Today is the fourth in a series on the 7 Last Words of Christ.
Today you will be with me in paradise.
When the thief on the right of Jesus’ cross said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” Jesus responded with comforting words that assure the thief on the right that he will be with Christ that day in heaven. This statement from Christ reminds us that a place awaits us in heaven on the day that we die and it awaits us even now because Christ has died on the cross for us to forgive our sins. This scene reminds us that Jesus’ love and forgiveness extend to the most sinful—even to a thief who was sentenced to death, deservedly so, as the thief himself mentions to the other thief on the cross. They justly deserved punishment, he said. So we justly deserve punishment, but Jesus forgives us.
