Volume 18, Issue 31 (July 31, 2016)
“Lord, Remember Me”
By Kyle Pope
As Jesus hung upon the cross, one of the criminals who had been crucified with Him, after first mocking Him with the other criminal (Matthew 27:44), had a change of heart. He rebuked the other robber (Luke 23:40-41), and then said to Jesus “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42, NKJV). Much attention has been given to this account and what lessons it teaches us. Yet, one aspect of the man’s request that has drawn little attention is what he actually asks—“Remember Me.”
What Was the Thief Requesting?
The man’s question presupposes that the he understood that death was not the end for either himself or for Jesus. By his very request he demonstrates a confidence that in the realm of the dead Jesus would have power to grant his request. Did the man understand that Jesus, in death would assume dominion over a spiritual kingdom? Probably not. Did he imagine that Jesus would attain this dominion through resurrection? Perhaps. Did he hope that Jesus would bring him to life again also, so that he could reign with Jesus in this kingdom? It isn’t clear. What is evident is that the man acknowledged that the two of them were about to enter into “uncharted territory”—the place of the dead. Something moved him to realize that the very man who hung beside him offered him guidance through that territory which the officials who had nailed him to the cross, the slanderous criminal who hung with them and the bloodthirsty mob assembled below them could not. Instead, he appealed to this crucified, dying teacher who (whether the thief fully realized it or not) was God in the flesh, bearing upon Himself the sins of mankind, purchasing with His blood an eternal kingdom that would conquer sin and death and offer man the hope of eternal life with God in the age to come. The thief begged of this Man— “remember me.”
We All Want God To Remember Us
Man has often cried out to God that He would remember him. Samson, in his anguish cried out to the Lord, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” (Judges 16:28). Hannah, in despair over her childlessness, begged the Lord to “...look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me...” begging that God, “not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child...” (1 Samuel 1:11). Like many of us, Job feared that God would forget his limitations. He cried to Him, “Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay” asking Him then, “And will You turn me into dust again?” (Job 10:9). David, in many Psalms expressed his desire that God remember him. He cried out, “Lord, remember David and all his afflictions” (Psalm 132:1). He asks that God remember His promises, and begs, “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope” (Psalm 119:49). David, in the face of enemies or in recognition of his own faults fears that God’s mercy might be exhausted. He appeals, “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, for they are from of old” (Psalm 25:6). Like the thief on the cross, David wanted the Lord to remember him with salvation. He prayed, “Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people; Oh, visit me with Your salvation” (Psalm 106:4).
God Remembers His People
While man often fears that God will not remember him, such is an unwarranted fear. God has promised that He remembers His people and the promises He makes to them. God promised Noah that the rainbow which He set in the sky would be a sign of the covenant that He made not to destroy the earth again by water. He promised “I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15). In the Law of Moses, God promised that when the Israelites had turned away from His Law, but then confessed their sin, He promised, “then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26:42). Even though Israel would fail to remember and keep the covenant that they made with God, He promised that He would not break the covenant He made with the Israelites in the wilderness. He declared, “for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 26:45). This early relationship which God had with Israel He likens to a betrothal, declaring through Jeremiah, “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord: ‘I remember you, The kindness of your youth, The love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, In a land not sown’” (Jeremiah 2:2). Israel then, was like a child for which the Lord cared. He says through Ezekiel, “I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you,” in the hope that, “then you will remember your ways and be ashamed...” (Ezekiel 16:60-61a). This suggests that man bears a responsibility...
We Must Remember God
While we need not fear that God will forget us, the real danger is that we may forget God. The exiles in Babylon, fearing that they would forget their covenant with God and the city where the name of the Lord had dwelt, cried regarding Jerusalem, “If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy” (Psalm 137:6). Asaph cried, “I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old” (Psalm 77:11). Just as David prayed that the Lord would remember him, he acknowledged his own responsibility to remember the Lord. He declared, “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice” (Psalm 63:6-7). This must happen at all times and all places. The Psalmist declares, - “O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, and from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar” (Psalm 42:6). This declares (in essence), “I’ll remember you from east to west, and north or south!”
What About Us?
We may like, the thief on the cross hope that in the hour when we are the most vulnerable that the Lord will remember us. We may fear that life will throw trials at us which are too great—burdens upon us that are beyond our ability to bear. Like Job we can be assured that God remembers that we are “like clay.” For those who are His, He is faithful and remembers the covenant He has made with us in Christ. The question is, will we—in the busy rush of life, stop, consider and in faithfulness remember Him?
