[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III




The name 'Lord' was addressed to Christ at the hour of death which is a very awkward hour. The hour of death is everyone's concern, especially the virtuous who are very watchful over their salvation and cautious of every utterance of their speech. We see that a great saint like St. Stephen the first deacon, at the hour of his death, said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). St. Stephen confessed that Jesus is the Lord into whose hands he commended his spirit. He said these words after he had seen Christ standing at the right hand of God in the highest. It is an explicit confession of Christ's Divinity. Similarly was the confession of the Penitent Thief who said: "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom" (Lk. 23:42), and the Lord accepted this title from him and promised him that he would be with Him in Paradise that same day. This means that the belief of the Penitent thief in Christ as the Lord made him worthy of Paradise.