Remember me! Luke 23:33-43
This is Christ the King Sunday in the Common Lectionary. The purpose of this day in the church calendar is to remind us that we are leaving the season of Pentecost through which we celebrate the gifts that God has given us through the coming of the Holy Spirit. But as we leave this season and prepare to enter again into the story of our redemption by God as heralded by the season of Advent, it is an opportunity for us to reflect on what the coming of God in Christ truly means to us.
When we look back on the Old Testament record, we discover that in the time of Moses, God directs him to designate one of the tribes to be the priestly tribe of the people. These will be the people who will bring the sacrifices of the people to God – first in tents and later in actual temples. The priestly function in the Israelite society is very important and the priests – for the most part – take their task very seriously. The relationship of the people to God depends on the integrity not only of the sacrifices themselves but of those who present the offerings to God.
Along with the priests, we also find prophets. The prophets are instrumental in communicating the word of God to the people – making them aware of their shortcomings and encouraging them to live according to the commandments. They also bring words of judgment but also words of mercy and forgiveness.
Of course, we know that the leadership of the people knew that they were to have no king except God but the desire of the people to have a king they could see and whom other nations could see led God to have Samuel anoint one of their number as king. And so the history of the kings of Israel and Judah begins – some good, others bad. Their attempts to rule the people were always to be governed by their allegiance to God. But their fallibility led to poor decisions and disaster in many cases.
Now I have given you this background because today we celebrate that of all the priests there ever were or ever will be, the only one who can truly absolve us of our sins and put us right with God is Jesus. He truly is our Priest. And when it comes to knowing the will of God for our lives, it is the word of God communicated through Jesus – the Prophet – that is to be the one whom we listen to and follow. And so, we come to Christ the King. Of all the kings and queens who ever ruled in any place in this world, for us there is really only one King and that is the One who is the begotten Son of God whose kingdom we pray will come.
We are reminded that we have a Priest who is eternal, who will ever intercede for us; we have a Prophet who will ever seek to direct us in our lives as we open our spirits to him and listen for his voice; and we have a king whose reign will one day be seen by the world. It is in this person, this Son of the living God that we put our faith and life. We are not followers of a book of ancient myths but followers of one who existed from the beginning of time and continues to exist even today
Our Gospel lesson today reveals to us that Jesus is a king and that he has a kingdom to which he is going and that one day we will all be a part of. Paradise, Jesus calls it – a kingdom of perfect peace and wholeness. If people thought that crucifying Jesus would mean the end of that kingdom, they are proven wrong by his words to the criminal who hung on the cross beside him.
“Jesus remember me,” declares that criminal. We don’t know anything about this criminal or about the other one who hung there. We can’t say what exactly he did but it must have been something extreme to warrant such a death. We don’t know the circumstances of his life or what led him to do whatever led to his arrest and conviction. But while he knows that his punishment is just in the eyes of the society in which he found himself, he knows who Jesus is and like the tax collector who stood in the temple with no real hope of forgiveness, this man simply asks that Jesus remember him, What conversation took place between Jesus and this man - other than the words that have been recorded - we will never know. But obviously he has confessed to Jesus and believes that he is the One through whom salvation will come. The criminal on the other side is looking for a miracle. He is no doubt as guilty as the first man, but his heart is hard, and he only has concern for saving himself.
Right to the very end, people who came to witness the crucifixion of Jesus are looking for the sign that this is the Son of God. The only sign they want is for Jesus to show his power over all authorities in the world by saving his life and overcoming the cruel and unjust death that he is suffering. But there is one hanging with Jesus who understands that for Jesus to come down from the cross before death would be to make the sacrifice of a blameless man empty and hollow. It is not theatrics that has led Jesus to the Cross, it is the will of God – sacrificing the Son so his blood could be shed for the forgiveness of sins – the Lamb’s blood that took away the angel of death from the doors of the Israelites in Egypt.
And so the recognition is there in the words of that criminal who sought nothing more from Jesus than to be remembered. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He had no expectation of being in heaven, in the kingdom of God, he only wanted to be remembered. But Jesus’ response to him is one filled with love, mercy and forgiveness. “Today you will be with me in Paradise!”
I am sure that at the end of his earthly life, Jesus would have remembered a lot of people – Mary, his mother, the disciples, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Mary Magdelene, the lepers, Blind Bartemaus, Zaccheus, even the Roman centurion whose servant came to seek healing for a member of the family. In his mind would be the many people whom he taught, the people whom he fed and the others whom he healed. I am sure he would have reflected on the people who responded to his message – both Jew, Samaritan, Roman, Greek and others as well as those who struggled with his message and those who could not bring themselves to believe. I am sure he would have reflected on the strengths and the weaknesses of those whom he called to be part of that inner circle, and I am sure that he remembered their strength of conviction as well as their failures to act. I am sure that he remembered their faith but also remembered their doubts.
Paul in one of his letters reminds those early Christians of this truth: If it is for this life alone that we have hope, then we of all people are most to be pitied. He spoke those words not to dismiss this life as of no consequence, but to remind the people that the resurrection of Jesus has given to them a hope for a life beyond this life.
Ultimately, we hope to be in that place called Paradise where that criminal would find himself - remembered by Jesus. We have the blessing of time and the gift of faith. As we celebrate and reflect on Jesus as our Priest, Prophet and King, may ever seek to remember the One in whom we trust, knowing that we are remembered by Jesus not only at the end of our days but every day that we live and into eternity!
AMEN