The Second Word: “Amen, dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso.”
“And one of those robbers who were crucified with Jesus, blasphemed Him, saying: ‘If Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us.’ But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: ‘Hast thou no fear of God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man hath done no evil.’ And he said to Jesus: ‘Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into Thy kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him: ‘Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.’”
—Luke 23:39–43
Saint Bonaventure’s Meditation on the Second Word42
The second leaf of our mystical vine and the second chord of our spiritual lyre is the second pronouncement of the Lord on the cross, which He spoke to the thief who professed His faith in Him. “Amen,” He said, “I say to thee: today thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” How great and splendid is the vigor of this leaf! With what heavenly sweetness does this string resound! How suddenly is an enemy transformed into a supporter, a stranger changed into a friend, and a thief into a herald of the truth! How great was the faithfulness of this repentant thief. For he acknowledges all his own wickedness without dissimulation or excuse. And, having arrived at the very doors of death, he has resigned all hopes for this present life. Yet this does not prevent him from placing his hopes in the future and eternal life. What person is there who should despair, if this thief dares to hope?
The divine Spouse hears him, not as a thief but as a new believer, and comforts and encourages him accordingly: “Amen, I say to thee: today thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” He says “thou shalt be with Me.” Not just that he will be “in paradise,” or that he will be “in paradise with the angels,” but in paradise in the company of the One whom he recognizes as his Savior. Neither does Christ defer what He offers, but promises that it shall be “today.” Our Lord is quick to hear, quick to promise, and quick to give! Who should despair, when there is such a ready listener, who is so unhesitating in His promises, and so quick to fulfill what He has pledged?
We hope in You, O Jesus. We approach You, seated on Your glorious throne of majesty, hoping fervently to hear from You those very same words which that good thief heard, while You hung upon the throne of the cross.
Jesus, bestower of mercy; Jesus, solace of the sorrowful;
Jesus, glory of penitence; Jesus, hope of the repentant.
Though You were perfectly innocent,
You made Yourself a companion of the guilty,
And became the associate of two thieves.
Of these, one of them blasphemed and insulted You.
“If You are really the Son of God,” he said,
“Save Yourself, and save us!
Yes, as You were merciful to others, be merciful to Yourself,
And as You rescued others, rescue us now!”
But the other of them rebuked this one.
Admitting his own guilt, he proclaimed Your innocence.
And then he turned to You in humble supplication:
“Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom.”
Truly, this Kingdom shall be a paradise of delight,
When You reveal Yourself as King, O Jesus!
For You love repentance, and draw hearts to Yourself through grace.
You promised this good thief not only that You would remember him,
But that He would share with You in Your glory,
And so You said:
“Amen, I say to thee:
Today thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”43
Arnold’s Commentary on the Second Word44
“Lord our God, how admirable is Thy name throughout all the earth!”45 For You have brought to perfection Your praise, even from the mouths of those who had once been wicked and are viewed as criminals. Behold, You now restore to Yourself one who had been lost. For You have established the thief at Your side, justly condemned on account of his crimes, as a precursor and herald of Your glorious victory; and not only this, but promised him, while yet he still lived, the splendors of paradise! In these words, which exhibit both the most profound mercy and the most supreme power, Christ confounds all His foes; He refutes the heretic, frustrates the false disciple, and silences His detractors.
In this act of forgiveness, the old law of the Pharisees, with its insistence upon “an eye for eye, and tooth for tooth,” is dismantled. And Christ’s forgiveness is not only that of words, as a merely verbal dismissal of culpability; but rather He invites the penitent thief to rejoice with Him eternally in the celestial banquet.
Indeed, the Pharisees had demanded that all lepers and unclean persons be expelled from the city gates, that any places they had inhabited be destroyed, and even that any benches upon which they sat should be purged. But Christ, throughout all His life and ministry, had refuted this attitude. He had not only shared conversation and hospitality with lepers and those judged to be unclean, but He healed them and restored them to integrity of life. And His strongest reproofs were uttered against those who abused the law of God, interpreting it in a merely physical fashion. For these not only condemned others, but were very often guilty of hidden sins themselves.
These Pharisees were indignant when Christ had cured a man on the Sabbath day. Yet, in response, He taught that mercy was to be valued more highly than the letter of the law. And, like the Pharisees of old, there were certain Christian heretics—the Novatians—who, calling themselves “Defenders of the Church,” had denied the possibility of the forgiveness for any sins committed after baptism.46 In His bestowing pardon upon the repentant thief, Jesus refutes both the Pharisees and such heretics. For to deny the possibility of mercy to the repentant is to become an enemy of God’s grace. And Jesus transforms the old law into new grace; He replaces terror with gentleness, and hardness with mildness. In place of the murky shadows of error, He shines forth the radiant light of truth; and shows Himself to be a God of mercy, rather than of exacting retribution.
A new King, a new law;
A new Leader, a new light!
This new law, illuminated by its new light, replaces the old one, which had been written in tablets of adamantine stone. For this new law is written, not in lifeless rock with an iron chisel, but by divine mercy, in the human heart. And it is only charity which can read and properly interpret the mysteries of this law of forgiveness.
Like the superscription, “Behold the King of the Jews,” which had been placed upon the top of the cross of Christ, this law of grace is written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; in fact, it is written in all the languages of the human race.47 The penitent thief read and believed both the inscription on top of the cross (declaring Christ to be the true King), and this law of mercy. Just as he was being crucified to the world, so also (through his conversion) was the world crucified to him.48
This thief, who had once been motivated by greed for this world’s treasure, began to yearn for the eternal riches of heaven. Now, disdaining all earthly things and infused with true love for the first time in his life, with Christ he longed for the kingdom of glory. As he expired, the good thief was able to send forth his soul with perfect equanimity. He was completely liberated from the fear of any punishment awaiting him, for he knew that his conscience had been washed perfectly clean by the blood of Christ.
Meanwhile, the tongues of the malicious crowds still burned with blasphemies. As if they had been victorious, the wicked onlookers did not cease to hurl insults and calumnies against the Lord. The apostles had fled the scene, and only the unruly and baleful mob remained. The Roman soldiers tried to restore order amongst this riotous assembly—not out of any reverence for Christ, but solely to fulfill their official duty and maintain law and order. And even the other thief assented with the vicious and rabid barkings and bayings of the hateful multitude. He taunted Christ, declaring Him to be unable to save Himself or others, and mocked his penitent confrere for placing his faith in Jesus. To this unrepentant thief, to believe Christ to be either a king or a God seemed to be utterly absurd, for He was undergoing precisely the same torments and enduring the same opprobrium as they were.
Thus of these two thieves who were crucified on either side of the Lord, one embraced salvation and proclaimed his belief, while the other remained a mocker and scorner. One spoke with veneration; the other, with derision. One was filled with hope; but the other wallowed in despair. One of them loved; the other remained stonily indifferent. He who was dying on a cross in between them was Himself their supreme and eternal judge! The penitent thief perceived and understood this, but the unrepentant one remained blind. To the first was opened the gates of paradise; but to the second, the infernal darkness and torments of Hades were all that awaited.
This repentant thief speaks up in the presence of the crowd, defending Christ from those who blaspheme Him. He puts aside all concern of earthly torments, to remind his listeners that the pains which are eternal are more greatly to be feared than any passing discomfort. “Have you no fear of God?” he says. “For He has received the same sentence as us. As for us, our past crimes make us deserve the punishment we have incurred. But as for Him, He has done no evil!”49
The good thief believes, and he proclaims his belief, making himself a witness to the innocence of Christ. While refuting his fellow thief, who insults Jesus, he does not spare himself either, freely admitting his own guilt. He observes that, although they all suffer the same punishment, he and his confrere-in-crime are dying because of their lives of wickedness; whereas Jesus is dying to fulfill a divine destiny. This penitent thief regrets his own guilt, yet he does not dispute the justice of the sentence which he has received.
Similarly, he also affirms the divinity of Jesus and proclaims Him to be God when he says, “Have you no fear of God?” referring to Jesus Himself. For he recognizes that it was nothing but the envy and malice of the wicked which led to Christ being crucified. And he understands that everything which Christ is enduring, He has accepted and taken upon Himself of His own free will, not because of any compulsion. He perceives and proclaims that the suffering of Jesus is therefore not evidence of any weakness or culpability on His part, but rather it is a glorious manifestation of His divine omnipotence, supreme freedom, and ineffably noble love.
Thus this good thief becomes, in his few words on the cross, a preacher, a philosopher, and a prophet.50 At this time, when the apostles had fled in fear, he alone performs the work of an apostle fearlessly!51
And so this thief, transformed into a fearless and illustrious proclaimer of the Gospel, and having offered his words of faith and adoration before the world, speaks to his new Lord. He humbly implores a share in the glorious palm of victory which he knows awaits Jesus, saying: “Remember me, Lord, when Thou hast come into Thy Kingdom.”52
It behooves us to consider carefully the touching humility of his request, which is devoid of all presumption, and the faith with which it is uttered; and to consider also how very promptly Jesus responds to him with an affirmative promise. For without any delay or hesitation, Christ replies: “Amen, I say to thee: this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” This demonstrates the immensity of the power of penitence and the unfailing efficacy of genuine repentance. It also shows how the good Lord will never fail to hear the prayers of those who cry out to Him in tribulation, especially during the critical moments when death draws near. As the good thief made his confession and act of faith, already the hour of death had descended upon both him and Jesus, and (for both of them) their souls now hastened to depart from their bodies. For both Jesus and the thief, their tongues were beginning to fail through mortal anguish and physical weakness, and they were both undergoing the agonizing throes of grim death. Indeed, it was the ghastly terror of these things which had made even the apostles begin to despair of salvation. For of all forms of death, crucifixion is the most horrendous.
This thief, or rather ex-thief, is made not only into a preacher of the Gospel, but also an exemplary Christian. For he professes Christ’s divinity and, through his prayers and worship, he fulfills all the demands of piety. He believed; he feared; he felt compunction; and he sincerely repented. He believed; he trusted; and, most of all, he loved. Through faith, he was illuminated. Through reverence and holy fear, he submitted himself to God. By compunction, he was humbled; and by repentance, he was purified and restored to innocence. His heart and vision were immeasurably expanded through love. And because he prayed with such faith, confidence, and humility, he was granted a sure pledge of admission to eternal glory.
O Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles, do not feel any undue indignation or envy at the honor given to this thief! Yes, it was to you that Christ had said; “Peter, it is to you that the keys of the kingdom of heaven are entrusted.” But when Jesus saw you weeping bitterly after your threefold denial of Him, He forgave you also—completely and without hesitation.
Nevertheless, Saint Peter, I do not see you standing by the cross at this present moment! For you are now in hiding, overcome by fear. You, unlike Saint John, did not accompany the Blessed Virgin and the other holy women, who stand upon the hill of Calvary, weeping bitterly.
In the colloquy between Jesus and the repentant thief, your official apostolic authority has no bearing, Saint Peter, for this is a private exchange between a sinner and his Savior. Though the ministry of reconciliation was entrusted to you, here there is no need of a ministry, since the Lord Himself is present, whilst you are absent. It is Jesus, the true high priest, who now personally unlocks the ancient gates of heaven, to admit his new disciple to the unspeakable joys of His kingdom.
The cherubim who had been assigned to guard the entrance of paradise so many eons ago, bearing a flaming sword, is now dismissed from his post.53 And the soul of the thief, as he gives forth his last breath, passes through this entrance to the boundless realms of celestial splendor—through the same portal from which the golden sun arises each dawn.
Learn from this, O reader, how to forgive rightly! For the good Jesus forgives not a mere seven times, nor even seventy-seven times (in accordance with His own precept), but absolutely and perfectly, without limit.54 For divine mercy has neither limit nor bounds. If anyone invokes this divine mercy, it shall unfailingly hear their cry. If anyone sincerely repents, it will always bestow heaven’s pardon.
As to the repentant thief, because his contrition is entirely sincere, no long fasts are demanded, nor sackcloth, nor penitential pilgrimages. For the act of confession coincides with God’s forgiveness; and this saving forgiveness coincides with glorification.
Consider this thief, not as a thief, but rather as one who repents during his final hour. During his final hour (or rather, final moments), grace is able to reverse the effects of a lifetime of sin in the flash of an eye. It did this also for Mary Magdalene, and for King David, and for the city of Nineveh, when they repented. And it shall do this for anyone at all who sincerely repents, deleting long-enduring sins in a single moment.
Our penitent thief serves us as a wonderful example, showing us a paradigm of repentance, a model of effective confession, and an epitome of hope. For the one who asks for forgiveness always receives, and the one who seeks mercy always shall find it. Hence it was that he heard from Christ those most blessed words: “Amen, I say to thee: this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”
Our Lord offered him not the onerous demands of penance, but the free gift of redeeming grace. He was not promised the eternal torments of hell, nor even the dreadful but purifying flames of purgatory, but rather the joys of paradise. And so this penitent thief has gone forth into heaven as a forerunner and herald for every faithful soul, and a witness both to the supreme power of divine mercy and the efficacy of repentance. Let us not doubt that he was received in the celestial Jerusalem with unspeakable joy by the myriads of angels who awaited his arrival with infinite gladness! And so may it be for each one of us.
Saint Bonaventure’s Prayer
O ever-ready charity of God, O ever-ready mercy!
O munificent liberality and liberal munificence!
Devotion and recollection both hasten towards You.
In Your presence, I make my humble confession,
And reveal the hidden depths of my heart.
Therefore, with full confidence I implore You, O Lord, You who alone are perfectly innocent:
“Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom!” Amen.55
Saint Bonaventure’s Hymn
Monarch, You supremely reign—
Breaker of sin’s heavy chain—
We to thee all laud now raise;
Seraph hosts enjoin Thy praise!Lo, the bitter pangs Thou felt
Makes each human heart to melt,
Makes them burn with love for Thee,
Aching, yearning fervently.Every scourge and bitter blow
Does unfathomed mercy show!
Through these is the grace of Heaven
To the earth-bound exile given.Let Thy blood tint every heart;
To each eye, pure tears impart.
Through this washing, souls are cleaned;
Through Thy wounds is life redeemed!Through Thy passion’s potent kiss,
Fill us, Lord, with secret bliss!
Perfect glory Thou shalt give
To all souls who in Thee live.56
_______________
41 “Amen, I say to thee: today thou shalt be with Me in paradise.”
42 From Bonaventure’s Vitis Mystica.
43 From Bonaventure’s De Septem Verbis Domini in Cruce.
44 From Arnold of Bonneval’s Tractatus de Septem Verbis Domini in Cruce.
45 Psalm 8:1.
46 The Novatians were a heretical group in the third century who followed the teaching of Novatian, an African priest, who is considered to have been an antipope. They did not believe that sins could be forgiven after baptism, and refused re-admittance of penitent sinners to the Church.
47 See John 19:19–20.
48 See Galatians 6:14.
49 Luke 23:40–41.
50 The good thief is described as becoming a preacher, a philosopher, and a prophet because his words to his fellow thief (though few) beautifully encapsulate faith, wisdom, and foresight. These words, though addressed to the other thief, were evidently heard also by the gathered crowds, and thus offered powerful public testimony to Christ’s divinity.
51 Of course, the apostle John (discussed in the next chapter) remained present at the time of the crucifixion. Arnold is referring to all the other apostles here.
52 Luke 23:42.
53 See Genesis 3:24.
54 See Matthew 18:22.
55 From Bonaventure’s De Septem Verbis Domini in Cruce.
56 From Bonaventure’s Officium de Passione Domini.