Surely there was no more royal
moment in all of Christ's life. J. R. Miller, Daily Bible Readings
in the Life of Christ, 1890. Today you shall be with me in
Paradise. Luke 23, 43. This was the second
saying of the Saviour on the cross, Something touched the
heart of one of the robbers. May it not have been the Savior's
prayer for his murderers? He became penitent in his dying
hour and cried to Jesus for mercy. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Quickly from the lips of the
dying Redeemer came the gracious response, Today you shall be
with me in paradise. The words are full of meaning,
of which only broken hints can here be given. Though in the
agony of death himself, Jesus could yet give life to a dead
soul. Though draining the dregs of
the cup of woe, He could give a cup of blessedness to a penitent
sinner. Though His hand was nailed to
the cross, it yet carried the key of paradise and opened the
gate to allow a repentant soul to enter. Surely there was no
more royal moment in all of Christ's life than this. The promise itself
tells us what death is for the believer. Today, you shall be
with me. There is no long dark passage,
therefore, through which the freed soul must go to reach blessedness. There is no purgatory in which
it must be punished for its sins for many years before it can
enter heaven. At once, the redeemed spirit
goes into the presence of Christ. Paul teaches us the same truth
when he describes death as departing to be with Christ. and says that
to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord.
That same day, said Jesus, this penitent thief would be in paradise. We ought not then to be afraid
to die if we are Christ's redeemed and holy ones. The words tell
us also what heaven's blessedness really consists of. You shall
be with me. Being with Christ is glory, no
sweeter, more blessed heaven can be conceived of. We know
but little about heaven as a place, where it is, what it is like,
but this much we know, that there, we shall be with Christ, is not
that enough to know?