Police Devotion 1-15-16
“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:39-43)
When Jesus was crucified, two criminals—“malefactors”—were crucified with Him. Apparently, these two were veteran criminals. Maybe they were partners in crime. They may have committed armed robbery or even murder.
Now they were receiving the death penalty for their crimes. Some say that the death penalty is wrong, but God’s Word doesn’t say that. The death penalty is mentioned many times in both the Old and New Testaments, and it’s never condemned in principle. In fact, Jesus said, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6). Not only is the death penalty biblical, it also gives the condemned criminal a chance at the last minute to repent and receive Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, even in the last hours of his life.
The worst thing that can happen to a person is not death. The worst thing that can happen to a person is to die without Jesus as Saviour. These two criminals were about to die without Christ. In fact, Matthew 27 tells of the chief priests and scribes mocking Jesus as He hung on the cross, and both malefactors joining in, too: “The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” (Matthew 27:44).
At some point, one of them had a change of heart. With perhaps only hours left before he left earth for an eternity in hell, one criminal saw his guilt and that he deserved punishment: “…we receive the due reward of our deeds:” He turned his heart to Jesus for forgiveness of sins, and Jesus forgave him.
The other thief, however, had no change of heart about his wrongdoing. Interestingly, this is the only time in the Bible that someone asked Jesus to save him, and Jesus didn’t. Of course, he wasn’t calling on Jesus in repentance to forgive him of his sins and be his Saviour. He was asking Jesus to use His power as Christ to save him from the predicament that he had brought upon himself.
Yet the Lord wanted to forgive and save—He still does: “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9). The Lord dealt mercifully with the repentant criminal and saved him. What a testament to the Lord Jesus’ love for unworthy sinners!
As a cop, you’ll likely deal with criminals like these two. There will be people with stony hearts who have no concern for anyone but themselves. You may think that such people will never receive Jesus as Saviour, yet Matthew 19:26 says, “…with God all things are possible.” You never know when something you say—yes, you, the police—will be used of God to deal with their hearts. You may even get a “shots fired” call one day and find a young thug bleeding to death in the street. In the closing moments of his life, you could tell him what he most needs to hear: that he needs to repent and call on Jesus to forgive and save him. Thus a soul that the Lord loves would be brought to Him from the jaws of hell at the last moment, like the repentant criminal on the cross.
If you’ve never seen how to be sure of eternity in heaven by receiving Jesus as Saviour, please click “How do I Go to Heaven?” under the Helpful Links tab.
Brian Miller 1/15/2016
Cleveland Baptist Church | 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 | 216.671.2822