“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:39-43

Like the thief on the cross who mocked and blasphemed the Lord Jesus, so also today many speak against Jesus Christ and His Word rather than acknowledging their sins and turning to Him for forgiveness and life.

Rather than admitting their faults and failures, people find it easier to speak against the truth and reject Jesus, the Light of the World (cf. John 8:12), who shines into the darkness of our hearts and lives. It is as the Bible says in John 1:4-5: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Jesus explains this further in John 3:19-20 when He says: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

But rather than joining the world in its blasphemy and mockery of Christ, the second criminal spoke the truth and acknowledged his sin and guilt, saying to the first: “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”

While we would not normally look to a criminal, a thief, as a role model, in this case, he is a role model for us. We look not to his example as a common criminal but to his example as a penitent sinner. He didn’t hide his sin or make excuses for it. He was honest in regard to his sin and his guilt. He acknowledged his sin and the punishment he justly deserved, and he turned to Jesus, as Jesus was dying on the cross to pay the price for the sins of the world, seeking pardon, forgiveness, and life eternal!

And what happened? “He said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”

It’s as David said in Psalm 32:3-5: “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Jesus did nothing wrong, but He was crucified and condemned for our sins and the sins of the whole world. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

When we, like the thief on the cross, humble ourselves before Jesus and confess our sin and failure to obey God’s holy Law, He is gracious and merciful to us and will forgive our sins for the sake of His holy and precious blood, shed for us upon the cross.

John writes (1 John 1:5 — 2:2): “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

From Jesus’ words to this dying thief, we see that He is merciful even to the worst of sinners. No matter how great our sins have been, when we look to Christ for mercy, His blood covers them all (1 John 1:7)!

We also learn the glorious truth that the very day a believer dies, if he trusts in Jesus Christ for mercy, his soul shall be with Jesus in paradise! With the dying thief, we pray, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And on our dying day, we have the assurance of Jesus’ words: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Dear Lord Jesus, we know that You have done nothing amiss but are holy and righteous. We, on the other hand, are miserable sinners, deserving of Your eternal wrath and punishment. For the sake of Your holy and precious blood, shed for us on the cross, cleanse us from the guilt and filth of our sin and remember us when You come in Your glorious, eternal kingdom. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

If you wish to listen to the hymns played above and see the words, they can be played and viewed at the links below. The words are also available in the Lutheran Service Book.

Jesus, I will Ponder Now

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Glory Be to Jesus

Were You There

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2 (Read Romans 5:1-11)

A common Biblical greeting is the word “peace” (Shalom in Hebrew and Eirene in Greek). But the word, as it is here used in the Bible, does not refer to earthly peace among nations but to peace with God. What does it mean to have peace with God, and how can we have that peace?

When we remember that all of us are by nature enemies of God and in rebellion against Him – not loving Him, trusting Him or seeking to honor Him with our lives by obeying His commandments – and that we are, as a result, under the wrath and condemnation of God our Maker, the prospect of having peace with the LORD God restored is indeed inviting, for not to have this peace is to stand condemned to eternal punishment in hell.

To have peace with God is to be pardoned and forgiven. It is to be acquitted by Him for all our transgressions of His perfect and holy law, and it is to be accepted back into fellowship with the LORD God who fashioned and made us in our mothers’ wombs. And that peace was won for us by the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of God’s only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in our stead, and it becomes ours when we trust in Christ and His perfect sacrifice for sin (cf. v. 5-11; 2 Cor. 5:18-21).

The Bible says: “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:13-18).

Whether Jew or Gentile, Jesus won for us peace with God the Father by the shedding of His holy and precious blood in our stead, for all sins. And that peace of sins forgiven is ours not by anything we do to please God but through faith in what Christ Jesus has done for us when He died on the cross and rose again in victory over sin, death and the devil.

For Christ’s sake, God is gracious to us and offers to us in the Gospel His pardon and peace that we might repent of our sinful ways and look in faith to Christ Jesus and His cross for forgiveness for all our sins and life everlasting.

And, when we have God’s pardon and forgiveness through faith in Christ, we also “rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (v. 2) and “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (v. 11), for we have the certainty that, as Christ was raised up from the dead on the third day, so we will be raised up on the Last Day unto life everlasting with our God and Savior!

Dearest Lord Jesus, we thank You for shedding Your blood on the cross and making atonement for all our sins that we might have peace with God and the certain hope of the eternal joys of heaven through faith in your name. Amen.

[Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

As Jesus explains in these well-known verses of the Bible, He did not come into the world to judge and condemn the world “but that the world through Him might be saved.” And Jesus’ words and purpose apply to His church in this world, as well.

Had God sent His Son into this world to judge this world, as it says in Psalm 130, verse 3, “O Lord, who could stand?” All of us would be found guilty! Not a single one of us has kept all that God commands in our thoughts, desires, words, and actions. Ecclesiastes 7:20 says that “there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.”

So, how thankful we can be that Jesus was not sent into the world to judge the world but, instead, to live a holy life for us and then atone for our sins by suffering our punishment when He was crucified and died on the cross! And that’s what He did when He came into the world. He died for our sins — for the sins of all — and rose again on the third day that we might repent of our sins and look to Him and His cross in faith and be counted just and righteous in God’s eyes, pardoned, forgiven, and made acceptable in His sight!

As Christians, we sometimes forget this and think God has left us in this world to exalt ourselves and condemn others. The Bible is quite clear when it tells us that Jesus will be coming back to judge the world. He will condemn those who do not repent and look to Him for pardon and forgiveness but continue on in their sinful ways. As Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. 1:7-8), “The Lord Jesus [will be] revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Our job as followers of Jesus Christ is not to write off and condemn people to hell because of their sins but to warn them of that coming judgment and to call upon them to repent of their sinful ways and look to the cross of Jesus for pardon, forgiveness, and life everlasting. Yes, that demands we teach what it is God calls sin and what He says of sin, but the goal is that all would repent and look to Jesus in faith and be spared in the judgment which is soon to come.

Followers of Jesus, like Jesus, call what is sinful sin and warn of sin’s consequences; but followers of Jesus also proclaim the only way of salvation: faith in Jesus and His cross. Indeed, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Instead of condemning the world, we point people to the cross of Jesus so that the people of this world might be saved through faith in His name!

Dear Lord Jesus, let me see in Your Word Your love for all people and Your desire that all repent of their sinful ways and look to You and Your cross for pardon and forgiveness. Grant that I not condemn the world but warn others that they might turn from their sinful ways to You for mercy and not be condemned on the day You return in judgment. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:23-25

Why was it written in the Bible that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3; Gen. 15:6)? Not just for Abraham but for us also, for those of us who believe the Gospel promises of God and trust in Him who raised up Jesus from the dead to forgive our sins and accept us as His own dear children through faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.

What has Jesus accomplished for us by His innocent sufferings and death and by His glorious resurrection? That is shown to us by the words which the Holy Spirit moved St. Paul to write to the believers in Rome.

“Jesus our Lord … was delivered up because of our offenses.” Jesus was delivered up unto death on the cross on account of our sins — yours and mine. Jesus was holy and just. We are unjust sinners. We justly deserve God’s eternal wrath and punishment for our disobedience and sin, but Jesus was delivered up for our sins. He bore our punishment.

It is as St. Peter wrote in his first epistle: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit …” (1 Peter 3:18; cf. Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus “was raised because of our justification.” Jesus’ bodily resurrection on the third day proves that God the Father accepted the sacrifice of His Son as full payment for our sins and the sins of the whole world. “Jesus Christ the righteous … is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).

If His sacrifice were not sufficient, Jesus would not have been raised from the dead and we would still be dead in our sins. But He has been raised — He lives — and we have forgiveness through faith in His name! (Cf. 1 Cor. 15:12-20.)

And Jesus died for our sins and rose again in triumph that we might look to Him in faith and be justified and made acceptable in God’s eyes. When we believe that “Jesus our Lord … was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification,” we receive God’s pardon and are justified by faith. We then possess peace with God — the peace won for us by the holy and precious blood of Christ shed for us on the cross. It is as the apostle writes in the very next verse: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ …” (Rom. 5:1).

Instead of being enemies of God, through faith in Christ, we are reconciled to God (Rom. 4:10-11). The sin which separated us from God has been taken out of the way, being nailed to Christ’s cross (Col. 2:13-14; cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-21).

And we need not doubt our salvation. It is as sure as Christ’s death for our sins and His glorious resurrection on the third day. Since Jesus bore our sins and died in our stead, and since God the Father raised Jesus up on the third day, we have peace with God through faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior!

We thank You, dear Lord Jesus, for bearing upon the cross the just punishment for our sins and for rising again in triumph that forgiveness and life eternal might be ours through faith in Your name. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

“…Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God … unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:3,5; Read John 3:1-8

When Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews, came to Jesus by night, Jesus told him that, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). And so also today, unless one is born again, he isn’t able to see or understand what the kingdom of God really is.

When Nicodemus questioned Jesus about how a grown man could be born again, Jesus told him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:5,6).

It wasn’t enough to be a descendant of Abraham or to be a part of a strict religious sect of the Jews; a spiritual rebirth was needed. Nor is it enough today to be born into a religious family or to be a member of a church denomination or organization; one must be born of God!

In John 1:10-13, we read of Jesus, the eternal Word made flesh: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

As the Greek text of John 3:5 makes clear, this rebirth of which Jesus speaks is “of water and the Spirit” (EX UDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS); it is “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Tit. 3:5) and “the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26). It is the gracious working of God’s Spirit through God’s Word and the waters of baptism to offer and guarantee to the penitent sinner who looks in faith to Christ Jesus and His cross the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation which Jesus purchased with His blood, shed upon the cross (cf. Acts 2:37-39; 22:16).

The Pharisees had rejected the counsel of God and did not repent and receive the baptism of John the Baptist for the remission of their sins (cf. Mark 1:4; Luke 7:30). Nicodemus, a Pharisee, needed to acknowledge his own utter sinfulness before God and be baptized into the name of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of his sins, and God’s Spirit would work in him a new spiritual life and make him a part of God’s eternal kingdom through faith in Christ.

And, of course, nothing has changed today. Jesus’ Word is still true. Unless you acknowledge your utter sinfulness before God and turn to Him and receive the forgiveness of sins that Christ won for you on the cross and which God offers and gives through the word of the Gospel and Christian Baptism, you, too, cannot enter into God’s eternal kingdom.

It is as Peter testified on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38-39): “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” It is as the Apostle Paul was told by Ananias (Acts 22:16): “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

Only through faith in Jesus can one receive the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting! Repent and be baptized in His name!

Dearest Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and have not lived according to your holy and perfect will for me. I have broken your commandments and deserve everlasting punishment in hell for my sins. Graciously forgive me and wash away my sins for the sake of your holy and precious blood, shed on the cross for me. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]