That prayer was a confession of Christ. He calls Jesus “Lord,” and begs to be remembered in His kingdom. That must be a kingdom in Heaven--for, surely, there was no chance of a kingdom on Earth, as matters looked at that time. Christ fulfilled His promise to the thief: “Whoso confesseth Me before men, him will I confess before my Father and the holy angels.” He looks kindly upon him, and says: “Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” And now the darkness falls upon the Earth; the Sun hides itself; but, worse than all, the Father hides His face from the Son. What else is the meaning of that bitter cry? “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Ah! It had been written: “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” Jesus is made a curse for us. God can not look upon sin; and now His own Son is bearing, in His own body, the sins of the world; and so He can not look upon Him. I think that was what was heaviest upon the Savior’s heart, away there in the Garden, when He prayed: “If it be possible, let this cup pass away from Me.” He could bear the unfaithfulness of His friends, the spite of His enemies, the pain of His crucifixion and the shadow of death. He could bear all these. But when it came to the hiding of His Father’s face, that seemed almost too much for even the Son of God to bear. But even this He endured for our sins; and now the face of God is turned back to us, whose sins had turned it away, and looking upon Jesus, the sinless One, He sees our souls in Him. In the midst of all His agony, how sweet it must have been to Christ to hear that poor thief confessing Him! He likes to have men confessing Him. Do you remember His asking Peter: “Who do men say that I am?” Peter answered: “Some people say You are Moses; some people say You are Elias, and some people say You are one of the old prophets.” He asked again: “But, Peter, who do you say that I am?” And when Peter said “Thou art the Son of God,” Jesus blessed him for that confession. And now this thief confesses Him--confesses Him in the darkness. Perhaps it is so dark he can not see Him any longer; but he feels that He is there beside him. This poor thief did as much for Christ in that one act as if he had lived and worked for Him fifty years. That is what Christ wants of us--to confess Him; in the dark as well as in the light, and when it is hard as well as when it is easy. For He was not ashamed of us, and carried our sins even unto death. Just look for a minute at the prayer of this penitent thief. He calls Jesus “Lord.” That sounds like a young convert. “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” Not a very long prayer, you see, but a prevailing prayer.