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JUNE 7<br />
DEMAND vs. REQUEST<br />
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him, saying, ‘If<br />
you are the Christ, save yourself and us.’ But the other, answering, rebuked<br />
him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same<br />
condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of<br />
our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus,<br />
‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to<br />
him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Lk<br />
23:39-43)<br />
Two thieves. Both are suffering “justly,” and both famously have very<br />
different reactions to the crucified Lord in their midst. But I’d like to note<br />
something else here: Both thieves actually ask the Lord for salvation,<br />
albeit in very different ways.<br />
The non-repentant thief arrogantly demands that the Lord “prove”<br />
Himself: “If you are the Christ,” he says, very much like Satan, when he<br />
tested our Lord in the wilderness, saying “If you are the Son of God…”<br />
(Mt 4). So the non-repentant thief demands salvation in the form of an<br />
arrogant, quite diabolical challenge, full of a sense of entitlement. There is<br />
no sense of his own wrongs, of his own debt; also no sense of compassion<br />
for the Co-Sufferer. The Lord owes him, somehow.<br />
The repentant thief, on the other hand, makes a humble request, and a<br />
much smaller one: “Remember me,” is all he is asking. This thief is aware<br />
of his own wrongs, and humility opens his eyes to Who it is next to him,<br />
crucified. Humility also makes the repentant thief’s heart capable of<br />
compassion, despite his own suffering, on his own cross.<br />
Today I ask for the grace of humility, both in my approach to God, in<br />
prayer, and in my approach to fellow-strugglers in my surroundings. It<br />
is humility that opens our eyes to the crucified Lord in our midst, and<br />
makes us capable of compassion.<br />
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