03-30-2007, 12:44 AM
"Then [the criminal] said, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.†- Luke 23:43
I've read this scripture numerous times but I was always too busy looking at the comma placement in the next verse to really catch what a remarkable thing this was.
Jesus is hanging on the cross breathing his last breaths and this criminal looks over at him and sees so much more than a man dying on a cross.  Some way, some how he was able to see beyond that and see Jesus in Kingdom power. Â
Jesus' hand-picked apostles seem a rather sad bunch in comparison.  One betrayed him, one disowned him, they all fled him and then afterward they couldn't comprehend what had happened.  Wasn't Jesus the Christ?  Wasn't he the one to deliver Israel from their enemies?  Then why was he being executed?
After Jesus death two disciples were walking together toward Emmaus.  Two disciples are very confused, bemused, and talking about what had just transpired.  Jesus appears to them and asks them what they are speaking about.  They relate all that had been to Jesus leading up to his death.  They say, "But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."
They couldn't see past the cross.  When Jesus died, their hope died with him.  Jesus reproves them saying, "Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Â
That criminal somehow understood what these disciples could not.  He didn't see a dying a man - he saw the Son of God in his Glory - and he believed in him.
I've read this scripture numerous times but I was always too busy looking at the comma placement in the next verse to really catch what a remarkable thing this was.
Jesus is hanging on the cross breathing his last breaths and this criminal looks over at him and sees so much more than a man dying on a cross.  Some way, some how he was able to see beyond that and see Jesus in Kingdom power. Â
Jesus' hand-picked apostles seem a rather sad bunch in comparison.  One betrayed him, one disowned him, they all fled him and then afterward they couldn't comprehend what had happened.  Wasn't Jesus the Christ?  Wasn't he the one to deliver Israel from their enemies?  Then why was he being executed?
After Jesus death two disciples were walking together toward Emmaus.  Two disciples are very confused, bemused, and talking about what had just transpired.  Jesus appears to them and asks them what they are speaking about.  They relate all that had been to Jesus leading up to his death.  They say, "But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."
They couldn't see past the cross.  When Jesus died, their hope died with him.  Jesus reproves them saying, "Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Â
That criminal somehow understood what these disciples could not.  He didn't see a dying a man - he saw the Son of God in his Glory - and he believed in him.