In the 23rd chapter of the gospel of Luke Jesus is hung on the cross between 2 thieves. One of them say to Jesus, “remember me when you get into your kingdom.” And Jesus’ reply?
See here is where we get ourselves into a little of a quandary. You see in the original Greek, there were no punctuation marks. So our translators add the punctuation to help the text make more sense, but the little comma can change the statement completely. You see Jesus’ reply to the thief from the NRSV is “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Do you see the comma? Where does it actually go?
Did Jesus say to the thief, “Truly I tell you, today…” or did Jesus say, “Truly I tell you today, …”
Do you see the difference? One states that this day you will be with me in paradise. The other says that I am telling you today, that at some point you will be with me in paradise. One says this moment we are going to paradise, and the other says that we will be together, but we don’t know when…
So where does the comma go? When is the thief with Jesus? Or what did Jesus say?
Really in the end, the answer is, Jesus forgave the thief, and welcomed him with open arms into the kingdom of God! He looked beyond what this man did and said you are forgiven, and welcome to come with me where I am going…
Are we ready to ask Jesus to remember us when he comes into his kingdom?
aSacredRebel 