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Jesus did not promise the penitent thief that he should go with him,
upon the day of their crucifixion, to Paradise; for he himself did not
ascend to his Father until three days afterward. See
John 20:17
. But
he declared unto him, “I say unto thee today—” meaning to impress
the fact upon his mind, that at that time, while enduring ignominy and
persecution, he had the power to save sinners. He was man’s Advocate
with the Father, having the same power as when he healed the sick and
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raised the dead to life; it was his divine right to promise that day to the
repentant, believing malefactor, “Thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
The criminal upon the cross, notwithstanding his physical suffer-
ing, felt in his soul the peace and comfort of acceptance with God.
The Saviour, lifted upon the cross, enduring pain and mockery, re-
jected by the priests and elders, is sought by a guilty, dying soul with
a faith discerning the world’s Redeemer in Him who is crucified like a
malefactor. For such an object did the Son of God leave Heaven, to
save lost and perishing sinners. While the priests and rulers, in their
self-righteous scorn, fail to see his divine character, he reveals himself
to the penitent thief as the sinner’s Friend and Saviour. He thus teaches
that the vilest sinner may find pardon and salvation through the merits
of the blood of Christ.
The Spirit of God illuminated the mind of this criminal, who took
hold of Christ by faith, and, link after link, the chain of evidence that
Jesus was the Messiah was joined together, until the suffering victim,
in like condemnation with himself, stood forth before him as the Son
of God. While the leading Jews deny him, and even the disciples doubt
his divinity, the poor thief, upon the brink of eternity, at the close of
his probation, calls Jesus his Lord! Many were ready to call him Lord
when he wrought miracles, and also after he had risen from the grave;
but none called him Lord as he hung dying upon the cross, save the
penitent thief, who was saved at the eleventh hour.
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This was a genuine conversion under peculiar circumstances, for a
special and peculiar purpose. It testified to all beholders that Jesus was
not an impostor, but sustained his character, and carried out his mission
to the closing scene of his earthly life. Never in his entire ministry
were words more grateful to his ears than the utterance of faith from
the lips of the dying thief, amid the blasphemy and taunts of the mob.
But let no one neglect present opportunities and delay repentance,
presuming on the eleventh-hour conversion of the thief, and trusting to