The Audacity of...Me..

Luke 23:39-43: "one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said,"Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?" And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying," Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him,"Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."


The above passage has been the subject of many commentaries, and theological discussions, concerning baptism, whether the thief immediately went to heaven or not, and even where "you put the comma."I will leave these discussions to the ordained clergy and theologically superior. For argument sake, let us just agree that if Jesus said he was to be in Paradise with Him-He was and is. After all, I'm just a guy from Montana who has been leveled by God's grace and this passage is soaked in it. So, I will speak of that..

As my understanding of the redeeming work of Christ on my behalf deepens, a couple of points jump out at me as I look at this passage.

 Here's the first: The "good"thief, the "repentant"thief, the one who asked Jesus "to remember me?"...The Gospel of Matthew's account is that of him hurling insults along with the pharisees, soldiers, and the other thief. Yet, moments later, he is admitting his guilt, and crying out to Jesus for mercy. Only moments later..moments..


Does this bother you? It bothered me. I mean, come on, a few minutes ago you were mocking the King, and now you want to hang with Him for eternity? Based on what?As far as we know, this man had done nothing redeeming in his life to deserve or merit any mercy whatsoever. The very fact of him being crucified as a thief and sinner was evidence that he did what he wanted, and in no way seemed to give God a second thought. The audacity of this guy..of..of..me?..yeah..the audacity of me.

As God has opened my eyes to His amazing one way love and grace pouring out on me-that has nothing to do with me-I realized..that's the point. I'm the thief. The thiefs' problem is mine..The audacity of me.. Romans 3:23 says,"There is  
none righteous, not even one." Not even..me. I have done nothing to merit his mercy. Like the thief, my life had been lived for me, not God. Even after He saved me, I have mocked Him with my rebellion of trying to justify myself. Romans 5:8 states, "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It just so happened that this was literally happening just a few feet from the thief. So, no..I'm not bothered by it anymore. In fact, I cling to it.

But here's what grabs my heart. My senses. It's Jesus response. A response from a God who is as close to you and me as that thief a few feet away "..I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." What? That's it? No,"if you..", No-"and then you", No-,"if only." It's just"..you will be with Me.."My mind races to the verse found in Luke 18:13. It states,"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God have mercy on me, a sinner." And he went away justified.  And yet again to John 6:28-29 which states,"Then they asked Him, What must we do to do the works of God?"..Verse 29-"This is the work of God, that you believe in the One He has sent."..Period. And this is what the tax collector did. It's what the thief did. It's what Daniel Price says of the thief and his request, " Now, that's faith-cranked to eleven!"

Like the thief, we bring nothing to the table of Jesus. We are naked before Him. Our lives exposed, our helplessness before the King..the King we have mocked and scorned, jeered and cursed..and finally cry out to in belief for utter mercy... And even that- our ability to believe- is not our own. He gives it to us as well as His mercy.. Grace..It's all Grace. I'm reminded of a quote by the late Michael Yaconelli, which states: " The Grace of God is dangerous. It's lavish, excessive, outrageous, and scandalous. God's grace is ridiculously inclusive. Apparently, God doesn't care who He loves.."And that's good news for the thief on the cross...and this thief in Montana.

Still, I wonder, what God used to convict this man to repentance and faith, who just a few minutes earlier was as unrepentant as those on the ground and his partner in crime on the other side of the King. Did the impending doom of God's wrath finally bring him to his senses? Or was it something else?

I don't think it's a coincidence that shortly after Jesus asked the Father to forgive them, the thief made his confession of guilt and request for mercy. In the face of the insults and jeering..Jesus was praying for them, as He does for me and you everyday. Romans 2:4, says that it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance. Could it be that the thief saw Jesus unwavering  love for those who rejected Him? That the realization of God's ruthless grace on a people who desired to see Him gone forever, was in fact, a statement by God,(as Brennan Manning puts it), that,"I would rather die than be without you?" I cannot help but think of the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Jesus announces that He is going to stay at Zacchaeus house that night. Jesus did not say." Zacchaeus! Pay back everyone you stole from and give to the poor, and then I will stay at your house tonight." No, He just told Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and that He was going to stay at his home that night. As the party was in full force, Jesus never stopped the music and asked for everyone's attention and say, "Okay, Now..Zacchaeus..you have something you want to say to everyone?" Or, "Now Zacchaeus, I have come to your house, so..now what are you going to do for God?"Nothing of the sort. Scripture does not record Jesus saying anything at all. But it does record Zacchaeus making an announcement. An announcement of a changed life. A changed life not because of any warning, or threat from Jesus. A changed life because of the LOVE and GRACE of Jesus.

I believe this same love and grace shown to Zacchaeus, that led him to repentance, is the same love and grace, that led the thief to his that day on the cross..and it's the same for you and me too. It's Grace. All Grace. We can't earn it, we don't want it, and we fight against it. But funny thing about this God..He loves us..and brings it anyway. And that's good news for the thief on the cross..and this thief in Montana.