Remember Me

There is no heart too hard; no person who has strayed too far away. God's love is eternal, relentless, irresistible. Father, help us to always have hope for those who seem to have no desire to want to know you and serve you. Help us to see our own desperate condition and need for your mercy.

One of the most powerful examples of God's grace and mercy is the story of the thief on the cross. Picture the thieves, crucified and dying, mocking Jesus along with the Pharisees and Roman soldiers.

"And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way." - Matt 27:39-44

As Jesus hung there with the thieves, each of them dying a slow, excruciating death, the heart of one of the thieves changes over a period of several hours.

"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." - Luke 23:39-43

What caused this thief to fall silent and then ask Jesus to remember him?

Dr. Kent Hughes' explains how the work of the Holy Spirit in the changed thief caused him to realize his desperate need of a savior as life was fleeing from his ravaged body:

"He feared God—that is, God’s just judgment of his sins. In those moments on the cross he had become profoundly humble. He had come to possess the bankruptcy of spirit that Jesus requires: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). He knew he had nothing within himself to commend him to God.

In this spirit he turned to address Jesus who, he had concluded, was the Messiah, King of the coming kingdom. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (v. 42). He did not say, “Remember my works.” Neither did he say, “Remember that I aligned myself with you in your death.” He said only, “Remember me.” He asked for mercy. That is all any of us can ask for. The dying words of the devout astronomer Copernicus were: “I do not ask for the grace that you gave St. Paul; nor can I dare to ask for the grace that you granted to St. Peter; but, the mercy which you did show to the dying robber, that mercy, show to me.”

If you died today where do you think you would go? Have you asked Jesus to remember you?