THINK TOGETHER.
What does it mean to trust someone?
READ TOGETHER.
Luke 23:39-43. 39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus wasn’t the only person to ever be crucified. The Romans crucified lots and lots of people. Tens of thousands each year. Jesus wasn’t even the only person to be crucified on Good Friday. The Bible says that two other criminals were crucified with him on that terrible day.
In today’s scripture from Luke, we can see that these two criminals each responded to Jesus very differently. These two very different responses show us the two ways that every person responds to Jesus. The first way is to reject Jesus. The first criminal said, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us! He is angry at Jesus for not changing his situation. When he asks Jesus to save him, he does not mean he wants to be saved from his sin, but rather, he wants to be saved from the Roman cross that he’s on. He is using Jesus, not trusting Jesus. The truth is, he is mad at Jesus and mocking him.
But the other criminal responds in the completely opposite way. He is humble, admitting his sin – we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. He trusts that Jesus is from God and perfect – this man has done nothing wrong. And he has faith that Jesus can bring him into a heavenly kingdom that exists beyond death – remember me when you come into your kingdom.
You probably noticed that Jesus doesn’t say anything to the first criminal. He doesn’t defend himself or argue back. In fact, as we saw two days ago, Jesus asked for the forgiveness of those who were mocking him. Father forgive them, he said. But with the second criminal, the criminal that trusts in Jesus, he says these amazing words – Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.
We are all criminals in this life. Maybe not according to the standards of the police or the government, but according to God’s standard we are. We have all sinned against God and against each other. We have all broken God’s law, failing to love each other. The question is which criminal will you be? The one who mocked Jesus and got angry because your situations don’t change, or the one who recognizes that you are guilty and need Jesus to save you, trusting that he will bring you to paradise (Heaven) with him. And not because of anything good that we have done, the criminal on the cross never did anything right accept trust in Jesus. And that is all it takes to be in paradise with Jesus forever. Amen!
Because of Jesus we can be forgiven and go to paradise with him.
With Jesus we don’t have to do anything to earn our way to Heaven, only trust in him.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Draw or cut out the shape of a cross. Have each family member write a sin that they have committed on a piece of paper, fold it up so no one can see, and then glue or tack it to the cross. Talk about how Jesus nailed our sins to the cross forever. Like the believing criminal we are now invited to Heaven.
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, I trust in Jesus to take me to Heaven, not because I have done good, but because you are good, and forgiving, and loving, and kind. Amen.
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