“This day, you will be with me in Paradise”
The Seven Last Words of Jesus:
“This day, you will be with me in Paradise”
by Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
March 16, 2014
Genesis 12: 1-4
Luke 23: 32-43
“The criminal begs Jesus for remembrance in the unknown future that awaits them all. The crucified jesus, the one soon to die on the gibbet of infamy, replies to this criminal, ‘Believe me, today you shall be with me in Paradise.’ As Ambrose put it centuries later, ‘More abundant is the favor shown than the request made.’”—Joseph Fitzmyer, Anchor Bible: The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV
It’s the most compelling and memorable of the Taize songs we sing: “Jesus, remember me/ when you come into your kingdom.” It’s compelling because, quite simply, it’s what you and I want. The thief on the cross is speaking for us. He represents all of us. But at the same time, he’s not like us at all. Luke, writing to a Roman audience, puts these words in the mouth of the lowest of the low. At bare minimum, the thief is a lawbreaker of the worst sort, and Rome was a law-and-order state. The average Roman would assume, as we generally do, that someone who’s broken the law doesn’t deserve much leniency.