Sunday, March 20, 2011

What if The Good Thief Thought it Over (A Lenten Reflection)

No surprise that Luke 23 contains one of my favorite scenes in the whole Bible.  

But what if the Good Thief waited?

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Criminal One: (to Jesus) Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us?

Good Thief:  (to self) Hmmmm.  What should I do?  I've done a lot of bad things in my life.  I wonder if I should ask Jesus for forgiveness?  Should I tell him I hope he remembers me when he gets to His kingdom?  Or should I wait?  Maybe I can just ask Him in the afterlife.  Or maybe the things I have done aren't that bad after all.  God probably knows I'm sorry, right?  Decisions decisions. What ... should ...I ... do ....

Jesus:  (to Heaven)  Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Good Thief:  (to Jesus' body)  Jesus?  Jesus?
Good Thief:  (to self) Uh oh...


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Lent is the perfect time to remember that Jesus is right here next to us, waiting with open arms to forgive our sins.


We just have to repent before its too late.

3 comments:

Victor S E Moubarak said...

Good point well made.

God bless.

Unknown said...

I definitely don't want my last words to be Uh oh! Thanks for this one Michael and God bless!

the booklady said...

It never ceases to amaze me that even at his final hour, the 'bad' thief still can't bring himself to any sort of humility, compassion or supplication. Even under the most dire circumstances, he can't see that he needs help. Truly sad!