Blessed Assurance - The Criminal On The Cross

He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke 23:42-43

A middle-aged man with inoperable cancer did everything his doctors suggested in an attempt to extend his life. Despite his enduring months of pain and the discomfort of chemotherapy and radiation treatment, his cancer continued to spread. He was using the best options available for recovery, but he was dying.

As a man of faith, he knew that Jesus had the power to heal. He knew that the many people who loved him prayed passionately that he might get well.

He also knew one other thing: Everyone that Jesus healed died eventually.

Was this fatalism or resignation toward what appeared to be his too early death? Hardly. He knew that whether or not Jesus healed him physically, he would soon hear Jesus’ voice welcoming him to his eternal home in heaven.

A blessed assurance indeed!

One of the last voices Jesus heard in his final moments of agony on the cross was that of a man who shuddered at his eternal prospects. He was dying painfully on another cross at Jesus’ side when he found hope.

He knew that he deserved his earthly fate as a criminal whose own choices had put him on death row. Somehow, he also knew that something better could be waiting for him if he could just summon the strength to speak to Jesus.

“Jesus,” he gasped, “remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

He listened as Jesus labored to speak those sweet words of comfort, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Though he had only minutes to live, this condemned criminal knew that in a short time he would hear that same voice welcoming him into an eternal home whose wonder and beauty were beyond imagining.

When you have faith in Jesus Christ, you have the blessed assurance that you are guaranteed an eternal home in heaven regardless of what happens to you.