Luke 23:39-43

“The cross stands like a set of scales silhouetted against the Jerusalem sky. Its upraised stanchion balances a cross beam where love and justice meet, where all humanity has been weighed and found wanting.” -Kenneth Give, Intimate Moments with The Savior

A REQUEST FROM A DYING THIEF: Luke 23:39-42

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Christ? 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 this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’

The Arrangement of the Crosses:

1. A man dying in his sins.

2. A man dying from his sins.

3. A man dying for sins.

“Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” -Isaiah 53:12.

PRAYERS OF THE THIEVES: Luke 23:39, 42

1. The first thief prayed for self-preservation. v.39

2. The second thief prayed for salvation. v.42

A RESPONSE FROM OUR LIVING LORD: Luke 23:43

“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”

1. “Today” = immediate salvation. 2 Corinthians 6:2

“For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

2. “Paradise” = infinite satisfaction. 2 Corinthians 5:8

“We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day.
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.
-William Cowper