Lesson 21: Examples of Forgiving – Jesus (part 1)

Luke 23:39-43 - One of the criminals who were hanged railed at Him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And He said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
 
Earlier than our verses above, both thieves had been mocking Jesus who hung between the two condemned men (Matthew 27:44). But now, in the last moments before Jesus Himself died, one of the thieves changed his mind about who Jesus was and what He could do. This man suddenly turned from scorning and mocking Jesus to asking Him for help.

Imagine yourself in Jesus’ position of being executed for something you did not do. Next to you, on either side, are two criminals who deserve their sentence, and yet these two men are joining with the rest of the people standing and watching you suffer – all of them calling you every name they can think of to ridicule and laugh at you. It doesn’t matter that they’re in just as much pain as you are – they’re still laughing at you.


When suddenly one of the people who has been laughing at Jesus asked Him to “remember him” when He reached His kingdom, what did the man mean? What could have made this dying thief believe that Jesus could do anything for him once He was dead?

Nowhere does the Bible tell us the man’s name or what he had done to deserve execution. We are not told if he had ever heard Jesus preach or seen Him heal someone. And yet both of those possibilities are real, because both he and his partner knew Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah, had claimed to be God. One of these men now realized Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be.

But could he dare to ask Jesus to forgive him at this last moment before both he and Jesus would be dead? Do you ever believe it is too late for you to receive forgiveness for what you have done? Do you believe you do not deserve to be saved?

Jesus’ forgiveness of this thief dying beside Him proves to all of us that His forgiveness is available to anyone who asks – even up to the moment before you die. The problem with waiting until that last minute, however, is that you cannot know the moment you will die or if you will be taken so suddenly that you have no opportunity to say even one word to Him. Jesus proved to all of us that as long as we’re still alive it is not too late to ask. He also proved it is not too late for us to forgive someone who has been cruel to us either!

Pray today: Lord Jesus, You could forgive even in Your pain; help me to do the same today for [name].