Christ Jesus Spoke...from the Cross...Gleanings from Luke 23:43

  And Jesus replied, "I assure you...today you will join Me in Paradise."
        Gleanings from Luke 23:43



"Christ Jesus once again spoke from His time on the Cross, hanging between two thieves."

 The irony of it all, the Jewish leaders, both the Pharisees and the Sadducees
 had seen Jesus raise others from the dead, but made their choice...to reject and deny Him and who He was.
 Here, on the cross with Christ Jesus is a thief who is seeking Christ forgiveness while hanging on a cross...this thief watched Christ die...and yet accepted Him for who He was.

 Do you really think it would be any different today? If Christ Himself was alive on earth today, doing miracles, saving and helping others, and reaching out to anyone who draw near Him....would we be any different than what we read in the Sacred Scriptures?
 Would the "heart of society" today execute the same verdict as what the Jewish Society did then?
 Jesus did not die all alone, He had two thieves, one on each side of Him as He gave His life...for all of us.
 Thieves...."pretty much the lowliest of the lowly" in the Jewish society of the times...and yet, that is how Christ Jesus chose "to go out"..right in between these two outcasts of society itself.

 Well, one thing for sure...for everyone who thinks we can "earn our salvation"...establish a relationship with God by the amount of good we can do....this scenario pretty much "blows" that belief up entirely.
 This thief seeking Christ's forgiveness, wasn't exactly in a situation where he could maybe do some good to society to make up for his life of stealing from others. The only thing this thief could do was to receive of Christ's Jesus forgiveness...after all...this guy was a valid thief.
 What made this possible?....was it not the condition of the thief's heart?

Here is what I see at the Cross, and you see it today in society as well. Jesus, in the middle of these two thieves, offering His Life for all of mankind. Then, you have a thief on one side that is shouting insults then just like we hear all the time even today. You then have the other thief who is weighing out his life and decides to give Christ Jesus a chance.

 Christ Jesus requires us to: have faith, as spoken by the more tender-hearted thief. Those who don't think Christ is necessary in your life to succeed, or demands Christ to come to them on their terms instead of His: I would call that arrogance; which was the attitude of the hard-hearted thief.

The tender-hearted thief spoke to Christ in: humility. The hard-hearted thief spoke to Christ in: unbelief.

The tender-hearted thief was reverent in his choice of words to Christ. The hard-hearted thief...pretty bitter in his outlook on life and most likely used "choice words" to convey that thought.

Now honestly, has anything changed..since Christ death on the Cross...or maybe a more personal question (to myself)..."have I changed since I heard about Him?...am I humble enough to pray the prayer the tender-hearted thief has taught us when approaching Christ...."Remember me this day".  And what is even  more important, to  hear the words of Christ speak to my own heart and say: "I assure you, today you will join Me...in Paradise!"

 {In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this word "Paradise" was a word used for the Garden of Eden. In the New Testament times, it was a place where God's people were secure and at rest as they waited...for Him!}