At Luke 23:42 one reads the words spoken by a criminal – one of two criminals who were hung along with Jesus – one on each side of him. Following a noble public declaration of his own guilt and a standing up in defense of the innocence of Jesus, this one criminal spoke the last words that we are made aware of being simply, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (NIV).
For this particular post, I am not concerned with Jesus response – though for added emphasis of the point I wish to make, it is worth noting that this portion of Luke is often called on to demonstrate the ultimate mercy and forgiveness offered by God through his son. In fact, in nearly all discussions of this verse, it is Jesus response to the thief’s which is the subject of discussion; often serving as a classic example of “forgiveness of sin”, or more commonly the position of many in Christendom that perhaps wish to support that it is faith alone which “saves” - not works (certainly not a Biblical concept, but better a later discussion).
All worthy subjects for discussion for sure – forgiveness, salvation, faith, works, but:
But the criminal never asked for forgiveness of his sin from Jesus. No, what he requested was of Jesus was to “Remember” him; he did not request “Forgive me …”; nor “Do not forget to forgive me …”; not even the standard. “Jesus please come into my heart and save me …”. None of these was said or implied. His words were quite literal and eloquently simple … “Remember me …”
These two simple words spoken and the cultural meaning behind them are all too often covered over by the culture of the Western world rooted so deeply in Greek theology and philosophy. But this thief was not Greek, no, he was Hebrew as Jesus was Hebrew – and it is within this Hebrew culture reflected so well by the Hebrew Scriptures and oral traditions where the thief’s request is fully comprehended.
Archeology as well as Biblical accounts has sufficiently demonstrated that Jewish burial tombs were customarily built outside of the cities, a major exception being those of the kings. Such tombs outside the cities might be an excavated grave in the ground (taphos) or, as was often the case among the Hebrews, might be a natural cave or rock-cut vault (compare Acts 7:16 and Genesis 23:19, 20). The references to such tombs in the Christian Greek Scriptures would all appear to place them outside of the cities, except reference David’s tomb at Acts 2:29.
The Koine Greek word “taphos” presents the notion of burial (from thapto, to bury) as in Matthew 23:27, while mnemeion (from mnaomai, mimnesko, to remind) is a memorial (or sepulcher as a monument). Related to mnemeion is the word mnema, which has a corresponding meaning referring also to a memorial or record of a thing or dead person. Unlike taphos, these later words reflect a greater idea of permanence than taphos – they are in fact the ancestors of the later Latin word monumentum.
Although it was the custom of the pagan peoples around them to make their tombs as lavish as their circumstances would allow, the early Jewish tombs that have been found are notable for their simplicity. This was because the Jews’ worship allowed no veneration of the dead, and did not foster any ideas of a conscious existence after death in a spiritual world, ideas such as those held by their contemporaries – the Egyptians, Canaanites, and Babylonians. The only belief held by the ancient Hebrew even resembling thoughts of “after-life” were limited to a physical resurrection to earth to a restored Garden of Eden (a paradise) at the appointed time.
In view of the underlying thought of remembrance associated with mnemeion, the use of this word (rather than taphos) at John 5:28 with regard to the resurrection of “all those in the memorial tombs” seems particularly appropriate and contrast sharply with the prevailing ancient Hebrew thought of complete repudiation and effacement from all memory as represented by the fate of those tossed away as trash in the Valley of Geh Hinnom (Gehenna) (Matthew 10:28, 23:33, Mr 9:43).
The importance attached to burial by the Hebrews is indicative of their that they be “remembered”, primarily by YHWH (commonly vocalized in English as Jehovah) in whom they had faith who would set a time limit and remember them, and would not leave them forever in sheol (gravedom) – See Job 14:13, Ps 16:10.
How Jehovah God “remembered” them was of vital importance to the ancient Hebrew (Psalms 25:7, Jer 31:34, Psalms 137:6, Psalms 109:15, Proverbs 10:7, Eccl 9:5, Eccl 1:11, Isaiah 43:25, and so on).
Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Greek Scriptures, whether one was to be remembered or passed over for remembrance at the appointed time by Jehovah was the direct result of whether one’s name was or was not recorded in Jehovah’s “book or remembrance” – the book he started keeping as first mentioned in Mal 3:16.
Of interest in this regard in Jesus words recorded at John 5:28, “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will here his voice [Jesus – emphasis mine] and come out.”
The Koine Greek word translated as memorial tombs is not the plural of “taphos (grave) or haides (gravedom, the equivalent of Hebrew sheol), nor gehenna (the Valley), - but it is the word mnemeion (remembrance, memorial tomb).
It lays stress on preserving memory of the deceased person. Not those whose memory was “blotted out” in Gehenna because of unforgivable sins but persons remembered by God will be resurrected with the opportunity to live forever (Matthew 10:28, Mark 3:29, Hebrews 10:26, and of course Mal 3:16).
In Acts 24:15 it states “I have hope toward God … that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” Both those who lived in harmony with God’s righteous ways and people, who out of ignorance, did unrighteous things will be resurrected.
Anastasis is the Koine Greek word translated “resurrection”, literally meaning “a standing up again” and it refers to a rising up from death. The fuller expression “resurrection from the dead” is used repeatedly in the Scriptures, and the Hebrew word is techiyath hammethim, which means “revival of the dead”.
The basic idea of “remembrance” involved in the original Koine Greek words for “tomb” or “memorial”, the cultural significance to the ancient Hebrew of how God would “remember” one, and how one was either recorded into to or erased from God’s book or remembrance, is what influence the words of Thief being executed next to Jesus.
He was asking just as he said, to be “remembered”, not forgotten in sheol (gravedom) – to be resurrected from death at Jehovah’s appointed time. The Hebrew word zakar means more than simply “not to forget”, it means to mark, to recall – first used in Genesis of Noah, later of Abraham, it relates to promises made by God, and acted upon by God to fulfill them, and the appointed time – he recalls.
And now also, maybe Jesus response to him makes a bit more sense as well.
