The thief on the cross

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 11/11/12

Luke 23:39-43

“Jesus remember me,

When you come into your Kingdom.”

Words uttered by a man

Whose crimes had finally pinned him down.

His wasn’t a worthy life.

He didn’t walk a righteous path.

Maybe out of circumstance,

Maybe out of choice,

But whose wrong turns

In the eyes of the law

Had spun him to this place,

Wasted and ruined,

Car-crashed on a cross.

And yet this man,

With nothing to show for himself,

Was the greatest comfort

To Jesus, King of the Jews,

Covered in spit and blood and gore

Hanging just beside him.

Deserted, ridiculed, scorned,

Abandoned.

Not a good day.

Not a good time.

And yet this man saw in Him, God.

Saw in Him, perfection.

Saw that He had done nothing wrong

And believed in Him.

When all else had cracked and soured,

His plea of faith and sorrow

Was so sweet and so right

It brought healing in a moment

And let loose the words

Of a mutual wild liberation:

 “Assuredly I say to you,

You will be with me in Paradise.”