One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43 NIV)
When I was a kid, I mowed lawn for a kind old Christian woman. When I finished, she would always come out to talk with me. One day, we had an odd conversation. She started talking about noises she was hearing in her attic. This woman lived alone, but just about every day, she could hear someone walking around and banging in her attic. She told me, “It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not scared one bit.” “Why not?” I asked. She said, “Because I know who it is. It’s my husband. Ever since he passed away, it’s so comforting to hear him walking around in the attic.”
Now, if you were hearing this as a teenager, what would you have said? I didn’t know what to say. What do you make of dead husbands walking around in attics? It’s nice that she thought of her husband often. She still loved him. But I didn’t think he was up in the attic. In fact, I was pretty sure it was squirrels. She had really big trees in her backyard that hung over the house. I’d be willing to bet there were squirrels running around in her attic! But I haven’t forgotten that conversation. Even Christian people can get confused about what happens when people die.
Death is on everybody’s mind. We saw proof of that again this past week with Halloween. Halloween is proof that everybody is wondering what happens when people die. People really get into Halloween, don’t they? Maybe you do. Just in our little neighborhood, we have zombies and a big Frankenstein and ghosts and body bags on people’s lawns. We in our culture have a fascination with death. What happens after death? It’s pretty clear that there’s a lot of confusion.
That’s not a new thing. Last Sunday, we celebrated Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses that began the Lutheran Reformation. Do you know why he posted his 95 Theses on October 31st? Because the next day was a big holiday. November 1st was—and is still—All Saints Day. It’s the day people remember those who have died. In those days, it was a day when lots of people went to church. So the day before All Saints Day—All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween—was a great day for Luther to nail his 95 Theses to the church door.
There’s more to it than that. The ruler of Martin Luther’s part of Germany was Fredrick the Wise. Fredrick the Wise had a huge relic collection. Relics are holy objects connected to holy people. Fredrick had over 17,000 relics, including a twig from Moses’ burning bush, hay from Jesus’ manger, and milk from the Virgin Mary. Of course, it wasn’t really true! But every year, on All Saints Day, Fredrick the Wise put his relics on display in the church in Wittenberg. Here was the special deal: If you went and saw Fredrick’s relics, you escaped years in purgatory. Do you know how many years in purgatory you could get out of? 1,902,202 years in purgatory.
What was that all about? Purgatory is not in the Bible. Purgatory is an invention of the Roman Catholic Church. Here is the idea: Nobody is good enough to earn their way to heaven. Nobody has done enough good to go straight to heaven. Nobody has done enough to pay for their sins. So, when people die, just about everybody has to go to purgatory to suffer for a while. To do penance for their sins. Of course, people are always looking for ways to spend less time in purgatory and get to heaven faster. If seeing Fredrick’s relics gets you out of 1,902,202 years in purgatory, what do you think? I’m there! There is so much confusion about death, isn’t there?
So let’s learn the truth about death at Jesus’ cross. On Good Friday, Jesus wasn’t the only one to be crucified. There were two others with him. In our lesson, Luke simply calls them “criminals”. What had they done? Well, Matthew and Mark use a more specific word. They use a word that can mean either “thief” or “rebel” (see Matthew 27:44). The fact that they were being crucified leads most theologians to believe that they were rebels. In some way, they had violently rebelled against the Roman government. They had been caught, and now they were being executed.
As Jesus suffered on the cross, “One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’” Aren’t we human beings awful? We can always find someone to hate. We can always find someone to look down on. Even if you were being executed, you could make fun of somebody. Mark tells us that both rebels initially mocked Jesus (Mark 15:32). Their words are ironic, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The irony, of course, is that they were right! Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus was actually saving them, just not in the way they expected. Jesus humbled himself lower than even the worst criminals.
But during their six hours on the cross, something changed. One of the two criminals unexpectedly turned to his partner and rebuked him. “‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” That is really a remarkable statement. You don’t often hear criminals talk like this. “I deserve my punishment. I deserve to die for my sins. But this man doesn’t! He’s dying like we are, but he doesn’t deserve it! This man has done nothing wrong.”
What changed him? Jesus did. Even as he was dying, Jesus was working in that rebel’s heart. The reality of death opened that man’s eyes to the punishment he deserved from God for his sins. Hearing Jesus ask God the Father to forgive his enemies showed him God’s grace, even for sinners. He watched Jesus never complain, never curse, even as he was brutally mistreated. That rebel realized something: This Man really is the King! By God’s grace, he began to believe in a kingdom he couldn’t see, ruled by a King wearing a crown of thorns, whose throne was a cross. He saw Jesus for who he really is, and he believed. And so he humbly prayed, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus means “Savior.” “Jesus, Savior, remember me.”
If I were Jesus, I know how I would have answered. Know what I would have said? “Are you kidding me? Did you really just ask that? No way! You incited a rebellion, killed a bunch of people, and even by your own admission you deserve to be executed. On top of all that, an hour ago you were mocking me. Now you want me to take you to heaven? Are you kidding me? No way! You are a dirty, rotten sinner, and you are going to hell!” That’s what I would have said.
But that’s not what Jesus said. Instead, Jesus said some of the most unexpected and beautiful words in the Bible: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” As bold as the man’s request had been, Jesus offered him way more. The man was wishing for a blessing. Jesus gave him a certain promise: “Truly I tell you.” The man was hoping against hope that maybe someday he could be forgiven. Jesus said, “Today.” The man wanted to just be remembered. Jesus said, “You will be with me in paradise.” Even to the worst of sinners who repents, God gives eternal life by faith in Jesus. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
When? Today! Did Jesus really mean that? This is so important! I once read this story to a lady, and she stopped me. “That’s wrong,” she said. “You read it wrong.” “Huh?” “The ‘today’ goes with ‘Truly I tell you.’ Jesus wasn’t telling the man that he was going to heaven on that day. He was saying, ‘Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.’” What do you think? Is it just her interpretation against my interpretation? No! What should we do? Study the Bible! That phrase, “Truly I tell you,” occurs 74 times in the Gospels. 74 times! It’s one of Jesus’ favorite phrases. Do know how often the word “today” is used with it? Just once. Just here. “Today” does not go with “Truly I tell you.” It’s “today you will be with me in paradise.” Can you see that?
But Jesus can’t be talking about “today,” can he? Jesus must mean, “Someday.” “Someday, you will be with me in paradise.” Do you see how the devil loves to make us doubt God’s promises? How can we be sure that “today” means “today”? Study the Bible! The word “today” is used about a dozen times in the Gospel of Luke. Every time, it means the same thing: Today! Like on Christmas night, the angels appeared to the shepherds. What did they tell them? “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you” (Luke 2:11). When was the Savior born? Today! When was that rebel going to be in paradise? Today! “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
So where’s this “paradise”? In the Old Testament, “paradise” is the Greek word for the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was “paradise.” Do you know what place the New Testament compares with the Garden of Eden? Heaven. The book of Revelation says, “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). Where’s that? Heaven. On the very day he died, that rebel went to heaven, to that beautiful place where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Revelation 7:17).
Don’t miss this part: This man who went to heaven with Jesus on the very day that he died, what was he like? A rebel. A sinner. If there was forgiveness and eternal life for that rebel, do you think there is for you? Of course! Heaven is God’s gift by grace to those who have faith in Jesus. That’s Jesus’ promise! “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). This is what gave Paul the confidence to say, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). One day, Jesus will say to you, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
God doesn’t want you to be confused about what happens when you die. It’s not complicated. At the moment a person dies, at that moment—today!—their soul goes to heaven or hell forever, based on their faith in Jesus. So, is that woman’s husband walking around in her attic? No. He’s a lot happier in paradise with Jesus than he would be stuck in an attic! Is a zombie apocalypse going to destroy the world? No! There are no zombies. What about purgatory? If anybody needed to suffer there, that rebel did. But did he? No. When Jesus died, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Our debt to God is paid in full. Nobody can earn heaven, but Jesus earned it for us.
So, “blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Revelation 14:13). Can you see why? You face death. I do too. Death is scary. There are so many awful ways to die! But here’s what’s not scary: What happens when you die. A Christian who dies is blessed, because we go to paradise with Jesus. So may we face death with the same humble, repentant faith of that rebel. We know what we deserve for our sins—the worst. But we trust in what Jesus has done for us: Everything. When that humble rebel’s prayer is on our hearts, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
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