A King Without a Crown

Today, we celebrate the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. Why, then, are we given the text that we have just heard? We have just listened to a story in which this supposed king is taken to a place called The Skull and crucified by the Roman Empire between two criminals. The clothes of this condemned man were stripped and divided between the soldiers: he would not need them anymore.

The religious rulers scoffed at him: for all his talk and miracles, he could not save himself. He was not the Messiah, the Christ, the Chosen One of God.

The secular authorities, similarly, mocked him. They had heard that he called himself a King to rival Caesar. And, yet, if he had been a king, then surely he would have had the power to save himself. Their leader, Pilate, erected a sign which was put above his head, ironically stating, “The King of the Jews”.

We know from elsewhere that his closest followers had abandoned him, that the man he had chosen to lead them had denied him three times out of cowardice.

Now, one of the criminals condemned to die next to him joins in the chorus of scorn: “Are you not the Christ?” he asks, “Save yourself and us!”

Truly this man appeared forsaken by all the world. How could he be a king? How could he be worshipped? How could he possess any authority, when the manner of his death was thus?

The One Who Saw the Truth

And, yet, that day, there was but one who saw the truth: the other criminal crucified alongside Christ.

Speaking to the first criminal who mocked Christ, he asked him, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.” In other words, he recognised his own sin and guilt before God, and his own need for God’s mercy.

“But this man has done nothing wrong,” he said. This man is sinless. This man bears no guilt as we do, but he is dying unjustly at the hands of the Jewish and Roman authorities.

But it is really the final saying that ought most to astonish us: “Jesus,” he said, addressing Christ by his first name, intimately, in an act of loyalty and trust, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Think for a moment what he is saying: Did this criminal believe that Jesus would escape the crucifixion and become a successful political revolutionary after all? Of course he did not. He must, therefore, have believed that Jesus was indeed the true Messiah, that he would be vindicated by God by being raised from the dead, and that he would, at some point, inaugurate the Kingdom of God in this world. And so, he asked Christ: When you become King, when your magnificent power and authority is truly revealed, remember me. Accept me as your loyal subject; have mercy upon me, even though I rightly bear the punishment for my sin here upon this cross.

The Astonishing Response – Pure Grace

And Christ’s response is no less astonishing: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

What does Christ mean by this? Firstly, let’s observe that this is a moment of pure grace. This dying criminal did not have time to amend his life through good works, to be baptised or receive Holy Communion, to attend church or carry out religious rituals. He could not do anything but throw himself upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. And the response was pure grace: an acceptance of his plea, a promise that he would be where Christ was going.

Before I say more, let me elaborate on this. It is true that God has given to Christians so-called “means of grace”. These are channels of God’s grace by which he strengthens our faith and blesses us as we seek to live the Christian life. Baptism is a ritual washing of sin and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Holy Communion is our spiritual food for the journey. Prayer is the means by which we commune with God spiritually. The Church is Christ’s body, through which we encounter his presence whenever we meet. And we could name many other things. These are all tools that God gives us to grow in holiness and in our relationship with him. And all are important to live the Christian life.

But what we learn from the story of the penitent criminal is that, as the great Prayer of Humble Access puts it, God’s nature is always to have mercy. That is, we are acceptable to him not because we avail ourselves of the means of grace, not because we grow in holiness, or for any other such reason. We are acceptable to him because he chooses to have mercy upon us when we ask for it.

Once again, consider this penitent criminal. What does he do? Number one: he acknowledges his sin: “We are receiving the due reward of our deeds”, he cries out. This is the first step towards true repentance: we acknowledge the wrong that we have done to others, to ourselves, and before God. We experience conviction of sin, and we cry out to God for mercy.

Notice, again, that we do not, at this point engage in good works to make ourselves acceptable to God. Rather, we follow the pattern of this broken criminal and of others like Blind Bartimeus and the Tax Collector of Jesus’ Parable…We cry out, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of David, Have mercy upon me, a sinner!” And we say with King David, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your steadfast love” (Ps. 51:1).

He confesses his sin. He asks for mercy. And he receives it.

Friends, this is what God desires for all mankind: that we all follow this same pattern. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. God desires that we be reconciled to him and that we ask for his grace and mercy. Is this truth not supremely demonstrated in the words of Christ as he was being crucified by those who hated him? “Father, forgive them,” he prayed, “for they know not what they do”.

Have you come to an end of yourself? Are you in need of God’s forgiveness and mercy? Then come to him. Do you feel spiritual cold and far away from him? Then come to him. Are you fearful or ashamed? Then come to him. Come to him and you will receive the precious ointment of his grace.

The Apostle Paul puts this truth beautifully in his letter to the Ephesians, ‘For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing: it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast’ (Eph. 2:8-9).

All of this is embodied, of course, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, by which we simply come to him and receive him in faith and confidence that he will make his dwelling with us. What could be a simpler act of faith than this? To approach, to believe, to kneel, to receive?

The Astonishing Response – The Promise of Life with Christ

And there is one more part to this which we must mention: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”

This is clearly a promise that the criminal would be with Jesus, wherever he was going. But where was he going? The word “Paradise” would have been familiar at the time because it was used in a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint. It was used specifically to describe the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God when they disobeyed him. In that story, an angel with a flaming sword was placed at the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life and to prevent re-entry.

Jesus is saying, quite simply, “I will take you back to the Garden of Eden – I will take you back to Paradise and you will be with me there.”

Notice also that he says the word, “Today”. Now, in the original Greek, the word “Today” simply means, “Today”. In other words, Jesus is saying, “When you and I die upon these crosses today, we will be together in the Garden Paradise of God.”

This is an astonishing statement and should not be passed over lightly. Christ is promising immediate translation into the presence of God upon death.

This is an idea that is confirmed in various other places in Scripture. For example, the Apostle Paul said that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). In the letter to the Philippians, he tells us that he desires to depart from this life to be with Christ, ‘for that is far better’ (Phil. 1:23).

Now, it must be said that the Bible also tells us of a future state in which the dead are raised in glorious new bodies and at which point the whole of the universe will be wonderfully recreated without sin, brokenness, pain or death.

This is not the state Jesus speaks of to the condemned criminal. Rather, he speaks of a state in-between our present lives and that final, glorious and resurrected world. This in-between state is the Paradise of God. We do not know exactly the details of that place but it is surely glorious and rich and abundant. For it is a return to the Garden Paradise of Eden where we will walk with God himself in the cool of the morning.

Conversely, there is very little evidence upon the lips of Christ or the Apostles that the souls of Christian believers “sleep” upon death until the resurrection. Nor is there really any Scriptural evidence for the doctrine of Purgatory, which was developed after the time of Christ and the Apostles. That doctrine says that most believers, although their sins are forgiven, must still endure a potentially long and painful period of purification before they can enter fully into the presence of God. Our passage today is a notoriously difficult one for theologians who hold this position, since it is very difficult to reconcile with that idea.

I have to be honest also and say that I believe that the Doctrine of Purgatory obscures the reality of the Gospel as it was taught by Christ and the Apostles. The Gospel offers us true forgiveness and reconciliation with God now in this life, based upon our repentance and faith. Good works follow but they are not how we obtain forgiveness. And, more to the point, the Gospel tells us that we have a real and tangible hope that we will be with God in Christ as soon as we die: our sins forgiven and removed from us, our souls cleansed by the power of God. No further need for pain and purification but eternal life given to us as an act of sheer grace. This great and glorious message is available for all of us – for all of you – and all we need to do is to take hold of it.

May we all, then, seeking the mercy and compassion of God in Christ, take the words of the penitent criminal as our own, “Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.