One wonders sometimes about the thief whose earthly journey ended on Calvary’s hill. Had he ever seen Jesus before? We cannot tell, but he was, in God’s plan, a picture of the repentant sinner receiving from men the just reward of his deeds. Yet in the hour in which he was to pass to the judgment of God, he was delivered from condemnation and assured of a place in Paradise.
Could anything better illustrate the simple power of faith, the immediateness with which Christ makes a penitent sinner welcome, or the completeness with which He makes that sinner safe for all eternity?
The circumstances of this man - this dying thief - were terrible. He is the very last person we would have thought likely to become a believer at such a time. In his own case and that of the other thief who was being crucified at the same time, he accepted judgment as right in condemning them. Yet, beholding the sinless holy One on that middle cross, he judged both Jewish and Gentile rulers to have been entirely wrong. He recognized that this despised One was the Prince of Life.
He believed this even when all who had believed in Him had fled from Him. What a miracle of faith was his! His faith rose to the utmost, giving expression to its newborn trust in that confident cry: Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.
He was saved at the cross, when others were fleeing in terror from it - saved when many, looking on, were saying: He saved others; Himself He cannot save!
He was saved after he had doubted, not after he had been assured of Paradise. He was saved simply by looking to Jesus, and trusting in His grace. This teaches us how direct and simple and infallible faith is. No past sinning need be a hindrance to one being saved. The impossibility of proving his faith by living a good life afterwards did not interfere with instant, assured, eternal salvation. It was simply believing in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.