One of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:39–43 NKJV
Christ crucified! Not only that, He was hanging in the midst of two criminals who had been guilty of insurrection against Rome. Their leader had been Barabbas, meaning “son of the father” (Mt. 27:16). Instead of pleading for the innocent One, the Jewish leaders instigated the crowd to call for Jesus of Nazareth to be crucified and to have Barabbas released. Pilate consented to this, and so Jesus, the true Son of the Father, took the criminal’s place. And hanging in the midst of Barabbas’ colleagues, He was blasphemed by them.
Then, suddenly, a miracle occurred as one of them realized that Jesus was the Messiah! Confessing his sin, he rebuked his fellow and honored Christ by calling Him, “Lord,” asking Him to remember him when He would reign in His coming kingdom. What faith this man had! His faith was rewarded by Christ’s promise that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Amazing grace!
About thirty years later, the apostle Paul wrote that to be with Christ is “far better” (Phil. 1:23). To be in Paradise with Christ now is better than serving the Master on earth. Paul had seen the Lord (1 Cor. 9:1; cf. Acts 9). Later, when caught up to Paradise (2 Cor. 12:4), he witnessed the happiness of believers who had “fallen asleep.” But the thief on the cross believed without seeing any of this. How precious his request must have been for our Lord!