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Matthew 20:1-16 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He askd them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 ” ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
We are near the end of the gospel story now, in a very dark place. Jesus has celebrated Passover with His disciples and given us the words we still use in our communion service, “Do this in remembrance of me.” He has gone through the anguish of Gethsemane, been arrested, falsely tried and convicted and led to the place of crucifixion. Luke puts it very simply, “they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” Jesus has asked His father to forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. The leaders and the soldiers mocked Him. We pick up at this point.
Luke 23:39-43 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Today You Will Be with Me in Paradise
We are officially in the season of Lent. Last week we marked Ash Wednesday with a service for both the Learning Center children and our members. During the season of Lent we are considering “The Seven Last Words From the Cross” with a different phrase each week. They are found in various gospels and we do not know the actual order in which they were spoken but they are traditionally listed in the order we are using. Jesus spoke these words during the six hours He hung on the cross dying. Through them we hear what was on the heart and in the mind of Jesus in His final moments.
Last Sunday we considered Jesus’ request of His father to “forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” In the middle of being crucified, while being nailed to a cross, Jesus asked that those doing the actual act and those who had called for his crucifixion to be forgiven.
This week we move on to Jesus’ second word, “today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God was crucified as a criminal among other criminals, one on His left and one on His right. We aren’t given any names; they are only known as two criminals. And perhaps it’s best that these two men—whoever they are—are nameless to us; and that their specific crime is left untold. That way, we can place ourselves in the story with them. We are all sinners, you could say we are all criminals.
Back in Isaiah 53:12, we’re told this about how the promised Messiah was to die: “And He was numbered with the transgressors . . .” When Jesus—the sinless Christ—died on the cross, He didn’t die far away from the realities of human sin. Just as was promised some seven-and-a-half centuries before it happened, He died surrounded by sinners—as if “numbered with the transgressors”. What a picture it is that God has given us, at the cross, of His love for us. Truly, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians He “who knew no sin” became “sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Only Luke tells us of the conversation between Jesus and the man identified only as the “other criminal” during the crucifixion. And what a conversation it was! It’s a conversation that truly can be considered one of the most profound and important conversations that has ever been recorded in all of human history. It was a conversation that one sinner had with the Son of God while He was dying on the cross for sin. Yet, in another sense, it is a conversation we all need to have with Jesus.
Last week we heard that the soldiers and synagogue leaders mocked Jesus as He hung on the cross. Today we hear that He was also mocked by one of the criminals who said, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” He wanted physical deliverance from the cross. The other criminal rebuked him though and said, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
The other criminal on the cross must have known something about Jesus since he said Jesus had done nothing wrong. But something happens as that criminal watches Jesus suffer. This criminal hears Jesus’ words as He hangs on the cross. Maybe, it was when he heard Jesus say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34).
The second criminal appears to know who Jesus was. He realized Jesus was the Messiah. He confessed his guilt when he said, “we have been condemned justly for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds.”
Now, instead of mocking Jesus, he prays to Jesus. The criminal asked to be remembered. Think how important that is to many of us. Just go for a walk in any cemetery. I know some of our members are buried at Mount Hope Cemetery. What do you see? Hundreds of grave markers put there by the loved ones of those who have died. Everyone has heard of the pyramids of Egypt; enormous monuments to Pharaohs who died. The Taj Mahal in India, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world is a mausoleum built to honor the memory of an emperor’s wife.
This is the criminal’s request, to be remembered. Note the second part of his request. “When you come into Your kingdom.” He says this to a man who is obviously dying. In many ways he had more faith then the disciples who thought everything was ending. Despite his faith, I don’t think he knew the fullness of what he was asking. To be remembered by Jesus is different than being remembered others. To be remembered by Jesus is salvation. Jesus promised that he would not only be remembered but saved, brought into Paradise with Jesus. If you think about it, the criminal’s prayer sounds ridiculous, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Here is Jesus beaten, bloodied, stricken, stripped, hanging, and dying on a cross. He is about as far from obtaining a kingdom as you could possibly be. But through faith this criminal knows that Jesus isn’t done. He knows that the cross won’t be the end of Jesus. Somehow this man believes that death won’t be the end of Jesus. He is a king who is coming into His kingdom. And even in that moment this criminal believes that Jesus is a Savior who can save him from the condemnation that is the due reward for his deeds (Lk. 23:41).
Jesus looks at him and says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”The word paradise only occurs three times in our Bible. Here, Paul speaks of it in 2 Corinthians and John mentions it in Revelation. The word comes to us from the Persian language and means garden. Think of where else there has been a garden in scripture. In the beginning there was the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the evening. That garden, that paradise was lost. In Revelation 2:7 we learn that we will dwell in the Garden or Paradise of God for all eternity. One early church father said, “Jesus has restored the paradise lost by Adam by stretching out his arms on the cross and defeating Satan.” Let’s pause and reflect on the depth of that statement. “Jesus has restored the paradise lost by Adam by stretching out his arms on the cross and defeating Satan. (pause) What was lost by sinful people has been returned to us through the death of Jesus on the cross. The sinless man dies so sinful people could receive eternal life.
Jesus promised the criminal that he would be with Jesus in Paradise today. Now, immediately, not some far-off time after Jesus returned, but now.
How can this be? He didn’t pray the sinner’s prayer. He wasn’t baptized, he certainly didn’t know any theology, and we don’t even hear any words of repentance. He acknowledged he was getting what he deserved for his deeds. Yet, Jesus promised him he would be with Jesus in Paradise that day. No waiting time, no purgatory, immediate entrance into the kingdom of heaven. How can he possibly get in when he hasn’t done any of the things we need to do to earn salvation.
Ah! Did you hear it? The one little word I used that is wrong. I said earn our salvation. We do not earn our salvation, we cannot earn our salvation. Salvation is a free gift from God. Jesus is Lord and saves whomever He would save. He is the one who brings us into Paradise, into the kingdom of heaven.
Earlier, when He was telling His disciples about who would enter the kingdom of heaven Jesus told them a parable. It’s in Matthew 20, our first reading this morning. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out to hire laborers for his vineyard.” The landowner hired laborers early in the morning, at nine o’clock, noon, three o’clock, and five o’clock; five different times. At the end of the day he had the manager pay the last, first and work his way backward to the first who were paid last. The last, those who came at five o’clock received a full day wages. The first objected to this saying they had labored much longer and should get more. The landowner basically says too bad, I paid you what I said I would and I can pay the others whatever I want. Many believe the laborers in this parable who come at different times can be compared to when we come to know Jesus. Those who have known Jesus from their childhood receive the same gift as those who make a deathbed confession of faith as the criminal on the cross did. The gift is salvation and eternal life. God’s grace is free, it cannot be earned. It isn’t deserved by any of us but is freely given because of God’s unbounded love.
Please pray with me. Lord Jesus, remember us, we pray; remember us now, today, and remember us when you come into the fullness of your kingdom. Thank you for the encouragement of your response to the criminal on the cross: the promise of paradise, the promise of your presence—that we will be with you forever and that with you there is no forgetting. Amen.