I think that was what was heaviest upon the Savior’s heart, away there in the Garden, when He prayed: “If it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me.”
He could bear the unfaithfulness of His friends, the spite of His enemies, the pain of His crucifixion and the shadow of death. He could bear all these. But when it came to the hiding of His Father’s face, that seemed almost too much for even the Son of God to bear. But even this He endured for our sins; and now the face of God is turned back to us, whose sins had turned it away, and looking upon Jesus, the sinless One, He sees our souls in Him.
In the midst of all His agony, how sweet it must have been to Christ to hear that poor thief confessing Him! He likes to have men confessing Him.
Do you remember His asking Peter: “Who do men say that I am?”
Peter answered: “Some people say You are Moses; some people say You are Elias, and some people say You are one of the old prophets.”
He asked again: “But, Peter, who do you say that I am?”
And when Peter said “Thou art the Son of God,” Jesus blessed him for that confession.
And now this thief confesses Him--confesses Him in the darkness. Perhaps it is so dark he can not see Him any longer; but he feels that He is there beside him.
This poor thief did as much for Christ in that one act as if he had lived and worked for Him fifty years. That is what Christ wants of us--to confess Him; in the dark as well as in the light, and when it is hard as well as when it is easy. For He was not ashamed of us, and carried our sins even unto death.
Just look for a minute at the prayer of this penitent thief.
He calls Jesus “Lord.” That sounds like a young convert. “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” Not a very long prayer, you see, but a prevailing prayer.
Some people think they must have a form of prayer--a prayer book, perhaps--if they are going to address the Throne of Grace properly. But what would that poor fellow do with a prayer book up there--hanging on the cross, his hands nailed fast to the wood? Suppose it were necessary that some minister or priest should pray for him, what is he going to do? There is nobody there to pray for him, and he is going to die within a few hours. He is out of reach of help from men, but God has laid help upon One who is mighty, and that One is close at hand.
Then look at the answer to his prayer. The supplicant received more than he asked. He only asked to be remembered when Christ came into His kingdom. But Christ said to him: “I will take you right up with Me into My kingdom today.”
The Savior wants us all to remember Him in His old kingdom--to remember Him in the breaking of bread and in the drinking of wine--and then He will remember us in the new kingdom.
Just think of this, my friends. The last the world ever saw of Christ He was on the cross. The last business of His life was the saving of a poor penitent thief. That was a part of His triumph; that was one of the glories attending His death.
No doubt Satan said to himself: “I will have the soul of that thief, pretty soon, down here in the caverns of the lost. He belongs to me; he has belonged to me all these years.”
[Illustration: JACOB, TENDING FLOCKS OF LABAN.--From the Painting by Gustave Dore.]
[Illustration: MOSES, BREAKING THE TABLES OF THE LAW
From the Painting by Gustave Dore.]
But Christ snapped the fetters of his soul, and set him at liberty; Satan lost his prey. “The Lion of the tribe of Judah” conquered the lion of hell.
You know that in the British colonies, before the day of Wilberforce, there used to be a great many slaves; but that good man began to agitate the question of setting them free; and all the slaves in the colonies, when they heard of it, were very anxious to hear how he was getting along. They knew the bill was before Parliament, and with them it was a question next to that of life itself.
But in those days there were no telegraphs and no steamships. The mails went by the slow sailing vessels. They would be from six to eight months in making the voyage to some of the more distant of the colonies. The slaves used to watch for the white sails of British ships, hoping to hear good reports, and also fearing they might hear bad ones.
There was a ship that had sailed immediately after the Emancipation Act had been passed and signed by the king; and when she came within hailing distance of the boats that had put off from the shore at the port of her destination, the captain could not wait to deliver the message officially, and have it duly promulgated by the government; but, seeing the anxious men standing up in their boats, eager for the news, he placed his trumpet to his mouth, and shouted with all his might:
“Free! Free!”