December 5

At Home with the Lord

To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. — Luke 23:43

This was the second word on the cross. Something touched the heart of one of the robbers — may it not have been the Saviour’s prayer for His murderers? — and he became penitent in his dying hour, and cried to Jesus for mercy: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Quickly from the lips of the dying Redeemer came the gracious response, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The words are full of meaning, of which broken hints only can here be given.

Though in the agony of death, Jesus could yet give life to a dead soul. Though draining the dregs of the cup of woe, He could give a cup of blessedness to a penitent. Though His hand was nailed to the cross, it yet carried the key of paradise, and opened the gate to allow a repentant soul to enter. Surely there was no more royal moment in all Christ’s life than this.

The promise itself tells us what death is for the believer. “To day shalt thou be with me.” There is no long, dark passage, therefore, through which the freed soul must go to reach blessedness. There is no purgatory in which it must wait to be prepared for glory. At once the spirit goes into the presence of Christ. St. Paul teaches us the same truth when he describes death as departing to be with Christ, and says that to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord. That same day, said Jesus, this penitent should be in paradise. We ought not then to be afraid to die if we are of Christ’s redeemed ones.

The words tell us also in what heavens blessedness really consists. “Thou shalt be with me.” Being with Christ is glory. No sweeter, more blessed heaven can be conceived of. We know but little about heaven as a place — where it is, what it is like; but this much we know — there we shall be with Christ. Is not that enough to know?