HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS
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By Bobby Sebastian in Bible Study Published: Tuesday, 27 October 09 - 09:11 AM (GMT -06:00) |
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HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS
Luke 23:39-43 (New King James Version)
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
It was 9:00 in the morning. Three men were being executed by the Romans. One man was Jesus Christ; His crimes were religious and political; He claimed to be the Son of God and ruler of God’s kingdom. The two men on either side were admitted thieves. As the crucifixion began these two, as recorded in the other gospels, both began to rail on Jesus. I am sure they had heard the rumors of His miracles and His claims. At 9:00 in the morning they did not believe any of it. He was no different from them and perhaps a bit of jeering and venom would ease some of their own pent up anguish. But as the hours drug by one of those men began to notice something different about Jesus. It was the way He suffered. All they could think about was their personal agony and an overwhelming desire for relief along with volumes of expletives hurled at those who had put them there that day. But not Jesus; He suffered quietly without cursing or accusing. When He did speak His words expressed concern for those who watched Him; “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” “John, take care of my mother as your own.” He began to quote David’s 22nd psalm, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That was a psalm written 1,000 years earlier describing in detail the events of that day and the future suffering of the promised One. Perhaps this one thief had learned that psalm as a young boy in synagogue. As he watched Jesus his heart began to turn. He must have compared his own life to the one hanging next to him. He saw an innocent man beside him and new himself not to be. He saw a man exhibiting qualities beyond human which he did not possess. He saw a man who was much more than a mere man. And then, it happened. Somewhere in the recesses of his heart he saw hope for himself; not physical salvation from his execution, but eternal salvation for his soul. It was Jesus who said, “What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” This life is at best but brief, but eternity is forever. In those last few minutes of life on this earth, in what seemed to be the most hopeless situation, this man found hope; he found Jesus. He did what anyone must do to make this hope a reality; he reached out to Jesus. He asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered into His kingdom, thus recognizing Jesus to be both Lord and savior. Jesus responded to this convicted, self-admitted criminal with words of hope; “Today you will be with me in paradise.” There was no time for this man to go back and make amends to those he had hurt. There was no time to prove by his changed life that he was sincere, but it didn’t matter, because Jesus knew his heart. The saddest part of this story of the two thieves is that only one was given that assurance. As far as we know, the other man cursed and railed his way into a Christ-less eternity without hope. Is there hope for us? Yes! As long as we have breath in our lungs and the awareness to see Jesus as the answer to the emptiness we were all born with, there is hope. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” My prayer today is that you too have this hope in Jesus Christ.
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| WOW another compelling Blog from Bobby!! (...) | George Krauss | 10/28/09 |
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Top | Reply to this Author: George Krauss Date Posted: 28 Oct 2009 06:59 AM (GMT -06:00) WOW another compelling Blog from Bobby!!! That was a great post!! keep it up!! |
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