Heart in Bloom

“Like the Repentant Thief on the Cross, We Need to Ask Jesus to ‘Remember Me.’

Jesus our Savior suffered physical and mental punishment long before He was nailed to the cross. At the trial to decide His fate He was mocked and spat upon, scourged and had a crown of thorns beaten into His scalp.

In His already weakened condition, He was first made to carry the heavy cross on the road to Golgotha where He would be put to death. But when the soldiers realized Jesus was in no shape to bear the burden of that cross they forced someone coming into town from the country to carry it behind our Savior.

Two others who were criminals, were also crucified on each side of Jesus. There, Jesus promised the repentant thief that he would be in paradise with his Savior. This thief received the gift of eternal life because of his faith and nothing else. Christ’s suffering and how God allowed His only Son to die so all believers could inherit eternal life.

He truly suffered the agony of being crucified in body, mind, and spirit. ‘Father, forgive those people because they don’t know what they are doing’, said Jesus (Luke 23:34).

If we call upon Christ our Savior, Jesus will remember us and He will take us to be with Him to live in the presence of God our Father.

Jesus realized He was close to death. Some of Christ’s last words on the cross were, ‘It is finished.’ (John 19:30) Jesus had finished His mission. Then Jesus shouted, “Father I entrust my spirit into your hands. And He breathed his last.’ (Luke 23:46). There will come a time when all of us must face death. And we must entrust our spirit into the hands of the Lord if we want to live with Him eternally in paradise.

At the moment of Christ’s death, there were physical signs (Matthew 27:51-52). Even the captain who stood facing Jesus saw how He gave up His spirit and praised God. And He said ‘truly this was the Son of God!’ (Matthew 27:54)

All that was left was for God to raise Jesus from the dead after three days. Just as our Lord promised would occur. All pain, tears, and sadness would soon be turned into joy.

“But all this was done, so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.'(Matthew 26:56)”

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Reflecting on my grandmother’s notes allows me to examine myself. I encourage you to examine yourselves as well. How many times do we encounter someone who is angry or argumentative? Maybe they say something hurtful. It is easy to want to defend ourselves or hurt them back. Jesus experienced so much pain and hurt. He saw the pain, sickness, death, and hardships of others—He felt it. In His last days, He was overwhelmed with burden and pain, yet His reaction was always with love.

This is exactly the example we should follow in how we treat others. Jesus told the disciples to pray for their enemies. The thief was the enemy of someone else; he wronged someone else. He was being crucified because of his wrongs. In the eyes of the world, it was justified for him to be killed.

We can feel entitled to hold grudges against others who have wronged us. For example, when I was younger, someone stole from me. They stole several things from me and other family members. At the time, I was angry. They even apologized years later, but I did not truly forgive them—until now, as it comes to mind while I write this. It is our nature to get mad, to not forgive nor forget. But, that is not what Jesus wants of us. Jesus forgave and continues to forgive each and every one of us for our wrongdoings and sins.

Jesus still understands the pain and all that we endure, sometimes we are the cause of the pain – and He still forgives us.

Though difficult to face, think about any instances in which you did not forgive someone else, whether it was many years ago or recently. Did you react with the love of Christ? If not, sit with this for a little while, pray, and ask for forgiveness wholeheartedly for what you did, putting aside what was done to you.