Jesus Paid It All

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:”Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him, “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But his man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:32-36

I love the story of the thief on the cross. This thief was dying for crimes he had committed. He hung on one side of Jesus Christ. Another thief hung on the other side. That thief decided to use the last minutes of his life on this planet to mock Jesus and tell Him to save Himself. He’s about to die, and he’s taking the minutes he has left to hurl insults at Jesus.

In the midst of this, the other thief doesn’t go into a deep theological discussion with the man. He just asks a simple question that reveals his heart. “Don’t you fear God…” This thief, in his final moments, is acknowledging Who hangs beside him. He knows. How do we know he knows? He turns to Jesus and asks Him to remember him when He goes into His kingdom. He is essentially telling Jesus Christ, I know who you are…have mercy on me.

And then Jesus says something that answers so many questions. In that one sentence, Jesus announces what He is doing on the cross! He is telling the thief, the crux of the gospel.

He is also answering the question about what happens to believers when they die. In those eight simple words, Jesus has answered that question, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”

The beauty of the gospel is that it is nothing we can do. Jesus paid it all. The thief on the cross had no time. He had minutes before he would depart this world forever. He was paying the price for his crimes while he hung next to Jesus who was paying the price for all of our sins. Somehow this thief knew it. He knew who Jesus was.

There was no time to do any good deeds. There was no time for him to pray or sing or feed the homeless. He couldn’t repay all the people he robbed. He couldn’t tell the people he wronged that he was sorry. THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO. Except, to believe on Jesus Christ. In that moment, he did what God asks all of us to do. God never tells us to to do good deeds. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. All we are asked to do, is to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. And that’s exactly what this thief did. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

And Jesus answers him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Yep, that’s all it takes. No good deeds. You won’t be able to cleanse yourself with good deeds. You can’t make yourself righteous. Just simply accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. He paid the price. What a glorious thing!