Wed. July 23rd :: Lk.23 :: God Dies

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:
"Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said,
"since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly,
for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done
nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you
come into your kingdom."

(Luke 22.19a)

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We often look down on the thief who hurled insults at Jesus while dying (and for good reason). After all, who decides to be so cruel in their final moments?

Yet perhaps the response of the unrepentant thief is more logical than the one I often choose. It is easy after many years to begin to think about the crucifixion as just another part of the religious storyline. It happened. It’s important. We acknowledge it. And yet it doesn’t shatter us quite the way it used to—the fact that God died once, for us. We become slightly calloused toward the fact.

And perhaps this attitude of near-indifference is the only illogical response to the cross.

After all, if Jesus wasn’t who he claimed to be then it makes sense to mock him. He would deserve it.

What doesn’t make sense—the only thing that doesn’t—is to tacitly believe the message of the gospel while looking upon the cross with anything other than sheer amazement. God died for us. Our sin is that destructive. His grace is that inexplicable. And it's good news.