08/12/18
“Faces of Our Faith: The Penitent Thief”
Rev. Kevin Hay
Luke 23: 32-43
32Two others also, who were criminals,
were led away to be put to death with him.
33When they came to the place that is called The Skull,
they crucified Jesus there with the criminals,
one on his right and one on his left.
34Then Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them;
for they do not know what they are doing.”
And they cast lots to divide his clothing.
35And the people stood by, watching;
but the leaders scoffed at him, saying,
“He saved others; let him save himself
if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!”
36The soldiers also mocked him,
coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying,
“If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
38There was also an inscription over him,
“This is the King of the Jews.”
39One of the criminals who were hanged there
kept deriding him and saying,
“Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40But the other rebuked him, saying,
“Do you not fear God,
since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly,
for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds,
but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42Then he said,
“Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.” 43He replied,
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
This worship series on Faces of Our Faith
has given us some tough passages the past couple of weeks…
we move from last week’s story
where Judas betrays Jesus with the Kiss of Death
to the horrific scene of that death…
we often call the Passion of the Christ
today we have the passage that is often read during Holy Week
on Good Friday
as we move from the Last Supper to the Cross,
and eventually the Resurrection…
and when we think about the Passion of the Christ
we often think of Passion as something horrific
Passion as God’s Great Suffering
in this slow and degrading death
but Craig Kocher argues
that there is more than one way to see the Passion
that perhaps the Passion isn’t just a horrific story
about God’s Great Suffering…
saying,
The word “passion” is usually thought of in terms of God’s suffering.
However, there is another way to think of passion,
and that is connected to God’s love.”
fortunately, Luke spares us many of the gruesome details
simply saying “They crucified Jesus there with the criminals.”
without getting too into the physical process…
instead, we catch a few glimpses of the various characters
surrounding this horrific death…
this story often read on Good Friday,
“… is a story of individual and corporate sin, betrayal,
and abandonment – of the priests, Pilate, the soldiers,
the blood-thirsty crowds, Peter, Judas, and the other disciples.”
here we have people casting lots and dividing up Jesus’ clothes
soldiers and leaders
mocking Jesus
saying why can’t the King of the Jews, save himself…
offering him sour wine…
even one of the criminals dying beside him, says
“Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
but then we have the other criminal
the Penitent Thief, as our artist calls him…
sticking his neck out, even in the face of death…
rebuking the other criminal
admitting his guilt for the crimes committed
admitting that they have been condemned justly
and are getting what they deserve
but, yet, standing up for Jesus
saying – “this man has done nothing wrong.”
and ultimately acknowledging Jesus as the Christ
as the King of the Jews
by saying
“Jesu, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.”
as the crowds, soldiers, and leaders
all mocked Jesus, and were ultimately putting him to death
for claiming to be the King of the Jesus
the Penitent Thief takes the risk
of perhaps becoming a target for further suffering himself
at the risk of further pain and suffering
the Penitent Thief
speaks out on Jesus’ behalf
acknowledging Jesus as the Christ
as the King of the Jews
Craig Kocher says that
“The theology of Luke’s Gospel
begins in the poverty of a stable
and continues to narrate a world
in which the mighty are knocked from their thrones,
the lowly are lifted up,
the hungry filled, and the rich sent away with nothing.
Luke grounds the story of God’s love in Jesus Christ
with the forgotten of the world.
Indeed, Luke ends this grisly Good Friday passage
with a condemned and dying thief
entering the paradise Jesus goes to prepare.”
at our Bible study this week
we spent a good bit of time reflecting on the question
that artist Lisle Gwynn Garrity poses
“How did he know?”
How did this penitent thief know that Jesus was the Christ?
“Before he committed his crime, had he heard?
Had he heard of the One who healed and loved
and came to turn the world upside down?
Or was it during the hike to Calvary hill,
the beams of his cross digging deep into his flesh,
that he saw the crowds swell for the One before him…
and he knew, for the first time, the weight of systemic injustice?
Or was it while they nailed them in,
the piercing hammer pounding his own body to contort and heave,
that he saw his neighbor in perfect silence,
hanging as if weightless in the air?
Or was it when he heard, “Forgive them, Father,”
the words pouring down like a warm bath?
Or was it when the other mocked him,
blood and hate and profane humanity spewing from his mouth,
that the contrast made the divine palpable
and quite easy to perceive?
How did he know that the One dying alongside him was blameless?
How did he know he was the Christ?”
and through our discussions
as we explored whether the Penitent Thief
believed in Jesus before this moment,
or came to believe somehow along the way to the cross
or during the crucifixion…
as we discussed the many possibilities
for how the Penitent Thief came to believe…
- from the word spreading of his healing and love
- the swelling crowds
- the silent acceptance of the painful cross
- the forgiveness shown to those full of hatred
- the stark contrast between
- the brokenness of humanity
- and the holy presence of the divine…
I think we all landed in the same place as Lisle Gwynn Garrity…
“Regardless of how,
he was convinced of it the way death makes all things clear.
So he told the truth – about his own brokenness
and the suffering Savior beside him –
opening himself to redemption,
pointing to the One who might bestow it.”
and that’s how the Passion of God’s Great Suffering
becomes the Passion of God’s Love
when even the lowest of the low
a person condemned to death for his crimes
acknowledges Jesus as blameless
and as the Christ, the King of the Jews…
God’s Passion turns from suffering to love…
One thing we all noticed in Bible Study Tuesday
while looking at the art work on the front of our bulletins…
was the way the hand of the Penitent Thief
seems to be so relaxed…
I imagine the hand of the other Criminal
didn’t look like this
I imagine that the other criminal – full of hate and anger
who mocks Jesus and would only believe in him
if he saved him from imminent death
I imagine his hands are clenched tightly in a fist of anger
or open wide fighting to hang on to his life…Whereas the Penitent Thief
as he acknowledges Jesus as blameless
and as the Christ, the King of the Jews
his hand seems to be relaxed… at peace…
almost as if he has submitted and released himself…
he’s no longer focused on himself
or hanging on to life in the present world
– like the other criminal…
but he’s focused on Jesus the Christ
and the kingdom to come…
as he says…
“Jesus, remember me,
when you come into your kingdom.”
and even in the pain and suffering of crucifixion
the act of cknowledging Jesus as the Christ
and focusing on the kingdom to come…
Relaxes the Penitent thief and gives him peace
as he submits to Jesus and releases himself…
and that’s why Jesus responds to him saying.
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
and that’s what Jesus says to each one of us as well…
“you will be with me in Paradise.”
Just as Craig Kocher says…
“To the thief, he whispers the hope of eternity.
On the cross the passion of Jesus’ suffering
is surpassed by the passion of his redeeming love.
Good Friday reveals that only the tenacity of God’s love
is greater than the tenacity of humanity’s despair.”
“…In the suffering of the cross,
God stakes his life with the lonely, the sick,
the poor, the hurting,
the brokenhearted – with all of us.”
Through the sweat and blood,
the thorns and nails,
the mockery and humiliation,
the burning fire of God’s love in Christ remains.
For souls condemned and dying are precious in his sight.”
So as we think about the Face of the Penitent Thief
and the hands relaxed and at peace…
may we all find it in ourselves
to always acknowledge Jesus as the Christ
so that we too – can relax, and be at peace
submitting ourselves and releasing ourselves to Jesus
as we say
“Jesus, remember me
when you come into your kingdom.”
and may we hear Jesus reply…
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
AMEN