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Remember Me! - Luke 23:40-43But the other criminal stopped him. He said, "You should fear God! All of us will die soon! You and I are guilty; we should be killed because we did wrong. But this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong!" Then this criminal said to Jesus, "Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!" Then Jesus said to him, "Listen! What I say is true: Today you will be with me in Paradise!" (ERV) Full Text
Key ThoughtJesus had told his disciples "Remember me!" as they shared in the Lord's Supper. So for thousands of years, Christians the world over take the bread and fruit of the vine during the Lord's Supper and remember Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Ironically, even while the thief is dying on a cross near Jesus, he confesses Jesus' innocence and then asks that Jesus "Remember me." So in the horror of his own crucifixion, Jesus offers this dying man a special moment of grace. Jesus reassures the dying criminal that he will share paradise with Jesus. Jesus will remember him! Jesus is faithful and he will not forget this man's request. Jesus will also remember our confessions of faith, deeds of kindness done in his name, and our faithfulness to the Father. "Remember me!" we cry out to the Lord; thankfully, we already know his answer! Today's PrayerToday's Verses in ContextThe soldiers led Jesus away {to be killed}. At that same time, there was a man coming into the city from the fields. His name was Simon. Simon was from the city of Cyrene. The soldiers forced Simon to carry Jesus' cross and walk behind Jesus. Many, many people followed Jesus. Some of the women were sad and crying. They felt sorry for Jesus. But Jesus turned and said to the women, "Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too! The time is coming when people will say, 'Happy are the women that cannot have babies! Happy are the women that have no children to care for.' Then the people will say to the mountain, 'Fall on us!' The people will say to the hills, 'Cover us!' If people act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?" There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be killed. Jesus and the two criminals were led to a place called "The Skull." There the soldiers nailed Jesus to his cross. They also nailed the criminals to their crosses. They put one criminal beside Jesus on the right, and they put the other criminal beside Jesus on the left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people {that are killing me}. They don't know what they are doing." The soldiers gambled with dice to decide who would get Jesus' clothes. The people stood there watching {Jesus}. The Jewish leaders laughed at Jesus. They said, "If he is God's Chosen One, the Christ, then let him save himself. He saved other people, didn't he?" Even the soldiers laughed at Jesus and teased him. They came to Jesus and offered him some wine. The soldiers said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!" (At the top of the cross these words were written: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.") One of the criminals began to shout very bad things at Jesus: "Aren't you the Christ? Then save yourself! And save us too!" But the other criminal stopped him. He said, "You should fear God! All of us will die soon! You and I are guilty; we should be killed because we did wrong. But this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong!" Then this criminal said to Jesus, "Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!" Then Jesus said to him, "Listen! What I say is true: Today you will be with me in Paradise!" — Luke 23:26-43 (ERV)
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