Imagine this: when the thief crucified with Jesus got to the pearly gates of Heaven and was asked, “How did you come to be here?” I wonder what he might have said. Did he have a clue about justification by faith? Baptism for the remission of his sins? Regular church attendance? Inspiration of holy scriptures? Prophecy confirmations from the Hebrew Scriptures? No, to all of those.
Here is the only thing he could have said: The Man on the Middle Cross Invited Me! And clearly that answer was all he had to say! Jesus had turned to him during the torture of crucifixion when both were near death in shear physical agony, and he said, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NLT).
But there is a little more to this story which bears looking at for our own edification as we Christ-followers hope for a similar invitation from Jesus. Did you remember that the other criminal dying on the other side of Jesus had taunted Jesus with these words, borne, I am sure, as much out of fear of impending death as a genuine hope of a miracle rescue: “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it” (Luke 23:39 NLT).
To me the most powerful of all conversion sermons comes next. The soon-to-be-pardoned thief said, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong” (Luke 23:40-41 NLT). Give the word “fear” its proper meaning of “respect” and the first point of this sermon is clear: This convicted criminal knew enough to respect his newly met neighbor, also condemned to death, as the incarnate presence of God.
His second sermon point is also powerful: His belief that both he and his fellow criminal “deserved to die” is always a precursor to salvation. His words constitute a true confession of sin.
In my opinion, the third point of this sermon is a true highpoint of all human encounters with Jesus recorded in scriptures: “But this man has not done anything wrong.” Whereas all we human beings have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, Jesus of Nazereth, born of Mary, fully human and fully divine, is the only person ever to walk on the face of this earth without having sinned.
So, there you have it: a really convincing three-point sermon for the ages! How did you get here to heaven sir? The Man on the Middle Cross Invited Me! The coolest part of this sermon is that Jesus’ words to the believing thief on the cross are the same words He offers to us today! Do we actually believe that the same invitation is open to us, or do we water down His invitation to include all of the “works” which we need to do to earn entry into heaven? Lord, may it be so that we, with the thief on the cross, can shout with joy at heaven’s gates when asked how we got there: The Man on The Middle Cross Invited Me!
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The Merton Prayer 