The Savior for All: Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise
Luke 23 is Good Friday.
The Savior stands before Pilate, before Herod, before Pilate again. He is mocked, scourged, and led out to be crucified. They nail Him to the cross between two criminals. From the cross, He prays for His enemies — Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He promises paradise to a dying thief. He commits His spirit to the Father. The curtain of the temple is torn. A Roman centurion glorifies God. Joseph of Arimathea takes the body and lays it in a tomb.
In every scene, the Savior for All keeps doing what He came to do: seek and save the lost.
The most striking picture in Luke's Passion is this — even with nails through His hands, the Savior is still saving a sinner who comes to Him by faith.
Before Pilate
The whole company rises and brings Him before Pilate. They begin to accuse Him:
"We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king."
Pilate asks: "Are you the King of the Jews?"
Jesus answers:
"You have said so."
Pilate says to the chief priests and the crowds:
"I find no guilt in this man."
But they urge: He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.
Sent to Herod
When Pilate hears Galilee, he asks if Jesus is a Galilean. Learning that He belongs to Herod's jurisdiction, he sends Him to Herod, who is in Jerusalem at that time.
When Herod sees Jesus, he is very glad. He had long desired to see Him, hoping to see some sign done by Him. He questions Him at some length. Jesus makes no answer.
The chief priests and scribes stand by, vehemently accusing Him.
Herod with his soldiers treats Him with contempt and mocks Him. They array Him in splendid clothing and send Him back to Pilate. That same day Herod and Pilate become friends with each other — for before this they had been at enmity.
The Savior for All unites enemies — in this case, the enemies who unite against Him. Pilate and Herod were rivals. The trial of Jesus made them friends.
"I find no guilt"
Pilate calls together the chief priests and the rulers and the people:
"You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him."
But they all cry out together:
"Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!"
Barabbas was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection and for murder.
Pilate addresses them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they keep shouting: Crucify, crucify him!
A third time he says to them:
"Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him."
But they are urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevail.
Pilate decides that their demand should be granted. He releases the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivers Jesus over to their will.
One man called Barabbas — son of the father — goes free, because Another, the true Son of the Father, takes his place. The gospel is acted out in the courtroom.
On the way to Golgotha
As they lead Him away, they seize one Simon of Cyrene, who is coming in from the country, and lay on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
A great multitude of the people follow Him, and of women who are mourning and lamenting for Him. Jesus, turning to them, says:
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!'"
Even on the way to the cross, the Savior thinks not of Himself but of the coming destruction of Jerusalem.
"For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
"Father, forgive them"
When they come to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucify Him, and the criminals, one on His right and one on His left.
Jesus says:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This is the Savior's first word from the cross — and only Luke records it.
The Savior for All prays for the people driving the nails. This is the love that goes the whole way down.
They cast lots to divide His garments. The people stand by, watching. The rulers scoff: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!
The soldiers mock Him, offering Him sour wine: If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!
There is an inscription over Him: This is the King of the Jews.
The thief on the cross
One of the criminals who is hanged rails at Him:
"Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
But the other rebukes him:
"Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."
Then he says:
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answers him:
"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
This is one of the most stunning moments in the Bible.
A criminal — a thief, a rebel — turns to the dying Savior with one of the simplest prayers ever uttered: Remember me. He has no time to be baptized. He has no time to do good works. He has no time to make restitution.
The Savior for All answers: today. Not someday. Today. Not maybe. You will be with me. Not earned. Not negotiated. Paradise.
The thief on the cross is the picture of the gospel. Saved at the last moment, by sheer faith in Christ, with no resources of his own. And the Savior, even nailed to the wood, is still able to save.
"Into your hands"
It is about the sixth hour, and there is darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light fails. And the curtain of the temple is torn in two.
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, says:
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
And having said this, He breathes His last.
Mark records the cry of dereliction. Luke records the cry of trust. Both are true. Both are needed. The Savior bore the wrath, and then committed Himself entirely to the Father.
The centurion's confession
When the centurion sees what has taken place, he praises God:
"Certainly this man was innocent!"
All the crowds that have assembled for this spectacle, when they see what has taken place, return home beating their breasts.
All His acquaintances and the women who had followed Him from Galilee stand at a distance, watching these things.
Joseph of Arimathea
There is a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He is a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who has not consented to their decision and action. He is looking for the Kingdom of God.
He goes to Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus. Taking it down, he wraps it in a linen shroud and lays Him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.
The women who had come with Him from Galilee follow and see the tomb and how His body is laid. Then they return and prepare spices and ointments.
On the Sabbath they rest according to the commandment.
The Savior for All rests in a borrowed tomb. The cross is finished. The Sabbath of His death has begun. And paradise itself has opened for the dying thief who said remember me.
Closing prayer
Father, thank You that even on the cross, Your Son was still saving sinners. Thank You for the thief who said remember me — and for the promise that opened paradise to him that very day. Forgive us when we do not know what we do. Receive us, like Christ Himself, into Your hands. And let us never forget that the cross is where the Savior for All paid the price for every one He came to seek and save. In Jesus' name, amen.
