rative, that he was, in the scriptural sense of the word, a real penitent; that he was at once conscious of the evil of his past life, and heartily lamented it he grieved over the course of wickedness which he had pursued, not merely because it had brought him to an untimely end, but because he now feared God. It was not in consequence of a mere profession of reverence and worship, that Christ listened to his petition : He saw there the workings of a sincere and contrite mind. As His invitation had been to the weary and heavy laden, so the fact of His ready answer to the prayer, proves beyond a question, that such was the condition of this afflicted worshipper. His was one of those broken spirits which God will not despise:* a bruised reed, which our gracious Redeemer has declared that He will not break;† and which, as it is implied in that expression, He will assuredly strengthen and support. (3.) Were we to pursue further this inquiry into the state of his mind, we might dwell upon the testimony which he gave of love to Christ, of concern for the honour of His name, and of affectionate anxiety for the welfare of others. For what else are we to infer + Matt. xii. 20. * Ps. li. 17. from the rebuke with which he checked the violence of his guilty fellow-sufferer? Was it not because he wished to vindicate the honour of the Son of God? Because he was distressed at the reproaches thus cast upon his Redeemer? Because he felt compassion for the scoffer, who had no pity for himself? We see in the whole behaviour of this penitent, a disposition such as the gospel manifestly recommends, and such as by the teaching of God's holy Spirit it is suited to produce. Here were fruits meet for repentance; here was the evidence of a change in his previous character, such as divine grace was alone able to accomplish. (4.) We proceed to consider more particularly the nature and terms of his prayer. It seems a reasonable supposition, that the first wish of the awakened thief, believing as he did in the power of Christ, would be for release from the pain which he felt, and the death which awaited him: If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us, was the address of his reviling companion: and although that hardened malefactor believed not in the Messiah, yet a wish to a similar purport, expressed in reverential prayer by the penitent sufferer, would seem neither to be unsuitable to the occasion, nor deserving of re prehension. But he had higher views than these his prayer is altogether of a spiritual description: he was contented to be the companion of his Saviour's affliction, provided he could obtain the assurance of His regard; and if he were blessed with that assurance, he would certainly consider his own lot as too enviable a lot to be desirous of a change. By the eye of faith he beheld Christ as already entering into His kingdom, not a temporal and earthly kingdom, such as the disciples had so often anticipated; of that he must have been conscious that there was no probability; but the heavenly kingdom; that kingdom in which Christ shall rule as the Sovereign of His people, and bless them for ever with His pre sence. The prayer therefore which he uttered, was for the salvation of his soul. But how worthy of observation are the terms in which it is expressed! How earnest, and yet how humble! It is difficult to read this short and impassioned address, without feeling that the poor penitent had thrown into it all the strongest emotions of his heart it is the breathing of a mind which had lost sight of every other consideration, in its anxiety for everlasting life. "This," he under circumstances of sorrow and degradation without parallel, even in His eventful history, that the penitent thief looked to Him as the Messiah and the Saviour of the world. (2.) And this faith which he reposed in Christ was evidently accompanied by a sense of his own demerits. To the miserable man who, although in the same condemnation, joined in the revilings of the crowd, he answered, that Jesus had done nothing amiss; while they suffered justly; for we receive, said he, the due reward of our deeds.* He was just on the point of becoming a suppliant to Christ; but he was so far from palliating his guilt, and endeavouring by a fair report of his own character, to represent himself as not unworthy of regard, that his request is immediately preceded, and necessarily in the hearing of our Lord who was crucified between the two thieves, by an unreserved confession of his offences, and an acknowledgment of the justice of his punishment. The trust which he reposed in the Son of God was associated with a just view of his own character and if the evangelist be silent as to the extent of his contrition, yet we cannot doubt, from all the circumstances of the nar * Luke xxiii. 41. rative, that he was, in the scriptural sense of the word, a real penitent; that he was at once conscious of the evil of his past life, and heartily lamented it he grieved over the course of wickedness which he had pursued, not merely because it had brought him to an untimely end, but because he now feared God. It was not in consequence of a mere profession of reverence and worship, that Christ listened to his petition: He saw there the workings of a sincere and contrite mind. As His invitation had been to the weary and heavy laden, so the fact of His ready answer to the prayer, proves beyond a question, that such was the condition of this afflicted worshipper. His was one of those broken spirits which God will not despise:* a bruised reed, which our gracious Redeemer has declared that He will not break;† and which, as it is implied in that expression, He will assuredly strengthen and support. (3.) Were we to pursue further this inquiry into the state of his mind, we might dwell upon the testimony which he gave of love to Christ, of concern for the honour of His name, and of affectionate anxiety for the welfare of others. For what else are we to infer † Matt. xii. 20. * Ps. li. 17. |