Episode 3.
Topic: Saved by Grace
Text: Luke 23: 39 – 43
© Danilo M. Banggo 10/27/23
From the beautiful island of Maui, I want to greet you with a warm Aloha! Welcome to “Gospel in the Air,” a 30-minute devotional program that will inspire and encourage your daily walk with Jesus. May I invite you to join me in this short devotional meditation. May you be enlightened with spiritual insights as the Holy Spirit reveals His desire for humankind to be saved, that is, that no one should perish but all will come to repentance.
Our devotional meditation is entitled, Saved by Grace. This is found in the New Testament in Luke 23: 39 – 43.
This is all about the repentant thief that was saved at the very first opportunity for accepting and by receiving Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Jesus assured him of paradise, a place where no human mind can utterly describe because of its perfect beauty. In the ancient near East paradise refers to a beautiful garden that is secured by a wall. Later, traditions speak of a place of blessedness where celestial beings live and where famous individuals were carried away after death. Is this what Paul in second Corinthians chapter twelve and verse four speaks of his experience in which he was caught up into paradise and there he heard words which man may not utter? Well, it is not so much of our concern to describe what is this place called paradise but one thing for sure is that someday we will go there and see for ourselves that glorious place prepared for those who will endure until the end.
There is this Latin maxim which says, Dura Lex Sed Lex meaning, the law may be hard, but it is the law. Under the Law of Moses no one was able to live the standard of God because they were under the yoke of rules and ordinances. For every commission or omission of the law there is always the corresponding punishment in which, in many instances, are very severe ones even death by stoning. The Pharisees, a religious sect known for their strict adherence of the law in the New Testament, seem to be righteous under their own terms in interpreting God’s laws but still failed in God’s eyes. As a result, they are clouded spiritually and blinded to the dictate of the law and thus, Christ to them is a threat to their religion. Therefore, they carefully planned every detail of their action in order to successfully eliminate Jesus. They thought they are doing their greatest service to God by defending their religion, but they are totally wrong! Who could ever know and understand the mind of God? They are blinded spiritually because of their hardened hearts, and they did not realize that the one whom they rejected and killed is God’s Word incarnate or God in the flesh. Had they known Jesus as the King of glory they would not have crucified Him!
THE LOST THIEF
Here is a man who was sentenced to die by the Roman court because of a heinous crime. The form of punishment is by hanging on the cross outside of the city of Jerusalem totally naked. It is a form of punishment intended as a deterrent for people to commit crimes. It instills fear in the entire colony of the Roman Empire so that people will continue to pledge their loyalty to Caesar. It is a fact that this man is guilty of the crime imposed upon him and he deserves this kind of punishment under Roman law.
He is hung on the left side of Jesus. He witnessed everything how they treated and abused him beyond human treatment as they nailed both his arms and feet on the cross. This experience was aggravated by the impending death that awaits him not long from now. Any man of normal mind in this situation could have been begging for mercy. But on the contrary, he is not! He is indeed a hardened criminal. Could it be that he was used and possessed by Satan at this very hour? This is Satan’s last bastion to stop Jesus. He knows it well that he is running out of time, and he must do everything to retain his reign here on earth. Satan’s kingdom is about to be crushed. His minions are screaming! Christ’s kingdom is about to begin. He told Peter once, “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Mt.16: 18).
Now I want you to listen carefully to the same tactic employed by the devil, that ancient serpent. He is very enticing and very tempting. Observe the parallel of statements used by this thief and Satan in the wilderness when he tried to tempt the Lord. The Living Bible interpreted this way in verse thirty-nine: “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself – and us, too, while you’re at it” (scoffing him).
Here is a man dying in sin, yet he did not learn to humble himself by submitting his life to the Author and Finisher of our faith. He was so boastful like Satan himself. Satan fell from God’s throne because of pride. When at last he tasted the glory of God he coveted to be equal with God and wanted to become like God himself. His method is the same as it has always been to become like God.
Like the lost thief, how many times do you tempt the Lord because of faithlessness or unbelief? Or because of pride? We pose the same words as that of the lost thief and Satan, “If you’re the Christ…then… prove it!” The world is enticing for a worldly desire; those that cater to the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” This is Satan’s and not from the Father of mercy. But thank God, Jesus Christ did not fall into this trap! The Anointed One is about to close the chapter of the misery of man because of sin. He is about to redeem us by His blood!
Faithlessness or unbelief is a sin. I don’t care how you justify any game of chance. It is still a form of gambling wrapped up surreptitiously in the name of Christian definition of love and charity. What a justification, indeed! Beware. Satan can take the form of an angel of light too. How deceiving! Beware my fellow Christian. Satan can take advantage from us when we are weak, when we are dying on our crosses, when we are facing the threat of a lingering illness, loss of a job, loss of loved ones, loss of a house, loss of car, loss of everything you cherish and value so dearly, etc. But I want to encourage you to have faith in God! To keep going and not to give up. Commit your fears, disappointments, and burdens to God and trust His Son, Jesus Christ! He can deliver you from your losses and help you to rebuild your life. Do not allow Satan to take advantage of you by making you fearful of the situation. Overcome fear with your faith. God knows what is best for you. God is so much interested in you. He wants to know your condition today whether you are doing good or not. He is interested to know your plans and the desires of your heart. God is waiting to listen to your prayers. Go to him before his throne of grace and cry out to Him your burdens and heartaches. Ask God to intervene in your life because he cares for you (2 Pet. 5: 7). He knows you personally. He has not forgotten you. He has inscribed your name in the palm of His hand! (Isa.49: 16). Do not allow your circumstances to dictate your life but allow them to bring you closer to God. Instead, take this opportunity to surrender and commit your life to Jesus Christ by faith. Do not be afraid to face life squarely but be encouraged knowing that God is on your side.
THE REPENTANT SINNER
Now I want you to turn your eyes to the other thief on the right side of the Messiah. He’s murmuring something we’ve never expected to hear from a hardened criminal like him. Listen very well, what he says: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (v.42)
What a contrast of personality with that of the first thief. I sense a theology of his request to Jesus. He does not see Jesus the way the other thief looks at Him. This thief believes Jesus! He recognizes Jesus’ deity! What a contrast of a street – level recognition as against Pilate’s and Pharisees’ (high level recognition). Maybe he had heard already about Jesus long before serving his sentence? Or maybe, allow me to speculate further, that probably before he was imprisoned, he was already introduced to the God of the Jews and could have somehow learned what Jewish religion is all about especially the coming Messiah? Or maybe he had heard already about the preaching of John the Baptist and could have been convicted of his sin? But the Bible is silent about the past life of this man. It does not even say whether he is a Jew or not. I can go on and speculate more about him, but the most important thing is that he realizes that he is a sinner while Jesus is innocent and the Messiah (the Savior)! We can see this in the way he defended the Lord from the howling hurled by his fellow criminal. It was fear that restrained him from mocking Jesus. Holy fear of God is the beginning of wisdom! Oh, fellow Christians, learn from this man! Holy fear would lead you to repentance! Holy fear would stop you from lying! Holy fear would remind you of your right relationship with God! Holy fear would lead you to a holy life! Our road to Calvary is not smooth along the way. We must keep our walk slow when it is bumpy and rugged and be aware of potholes too. We must fix our eyes to Jesus and be not distracted with side street’s offerings otherwise we might not be able to reach our goal. In short, don’t stop at a beer house otherwise you will get drunk and what follows will be history of your Christian life. There have been scores of stories of great preachers victimized by this sort. And probably this is what happened to this repentant thief too. He might have been a backslider! It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But I tell you here is Jesus, our Lord, just hanging on your side. Be like that repentant thief… “Lord, Jesus, please remember me when you go into your kingdom!”
While there is life there is hope, while there is hope there is room for prayer. The man is dying, and he knows that in just a short hour from now he will soon go. O, what an opportunity for him to have the author of life on his side! He is just a breath away from him! He grabs that chance and never lets that opportunity pass by him. He realizes this is now his chance for life eternal! He thought probably anything wasted now would be wasted for all eternity! And then slowly with a contrite spirit, he reaches out to Jesus and prayed to him and surrendered his life to him, Lord, Jesus, remember me…! What a living faith!
Maybe you are in a situation where you can identify yourself with this repentant sinner. Do not lose hope. Take time to pray, that’s it, find a place where you can lay yourself before the throne of grace and submit your life to him. Let Him know your burdens … your doubts … your heartaches … everything! Yes, everything. Let God knows it by casting all your cares upon Him. Never allow that old serpent to take advantage of your situation. Trust Jesus like this repentant thief. He is just a breath away from you. Pray! Keep praying! And never stop reaching out to God! Welcome the Holy Spirit to intervene in your behalf to talk to God. Allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to pray. O, how many Christians today who have been deceived by the enemy? Maybe some of you are about to be deceived too, aren’t you? But thank God for His word today. It made my faith and your faith in Jesus alive again because of what we witnessed at the cross at Calvary.
THE RESPONSE OF JESUS
When Jesus was scoffed by the lost thief, he never says any word, but he just kept his peace. I tell you he has his day with the King of kings and Lord of lords later in his judgment seat. The Bible says those soldiers who mocked him, even the one who pierced his side will have their day too with him when we shall see Him sit in His glory! (Rev. 1:7) Yes, and this is the good news, Jesus Christ is coming back! (Heb.9:28) Praise God! He will come in the glory of His Father not anymore as that meek Lamb as we used to know him, but He will come back as that Lion of Judah! (Rev. 5:5) The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (1 Thes. 5:2). Watch out then! Watch out that you are awake when He comes back!
The repentant thief was not only pardoned for his sin, but he was promised a place called paradise. Do you remember what we said earlier about this enclosed garden? This is the belief of many of us that once a person dies, he immediately goes to the garden called Paradise. This is the intermediate state where the departed souls of those who are saved will go. And it is symbolized by those flowers we bring during funerals.
Jesus affirmed it to him by saying, “Today you will be with me in Paradise. This is a solemn promise.” In another translation it says, “I assure you this day you will be with me in Paradise.” I could just imagine the feeling of real joy in the heart of this repentant criminal. The pain and the sufferings of the cross including the shame he is experiencing right now turned into ashes and became an aroma of his real experience with having Jesus. O, I tell you, when you have that real experience with Jesus no amount of pain and sufferings can cause you to turn your back to him. When you experience his forgiveness and his promise of paradise no amount of worldly promises of wealth, fame, and glory can cause you to stop from committing your life to him! Indeed, Jesus is our hope and salvation!
He affirmed it to the repentant thief with authority because He is God Himself, the Author of life and the Finisher of faith! The one talking to the repentant sinner is God Himself! And I am not referring to a cheap grace here, but I am telling you what costly grace all is about. It cost the life of the Son of God just to save you and me. In other words, there is no middle ground for our salvation. There are only two choices we can choose from, and it is either heaven or hell.
OUR RESPONSE
Our life is not a guarantee. You don’t know what will happen after tomorrow. But death is a fact of life. We must therefore be ready for any eventuality. In many instances, instead of asking for God’s provision in times of need we resort to other means and methods, usually the human way, and every success we gain we account it as our own. But every failure we receive we blame it to Him saying, “If you are a loving God how come you allow this to happen?” We are not different from that of the lost thief on the cross who lost every opportunity of his chance for salvation because of pride and unbelief. But for the backsliders, like that of the repentant thief, there is always a chance for them to return to Jesus and ask for his forgiveness and be received of Him. This is what grace is all about. The gift of God to those who are willing to commit and surrender their lives to Jesus by faith and make him as their Lord and Savior. The promise of paradise is assured to them. And how about you? Have you committed your life by faith to Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Time is running out and you only have this chance now to make your decision. If you choose to accept His offer of grace of forgiveness, then the promise of eternal life and immortality awaits you in glory.
Follow the way of the repentant thief. Come to Jesus and experience his salvation. The word of God is very clear with our eternal security that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus our Savior (Rom.8: 35-39).
Are you willing to make your commitment by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are willing, then you are making the greatest decision of your life. Have faith in the Lord as that of the repentant thief. He was saved at the very first opportunity by committing his life to the Lord by faith and it was not too late for him to do it. He sought and desired Paradise and it was granted to him immediately. How marvelous is the grace and love of God to anyone who is willing to commit his life to Jesus Christ. Right now, God is knocking at the door of your heart. Why don’t you open it and welcome him to commune with you? Today is the day of your salvation. Accept Jesus by faith.
It is my prayer that you have been blessed today. Listen to this podcast, “Gospel in the Air,” every week to be encouraged in your daily walk with Jesus. “Gospel in the Air” is a podcast ministry of Cornerstone Christian Church. We are located in Maui, Hawaii, USA. You can also visit our website at www.cornerstonemaui.org. This is your host, Brother Dani Marantan Banggo saying, keep punching the good fight of faith. Mahalo!
