{"id":4986,"date":"2013-03-25T01:45:20","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T06:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=4986"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:31:03","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:31:03","slug":"the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seven Last Words of Christ – The Second Word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Second Word:
\n\u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d
\n(Luke 23:43)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this picture, please contact Mark.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Jesus hung on the cross, he was mocked by the political and religious leaders, as well as by the soldiers who were crucifying him. One of the criminals being crucified along with him added his own measure of scorn. But the other crucified criminal sensed that Jesus was being treated unjustly. After speaking up for Jesus, he cried out, \u201cJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom\u201d (v. 42).<\/p>\n

Jesus responded to this criminal, \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise\u201d (v. 43). The word paradise<\/em>, from the Greek word paradeisos<\/em>, which meant \u201cgarden,\u201d was used in the Greek Old Testament as a word for the Garden of Eden. In Judaism of the time of Jesus it was associated with heaven, and also with the future when God would restore all things to the perfection of the Garden. Paradise was sometimes thought to be the place where righteous people went after death. This seems to be the way Jesus uses paradise<\/em> in this passage.<\/p>\n

Thus we have encountered one of the most astounding and encouraging verses in all of Scripture. Jesus promised that the criminal would be with him in paradise. Yet the text of Luke gives us no reason to believe this man had been a follower of Jesus, or even a believer in him in any well-developed sense. He might have felt sorry for his sins, but he did not obviously repent. Rather, the criminal\u2019s cry to be remembered seems more like a desperate, last-gasp effort.<\/p>\n

Though we should make every effort to have right theology, and though we should live our lives each day as disciples of Jesus, in the end, our relationship with him comes down to simple trust. \u201cJesus, remember me,\u201d we cry. And Jesus, embodying the mercy of God, says to us, \u201cYou will be with me in paradise.\u201d We are welcome there with him not because we have right theology, and not because we are living rightly, but because God is merciful and we have put our trust in Jesus.<\/p>\n

Questions for Reflection <\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you staked your life on Jesus? Have you put your ultimate trust in him? Do you know that, when your time comes, you will be with him in paradise?<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Lord Jesus, how I wonder at your grace and mercy! When we cry out to you, you hear us. When we ask you to remember us when you come into your kingdom, you offer the promise of paradise. Your mercy, dear Lord, exceeds anything we might imagine. It embraces us, encourages us, heals us.<\/p>\n

O Lord, though my situation is so different from the criminal who cried out to you, I am nevertheless quite like him. Today I live, trusting you and you alone. My life, but now and in the world to come, is in your hands. And so I pray:<\/p>\n

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom! Jesus, remember me today as I seek to live within your kingdom! Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resources for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Seven Last Words of Christ: Reflections for Holy Week<\/a>
\n(the seven-part series, of which today\u2019s post is part 2)<\/p>\n

The Stations of the Cross: A Devotional Guide for Lent and Holy Week<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Roman, Jewish, and Christian Perspectives<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduction to Eastertide: The Season of Easter<\/a><\/p>\n

Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em>: An Unexpected Easter<\/em> Masterpiece<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this picture, please contact Mark. Reflection As Jesus hung on the cross, he was mocked by the political and religious leaders, as well as by the soldiers who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,16882],"tags":[21638,7872,17161,21666],"class_list":["post-4986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holy-week","category-seven-last-words","tag-holy-week","tag-paradise","tag-second-word","tag-seven-last-words"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-25T06:45:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-13T20:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2011\/04\/Stations-11-remember-7.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/\",\"name\":\"The Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-25T06:45:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-13T20:31:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712\"},\"description\":\"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Seven Last Words of Christ – The Second Word\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\",\"name\":\"Mark D. Roberts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712\",\"name\":\"Mark D. Roberts\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark D. Roberts\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/markdroberts\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word","description":"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word","og_description":"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2013-03-25T06:45:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-13T20:31:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2011\/04\/Stations-11-remember-7.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark D. Roberts","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/","name":"The Seven Last Words of Christ - The Second Word","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-25T06:45:20+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-13T20:31:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712"},"description":"The Second Word: \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d (Luke 23:43) Copyright \u00a9 2007, Linda E. S. Roberts. For permission to use this","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2013\/03\/25\/the-seven-last-words-of-christ-the-second-word\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Seven Last Words of Christ – The Second Word"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/markdroberts\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4986\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}