Lenten Midweek #4: Glory of Golgotha
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Trinity Lutheran Church-Columbia, MO
St. Luke 23:39-43
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (KJV)
When Christ was crucified, the prophecy was fulfilled: “He was reckoned among the transgressors” (Is. 53:12). The prophecy points broadly to all sinners but more specifically to the two criminals crucified with Him. The crucified on Christ’s left was and remained in unbelief. He cursed and blasphemed to the last and then went to his reward: a death far worse than crucifixion. On the Lord’s right was a man who had led a wicked life and was receiving the due reward for his deeds, but on the cross in his dying breaths he was turned from sin, changed into one of God’s saints, and entered into glory with Christ.
One is accepted, one is cast down to hell. This repentance was due to God’s grace. God alone, can, and does, convert men. Why did the Lord kindle the light of faith in the criminal on the right? Why did the criminal on the left remain in darkness and speed on to hell? A similar question might be: why did the Lord bring Peter to repentance while Judas sank deeper and deeper and was lost? We cannot give the answer. The Scriptures testify and the Confessions remind us that this is an impenetrable mystery. It belongs to the unsearchable ways and judgments of God. What God has hidden from us, we should, for His sake, refrain from exploring and judging with our finite, foolish, and weak reason. It simply behooves us to worship God for calling us to His marvelous light. The point of this text, as with all of Holy Scripture, is to warn what leads to damnation and show us the way to salvation.
The example of the man on the left is a solemn and gripping warning. It is a terrible, horrible thing when a person, after spending a life in the open service of sin rejects the divine Word and dies reviling God. It is cause for horror and recoil when God has laid His chastening hand upon a man and that man curses his life rather than humbling himself before God’s mighty arm which means to do him good. The same warning applies to respectable sinners. People who hide their love of sin and service to sin under a mantle of outward decency and respectability are under the same plight of judgment as the man on Jesus’ left. They may be honorable and upright before the world, but are not acceptable in the heavenly court; without faith it is impossible to be pleasing to God (Heb. 11:6).
And the man on the left is a warning to us Christians as well. We are to listen to what we are told about him so that we do not draw the wrong conclusions about the man on the right who did repent; so that we do not fall into the grievous error of postponing repentance; so that we are not tempted with the thought that it is a common or frequent thing that the Lord converts a sinner in his dying hour; and so that we do not fall into the temptation to wantonly sin and then expect to receive grace, but that we should always fear, love, and trust in God and repent daily. He who is alarmed by what the Scriptures say about the impenitent thief, he who feels the burden of his sin and is sorry, this is the man who may turn to the side of the Savior’s cross and receive the grace that pours forth from the Savior’s side.
When the thief on the left blasphemed and said, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us,” the other thief rebuked him: “Do you not fear God, seeing you are condemned for the same? We are condemned justly, we are receiving the reward for our sins, but this Man has done nothing wrong.” The rebuke teaches us the pattern of true contrition. Repentance in the way of the man on Jesus’ right shows sinners the way, the way to life and the way to salvation. All of us are to see ourselves in the man on Jesus’ right because we have robbed God in thought, word, and deed; we have offended God; we should get what we deserve for our deeds. Blessed are we, however, if we truly see and bemoan that we are unprofitable servants. Blessed are we when we confess what we are.
The man on the Lord’s right did not despair despite his sin because to his contrition was added saving faith. He confessed that he and his companion were deserving of their execution, but he realized this was not true or fair for the man that hung between them, for he said, “This man has done nothing wrong!” This realization, this confession is incredible, and it cannot be uttered or believed apart from the Holy Spirit. The man sure saw that the Jews denounced Jesus as the greatest of all blasphemers and yet he confesses with his lips that Jesus is free from all blame. He addressed Him as Lord! He saw in Him the King, the Messiah. What faith! This man looked beyond what was before his eyes in a worldly sense: shame, lowliness, the suffering, the reproach, the judgment, and saw the innocence, the obedience, the humility, and also, the holiness, the glory, and majesty of the Son of God. His faith was genuine. He believed this Man hanging next to Him was the Holy One of God, the hope and consolation of Israel, the Redeemer and Savior of sinners. If he did not, he surely would not have said, “Lord, remember me!” His faith was also humble. He would gladly accept being a doorkeeper in the house of God. He would be glad to eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. He looked toward Christ’s cross and took refuge in the blood of Jesus’ wounds. This is saving faith.
Although faith did not enter his heart until his dying breath it was clearly shown before he died. It expressed itself in prayer and confession. He prayed to God and He witnessed that Jesus was the Christ. He did this openly, before the other thief, before the reviling Jews, and before the taunting Romans. He showed compassion for the thief on Jesus’ left because he rebuked him for the insults hurled at God and pointed him to the One who had done nothing wrong but was atoning for the iniquities of all sinners with His innocent suffering and death. In faith he loved him enough to warn him against his unbelief, and prayed with Jesus, just as Stephen would, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” His faith was manifested with patience. He did not complain about his sufferings nor request the Lord to free him from the cross, but submitted without a murmur to the punishment he deserved and still was given strength to love his Lord and his brother until the moment of death. What he confesses and does are the precious fruits of faith. Thus, we must look upon this criminal as one of God’s saints whose example we should follow.
How was this great change affected in his heart? The disciples learned of Jesus by seeing His glory. The thief learned of Christ by witnessing His greatest shame and humiliation, which caused the disciples to scatter. As an Israelite, the thief would have surely known something of the prophecies concerning the hope of Israel, even though up until he was nailed to the cross Moses and the Prophets remained a dead letter and meaningless to him. Surely in the past three years he would have heard of the miracles of Jesus. But when he was condemned to die he was brought face to face with the Lord’s anointed. Then he heard the solemn words of judgment addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem as the three of them were led away to die. He must have reflected on the sermon Jesus preached on their way to Golgotha: “they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (Lk. 23:31). He probably asked himself, “if judgment is coming, if the citizens of Jerusalem and their leaders are dry wood ready for burning, what sort of kindling must I be?” He then witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus. Surely he must have marveled at the patience which Jesus showed. Finally, he heard Jesus’ sermon, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Then his eyes were opened and he said in his heart,” Truly this man is the King of the Jews, as the title on His cross proclaims; this man must be the Messiah to whom all Scripture prophesies.” Since Jesus prayed to His father to pardon His murderers, this criminal surely believed “there must a small measure of grace for me.” Seeing the crucified Lord and the hearing His words, a living sermon, regenerated this man; the Holy Spirit imparted saving faith and enlightened this man’s soul.
Dear Christian friends, we have and hear the same sermon because we have Holy Scripture which gives us the exact same words of Jesus. The thief heard the spoken words of Jesus. We have the written word which is spoken to us. We hear Christ crucified preached to us Sunday after Sunday. Should not our hearts be moved to contrition and faith, to love and gratitude, to praise and holiness? The same word preached on Good Friday is the same word which brings all sinners, open or secret, shameless or self-righteous, to the knowledge of the truth.
Did the thief on Jesus’ left see and hear all this, too? Why did he not come to repentance? He had hardened his heart. The fault was his own. Grace was offered to him in abundance. Still we ask, why did the thief on the right come to faith? This was the Lord’s doing and His alone. The Lord looked upon this repentant thief just as He did upon Peter. In grace, the Spirit of Christ made the words of Jesus, the word of Scripture, and the living sermon of the cross, live in his heart. The repentance of the thief on the right was a work of grace, a miracle of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever a sinner repents, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. If we have come to the knowledge of our miserable condition and confess that we are sinners with nothing to offer or glory in before God; if we believe in Christ, praise the Crucified from whom the world turns away; if we, even though in great weakness, serve this King in holiness and righteousness pleasing to Him; if we look for His eternal kingdom: we owe this solely to the mercy of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to God’s attitude of grace toward us. He and He alone has put the Word of God into our hearts, and made it live in us. He has opened our hearts and regenerated us. But let us not forget the Holy Spirit performs His work in us through preaching and His Word. May we never, ever turn from His Word, but gladly and diligently hear and learn it, so that we may continue in repentance and grow in trust.
And oft repeated quote, though we don’t know where it comes from, goes like this, “In all of Holy Scripture, there is but one case of deathbed repentance, that of the repentant thief. That no man should despair. And yet, only one, that no man, should presume.”
We see the thief on the cross who was crucified with the Lord and maybe it makes us think we can get away with sinning wantonly, perhaps in secret, or perhaps it makes us upset. We who have suffered with the Lord our whole lives may feel like the older brother of the prodigal; we just want a little bit of leeway to enjoy the pleasures of this life. The thief on Jesus’ right waltzes into the kingdom at the 11th hour for free. He never served the church, he did not help, and yet he receives the same, mercy, forgiveness, and welcome that we do. He was not our friend in the world, he may even have been our enemy, but now he is our brother. And we are to rejoice because this is grace.
It is easy for us to think, “well the prodigals aren’t really Christians, they barely understand the Gospel; maybe they know that God loves them but they don’t live like it, why does it look, to us, as though their sins don’t really matter to themselves or to God?” We see them fornicating or barely coming to church or getting drunk, and assume they really don’t expect anything to happen; that they themselves don’t expect any real consequences for their sins. It is absolutely possible, of course, to repent on their deathbed. There is one case of deathbed repentance in Scripture that no man should despair. That being said, many who do repent at the 11th hour wind up dead at 10:30. Cinderella intended to be home by midnight but last track of time. Addiction numbs the soul slowly. Deathbed conversions are possible but rare. With God all things are possible. As long as it is called today (Heb. 3:13) God desires our regeneration and we are given a time of grace to repent anew. Yet faith, more often than not, takes time. If the hour of death draws near and someone cannot sin because time has run out, the repentance is false; they have run out of opportunities to sin. If someone repents because they see the punishment for their sins is approach quickly, this, too is a false repentance because it comes from a love of self and fear of a just punishment rather than a love of God and Christ. This repentance proceeds not from a hatred of sin, but from hatred of punishment. For repentance to be true, it must seek the forgiveness of sins in Christ, and an earnest resolve to devote whatever time remains in this life to the love and service of God. That takes time. “In all Holy Scripture, there is but one case of deathbed repentance, that of the repentant thief. Only one, that no man should presume.” True repentance entrusts to God’s will whatever and however great the chastisements and teaching that God permits to befall us so that we repent because of a hatred of sin. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Ps. 51:16-17). To whom shall God look favorably on but to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and fears His Word? (Is. 66:2)
Even still, we do not want to resent the thief on Jesus’ right or any other Christian who has not had faith as long as we have had. We do not want to fall into thinking or hardening our hearts that the Gospel should be more discerning, that it ought to ask something of those it comes to, or that there should be recognition or reward for devotion or diligence, or that we should fall into thinking that all of God’s saints should be like us, as if we are the standard. The warning from the thief on the right is this: Do not let your eye become evil because God is good.
The thief on the cross teaches us about grace. We should not be envious of the thief because he teaches us that everyone who prays, “Lord, remember me” will be heard. And we should not be envious of 11th hour Christians they should be envious of us. We did not miss a thin; we had more time with our Father than they did. Still, 11th hour Christians show us the Father’s heart. This is what the gospel goes, it forgives sinners, even the worst of sinners; even the thief who had to be put to death in the most humiliating way possible. Jesus paid for all of them. Even those who will never benefit from His sacrifice. He died for the most wicked and violent men without exception. And if they would only believe, apart from any works at all, whether early or late in life, they would be saved no matter what they have done or how they have lived. It is for them, for free. And everyone who believes and is baptized, everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, no matter how tiny his faith is, how short its duration, is saved. The thief on the cross is the epitome of grace because the Lord fulfills His word, “He who comes unto Me I will not cast out.” Jesus sinners doth receive. Vile sinners and respectable sinners.
But you should rejoice along with heaven over every sinner who repents because you already have the good life, you have received grace. The good life is the life lived in forgiveness, the assurance of grace, what you possess now. The good life is spent thinking about how hopeful we are to be free from the sins that beset us here in this life, how incomparable the bliss will be in the blessedness and innocence of eternity. The good life is spent mediating upon the Gospel. This life prepares us for eternity. Suffering shame and discomfort for the Name of Jesus is not toil, it is life itself. For many this life begins with Holy Baptism as in infant. For others, after many years of doubt and wrestling. Whether young or old, anything that came before faith in Christ was not true life, it was a slow death numbed by fading pleasures of the world. When faith is imparted true life begins, even though it brings much trouble in this life and the contempt of the world. But suffering in this life in faith has its own reward: the fruits of faith, a righteous life and hope that does not disappoint.
We who are in the church, should recognize, rejoice, and mature in the extravagance and generosity of grace, that Jesus wants all men to turn and be saved, because He has made a full atonement for the sins of every one who has or will ever live. And so it is, that if we are to enter into His kingdom, it too, will only be by grace, just like the thief. What the Lord Jesus Christ gives cannot be earned or bought, it has never been deserved, not even by the greatest heroes and saints of the faith. It is certainly not earned or deserved by us but given from the cross. Sin is mighty, but the grace and love of God is mightier still. The promise is true to whoever hears and believes; the promise given to the thief is the same promise spoken to us: “I say to you, truly, today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” It is the Lord’s joy to save us even in His utter agony and the Lord Jesus will not be deprived of His joy despite the Jews, the Romans, and the Democrats and the Republicans. We are His joy. To partake of this joy with the Lord is the height of blessedness; to be with Jesus for eternity. It was not just for the thief on our Lord’s right; it is for all believers [as we hear in the Apocalypse] Blessed are they that die in the Lord (Rev. 14:13); precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints (Ps. 116:15).
We and our first parents were barred from the Tree of Life and Eden by a flaming sword; the glory of the Lord became cause for fear for the first Adam committed murder the same as the thief and as we have done in our hearts. But by our murder of the Lord, by His fiery glory of humility, humiliation, and suffering, this second Adam has stretched out His arms on a tree and offers grace to all murderers who believe. The gates to Paradise are open to all who believe in the Prince of Life; because the Lamb that was slain and sits upon the throne shall feed us, and lead us to fountains of living waters, and shows us anew the way to the Tree of Life, where we may finally behold His glory in eternal innocence, righteous, and blessedness without fear all the days of this life and the life to come. Amen.
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