Criminal

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom," Luke 23:42.

Who's talking? A criminal, hanging, nailed to a cross beside Jesus. Where's Jesus? Well, yeah, also nailed to a cross, dying, beside the convict. Now, this bad guy had acknowledged that he himself deserved this horrid execution. He also had affirmed that Jesus' execution had no just cause. And then, he said: Remember me. To whom (again)? To a dying Jesus. To one later that very day, who hung dead on his own cross. So how does one man, watching another die right beside him, make such an absurd request? No matter. Jesus answered: You'll be with me in paradise today. Sky kingdom.

When we visit a brother or sister today, we acknowledge our own just convictions for sin, and ask a risen Christ to remember us in his kingdom. And, together, we express inexpressible thanks for the assurance of God's grace and unfathomable kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.