Beside the Cross

The event has been documented and told for nearly two centuries. A man, out of love, hanged on a cross, suffering excruciating pain for hours. With nails pierced through the skin into the ragged, splintery pieces of wood, blood dripped down to his feet and fell onto the ground below. Mockers hurled insults at him and shook their heads in disgust, spitting at the claim that he, as he had claimed, was the “Son of God.”

Jesus wasn't the only one being crucified on Good Friday. Along with Jesus were two criminals, one on each side of the cross of Jesus.

We don’t know much of anything about the two criminals. No name. No family history. No criminal history. They are merely two men being punished for crimes that they committed.

What we do know, however, is how they viewed the cross of Jesus.

One man used his final moments to provoke Jesus. Luke recalls the man saying “if you’re the Christ, save yourself and us!” He mocked Jesus and wanted to use the Cross to his benefit. Show me you’re the Son of God by getting me off this cross.

Jesus, despite the insults and pain, would cry out saying “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing”.

Let him save himself if he is the “Chosen One!”

If you’re the king of the Jews, come down from there!

The man hanging on the other cross, who admits that he is suffering the punishment that fits the crime, speaks up. Through the pain of the nails pierced through his skin he tells the other criminal that Jesus has done no wrong and doesn't deserve the ridicule or the cross. He looks to Jesus and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Again, we don’t know this man’s back story. Maybe he met Jesus before and was able to speak to him. The chances are slim, though. So with, presumably, one of his final statements on earth, he looks over at a bloody man, sentenced to a horrifying death by the government, and says “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” See, this man didn't have the rest of the beautiful love letter that God scripted out for us, that we have now. He may have read the Old Testament, but he didn't get to read the Gospels and know all the wondrous acts performed by the hands of Jesus. He didn't get to hear the story of Mary checking in on the tomb only to find it empty, for us to rejoice that the Son of God had risen. He didn't get that.

What he had was a brief moment with Jesus and a belief. He believed he deserved what was done to him, the death on a cross. He believed Jesus did not. He believed that Jesus had a kingdom, a life to come. He believed he wanted to be part of that life, not only to be saved from the current situation like the other criminal. He wanted to be remembered by the Son of God who was breathing his final breaths on earth.

And Jesus, despite the struggle and agony and pain and anguish, answered to the man gracefully saying, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

We don’t know his name. We don’t know his family history. We don’t know the crime he committed.

We know that when he saw Jesus, he wanted to be with him forever.

We know the story. The cross is on Bibles, necklaces, and skin. We've almost become stale to those six hours where Jesus suffered a brutal persecution and crucifixion, an act that we can hardly wrap our minds around. We know that Jesus was not defeated in death, and we celebrate, which is great because Jesus bore that pain and all that sin so that we may be saved. But I can’t help but wonder if we've shifted more to the first criminal, who view the cross as a “save me!” moment, and sometimes we forget that we have this criminal history and we are so undeserving of that love that he gives. We forget to approach the cross with humility and the hope that Jesus remembers us in his kingdom.