The Journey Continues: a study of Grace

“Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” - Luke 23:42-43

Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. - Luke 16:24

The other morning my wife and I were discussing some of the issues that she was reading on the Reddit Christianity page, and one of the posts made me think of the relation between the two verses I have cited above. Both are from the Gospel of Luke, but I had never made the connection between the two until yesterday. Perhaps there is no connection, since these are two different stories: one is eyewitness testimony of the Crucifixion, the other is regarded as story, not a parable, and one that Jesus, perhaps in His personage of God, experienced. 

So, what did I see as the connection?

If you read the verses in their entirety (Luke 23:39-43 and Luke 16:19-24) you might be able to see the connection. The first takes place during the Crucifixion, where the thief on one side of Jesus is berating Him, goading Him to "Save Yourself and us!". The other thief (whose crime we do not know) responds to the first, stating that they were justly condemned and deserved their punishment, while Jesus did not. He then asks Christ to remember him when Jesus came into His Kingdom. Jesus' response "today, you will be with Me in Paradise.", although I've read it and heard it read to me countless times, resonated with me. There is something deeper in this statement, one of last Jesus spoke from The Cross.

The other story tells of a poor beggar, named Lazarus, who sat at the gate of some unnamed rich man "clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously", hoping just to eat this rich man's table scraps, and whose sores were licked by dogs. An unsightly picture. These two men die, with Lazarus "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom", and the unnamed rich man ending up in Hell. 

What is the connection? 

I saw this connection of Grace as played out with poor Lazarus, poor beyond humility, poor beyond hope, poor beyond physical comfort, but he was elevated at his death, taken into Heaven, carried by angels. The rich man ends up in hell, where he pleads for Abraham to send Lazarus just to "cool his tongue". There is no contrition there. The rich man is still concerned only for himself. His cynicism is echoed by the thief on the cross who taunted Jesus, urging him to "Save Yourself and us!". I'm sure the thief on the cross was not truthfully worried about Jesus or the other thief being saved, just himself. 

And I saw this other thief, this contrite, humble thief, who, in his simple supplication did not request anything grandiose, or even acknowledging his worth to be IN the Kingdom of God: he simply requested that he be thought of - to be remembered. 

The response of Christ to the second thief is one of supreme Grace: the thief's simple, unassuming, humble and contrite request was more than granted, it was elevated. Just as Lazarus, in his abject poverty and humiliation, was elevated by the angels. The rich man, and the cynical thief's pleadings, were not granted. 

God's Grace to us is in this way: when we come to Him, contrite and humble, we are given more than we deserve. This astonishing Gift of Grace elevates us when we least expect to be elevated. Does that mean we seek and accept God's Grace so we can be elevated? No. We except it in humility, and in gratitude, and without expectations, just as the second thief did.

Soli Deo Gloria.