Good Friday

Luke 23:43

Very truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Most of the world thinks that you are delusional that I am delusional. We put our faith in a man that lived 2000 years ago in a small corner of the globe thousands of miles from here. We have the hope of eternal life because we trust in the one named Jesus. The promise of eternity in paradise gives us hope for life beyond death's door and it empowers us to live boldly as His people.

Very truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

This was a response to one of the criminals on a cross near Jesus. Suffering the same death, this criminal received this promise from Jesus.

The thief did not have understanding. He hasn't traveled with Jesus. He hadn't heard Jesus' teachings. He had simply come to the end of all that he knew and to the end of his abilities to save himself. He acknowledged his own guilt, he said, “we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” and put all his faith in the one who was crucified. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Chalk art by Rod Snow

Did he know Jesus? Perhaps, but we don't know how much he knew about Jesus. We know he witnessed his crucifixion, witnessed Jesus praying to God for forgiveness for those who were doing this to him. He witnessed the soldiers dividing up Jesus cloths before he was even dead. He saw Jesus in his beaten state being scoffed at the leaders, mocked by soldiers, even by the other criminal facing the same death mocked him. He saw all this and yet he saw Jesus for who Jesus really was.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Today you will be with me in paradise...Today. Your suffering in this world will soon end. You will be in the presence of God and the struggle and pain of this world will melt away.

Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.

The thief was not delusional you are not delusional I am not delusional. Though I can see how the details of the story could lead some to that conclusion. The thief on the cross saw Jesus' weakened state. He knew that he was not going to come down off the cross and be the conquering hero that the people were hoping for. Despite this, he put his trust in him and acknowledged him as king. It makes no logical sense to do this outside of having the gift off faith. There is no reason for him to come to this conclusion given the information at hand and yet he does and so do we.

We do because we have experienced the Living Lord. We have experienced the resurrection. This is Good Friday and we remember what happened on that day but we don't have to pretend we don't know what happened on Sunday.

Likewise we don't have to get stuck in a Good Friday way of life disparaging over what we are losing or what has been lost. Rather we always look forward in hope to the resurrection; to our redemption and to our restoration.