I walked into the chapel in prison. As the men came in, I began to hear about an attack that had happened not too long before. One of the men who regularly attended the Bible study was beat into the hospital. His attacker put several pad locks into a sock and then swung with determination. My friend was left with a broken cheek bone and jaw and more bruises than you could keep track of. And what was his offense? The attacker believed that my friend had ratted him out to the officers. Snitches get stiches is not a mere saying in prison. It is often quite literal. Ironically, what made this man so angry is that he would now no longer be allowed to live in a wing built by Prison Fellowship; a wing that was intended to be all about learning about Jesus. Also ironically, my friend didn’t rat him out. He was caught on camera. But there is a truth here. One was involved in criminal activity. The other was not. It is easier to blame than to claim. It is easier to attack than to admit. And in one sense, aren’t we all criminals?
Luke 23:39-43 is the account of how two criminals react to Jesus. Jesus came to force a decision. One of the evil doers, who was hanging on his own cross, began to speak abusively to Jesus. He said, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” This is not an honest request. It is a jab. If you are the Christ surely you could save yourself. And while you’re at it, get us off of these crosses as well. It is a snide sarcastic verbal assault. This evil doer had no faith that Jesus could save himself. Ironically, if Jesus did save himself, he would not have offered salvation to the world. Ironically, if he got these men off of their perspective cross, it would not have saved their soul. I wonder if we aren’t sometimes more interested in being released from pain and humiliation more than being saved.
The other evil doer rebukes the first one. The term “not even” could be attached to “fear” (“do you not even fear God”) or to “God” (do you fear not even God). The meaning is basically the same with either. It is a matter of emphasis. In Matthew and Mark these men are called robbers. Here they are labeled as evil doers or criminals. Whatever their evil, they dared to rob and maybe even murder in the process. They didn’t fear the authorities. So, maybe the emphasis is not on the fear itself, but whom they fear. Do you fear not even God? And why would you blaspheme (“insult, verbally abuse”) a person who is under the same punishment as you. As they were all hanging on a cross, can this criminal really pretend he is better? Amazingly, this second evil doer lumps himself together with the first and says that they are there, hanging painfully to a cross, fairly or justly. They were receiving what is worthy of their practice; their doings. But Jesus has done nothing out of place. They are receiving a just consequence. Jesus is not.
Then this second criminal directs his words directly to Jesus: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” What did this evil doer understand? Did he believe Jesus to be the Messiah? Or, did he believe that as a righteous person he would be entering into the kingdom? I’ve heard it both ways. Personally, I think this criminal, for whatever reason, believed in Jesus. How extensive that belief I don’t know. Is he asking merely to be well thought of or is he pleading for clemency in the coming kingdom? The word “remember” often carries the idea of favorable response. It seems likely that he is asking to be forgiven in the coming kingdom.
And Jesus responds with “Today you will be with me in paradise.” And here we have theologically deep waters. I don’t have space to plunge into all of the theories. The word “paradise” is a Persian loanword. It originally referred to a walled-in garden, but came to represent any garden. In the Septuagint (The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) it is used in the creation story to refer to Eden. In Isaiah 51:3 God tells the people he will make the wilderness like Eden and the desert like the garden (paradise) of the Lord. And the word “today” can and does refer to the present age. Jesus came to make all things new. He came to get us back to the garden. The cross was the final step in securing the process. The criminal may have anticipated some eschatological kingdom way down the road. But the Garden of God is being renewed in Jesus right now. And this criminal is being remembered. And just like he had the authority to forgive the paralytic, he has the authority to remember and forgive this man. You don’t have to wait for it. And it may be a good thing to remember that, compared to Jesus, we are all of us criminals. It may be easier to blame than to claim, but it is far better to seek to be remembered by the King. Peace.