Mercy Beyond Reason
The scene is beyond ghastly. An innocent man, beaten beyond recognition and whipped to a bloody pulp, hangs broken and naked from a wooden frame. Spikes have been pounded through his wrists, and probably his ankles. A twisted crown of thorny branches has been shoved down onto to his head. We would vomit to happen upon anyone who had been so cruelly tortured, yet He was the spectacle of the day. Flanking Him were two guys in similar straits. These hoodlums were the kind you see on the evening news and thank God they don’t live in your neighborhood. We only know they were criminals.
All four Gospel accounts place them at the scene; all but John recount their cruel taunts hurled at the Savior. But one author- Luke, the physician- adds a dimension to Jesus’ mercy that is found nowhere else in Scripture. He shares this story in his account of the crucifixion.
Luke 23:39-43 New International Version (NIV)
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you 
are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.“
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Mercy Beyond Imagination
We cannot fathom Jesus’ pain at that moment. Not only was his body tortured and broken, the sin of the entire world was heaped upon His soul. And worst of all, the Father turned His back in a moment of excruciating darkness.
Considering the physical, emotional, and spiritual agony Jesus endured on the cross, I think it’s safe to assume that none of us has ever experienced anything close. Even being in labor, as painful as it is, doesn’t lend itself to extending mercy to anyone in the immediate vicinity, let alone someone hurling insults in our direction.
But in a moment of clarity, one of the criminals makes what might have been the only good decision of his life. He asks Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom.
That’s it. He doesn’t try to make a deal with God. He doesn’t grovel. He doesn’t fawn. He doesn’t beg. He doesn’t even say please. He simply asks.
He asks for the heaven that he does not deserve from the One who is enduring the hell He does not deserve.
And shockingly, in one sentence, this man’s eternal destiny changes in a sacred instant. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Who Do We Really Believe Jesus Is?
With all of the hoopla surrounding Christianity and politics, I think it’s easy to forget who our Savior is. The Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life continue to refresh our memories, if we remember to read (and reread) them.
When it comes to the criminal, what could possibly have motivated Jesus to forgive him? He never asked to be forgiven. Why did He extend mercy to someone who may never have committed a decent act in his life? It did not appear there was anything about the man that would further the Kingdom of God. Just moments earlier, he himself had also been hurling insults at the Creator of the Universe.
We don’t know about this poor soul, although some of us will meet him in Heaven! I’ll bet he has some stories to tell. But this story is really not about him at all.
It’s about Jesus Christ.
Jesus did not ask his companion if he was sorry for his sins. He didn’t ask him if he was in the country legally. He didn’t ask him what his crime had been. He didn’t ask him if he was gay, straight, or otherwise. He didn’t ask if he had contributed at the Temple. He didn’t ask him if he had kept the ceremonial law. He didn’t even ask him if he was Jewish.
He just loved him.
And that’s my problem with the political movement known as the Religious Right, and their support of Donald Trump. There’s not a single solitary argument in their defense of this awful man consistent with the gospel truth about the God of the Universe.
May that same God, who had mercy on a poor sinner on a cross, have mercy on our souls as well.