Death on a Friday Afternoon: "Truly I Say to You, Today You Will Be With Me in Paradise."
Like us the "good thief" did not get what he deserved.
All four gospels call the two that hung beside Jesus thieves. One to the left, one to the right.
The "good thief" is like many of us even today a goat that needs to be a sheep. And through the grace and mercy of God he became a "sheep" just as his time ran out.
Just like the mocking crowds below, perhaps many of the same people who had cheered for Jesus in the days and weeks before, the one thief became a mocker as well.
"Are you not the Christ?, Save yourself and us!"
Like many people at the last opportunity he turned away from the source of mercy and light to the darkness.
The "good thief" knew better, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." He then twisted his neck toward Jesus and said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
And Jesus said to him, " Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."
This is the only time in scripture that anyone addresses Jesus by name, usually He was addressed as "Jesus Son of God". How interesting that the last person Jesus speaks to while in His incarnation is so familiar with him.
As we can see Jesus never rejected any that turned to Him.
Christ always did and continues to repsond to our feeble faith in a far greater way than we can imagine.
We all long for paradise! Our bodies act and decline, our minds become more fog filled, yet we have a glimpse of the reality that in Christ paradise can be regained.
St.Augustine said it well, " You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."
Jesus also said, " You did not chose me, but I chose you." Christ is always looking at us, into us, our deepest thoughts, our fears, our sins, He knows!!
Be mindful that Creation/History is not a shipwreck from which God is pulling in survivors. We are reminded by Timothy that God desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. God's purposes cannot be thwarted by our sins or failures.
Ephesians 1:9-10
9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
Matthew 7:13-14 The Narrow and Wide Gates 13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Today the Church, which is the Body of Christ is the future of the world.
The sinful secular world looks for salvation in idols, the easy way of new age spirituality and even aliens but the ultimate reality they all resist is found in Christ.
Acts 4:12 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
So today Christ calls us like the "good thief" to look at Him and Him alone!
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