The King Declares, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” Luke 23:43

The Last Sunday of the Church Year, Christ the King
November 24, 2013


GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 23:27–43 [Jesus, the King of the Jews, is crucified.]
And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “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.”
P: This is the Gospel of our Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

Above the head of Jesus on the cross was the sign that read, “This is the King of the Jews.” Pilate thought it was a joke. The Jews thought it was blasphemy. But one of the thieves on the cross next to Jesus believed it to be the truth. And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” We also confess the same as the thief whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” "Thy Kingdom Come."

We pray, "Thy Kingdom Come." As Christian believers, this is first of all a statement of our faith, a confession that we believe that God is our King. It is a declaration of loyalty to our ruler. It is a statement of pride that we are citizens of that Heavenly Kingdom. When we pray "Thy Kingdom Come," we are praying that the Holy Spirit would bring that Kingdom to us in all of its manifold ways.

When we usually think of a kingdom, we think of a country with a ruler and people, and a certain territory where they live and where the laws of that country are kept. We can put it on a world map. The Kingdom of God is different. It pays no attention to country border lines. For the Kingdom of God is in the hearts of the believers. The Kingdom of God is wherever God rules as King. In one sense, since God is the Ruler of the universe and of all creation, the Kingdom of God is everywhere. But in the Lord's Prayer, we are really praying that it will come to us, into our hearts and lives. This happens when the Father gives us his Holy Spirit so that by his grace we may believe his Holy Word and live a godly life, both here in time and forever. As good citizens, we pray that God's name may be hallowed and that His will be done! That is, we honor his name by doing his will.

When I pray this petition of the Lord's Prayer, I often think of three different things.

1. I think of the Kingdom of heaven, the end of the world and eternal life. Jesus said that he would return to the world and judge it and rule as King. Some times when I look at this sorry world, I really do wish that the Lord would return soon! (Maranatha!) That he would soon come and end all the misery and foolishness of this world. That he would bring in the era of eternal life and happiness. I am ready for that. And if the Lord doesn't come soon, then I can pray that if I die before the "Last Day," that the Lord would raise me up and bring me into his Kingdom. For some people, close to death, like the thief on the cross, this prayer, "Thy Kingdom Come," is a way of saying, "Lord, I am ready to enter your eternal heaven. Let your heaven come to me, let me go to heaven now." When we pray with someone who is sick or dying, this prayer can give wonderful peace and comfort. It is giving ourselves over into God's Hands. That is Paradise.

2. The Kingdom of God comes right now. When Jesus started his preaching ministry, he said, (Mk.1:15) "The Kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!" Jesus is with us always, he is in our hearts. The rule of God -- the Kingdom of God -- is right here with us right now. We are living in this world and we pray that the kingdom and the power and the glory would come right now; first into our hearts, and then to the whole world. This is the hardest part of this petition. First we are asking God to rule in our hearts. Our sinful nature is such that we always want to be independent, to fight a war for freedom, a rebellion against God. Satan is always ready to be our ally, to help us by giving us lots of temptations and evil and hardships to keep us from believing in the gracious rule of the Heavenly Father. The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that the Holy Spirit would enter our hearts with faith and then give us the power to follow the rule of God. In the Gospel story, Jesus is King when he is on the cross. He is King when he destroys the power of sin. Through his death and resurrection, we know that he really is a great King. We know that he keeps his promises and that he will bring all who believe in him into his Kingdom. And so, when we pray "Thy Kingdom Come," we pray that this forgiveness and love will come into our hearts and lives. It is a prayer that the Holy Spirit would come into our hearts. Then, when we are at peace with God, Paradise is in our hearts.

An ordinary country is ruled by its constitution and laws. God's country is governed by the Gospel. It is not really what we do, but what Jesus does, or better, has done for us. But when we follow Jesus, our lives are changed by the Gospel. That life style is described in the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God. He talks about a believer's life: it is different than that of usual life in the world, often it is opposite. Jesus said "Blessed are the poor, blessed are the persecuted," etc. He talked about not being worried about the future or about what to wear or eat or drink, to be as content as the birds of the air or the lilies of the fields. Of course clothes and food, etc. are important, and when we pray, we often ask for many things for ourselves and for others. That is a wonderful, god-pleasing thing to do, God wants us to pray and ask for whatever we need. But Jesus told us what the most important prayer is. He said, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these [other] things shall be yours as well" (Mt.6:33). We should pray for salvation and forgiveness: then God will give us everything else that we need, too. That is the Paradise of the Kingdom of God.

3. The third thing I think about when I pray "Thy Kingdom Come" is about Evangelism. I pray that the Holy and Saving Word of the Gospel might go out into all the world, that many more people might become members, citizens of the Kingdom of God. I pray for wisdom and strength to be given to those who work in evangelism, including myself. I pray that our church would grow and that many more people can share the blessings of the the Lord. Then all the repentant sinners of the world will join the conversation of the thief on the cross. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus says to us, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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