Do you ever find yourself thinking random thoughts that don’t appear to be connected in any way and then later these thoughts connect themselves in curious ways that make perfect sense? – well at least to you, if not to anyone else. Such is often the case with me. Actually most of my thoughts are very random and unrelated, so when they connect themselves into something that reveals a new insight or a larger truth, it is always an exciting moment on my otherwise mundane journey of everyday random thoughts.

Such was the revelation my random thoughts revealed concerning the connection between the thief on the cross and the workers in the vineyard parable. You don’t see it? Well, I never did either, until now. You remember the workers in the vineyard parable, right? This was a story that never made sense to me. Actually, the outcome seemed obviously wrong because it appeared to me to be unfair to some of the workers involved. Let me explain or better yet, let Jesus tell you the story, just as He told it to His disciples –

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.” (Matthew 20:1-9)

Well, the story continues with all the workers getting paid a denarius, including those who were hired first and had worked a full day in the hot sun. Naturally they grumbled against the owner, because they felt this was unfair. The owner’s response?

“Friend I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?” (Matthew 20:13-15)

So what does this have to do with the thief on the cross? You know, the one that was crucified on the cross right next to the one on which Jesus hung. Well, actually there were two men being crucified for their crimes that day along with Jesus, one on either side of Him. Their conversation in those final moments reveals everything about the condition of their hearts. Luke records for us that very eye-opening conversation which went as follows,

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: (Jesus) ‘Aren’t You the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom.’ ” (Luke 23:39-42)

This is surely a surprising, even apparently non-sensical request for the criminal to make, considering that Jesus’s situation doesn’t appear to be any better than his own. They are both suffering the exact same fate at the moment, being crucified on crude wooden crosses while an angry and curious crowd of spectators watch and wait. Both are headed for identical outcomes of death, it would seem. And yet, this criminal dares to ask the impossible of Jesus, who at present, is hanging on a cross next to him. We can safely assume that this man has done more bad deeds than good ones in his life, but despite this, he cries out to Jesus with his last breath.

There can be only one reason why he would dare to do this, to make such a preposterous request. Unlike the criminal hanging on the other side of Jesus, who mocked and taunted Jesus with his last words, this thief believed Jesus to be exactly who He claimed to be. The only thing more unexpected and surprising than the criminal’s audacious death bed ask, is Jesus’s death bed answer to him.

“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’ ” (Luke 23:43)

Jesus’s answer is surprising on every level. First of all, Jesus states that He will be in paradise. How is that possible? And then to promise this criminal that he also will get to go to paradise after the life of crime that he has apparently lived? This is unbelievable. This is preposterous even! But it is also true! Jesus is who He has always claimed to be – the Word become flesh to dwell among us – the promised Messiah – the Christ – the Son of the Living God – the Savior of the world – the Lamb of God and Lord of all.

Because Jesus is exactly who He said He was, He is able to do the impossible, which is exactly what the criminal on the cross beside Jesus asked of Him that day – to do the impossible, the unbelievable; to grant him the unmerited, the undeserved – forgiveness, redemption and eternal life. That’s a really big ask. Especially when it is directed at someone who appears to be in no position to grant such a request at the moment. BUT things are not always as they appear to be. The thief on the cross next to Jesus had faith. He believed Jesus was who He claimed to be and that Jesus could and would grant his request.

Fortunately for the thief on the cross, not only is Jesus able but that day, Jesus chose to show him mercy and grant his request. Jesus’s answer to him makes that clear. So what does the criminal on the cross have in common with the vineyard workers? – especially those hired on at the eleventh hour? It seems to me, they all had nothing to offer but everything to gain.

The criminal on the cross offered Jesus nothing in exchange for what he was asking of Jesus, but Jesus granted his request anyway. The criminal received what he did not deserve and could not earn. Those late hire vineyard workers received wages they hadn’t earned also. The owner extended them an invitation that was unlikely and unexpected at that late hour of the day when little time to work was left, but they accepted and went to his vineyard anyway, with little to offer the owner. But the owner rewarded them as if they had worked all day, from the very first hour. They had little to give but their gain was great.

I feel my own connection to the vineyard workers and to the criminal on the cross. I have nothing to offer Jesus but everything to gain when I accept His invitation to come work in His kingdom or I boldly request of Him what no one else has the power to give. Even though I have nothing to offer Him, Jesus stands ready to give me everything. Why would I not cry out – “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”?

Like the vineyard workers and the criminal on the cross, I am thankful that this is true of God –

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10)

There is hope! Even in the most seemingly hopeless situation there is hope. The workers who had waited all day in vain to be hired ended up with a full day’s wages after receiving and accepting an unlikely, last minute invitation. The criminal hanging on the cross had the audacity to take Jesus at His word and to ask Jesus for what he did not deserve but longed to receive. Because he humbled himself and acknowledged the truth of who Jesus is, Jesus granted his impossible request.

The accounts of these people give me so much hope. I can always cry out to my Heavenly Father, even though I have nothing to offer Him but my need and my brokenness. He has everything to offer me and stands ready to do the impossible so that I might receive it. Indeed, in Isaiah I am told –

“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.” (Isaiah 30:18)

Like the criminal on the cross, I can believe despite what appears to be happening in this world at the moment, that the Christ on the cross will indeed “remember me when He comes into His kingdom.” I will have the faith to believe and to make my impossible request of Jesus. I have nothing to give to Him. He has everything to give to me. The criminal on the cross understood this even though he had never heard these words spoken by Jesus to His disciples –

“In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

Jesus remembers me, He will remember you too, dear readers – ask Him!

sincerely, Grace Day