And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

Have you ever thought about how lonely Jesus was as He made His way to Calviary’s hill and hung on its cross to die?

Someone has compared it to the feeling you get in the hospital as you are being wheeled into the operating room. You feel radically alone as you wave good-bye to your family and friends, because they can’t undergo your surgery for you! You have to do it yourself. You are surrounded by people - the orderly is pushing your bed down the hall, the nurses and aides are walking beside you, other strangers are scurrying by - but still you feel completely alone.

Jesus was surrounded by people on Calvary; some were jeering Him and some were weeping for Him, yet surely our Lord felt as alone as anyone can be. In fact, He cried out from the Cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" - He even felt abandoned by God and not just forsaken by His friends. Oh, the depths of the suffering soul’s sorrow and solitude! Try to imagine how lonely our Savior felt as He made His way to Calvary!

Of course, we know that there were three crosses on the hill that day. Jesus died with two other men, one on His right and one on His left and it’s those two men I want to talk about today.

You might call them minor characters. The Bible doesn’t even tell us their names, but all four gospels agree that they were there, two thieves who died with Jesus on that hill so far away, crucified with our Lord and sharing His fate on Rome’s cruel emblem of suffering and shame.

John’s gospel just mentions their presence. Matthew and Mark only say that the two thieves joined the crowd in mocking Jesus. But our text in Luke’s gospel is different. Luke alone tells of the conversation which went on between these three prisoners as they hung on their crosses in the agony of crucifixion. The sinless Son of God was dying between two thieves! Jesus had come full circle from the humble manger of His birth.

In our Bible’s translation, the two men are called "robbers." But the Greek word can also be read as "revolutionaries." I suppose it’s all in a name and in who is doing the naming.

For years, the South African government called Archbishop Desmond Tutu a "fraud" and a "subversive," while the rest of the world called him a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a hero. For years, Washington has called our client government in El Salvador "democratic" and "reformist." But others, who have seen officials of this government squash land reform and silence their opposition with death squads and torture call them "thugs" and "murderers." It’s all in a name and in who is doing the naming.

So it was with the two men who died with Jesus. The Romans called them "terrorists," but others called them "Zealots" and "resistance leaders." They were Jewish patriots who took up an armed struggle against Rome. They waged an underground war, launching surprise attacks against the occupiers of their land and then disappearing again. Jews fighting in 1948 to establish Israel used these same guerrilla tactics against the British; in more recent years, Palestinians used them against the Jews.

Whatever these two men on Calvary were called, they were certainly political prisoners, since we know from history that the Roman punishment of crucifixion was saved not for common crimes, but for crimes of rebellion against the state. From the Roman point of view, they executed three revolutionaries that day: two who believed in violence and the more dangerous One who did not, the more dangerous One whose kingdom was not of this world.

So here are three men dying on a cross. And even though he is moments away from his own death, one of the thieves joins the crowd in mocking Jesus: "You call Yourself the Christ? You think You’re the Messiah? Why don’t You save Yourself and save us, too! Why do You just hang there? If You are not a fraud, show us what You can do, Jesus. Use this so-called power of Yours to save us."

Why do you think the first thief said this? At a time when he should be thinking about his life and preparing for his death, why should he join in mocking the Man dying next to him?

I don’t think we can excuse him by saying he was delirious with pain and not responsible for his words. Instead, I think he was still looking for an angle, a way out. I think he was one of those people who is beyond remorse. People like this have lost their conscience somewhere along the way. They can use or hurt other people, even viciously, and not think twice about it. They can lie to themselves and believe their own lies. People like this don’t regret the things they do; they only regret getting caught.

This is what frightens so many Americans about street crime today. There are a certain number of people out there who are completely casual about the crimes and violence they commit. They don’t value their victims’ lives at all and hardly value their own.

I remember one young man I knew a few years ago, who spent hour after hour in my apartment, talking about straightening up and finding a new life away from the inner city streets. But I always felt he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. He would look me in the eye, smile sweetly, and lie through his teeth! He talked about God a lot, but he had no fear of God and thus, no fear of the truth. Everything was a game to him and he must have thought I was pretty stupid not to see what he was doing.

He ended up going to jail for armed jobbery and I still wonder about him. I wonder if he still thinks the game isn’t up. I wonder if he is still looking for the next angle to play.

So, one thief at Calvary was playing the game which got him to the cross in the first place. But the other thief knew the game was up. According to legend, his name was Dysmas. They say your life passes before you at the moment of your death. Well, Dysmas was looking at his life now that he was facing his death.

He looked over to the other thief and rebuked him. "Man, can’t you see what is going on? You’re as good as dead and even now, you have no fear of God? You and I deserve what we are getting, but this Man is innocent. This Man has done nothing wrong. Are you so cynical that even now, you have no remorse?"

Then Dysmas turned his eyes to Jesus and said in a gentle voice, "Remember me when You come into Your kingdom."

This was Dysmas’ prayer and what a heartfelt prayer it was! It’s a prayer for all of us. "Lord, remember me when You come into the kingdom of Your glory." Please don’t forget me. My name is Dysmas. My name is Erskine. My name is Everyman and Everywoman. Remember me when You come into Your kingdom, Lord."

This is not a prayer of calculated desperation; it is a simple prayer of faith. Notice that he says, "When You come into Your kingdom," not "if." Notice also the humility of his request, for this is another sign of faith. He doesn’t ask to be seated in glory next to the throne of Jesus, as two of the disciples had asked (Matthew 20:20ff). Dysmas asks only to be remembered.

We can also say that Dysmas’ prayer isn’t for those who are spiritually proud and sure of their faith. It’s for the "poor in spirit" who know their need for God (Matthew 5:3). Dysmas doesn’t say to Jesus, "When You come into our kingdom;" he says, "Your kingdom." Dysmas knows his guilt. He knows the kind of life he has led. This new kingdom of righteousness and peace which God has begun in Jesus Christ may be a mystery to Dysmas, but he asks to be remembered anyway.

He cried out for one more chance and which one of us wouldn’t do the same? The whole world is crying out for another chance! "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."

Jesus answered Dysmas and gave him more than he asked for. Dysmas had merely asked to be remembered, but Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

Jesus gave Dysmas something, but we should also know that Dysmas gave Jesus something. Before He went to the Cross, our Lord had told the disciples, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32). This was why He suffered and died on Calvary. Jesus was lifted up from the ground and set on a cross in order to draw all people to Him.

In Dysmas, Jesus could see it beginning to happen, because Dysmas was the first. This hard-bitten criminal was the first one to be drawn to Jesus. He was the first sinner to see the light of salvation shining through the cross. You might say that in some small way, Dysmas made Jesus’ suffering worthwhile that day.

You could also say that we do the same today. We give great joy to Jesus when even one of us turns to Him and accepts His Way as our own. We give Jesus great joy, even as He gives us the salvation He won for us at Calvary.

In the end, our text in Luke is a story about being lost and being saved. And many preachers down through the years have found special significance in the fact that there were two thieves on Calvary that day. They have pointed out that one thief was saved, so that one might despair ... and only one was saved, so that no one might presume.

In other words, one thief was saved, even after a life of violence and evil, so that no one need despair. No one need think that salvation is beyond them because of the sins and dark secrets of their past. There is always another chance because Christ was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to Himself.

But only one thief was saved, so that no one may presume. Salvation is not automatic; it is not your birthright and cannot be taken for granted. You cannot guarantee salvation to yourself by any cut-and-dried formula, or by crying "Lord, Lord" with all the fervor you can muster (Matthew 7:21). One thief was saved so that no one may despair and only one was saved, so that no one may presume.

I suspect that as we look at the conduct of our lives and the content of our faith, there is within each one of us a deep yearning to say with Dysmas, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Earthen vessels that we are, there are times when we all want to say, "Lord, don’t leave me here, lost in my despair and confusion. Don’t leave me here wallowing in my wanton ways and worldliness. Pick me up and put me on higher ground, where I may find the faith and strength to live these days according to Your ways."

And I am quite certain that as we ponder the end of our earthly days and the mysteries of life and death, we will again want to say with Dysmas, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." Not only for this life, but also for the greater life to come. "Lord, remember me. Don’t leave me here in darkness and nothingness, but take me with You to Your light. Take me with You where You are going, because I can’t get there by myself. Precious Lord, take my hand and lead me to the Promised Land. Fill me with your goodness and mercy and let me dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Finally, I suspect all of us can find profound comfort in Jesus’ words, spoken in His agony and His undeserved suffering from that old, rugged cross. "Today, you shall be with Me in Paradise. Today, you shall go home to My Father’s house with many mansions, and I will take you there Myself. Today, the Lord your God shall answer your plea with a promise for eternity."

Receive this promise today, for it is given to you and me, as much as to Dysmas. Take Jesus at His Word and believe what He has said: "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise." It’s a guarantee written in heaven and engraved on every faithful heart. Let the joy of knowing it fill your life. Let your faith soar and your hope fly with it. Let your spirit be lifted on the wings of the gospel song’s sweet assurance:

O yes, He heard my feeble cry,From bondage set me free.And when I reach the pearly gates,He will remember me.

Pastoral Prayer

Almighty God, whose Son, Jesus, draws us together as a church, that we may be people of His Way, be with those who are absent from our midst today. Be with those who are travelling and lead them safely home. Be with those who simply didn’t get up or who found other things to do this morning and inspire them to be people of the Sabbath once again. Be with those who are separated from us by illness or infirmity, that they may be one with us in the Spirit even if they can’t be with us in the flesh.

O Precious Lord, who takes our hand and helps us stand all the days of our lives, help us to come before You this Lenten season as Dysmas did, with a humble prayer upon our lips. Put within our hearts the desire to be remembered in Your kingdom, that we may change what we are living for today. And as we struggle to give ourselves more faithfully to You, help us to receive the promise Dysmas received, the promise which Jesus gives to all who love Him, the assurance of knowing that we shall live with Him in Paradise, in the blessing of eternity. In Jesus’ name. Amen