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Luke 23:43 – Seven Last Words of Christ

The Third Word: “With Me in Paradise”

Midweek Lent 2 – March 7, 2007

Zion Lutheran Church

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Tonight we consider the Third Word of Christ from the cross, Luke 23:43:  “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

I. Paradise Lost

Dear Christian friends,  Adam and Eve stumble out of the garden into a strange, harsh world. Things were perfect.  Literally.  No blemish.  No sickness.  No pain.  Everything perfect—as long as they kept one command.  God told them, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen. 2:16-17)

You know the story.  Satan tempted Adam and Eve.  They gave in.  They ate of the fruit of that tree.  And everything changed.  Now, Adam and Eve didn’t just know good.  They also knew evil.  Sin entered the world.  And—for the first time—they were afraid. 

So they hid from God.  But He found them.  And He announced some harsh new realities:

Ø      They were naked before God.  Their righteousness was gone.

Ø      Eve will have pain in childbirth.

Ø      Adam will contend with thorns and thistles as he cultivates food.

God drives both of them from the Garden.  He casts them out of Paradise.  They are banned from the Tree of Life. 

And there is one more curse:  Sin now defines them.  It’s part of who they are.

Ø      Now—because of their sinful condition—evil looks attractive, seductive, and powerful.   The things of God repel them.  They seem undesirable and weak. 

Ø      Now, God’s glory terrifies them.  And His laws seem like a bunch of hoops to jump through. 

Still, God has a plan.  He is faithful—even when Adam and Eve are not.  And so He says to the serpent:  “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;  He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).

In other words, there will be sin and pain and death.  But a Savior is coming.  He will restore Paradise.   The Tree of Life may be locked away.  But another Tree that gives Life is coming.

II. Paradise Regained

Some 4,000 years later, three men hang on crosses one Friday.  Two are convicted thieves.  They’re violent men who are getting what they deserve.  The One in the middle, though, is hardly violent.  He’s done nothing wrong.  He’s crucified because He claims to be the Son of God and the King of the Jews.

There’s no cloud of glory around Him.   Nothing sets Him apart as royalty.  He doesn’t look like a King.  He doesn’t look like the Son of God.  In fact, He’s stripped naked, except for a crown of thorns.  His hands and feet are spiked to rough wood.  He appears helpless—and hardly holy—hanging there outside Jerusalem. 

The people poke fun at Him: “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”  The Roman soldiers join in jeering: “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”  His disciples are silent.  In fact—except for John—they’re gone.  Even one of the crucified thieves joins in: “If You are the Christ, save yourselves and us.”

But, remember, we’re sinful.  That means we can’t go by what we see or think is happening.

You see, the crowds are wrong:  This is the Christ.  Jesus is the chosen One of God.  And He’s not going to save Himself.  He’s on the cross as their substitute. 

Ø      Adam stood naked in His sinfulness before God.  Jesus is stripped naked by sinful men.  He takes their place and dies.

Ø      Adam's sin cursed the ground.  It brought thorns and thistles.  Those thorns are Jesus’ crown.  And He takes the curse of sin to the grave.

Ø      Adam blamed others for his sin.  Jesus takes that blame upon Himself.

Jesus’ cross is your Tree of Life.  On His tree, sin and death are defeated. 

 Eyes blinded by sin can’t see this.  But the eyes of faith perceive it.  The repentant thief understands.  By faith, he knows he’s getting what he deserves.  That’s why he says to the other thief, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he says to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

This thief knows he’s sinned.  He knows he deserves to die.  That’s why he confesses his sin and trusts that Jesus will forgive.  It’s an astonishing confession from an unlikely source.   

Here’s the Good News:  Jesus never leaves the repentant sinner sitting in his sin.  He always forgives those who are sorry.  That’s why He speaks a third time from the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Paradise is back.  It’s regained for the thief on the cross.  Not because of his life.  Not because of what he’s done.  But because of Jesus.  Jesus suffers God’s wrath for the thief.  For Adam.  For Eve.  And for the whole world.  Sin is forgiven.  Paradise is regained. 

III. Paradise Forever

Jesus dies on the cross.  And we are forgiven.  The Lord welcomes us into Paradise.  Heaven is ours.  

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t think it could be that simple.  Like the crowd at Calvary, they reject Jesus and His cross.

On Sunday evening, the Discovery Channel carried a program entitled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.”  Twenty-some years ago, archaeologists uncovered a family tomb in the Holy Land.  Inside that tomb were ossuaries, boxes in which bones were stored.   Those boxes were inscribed with the same names as a number of Jesus’ friends and family members.  Jesus’ name was also among them. 

Here’s the problem, though.  The name “Jesus” and all the other names found in that tomb were very common in biblical times.  Because of this—and whole host of other evidence in that tomb—archaeologist and Biblical scholars dismissed any connection to our Savior.  But—if you watched the program—you know it was clearly produced to cast doubt in people’s minds.

In Jesus’ day, people rejected Him as the Son of God.  Today, He’s rejected outright—or denied as a myth—or as just another man from history who died and is gone.

But you and I know that He rose from the dead.  You and I know He is the Son of God.  You and I know He’s the Savior of the world.

You and I also know that He is still with us.  He is still present for you and me in His Word and Sacraments.  That’s how He comes today.   He hides His presence in Word, water, bread, and wine.  Through these simple things—He forgives our sins and strengthens faith.  And faith clings to His Words: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” 

During Holy Week, the Communion liturgy refers to Jesus and says, He “accomplished the salvation of mankind by the Tree of the Cross, that, where death arose, there also life might rise again, and that the serpent who overcame by the tree of the garden might likewise by the tree of the cross be overcome” (LSB).

Adam and Eve sinned.  And God locked the gates of Paradise.  We sinned.  And God barred us from the Tree of Life. 

But Jesus took our sin to the cross.  He died for them.  He paid sin’s price.  And the gates of Paradise are now flung wide open for Adam and Eve—for you and for me.  Jesus’ Cross is our Tree of Life.  Amen.