I'm really honored to bring you this devotion today on Good Friday. And you know, I have to admit, for the longest time, I'm like, Good Friday? Why do they call it Good Friday when it's on the day that Jesus was crucified? One thing I found out was the word good was kind of interchangeable with the word holy back in biblical times. So that's one possible explanation. And another one is what Christ did on the cross was a good thing. And that's kind of a more modern way to look at why they consider it Good Friday, even though the crucifixion may not be viewed as a good thing, but what came out of it was such a good thing. So I'm honored to bring you the devotion today for Good Friday. I want to talk about, even though Jesus is obviously the main part of Good Friday and of what we're celebrating this weekend. But I want to talk to you a little bit about the men who are hanging on the left and the right of Jesus.

Now, it would have been real easy to just have Jesus be the only one, well, maybe not easy, but to have Jesus be the only one up there on the cross. But I think there's a reason there was a thief hanging on the right and hanging on the left of him. In Luke chapter 23, we read that one of the criminals, he says to Jesus, so you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself and saving us while you're at it. See, he wanted proof that Jesus was the Messiah. But on the other side, we had the thief that says, Jesus, remember me today when you come into your kingdom. And in that moment, the other thief was clearly recognizing Jesus for who he was, the Son of God. And it was faith, not proof that the thief, the other thief on the cross was using, was finding that faith requires much more from us and out of us than just proof, I think. And Jesus replies to him when he says that. He says, I assure you today you will be with me in paradise. And in that short interaction between Jesus and the thief that said, remember me, we see everything that Jesus came for and everything that Jesus stood for.

There's forgiveness, there's redemption, there's righteousness, there's grace, there's mercy, and there's salvation. The thief on the cross was just asking to be remembered, but Jesus gave him so much more than that. And in that small interaction, we learn that Jesus came for everyone. He came for the least of these. And it shows us that under this new covenant that was created by Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, that believing in him as Lord and Savior is more than enough. You know, there are many amazing people and lessons that are taught in the Bible, but none more short or simple or important as the thief on the cross saying, remember me.

Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for this good Friday. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for what you endured on the cross so that we can be remembered by you that we might have salvation through you. So again, Lord, we just thank you and we honor you
this weekend for all that you've done for us in Jesus name. Amen.