One day during a grade seven math lesson, my teacher caught me drawing a picture. I was drawing a cross with the words, “ JESUS SAVES,” on it. My teacher was clearly annoyed and told me that Jesus is strong enough to carry the cross so I should spend more time concentrating on my maths and stop wasting my time drawing pictures.
When Jesus was crucified, two thieves were crucified simultaneously on either side of His cross. One of them mocked Him, but the other chose to believe in Him even though the situation looked hopeless. It must have been difficult for the thief to put his trust and belief in a man, who it seemed, was suffering the same fate as him. The Bible does not give us the thief’s history or background and we are not sure if he was familiar with any of the prophecies concerning Jesus. He probably hadn’t had the benefit of hearing Jesus’ predictions regarding his death and resurrection, yet this man still chose to believe in him. As Jesus hung on the cross, blood dripping over His face and body, not looking the part of a powerful Saviour, this man chose to place his trust in Him. Jesus was so touched by his reverence that He assured him that he would one day be with Him in His kingdom.
How sweet those words must have been to the ears of the repentant thief! Indeed, those are the very words that all of us long to hear today. However, after hearing those words, can you imagine how the man must have felt when he saw Jesus die? Indeed, the Bible records for us that Jesus was the first of the three men to die. The soldiers did not need to break his legs to hasten His death because He was already dead. This means that the repentant thief had to go through the trauma of having His hopes dashed as He saw Jesus die next to him. He must have passed the time between Christ’s death and his own demise wondering if what He had said could possibly be true. He must have suffered immense emotional and spiritual trauma, besides the physical pain of the crucifixion.
Today, we are all sinners before God. Some of us may choose to mock God and live our own way, while others choose to believe in Jesus our Saviour and repent and live our lives His way. We make this decision at a moment in time that is usually a crossroads or turning point in our lives. However, what happens between the time of our repentance and acceptance of Christ as Saviour and His second coming? For many, it has been and still is, a long wait. We can hear the mocking taunts of those who refuse to believe. They say He is never coming back; if He was, He should have been back by now.
We can either choose to surrender to unbelief or we can believe in the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. God is not a man that He should lie. The signs preceding Christ’s return are becoming more and more marked. Soon we will be able to say with gladness: “This is our King; long have we waited for Him.” Don’t give up hope. Jesus IS coming back! Don’t surrender your eternal destiny by believing the lies of satan.
"There will come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying : "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." (2 Pet 3:3-4)
"The Lord is NOT slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)
Scripture refs: Luke 23:39-46; John 19:31-34; 2 Pet 3:3-10
