‘Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”’
Luke 23:32-43

I think that the criminal on beside Jesus is one of the greatest examples of faith in the Bible. There are many beautiful accounts and stories, like Esther or Daniel or Paul or Peter or any of the people that Jesus healed, but this one is so special to me.

This man was literally going to die in hours. He was suffering the consequences he knew he deserved. He was in terrible pain, he had nails in his hands and feet, he had been beaten. Not to mention he had to push himself up every few minutes just to breathe because his raised arms were collapsing his lungs in on themselves.

He had no reason to be hopeful.

But then—there’s this guy nailed to the cross beside him. He’d heard rumors of that other man they called the King of the Jews. And suddenly he realized: he had hope.

This King, he was dying for no good reason. Not to mention he was dying a criminal’s death.

(Read about crucifixions here to get a better idea of what Jesus and the criminals beside him had gone through.)

This man deserved to die. Some people said he deserved to go to hell. But that’s not what happened. This man believe and took that step, acknowledging that Jesus was the true God and Messiah.

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”

Jesus didn’t say, “Sorry, you should have believed before. Too late!” He didn’t ask for proof. He didn’t tell him, “Nope, I only let true, long-standing believers in.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”’

True compassion and love.

No matter how long you believe, no matter when you make the decision, no matter if you die a criminals death or not, you always have a choice and a chance to join Jesus in heaven.

(There’s a short film by Dallas Jenkins (creator of the amazing show The Chosen) that is so good! It’s about the two thieves on either side of Jesus and I highly recommend it. It’s seriously a beautiful portrayal of what happened.)