Out of the last seven words of Jesus, the second one is what Jesus told to the repentant criminal crucified next to him as recorded in Luke 23:43 “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The previous post deals with “forgive them as they don’t know what are doing”.
Lately, I spoke with a church visitor who was not sure about the prospects of life after this life. When we close our eyes to sleep our body sleeps, but we know that we will wake up a few hours later. What happens when physical death happens to an individual? Is this person into a long sleep waiting to be awakened to a day of judgment? Or is waiting for the next body to take and continue living incarnated? All we know is from what we have read about, been told about, or probably from some weird personal experience.
None of us are completely free of doubt in the spiritual life. And in those moments of doubt, we may ask ourselves: What awaits me after I die?
This story opens our eyes to a reality that we haven’t been. Jesus told the person who had a change of heart that “you will be with me today”. If Jesus said it, it must be true.
Is that enough to know that when you die you will be with Jesus? Can we overcome the feeling of uncertainty and trust Jesus at his word?
If we are careful to read, Jesus didn’t tell that to both people crucified with him, only to the one who did a confession of faith in Jesus. That means that the other one was not going to be in the same place with Jesus and the repentant criminal.
We don’t know when it is our time, for some comes with a process of either waiting for the execution or during sickness, others leave the body without any warning.
Let us think today, about what this passage means to us. Let us prepare ourselves amidst our doubts for eternity with Jesus.
Note: I wrote first this blog at the church webpage.
Brother Endrit Journey 