Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.”
The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condition. And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43
People who were crucified ultimately died from suffocation. As you hung on the cross, fluid would pour into your lungs. A man hanging on a cross had to continually pull himself up, just to catch a breath. For every breath Jesus took on the cross, he had to expend a great deal of energy. It cost Jesus dearly to answer the other criminal on the cross.
The thief on the cross was a criminal. He deserved to die, as he noted; but by simply asking Jesus to remember him in his kingdom, he received eternal life.
We cannot earn eternal life. We cannot earn the Paradise of heaven. We can’t earn it, but we can receive it because of Jesus’ work on the cross.
Take a moment to pray with the Good Thief. Pray today, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”