glory!

And he would be there with Jesus! When a Persian king wanted to honour someone in a special way, he would make him “A Companion of the Garden”. This meant that he would be chosen to walk in the garden with the king. This was the promise of Jesus to this man. The greatest delight of heaven is that we will be with Jesus!

Psalm 102:28 – “The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.”

Psalm 73:23 ff – “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by your right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Our passage describes two men on each side of Jesus; two men on their ‘death beds’, as it were. They responded in two very different ways.

One with an unbelieving demand.

The other with a believing prayer.

Don’t leave your response so late. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus. Then you, too, will hear these words of promise and hope: “I tell you the truth, one day you too will be with me in paradise”.

Amen.