Jesus, Remember Me

Jesus, Remember Me

Here is an excerpt from "What True Conversion Looks Like: An Exposition of Luke 23:39-43": 

The second criminal doesn’t just ‘see things’ in a moot exercise of 11^th hour spiritual reflection. What is happening here isn’t a recollection of deathbed regrets and a wish for what might have been. This guilty man is on trial in the presence of God, and God’s light is shining into his heart, and he is convicted of his sin, and he is convinced that Jesus is both pure and powerful to save, and he won’t stop there. True conversion involves turning to Christ in an attitude of faith, and this is what the man does. He entrusts himself and his eternal future to the King who stands before him: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This is an exercise of faith. There is nothing magical about these particular words, but these particular words express his faith. “Jesus, remember me.” Jesus, have mercy on me. Jesus, save me. After a lifetime of misdeeds, he puts his guilty soul into the hand of Christ. And the good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ came and died for this very purpose: to give rest to guilty souls, and raise them up on the last day. This dying sinner realized that his sin could be overcome by the grace of the holy King, and that by the same grace he could come to share in the King’s holy kingdom. So he cast himself on the mercy of Christ.

Perhaps you are someone who is full of theological information, but when it comes to actually trusting Jesus in any kind of meaningful way, you are empty. You don’t need to read another book. You don’t need to attend another conference. You don’t need strategies for better living. You don’t need to keep fooling yourself that you’re someone with great faith when, in fact, you’re not. You don’t need to keep fooling yourself that your parents’ faith or your spouse’s faith will somehow get you in, which it won’t. What you need to do is look upward to Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and say to Him, ‘Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Trust Him, and He will save you!