If there was one prayer you were given the option to make what would that prayer be? For some people the prayer they would choose is that of the man known as the Good Thief as he hung on the cross next to Jesus on Good Friday, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
That short prayer, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” is both powerful and beautiful. It is a prayer that is inside each and every one of us. It is a prayer that is deep in our hearts. Perhaps this is the reason why some people are not able to express it until the twelfth hour of their lives. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” is a simple and honest request to Jesus not to forget me, not to neglect me, not to overlook me, not to exclude me, but to grant me a place, any place, in his kingdom.
Why is this prayer made to Jesus? Because Jesus is King of the eternal kingdom which we desire to belong to. Jesus is the one who rules over us. He is the one whom God the Father has appointed judge of the living and the dead. He is the one to whom we will give an account of ourselves when we die. This is why on the last Sunday of the annual church year the Christian community celebrates the feast of Christ the King.
But what kind of judge will Jesus be? We get some idea from his response to the request of the Good Thief: “Indeed I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.” These are not the words of someone who is critical and judgemental. They are the words of someone who is compassionate and forgiving. Jesus wants us to be with him in his kingdom. Indeed, he will do everything he can to make sure that we will be with him in his kingdom. This is why the poet Francis Thompson described him as the Hound of Heaven.
When we are able to pray the words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” with conviction, we can be confident that Jesus, our King, will respond to us in the same way he responded to the Good Thief on the cross, “Indeed I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus, remember the broken hearted when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember the hard hearted when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember the weak hearted when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember the down hearted when you come into your kingdom.
Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Amen.