“People to meet in heaven: A Repentant Thief”
Luke 23:39-43
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Born in Scott County, Iowa in February of 1846, William Frederick Cody, also known as “Buffalo Bill,” is an American legend and folk hero from the days of the wild west.
At first, he worked as a messenger for a freight company and a prospector for the Pikes Peak gold rush in 1859. When he was fourteen, since he was “skinny, an expert rider, and was willing to face death daily,” he joined the Pony Express.
Then in 1867, after serving some time in the Civil War, he hunted buffalo to feed railroad construction crews. And after he shot more than four thousand of them, he got the nickname, “Buffalo Bill.”
Then for the next thirty years, he was part of a show that toured America and Europe with the likes of “Wild Bill” Hickok, Annie Oakley and Chief Sitting Bull. Historians tells us that, in his day, he was the most recognizable celebrity in the world!
Even today, his larger-than-life persona, part real and part fiction, still lives on in the hearts and the minds of fans of the old, wild West.
But of all the things for which “Buffalo Bill” is so well known, there’s one that stands out above all the rest—and that’s that, just before he died, he became a Christian.
It happened when he was visiting his sister in Denver in January of 1917. He took ill and was laid in bed. That’s when a family friend asked if he had ever been baptized. When they found he hadn’t, they called for a local pastor, Christopher Walsh, to come and baptize him. He died the very next day, on January 10, 1917.
But he’s not the only one who waited to come to Christ till the very end. Think of a gangster named Dutch Schultz, an actor named Gary Cooper, and an author named Oscar Wilde.
Former atheist and author of the book, Deathbed Conversions: Finding Faith at the Finish Line, Karen Edmisten, once wrote: “I still recall in vivid detail the mixture of pain, fear, relief, and happiness that I felt when I sank to my knees one day, admitting to God and myself the sins I’d committed. I knew the things I’d done were grievous, but I finally understood that He loved and accepted me anyway. Years of desperation could end; I believed there was something else out there for me. I was finally ready to take the leap—and the risk—of faith.”
So it was for a man, a thief, on the cross.
Please turn with me in your Bible to page 1124 as I read the words of our text. I’ll start at chapter 23, verse 39: “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.’”
Now before I say anything more, let me say this—in all of history, there has never been, nor will there ever be, an event more important than the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Everything that happened before has led up to it, and everything that’s happened since has been affected by it. Because of Christ and His death on Calvary’s cross, the world is changed.
And as Scripture gives just a glimpse of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual torture that Jesus endured on the cross, it also chose to reveal what happened there that day between Him and two thieves.
As it says in verse 39: “Are You not the Christ?” said one. “Save Yourself and us!” But the other turned to Him and said, in verse 42, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
When we think of Calvary, we usually focus on the cross in the center, the one that held our Savior Jesus. But also there that day were two others—one on His right, and the other on His left. Today, we can’t help but wonder why.
Was it Pilate’s idea? Was it his way of adding insult to injury—crucifying Jesus between two thieves? Or did the Jews want it that way, looking for one last way to humiliate the sinless Son of God?
We really can’t say. But whatever the reason, it fulfilled yet one more word of the Lord. As Isaiah wrote in his 53rd chapter: “He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.”
And who were the two on His right and on His left? Translators use different words to describe them. We call them, “thieves.” But they were likely far more than that. Rome wouldn’t crucify a petty thief.
It’s more likely that they were terrorists, political revolutionaries, cutthroat killers who were caught trying to overthrow Roman rule. And if there’s one thing Rome didn’t like, it was anyone who tried to overthrow the government. Punishment was swift and sure. No appeal. No mercy. Just bare Roman justice on a cross.
So whoever they were and whatever they had done, there they were, nailed to a cross, waiting to die.
And in a very real way, those two crosses represent the destiny that lies before each and every one of us—heaven or hell. After all, there are only two kinds of people in the world—those who believe in Jesus, and those who don’t.
So on one side of Jesus, there’s the cross of rebellion. As it says in verse 39: “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’”
It wasn’t enough that Jesus had been convicted of crimes He did not commit. It wasn’t enough that soldiers beat Him to within an inch of His life. And it wasn’t enough that Pharisees and teachers of the Law stood at the foot of His cross and mocked Him, saying, “He saved others, but He can’t save Himself.” Now even one of those who was crucified with Him hurled insults at Him and said, “Aren’t You the Christ?”
But also on the hill that day, beside the cross of rebellion, there was one other cross, the cross of repentance.
If you want to know the truth, this man really wasn’t any better than the other. Matthew tells us that, at first, both criminals railed at Him. But somewhere, sometime, something changed.
What happened? We may never know. Maybe once in his life, he feared God. Maybe one day, he was walking near the temple and he heard Jesus speak and he knew He must be a prophet sent from God. Or maybe, somewhere, there was a wife or a sister or a mother that loved him and prayed for him.
But whatever the reason, he knew full well his life had come to an end. No one survived crucifixion. And in that cold, heart-wrenching moment, he came face-to-face with what his deeds had done. He was a rebel, a robber, a murderer, and he was dying on a cross. And there, right beside him, was Jesus.
It’s amazing if you think about it. In fact, it’s the most amazing example of faith in all of the Bible. There was Jesus hanging right beside him, a tortured, bloody mess for all the world to see. His hands and feet were nailed to a cross.
And all around him, a howling crowd screamed for blood. Men jeered, hissed, cursed, spit and roared.
Jesus was at His absolute weakest moment. No one ever looked less like a king. Yet, there on the cross, that thief came to understand the gospel. A crucified sinner trusted in a crucified Savior. And so he said: “Jesus…Yeshua…Savior…Save me from the judgment I deserve, from the villain I’ve become…forgive me…remember me.”
And what did Jesus say? “Truly…let there be no doubt…believe it with all your heart…today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”
How amazing! Throughout all of Jesus’ life and ministry, from beginning to end, He called sinners to repentance. He said, “He that comes to Me I will not cast out.”
Even those who condemned Him and crucified Him couldn’t help but admit, “He’s a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” And they were right. He was, more than any other, their dearest Friend. And even now, as He dies on the cross, there’s one more that yearns to come to Him.
And even in the torture and agony of the cross, Jesus called out His most wonderful word of promise: “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”
The story of Jesus’ death is filled with characters who do the unexpected. Disciples fall asleep. Those who demand His death aren’t Romans—they’re Jews, His own countrymen. They begged Pilate to crucify Jesus and set Barabbas free.
And who calls Him the Son of God? Not Annas or Caiaphas or Herod the king. Instead, it’s the Roman procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, who nailed the words above His head: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” And it was a nameless centurion, a commander of a hundred men, who said, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God.”
It is all so ironic. The disciples hid. The religious leaders mocked. But it was a thief who, in the last desperate moments of his life, confessed Jesus and was received into everlasting life.
And that very afternoon, a little after three, as Jesus accomplished our redemption and returned to His Father’s glory, who stood there right beside Him? Was it some honored martyr? A faithful apostle? Was it a patriarch like Abraham, Isaac or Jacob? Of all people, the one who stood with Him in glory was a thief who died on a cross.
“Today, you’ll be with Me in Paradise.”
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the cross on the right and the cross on the left, but let’s not forget about the most important one—the cross in the middle. One criminal died in his sin, one died to his sin, but Jesus died for our sin.
As Peter once wrote in his first epistle: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds we are healed.”
Dear Jesus, as a thief once prayed, so do we—remember us. Enable us to hear Your word of grace that even we may live with You forever. In Your name we pray. Amen