Three Crosses

Yesterday morning I read the story of Jesus' crucifixion and the criminals with my children.  We discussed Jesus and how he was falsely accused by the Jewish leaders and arrested and crucified by the Roman soldiers between two robbers (Luke 23).  In many ways, these two robbers encapsulate all of our reactions to Christ.  Every person, whether they admit to this or not, is a criminal, a sinner against God's law, deserving His punishment. And each one of us has TWO distinct choices in how we are to react when we gaze upon the cross of Christ.  These two choices are personified in this Biblical (and historical) account of the criminals on the crosses flanking Jesus.  One criminal mocked Jesus, saying, "If you are Christ the Messiah, save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39). The other robber said, "You and I deserve our punishment but Jesus has done nothing wrong."  He called out to Jesus, "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42).  One criminal refused to have faith, demanded more "proof" of Jesus' divinity, denied, mocked, and ultimately rejected Christ.  The other saw his own sin against the backdrop of Christ's perfection and was led to repent and desired eternal life with Jesus. And Jesus answered him with these amazing words: "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

And there you have it: two reactions, two choices, that every last one of us has.  The choice to repent and believe (by God's grace) and the choice to reject and rebel.  That is it.   The one choice we do NOT have is to remain neutral.  You see, not "choosing" is by default rejecting.  Let me illustrate.  Let's say that the young man you have been dating decides that he loves you and wants to marry you and so he bends down on one knee and pops "the question"...he proposes to you and asks for your hand in marriage.  Well, of course, you can say "YES!"  or you can say "No, thank you."  But I would submit to you that if you were to say, "Hmmm...I am not sure...let me think more about it..." or just completely ignored him and refused to answer him at all...you will have ultimately rejected him.  It is the same with Christ.  You either believe in Jesus unto salvation or reject Him...but never think for a minute that you can just stay neutral and just consider Him to be a "good teacher" or a "wise prophet."

We see the two criminals' reactions to Christ on the cross in Paul's missionary journeys as well.  In any place Paul would preach the Gospel message, two things would invariably happen.  People would repent...or people would riot.  They would accept and believe in faith...or they would reject and become hardened and angry, attempting to run Paul out of town or take his life! Paul's missionary stop in Ephesus is a classic example of this.  In Acts 19, the first half of the chapter shows us Paul baptizing people in repentance, and they are filled with the Holy Spirit as born-again believers.  The last half of the chapter shows a riot breaking out among the worshipers of the goddess Artemis and we see Paul ultimately departing for Macedonia in Acts 20:1.  There's NO room for fence-sitters when it comes to the gospel message!

But one of the most remarkable things about the story of the criminal on the cross is that when we do repent and place our faith in Jesus, NO sin is too great to be forgiven!  Like the robber on the cross who repented, it is never too late to be reconciled with Jesus and meet Him in Paradise!  Jesus' death on the cross brings us back into a good relationship with God (Romans 5:10-11).  What grace!  So, I must ask, where are you, dear friend?  ALL of us are on one of these crosses to the left and right of Christ!  I pray and trust you will be on the one that bows their heart to the Lordship of Christ and enjoys Paradise forever with Him!  If you have more questions about this, perhaps my salvation testimony would be an encouragement to you...