By Rick Blumenberg
/ @rickblumenberg
Two men asked Jesus for help on a barren
hillside called Golgotha. One received pardon but the other received not a
word. The verbal attack of the one showed the condition of the heart was more
important than the actual words, because truth spoken in derision can be the
worst kind of insult.
"Aren't you the Christ?" The
dying thief asked in mockery. And his attitude of scorn destroyed a request for
salvation: “Save yourself....and us!" he spat with obvious contempt. The
insulting thief found nothing but silence from the King of Kings, while the
other found words of assurance and victory. It was the attitude of the
repentant thief that earned a pardon.
The first expression of that attitude was
deep conviction of sin: "Don't you
fear God since you are under the same sentence?"
The repentant thief was about to stand
before God, his Creator and give an account of his life. He realized in despair
all he had to show was his sin. Perhaps the very thought of seeing his sin
revealed in God's holy presence brought conviction for sin.
The second expression of that saving
attitude was honest confession of guilt: "We are punished justly," he said, “We are getting what our deeds deserve." Like the prodigal son
of whom Jesus earlier spoke, the thief came to himself. He stopped trying to
blame his guilt on someone else. And that was the only way he could be rid of
it.
The third expression of that attitude was
a full awareness of the Holiness of Christ: "This man has done nothing
wrong!"
One reason Jesus came to our world was to
show us the character of God in the body of a man. He is the perfect likeness
of the invisible God. But, until we recognize the holiness of Jesus, the man,
we cannot imagine the holiness of God, the Creator, and we cannot experience
his holiness in our own lives.
The fourth expression of the attitude that
brought pardon was an expression of faith in the midst of hopelessness:
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Picture the scene: Hanging on a cross in
the hour of his death the repentant thief looked beside him to Jesus and saw a
man beaten, wounded, and bleeding. The blood from the crown of thorns was dried
on his forehead, and fresh blood from the nails dripped from his hands and ran
down his arms and torso to the sword-cut in his side continuing on down to
mingle with blood from his nail-pierced feet and fall beneath him to the earth
below. Sweaty from the strain of carrying the cross, the dust raised by
countless feet had settled on his body. Chilled from the wind that blew upon Golgotha, he probably shivered violently from the cold.
He did not look like a king. There was no indication he could even help himself
much less anyone else. But in spite of all the evidence to the contrary this
condemned man believed!
In the face of hopeless despair, he
believed. He believed so much that even in his agony he groaned those
never-to-be-forgotten words, "Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom."
That man was the first Christian! He was
first to believe and first to receive the pardon Jesus came to bring.
Pardon is a beautiful word to a condemned
man. "Today, you will be with me in paradise!” This word from Jesus
transported him from the agony of crucifixion to the bliss of eternal paradise;
from the dirt and stench of execution to the inexpressible delight of
resurrection, from the destruction of sin to the righteousness of redemption.
Because of what God did through Jesus
Christ almost two thousand years ago, by faith we can still hear him speak words of forgiveness and hope when we honestly
seek Him.
I’m
Rick Blumenberg, and that’s “My
View from Tanner Creek”.
