“TODAY, YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE” — THE WORD OF JUSTIFICATION
The Sermon Text, St. Luke 23:42-43. 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.”
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Lord Jesus Christ, we thank You that You have remembered us in our guilt and translated us into Your kingdom of grace. We pray, rule in our hearts and lives with Your Word, and when life here is ended, take us with You into Paradise, You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (From The Lutheran Liturgy, companion altar book for The Lutheran Hymnal.)
In the name of Jesus, who has remembered all transgressors in His death:
This is the famous “thief on the cross.” He might be interested to know he’s mentioned in his Bible, he shows up in the Old Testament scroll – in Isaiah 53:12, where it says of the Messiah, the Suffering Servant: “He was numbered with the transgressors.” That’s this guy – and the other one.
In Matthew it just says, “Two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left,” and it mentions that they both spoke words of unbelief: “even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him,” and Matthew’s words indicate that this was ongoing, they kept insulting Jesus for a while. Mark only says: “With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left.” John just says there were “two others” crucified with Him.
Luke gives the most details about these two. Only Luke shows them being led with Jesus, carrying their crosses. Only he records their words: that “one of the criminals blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ ” As we know, they both did this. Luke wants you to hear the actual words. He also has the words when the one guy starts to change his tune, and says to the other, “We are under the same condemnation justly, we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
So far Jesus is silent. His only words so far have been: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” But after seeing Jesus’ patient way on the road out of the city, it’s this first word of Jesus, praying to the Father to forgive His enemies, by which the Holy Spirit produces faith in this criminal, who now does not say, “If You are the Son of God.” He calls Him “Lord.” Just like we say in the catechism, “I believe that He is my Lord.” He calls Jesus “Lord,” then says: “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Now Jesus speaks His second word from the cross. He is speaking to a guilty man, but one who acknowledges his guilt: “We are [I am] receiving the due reward of our deeds [my deeds].” He’s confessed his sin. He’s repented. He also has faith in Jesus – not only that Jesus is the Savior but hisSavior, for he uses “Lord” and “to me” in the same breath – “my Lord!”
So as we hear Jesus say to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise,” we hear it as the the word of justification.
That’s what’s going on here. Justification. The Bible word justify means to “declare righteous.” It pictures God as a judge who has to give a judgment – about you, the sinner. As a sinner you expect a guilty verdict, so how is it that God actually declares you not guilty? This is the central teaching of the Bible, we read it in Paul’s epistles. But here it’s pictured!
Both these men were law-breakers. They received the due punishment for their deeds: death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) But both would die with their sins paid for, justified for Jesus’ sake, by His death. “He died for all … God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.” (2Cor 5:15, 19)
This is called objective justification. Regardless what each believed, this was objectively true:they were justified, forgiven of all their crimes. The sins of everyone – including the unrepentant thief – are forgiven because Jesus died and fully paid for them. God declares the whole world forgiven. Not based on your faith, which can waver, but due to Jesus’ death, which is fact. All your sins are paid for, He died for them all. His resurrection proved it’s true: “He was raised because of our justification.” (Rom 4:25)
This is so important for you. If you’re ever unsure how you stand with God; if you’re tempted to judge God’s love for you or the certainty of your salvation from how well you believe or live – then this is your comfort: that it doesn’t depend on you but on Him; and it’s the objective truth and certainty that Christ died for all.
But what about faith? That’s in the picture too. Here’s where we talk about “subjective justification,” the subjective or personal part, which does depend on faith. We see that in these two men. The difference between them is in their faith. Only one of them got the benefit of Jesus’ death.
The first man who speaks here rejected Jesus, his sins were died for but he went to hell due to his unbelief. This is the one who said: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save Yourself – and us.” He wasn’t really asking Jesus to save him; he didn’t believe Jesus to be the Savior. The other criminal rebukes him for his defiant unbelief, but there’s no response. His silence condemns him. Although Jesus’ death forgives the sins of the world, this man is a warning that without faith you lose the salvation Jesus won.
However, the other one believed. He spoke from faith. First he says: “Don’t you even fear God?” Then he says, “this Man has done nothing wrong.” He has the one true faith: who Jesus is, God and Man, and also what He did: He redeemed us with holy, innocent blood.
Then he says: “Remember me when You come in Your kingdom.” He says Jesus – dying next to Him – nevertheless has an eternal kingdom. This is faith in Jesus as his Savior. Then Jesus declares: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” His sins don’t keep him out of Paradise. It’s by faith, because he repents and trusts in Jesus for salvation and forgiveness.
This is what Jesus says to you too: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” This is your comfort when you have guilt. This is the comfort when you feel alone. This is the comfort for those who are near death.
This is the Gospel. You will be with Him in Paradise. It’s for Jesus’ sake, and it’s only by faith. “Assuredly I say to you” means “I tell you the truth.” What Jesus says on earth is true in heaven. Jesus is saying – also to you – “This is the truth about you, more true than anything you know about yourself. You will be with Me in Paradise.” As the pastor forgives your sins, Jesus is doing it, He pronounces forgiveness and declares you saved – as He did for this man.
As you’re told that your sins are forgiven, it’s “today,” it isn’t a wish that they might be; they’re totally erased right now. You’re also being told that if you should die before you wake, you’ll be with Jesus in Paradise.
When a Christian dies, he/she goes into Paradise “today,” that very day, the soul goes to be “with Me,” Jesus says, and the body is buried to await the day when Jesus’ same voice will powerfully raise the body and give each Christian his/her own glorified body. But the main point for us is that every day is the “today” of Jesus speaking His forgiveness that takes away all guilt, and thus every day you are “a child of Paradise” (ELH #246 v. 1). Amen!