#penitent thief

[koredzas]

Giovanni Bellini (1430 - 1516) - Thiefs on the Cross.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

39 One of the criminals hanging there began to shout insults at Jesus: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Then save yourself, and save us too!” 40 But the other criminal stopped him. He said, “You should fear God. All of us will die soon. 41 You and I are guilty. We deserve to die because we did wrong. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you begin ruling as king!” 43 Then Jesus said to him, “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise.” - Luke 23:39-43 | Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) The Holy Bible, Easy-to-Read Version Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International.

[philipdvere]

Phillip Medhurst presents 354/392 the James Tissot Jesus c 1896 The Soul of the Good Thief Luke 23:42-43. By (James) Jacques-Joseph Tissot, French, 1836-1902. Opaque watercolour over graphite on paper. 26.8 x 17.6 cms. Brooklyn Museum New York.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

The Eternal Portion of Every Man's Soul is Close to Him

by J. C. Ryle

"Today," says our Lord to the penitent thief, "today shall you be with Me in paradise." He names no distant period; He does not talk of His entering into a state of happiness as a thing "far away." He speaks of today this very day in which you are hanging on the cross.

How near that seems! How awfully near that word brings our everlasting dwelling place! Happiness or misery, sorrow or joy, the presence of Christ or the company of devils all are close to us. "There is but a step," says David, "between me and death" (1 Sam. 20:3). There is but a step, we may say, between ourselves and either paradise or hell.

We none of us realize this as we ought to do. It is high time to shake off the dreamy state of mind in which we live on this matter. We are apt to talk and think, even about believers, as if death was a long journey, as if the dying saint had embarked on a long voyage. It is all wrong, very wrong! Their harbor and their home is close by, and they have entered it.

Some of us know by bitter experience what a long and weary time it is between the death of those we love and the hour when we bury them out of our sight. Such weeks are the slowest, saddest, heaviest weeks in all our lives.. But, blessed be God, the souls of departed saints are free from the very moment their last breath is drawn. While we are weeping, and the coffin is preparing, and the mourning being provided, and the last painful arrangements being made, the spirits of our beloved ones are enjoying the presence of Christ. They are freed forever from the burden of the flesh. They are "where the wicked cease troubling, and the weary be at rest" (Job 3:17).

The very moment that believers die they are in paradise. Their battle is fought; their strife is over. They have passed through that gloomy valley we must one day tread; they have gone over that dark river we must one day cross. They have drunk that last bitter cup which sin has mingled for man; they have reached that place where sorrow and sighing are no more. Surely we should not wish them back again! We should not weep for them, but for ourselves.

We are warring still, but they are at peace. We are laboring, but they are at rest. We are watching, but they are sleeping. We are wearing our spiritual amour, but they have forever put it off. We are still at sea, but they are safe in harbor We have tears, but they have joy. We are strangers and pilgrims, but as for them they are at home. Surely, better are the dead in Christ than the living! Surely the very hour the poor saint dies, he is at once higher and happier than the highest upon earth.

I fear there is a vast amount of delusion on this point. I fear that many, who are not Roman Catholics, and profess not to believe in purgatory, have, notwithstanding, some strange ideas in their minds about the immediate consequences of death.

I fear that many have a sort of vague notion that there is some interval or space of time between death and their eternal state. They fancy they shall go through a kind of purifying change, and that though they die unfit for heaven, they shall yet be found meet for it after all!

But this is an entire mistake. There is no change after death; there is no conversion in the grave; there is no new heart given after the last breath is drawn. The very day we go, we launch forever; the day we go from this world, we begin an eternal condition. From that day there is no spiritual alteration, no spiritual change. As we die, so we shall receive our portion after death; as the tree falls, so it must lie.

If you are an unconverted man, this ought to make you think. Do you know you are close to hell? This very day you might die; and if you died out of Christ, you would open your eyes at once in hell, and in torment.

If you are a true Christian, you are far nearer heaven than you think This very day if the Lord should take you, you would find yourself in paradise. The good land of promise is near to you. The eyes that you closed in weakness and pain would open at once on a glorious rest, such as my tongue cannot describe.

[auntiewoot]

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. - LUKE 23 v. 39-43 KJV New Testament

[dailybiblelessons]

Christ the King Sunday

Roman Catholic Proper 34 Revised Common Lectionary Proper 29

This Sunday the complementary series and the semi-continuous series readings are identical.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength,  a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,  though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam,  though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,  the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;  God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;  he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us;  the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;  see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;  he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;  he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God!  I am exalted among the nations,  I am exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us;  the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Hebrew Scripture from the Latter Prophets: Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Colossians 1:11-20

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Luke 23:33-43

There are parallel passages at Matthew 27:38-44, Mark 15:21-32, and John 19:16-24.

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Year C Ordinary 34, Revised Common Lectionary Proper 29, Catholic Proper 34: Sunday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Parallel passages are as indicated in the Modern English Version Bible, copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When text is taken from the MEV, the passage ends with (MEV) and the foregoing copyright notice applies. Image Credit: The Three Crosses by Peter Paul Rubens via Wikimedia Commons. This is a public domain image.

[tknrart]

Inktober day 11: the penitent thief

[thatbemike]

So I did some digging around. I took the passage above from my NIV Bible, so it’s most definitely different depending on what you’re working with. King James and all that.

The thief being crucified to the right is referred to as the 'Penitent thief' and his companion the 'Impenitent thief'. The Penitent thief only appears in the Gospel of Luke, and is not named.

Later in the 4th century the name "Dismas" was assigned to the penitent thief, which in Greek means "sunset" or "death".

The Catholic Church remembers the Good Thief on March 25th, and has a few towns and parishes named after him, usually referred to as St. Dismas.

The penitent thief being saved is a common discussion in most circles, and some believe that he might've heard of Jesus before through John the Baptist, or from witnessing a miracle.

To the left though, is the impenitent thief, the one who taunts Jesus. Similar to Dismas above, he is later given the name “Gestas”. He is the one that is not saved on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion. Fun Fact: In some paintings of the event the artist tilts Jesus’ head to the right, to symbolize his saving of the penitent thief.