When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. [[ Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]] And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ (Luke 23:33-43, NRSV)
I will be the first to say that I are not an English major. However, I know that the placement of a comma is important.
Like in the phrase, “Let’s eat grandma!” Without the comma, it could be a very bad situation for grandma! The phrase is “Let’s eat, grandma!” We are telling grandma we want to eat, not that we want to eat grandma.
It is the same with our text today. Where does the comma goes changes everything.
You see in the original text there was no punctuation. So the comma was added later by a committee. So where does it actually go?
Did Jesus say to the thief, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Or did Jesus say, “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise.”
Is it something that happens today, or is it something that Jesus told him today?
You see we want to say it is the first. That today will be the time that Jesus is in paradise with the thief. However, there is a little theological issue here. According to the Apostles Creed where does Jesus go from the cross?
“He was crucified by Pontius Pilot, died and was buried. He descended into hell.”
So if the thief is with Him, they are together in hell. But Jesus told Him they would be together in Paradise! So what is it?
It is like many things with Jesus, not a clear straight forward answer. Or as my Jazz Studies professor always said, “Yes.” It is not either or, it is both and. The comma is saying that today the thief will be with Jesus in Paradise, and Jesus is telling him today, because He has someplace to go before He gets to Paradise, but the thief will know nothing of it.
You see the earlier statement of Jesus from the cross is the big one. Father forgive them!
Jesus is asking God to forgive us! To forgive us from all of the evil we have done. All of the things that led us to nail Him to that cross. And that is immediate! That is now!
Eternity is not something we wait on, it is something we are actively participating in right here, right now!
And that is what Jesus defines with the thief! You are forgiven, and it starts now! Welcome to paradise! For you are living in me, so even in death, and even in hell, you are with me, and that my friend is paradise. To be with the living God.
So live in eternity here and now and grasp hold of the life that God has for you!
aSacredRebel 