Today you will be with me in paradise

Saturday November 26th, Luke 23: 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." The other criminal, the one hurling insults, may take a bit longer to convince he is forgiven and usher him into the kingdom of God. I sometimes wonder if that is the one who represents who humanity is, the one who represents you and I. We often take the stance that one made it in and one did not, period. The conclusion therefore is that some will make it in and many will not. This is translated as those who believe like me, which of course is the way God thinks, will make it in and others who believe, worship and belong differently from me will not make it in. Jesus said however that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that includes you and I and the enemy down the street. That is why Jesus came to save us, all of us, we weren’t doing such a great job of getting that message out. Jesus’ gift of life extends to all of creation. Perhaps one of the things we need most to be forgiven for is thinking and treating others as if they might be outside Jesus’ reach. Today you will be with me in paradise, someday, all will be with me in paradise. How would that understanding of the gospel change the way you live today?