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See also: The Divinity of Jesus 190–93 ■ The Crucifixion 258–65 ■ Salvation Through Faith 301 ■
The Power of the Resurrection 304THE GOSPELS
“has done nothing wrong” (23:41).
The thief then asks Jesus to
“remember me when You come
into Your kingdom” (23:42). The
Jewish faith had long spoken about
a kingdom beyond death, in which
God’s faithful people would enjoy
everlasting life. This, he realizes,
is the kingdom of which Jesus is
king. Jesus replies with assurance:
“Truly I tell you, today you will be
with me in paradise” (23:43).Deathbed salvation
The repentant thief illustrates a
vital aspect of the Christian faith.
Acceptance into God’s kingdom
is not dependent upon good works
or a blameless life, since the thief
clearly had no time to amend his
ways. Instead, Jesus freely gives
places in His kingdom to those who
recognize that He is their only hope.
Jesus’s promise to the thief, just
moments before his death, is also
part of the rationale for the later
practice of deathbed confession
and absolution, or last rites. In this,
a dying person is given assurance
in their final moments that their
sins have been forgiven by God;
it is never too late to repent. ■Dressed as a Roman soldier,
a man carries a replica of a Roman
whip in a Good Friday procession
in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.Crime and punishment in the time of Jesus
Like any society, Jesus’s world
had a complex system of law
and punishments. In Jewish
law, the practice of reparation—
giving back what was taken
with interest—was typical.
Stoning to death was the form
of capital punishment favored by
the Jews for serious offenses.
However, the Romans—the
occupying overlords—routinely
used crucifixion to execute
criminals who were not Romancitizens, especially those who
resisted their authority or slaves
found guilty of wrongdoing.
Crucifixion was a humiliating
death, in which the victim was
stripped, flogged, and then
nailed to a horizontal beam of
wood through the wrists, and an
upright beam through the ankles.
Jews detested it because of one
of their laws, which said “anyone
... hung on a pole is under God’s
curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23).Jesus forgives many types of sins
The sinful
woman
“Her many sins have
been forgiven ... whoever
has been forgiven
little loves little.”
Luke 7:47The repentant thief
“Truly I tell you, today
you will be with me
in paradise.”
Luke 23:43The tax collector
“Today salvation
has come to this
house, because this
man, too, is a
son of Abraham.”
Luke 19:9Romans and Jews
at His crucifixion
“Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what
they are doing.”
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