Re: Verse reading–Matthew 20:1-16 (day six)
“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.” Luke 23:42-43
Truly, amazing! What grace! What generosity! Something incredible happened while Jesus hung on the Cross! A conversion took place; one of the convicted felons next to Jesus repented and believed. Jesus, on the spot, gave him a place in his Kingdom. No drug test, background check (that would have come back all-wrong), no references, and not even a request for him to reveal his “good works” portfolio, and yet Jesus says, “You, come with me. I have a place for you in my Kingdom for all eternity.”
Can you imagine the response of the chief priests, lawyers, and scribes if they could have overheard this declaration to a convicted, law-breaking, criminal? “Him, paradise?! Never! God surely would cast him out! He is nothing! A vagrant! He has done nothing worthy of God’s approval! If anyone deserves God’s approval, it would be us!”
When even the least of these, the last, say “yes” to Jesus, the fullness of God’s grace is theirs for the taking. They don’t even need a portfolio of “good works,” and neither do you.
