Jesus, Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom

35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”                                                   Luke 23:35-43

This passage (Luke 23: 35-43) reminds us that often, people judge others too quickly and before they get to know the person.  The people that were killing Jesus didn't listen to him or even think for a second that he might be telling the truth that he really was the king of the Jews.  People should stop being judged at first glance. We all know we do it and most of us know that it is wrong.  The bad part is that it has become a part of who we are, and it is hard to come back from this and not judge people by how they look or who they are.  The man on one side of Jesus knows that Jesus truly is the son of God. Jesus recognizes this and tells him that he too will come to paradise with him. Jesus died for us, proving his immense love he has for us. Amazing love, how can it be that He, our king, would die for us? We need to stop judging our brothers and sisters and start making sacrifices out of pure love for them! Like a rose, trampled on the ground, He took the fall… and thought of you and me through it all. Jesus belittled himself, took up the cross, and died for our salvation. At the end of time, God is the only judge that matters. He is above everything else—especially all the unimportant things we find distracting in our lives. In the short amount of time on Earth, we have time to prove ourselves worthy of paradise. Jesus saw the criminal’s pure heart and understood that he meant what he said. He truly repented for his sins, and because of that, Jesus showed forgiveness. No matter how much we sin and turn away from Him, God will always forgive us.

The Catechism explanation of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ: in paragraph 604:

By giving up his own Son for our sins, God manifests that his plan for us is one of benevolent love, prior to any merit on our part: "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins."God "shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."
 
The principles in which this is reflected upon is love. Jesus had love for us so great that he was willing to bear our sins alone. In this passage of scripture, Luke defines the story with the question of "Why did He do it for me?" And the answer will continually be the same.... LOVE! "Why does God love us so?" The answer is: because we are made in His own image even though we may sin against Him. We are the Body of Christ as believers and must give each other the "mandatory", brotherly love that Christ forever gives us. 

This passage written by Luke strongly relates to one of Hoban’s core values about hope. In our school’s core value list, hope is one of our school mottoes. As a Holy Cross school, we hear the phrase “Hail the cross, our only hope!” quite often. The man who understands Jesus’ reasoning for not saving himself knows that, by Jesus’ dying on the cross, he, along with all future posterity, is now able to have everlasting life. What good news is this! He sees that this man—the man nailed to a tree for preaching the Word of God; the man that was nothing but a perfect role model to us—is truly the Messiah. He gives us hope for everlasting life. Hoban shows us that, like everyone else, we are made new by the same Lord’s love; like them we hope for a world where justice and love prevail.” Another core value that this passage demonstrates is zeal. Zeal is that flame of ardent desire to make God known, loved, and served. Jesus very well could have saved himself. He didn’t have to die for us… but he DID! He set the perfect example throughout his whole life to teach us that God is above everything… even our own lives. Zeal responds to the needs of others in generosity and love, which is exactly what Jesus did when he let himself be a victim of persecution.

Lord Jesus,
Redeemer of all,
hear my prayer.
For the love you bear
to those who ask forgiveness,
look mercifully on me,
as once you on Peter who denied you.
Look on me, Lord Jesus Christ,
as you looked on the thief on his cross
and on every sinner
whom you have ever forgiven.
Look on me, merciful Lord,
as you looked on your mother, Mary,
standing in sorrow beneath your cross.
Let me feel in my heart her compassion for you,
and let my eyes weep for the sorrows
my sins have caused.
Call me from darkness
to my Father’s house,
give me a new heart
and a place at your side
at the banquet of your kingdom.
Amen.