{"id":5917,"date":"2014-10-16T00:05:51","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T07:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/?p=5917"},"modified":"2014-10-15T11:03:21","modified_gmt":"2014-10-15T18:03:21","slug":"paradise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/2014\/10\/16\/paradise\/","title":{"rendered":"Paradise"},"content":{"rendered":"

The soldiers also mocked [Jesus], coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, \u201cIf You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tNow there was also an inscription above Him, \u201cTHIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOne of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, \u201cAre You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut the other answered, and rebuking him said, \u201cDo you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd he was saying, \u201cJesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAnd He said to him, \u201cTruly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:36\u201343)
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\tJesus knows what it\u2019s like to be mocked. He knows what it\u2019s like to be bullied. And he knows what it is to suffer. But he didn\u2019t let even the most extreme circumstances stop him from doing what he needed to do or focusing on the needs of someone else instead of himself. Two criminals hung on crosses with Jesus; one joined in mocking him, the other accepted his fate and rebuked the mockery. <\/p>\n

\tThe thief on Jesus\u2019 right did not have the time or opportunity to do any good works, to make restitution for the crimes for which he\u2019d been condemned. He could not join a church, he could not tithe, and he could not get baptized. He didn\u2019t walk an aisle or even express repentance. He did not call Jesus Lord. All he did was address Jesus by name and ask him to remember him when he came into his kingdom. He had simple faith, and made a simple request.<\/p>\n

\tAnd on the basis of those few words, Jesus told the criminal\u2014who remains unnamed\u2014that he would join Jesus in Paradise that very day. The word \u201cParadise\u201d that Jesus used had originated with the Persians. It referred to the pleasure gardens belonging to the Persian king. Why that very day? Because before the sun went down that evening, both that criminal and Jesus would be dead.<\/p>\n

All human beings are like that criminal on the cross, unable to save themselves or do anything at all to improve their situation. Jesus did everything and gave everything so that sinners who do nothing can join him in Paradise.<\/p>\n

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The soldiers also mocked [Jesus], coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, \u201cIf You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!\u201d Now there was also an inscription above Him, \u201cTHIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.\u201d … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[18,17,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5918,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5917\/revisions\/5918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}