Luke 23:43 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 23:43

Comments

Christ gives him the assurance that his soul is safe. ‘And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.’ Even as he suffered and died on the cross, Christ saved a soul; he pardoned this thief and forgave him, and drew him to himself by his very demonstration of majesty and purity. He blessed him and made him one of his own children. This man was at the end of his life. He was probably youngish. But for him, it's the eleventh hour. He is the equivalent of an old man. His life is about to end. What use could he have been to Christ on earth? He was dying. But Christ had compassion on him and comforted him with the one thing that meant anything to him: ‘I will not forget you. Yes, I have a kingdom, and I am going to take it up. You have appealed to me, and I am moved to pity, and I will not forget you when I come to my kingdom. I will bring you to be with me, where none can come but those who have been washed from all their sins. You are safe for all eternity, and you have obtained this greatest of all blessings simply by calling sincerely on me for salvation. You have recognised your evil ways, and you have turned from them, and though you are about to die and can offer no substantial good works to me, I will redeem you on the basis of your cry of faith alone.’How that assurance must have transformed the dying moments of that thief. In his mind he would hold onto these words of the Lord Jesus. He could see no evidence that he faced anything but a miserable death, and yet these words gave him a sure hope. They had been spoken by the one who has power over death, and they were words that could not fail to come true. Christ will not forget one of his people, for their names are written on his heart. Though this seemed like a chance event that brought this thief so close to the Lord in his dying moments, this was planned by God from before the foundation of the world, and the thief freely acted out the part assigned to him. Christ would die before him, and yet the promise he had given would not die, and his word would not be broken.

Application

If you come to Christ, you can appeal to him for forgiveness of sin and new life. This man was probably a young man. What a tremendous thing to be converted when young! You have Christ for your whole life. He will guide you in the great decisions and keep you and overrule in your life and plan for you. Your marriage, everything will be ultimately in his hands. You are young; you will learn so quickly. You will have so much opportunity to please him and to serve him and to prove him, so much evidence of his love and power through life's journey, so much evidence of answered prayer. It's a wonderful thing to be converted while young. And yet, if you are converted when you are old, it's equally wonderful what God can do. You think of this dying thief, why his conversion, his testimony is right here in the Gospel of Luke. What an example he is of how God changes our lives when we come to him in repentance and in faith.

Questions

The suffering of the Lord Jesus was finished once he gave up the ghost. If it is right to say that he descended into hell, this took place while he was still on the cross. It was while he was on the cross in those hours of darkness that he made atonement for our sins, and experienced the wrath of God against our sin. After his bodily death he went immediately to take his rightful place as the King of heaven. The thief too would go immediately to be with Christ, and his soul would not be left in an unconscious state, though the resurrection of his body would wait till the final day. The Garden of Eden was a figure of this heavenly paradise. It is a place which the curse does not reach, and which is unaffected by the fall. In Christ’s usage here and as Paul refers to it (2 Corinthians 12:4) it is the equivalent of heaven itself.

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Luke 23:43 Commentary and Bible Study

The meaning of Luke 23:43 explained