I am drawn to the Good Thief in the story of Jesus's passion. The creative writer in me is intrigued by his character. We don't know what crimes he committed to justify being crucified. We don't know how long it took him to die on his cross or if he died before or after Jesus. We don't even know his name. But much like the Canaanite Woman, the Good Thief was important enough to be mentioned without being named.
Even though he was a real person who lived and walked the earth, he is also symbolic. He is the physical representation of the human race for whom Jesus died.
We are all the Good Thief. We sin again and again. We make bad choices. But the beauty of having him in the story is that we are reminded of what will happen to us when we turn to Jesus. We have Jesus's actual words - in print! - telling us we'll be with him in paradise. It didn't matter that the Good Thief lived a bad life up until he dying breath. He asked Jesus to forgive him, to remember him, and that was all Jesus needed to hear.
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 23:42-43
The Good Thief is our model. No matter what we do or how far we stray from Jesus, all we need to do is reach out, and He is there. By His death, we've already been forgiven. By his resurrection, we've already been saved.
In one of the songs on this playlist, "Mighty to Save," we hear these words: "So, take me as you find me/All my fears and failures/Fill my life again." This is exactly what the Good Thief asked of Jesus. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." "Jesus, take me just as I am, a sinner, a failure. Give my life meaning."
We can learn a lot from the Good Thief. He surrendered himself to Jesus, admitted his sins, and asked for salvation. It didn't matter that he did so as he was dying.
It's true that we are already saved, but we still need to try. We still need to seek forgiveness for our inevitable sins.
Think about it kids at Christmas. The gifts from Santa are a reward for good behavior. We don't teach our kids to expect them. We have elves and Santa cams and all kinds of ways to keep our kids in check so that Santa can leave them their gifts. Well, salvation is our gift from Jesus. It is our reward for living a life devoted to Him. We should strive to do that every day.
The Good Thief didn't know Jesus until the very end of his life. But as soon as he knew and believed, he asked and was granted. We already know Jesus. Let's not take his gift for granted.
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