Honesty at the Edge of Eternity
Two others—criminals—were also led away to be executed with him. When they arrived at the place called The Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. – Luke 23:32-33
In 2009, a man named James Washington was nearing the end of a 15-year prison sentence when he suffered a massive heart attack behind bars. Lying on what he believed was his deathbed, he confessed to a cold-case murder he had committed decades earlier. He thought eternity was moments away. What makes the story shocking is that he recovered, was tried again, and sentenced once more.
Why would someone confess like that?
Because when eternity feels close, honesty rises to the surface.
There is something about standing at the edge of life that strips away pretense. Excuses fade. Self-justification collapses. People become brutally honest with themselves and brutally honest with God.
That same reality unfolds in Luke 23. Another criminal finds himself at the end of the road, but instead of a prison bed in Tennessee, he is hanging on a Roman cross beside Jesus. His final moments would not be marked by judgment from a courtroom, but by grace from a King.
The setting is sobering. Jesus is crucified at a place called Golgotha, translated “The Place of the Skull.” It was public, humiliating, and intentionally visible. Romans used crucifixion as a tool of terror, designed not only to kill but to shame. Victims were stripped naked, nailed to rough wooden beams, and left to die slowly in full view of the crowds.
This happened during Passover, when Jerusalem was packed with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. People passed by, stared, mocked, wept, and wondered why Jesus was hanging between two criminals.
In that moment, one man chose honesty. Not with excuses. Not with blame. But with faith.
Encounters with Jesus often happen at unexpected edges of life. Moments when control slips away, and clarity breaks through. The question is not whether eternity will confront us, but how we will respond when it does.
In 2009, a man named James Washington was nearing the end of a 15-year prison sentence when he suffered a massive heart attack behind bars. Lying on what he believed was his deathbed, he confessed to a cold-case murder he had committed decades earlier. He thought eternity was moments away. What makes the story shocking is that he recovered, was tried again, and sentenced once more.
Why would someone confess like that?
Because when eternity feels close, honesty rises to the surface.
There is something about standing at the edge of life that strips away pretense. Excuses fade. Self-justification collapses. People become brutally honest with themselves and brutally honest with God.
That same reality unfolds in Luke 23. Another criminal finds himself at the end of the road, but instead of a prison bed in Tennessee, he is hanging on a Roman cross beside Jesus. His final moments would not be marked by judgment from a courtroom, but by grace from a King.
The setting is sobering. Jesus is crucified at a place called Golgotha, translated “The Place of the Skull.” It was public, humiliating, and intentionally visible. Romans used crucifixion as a tool of terror, designed not only to kill but to shame. Victims were stripped naked, nailed to rough wooden beams, and left to die slowly in full view of the crowds.
This happened during Passover, when Jerusalem was packed with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. People passed by, stared, mocked, wept, and wondered why Jesus was hanging between two criminals.
In that moment, one man chose honesty. Not with excuses. Not with blame. But with faith.
Encounters with Jesus often happen at unexpected edges of life. Moments when control slips away, and clarity breaks through. The question is not whether eternity will confront us, but how we will respond when it does.
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