Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Feb 15 2020 - Luke 23:13-43 – Today you will be with me in paradise

Jesus was crucified with two criminals or terrorists, one on his right and the other on his left. One of them mocked Jesus, "Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39). But the other rebuked him saying, "Don’t you fear God, since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong" (23:40-41).

This second criminal had seen something different in Jesus – Jesus who had prayed that those who crucified him might be forgiven. He knew that he was guilty of wrongdoing not just in the eyes of the Romans, but before God. He longed that he also might be forgiven and cried out, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (23:42). Somehow, this man could see that Jesus, hanging upon a cross, really was the King of the Jews – the long awaited Messiah. Somehow he knew that though Jesus might be put to death he would nevertheless establish his kingdom. I don't know what answer this nameless criminal might have been expecting or hoping for, but he was surely astonished to be told, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise" (23:43).

And what an extraordinary promise it is from one dying in agony: the promise of paradise; the promise of paradise today. Taking fruit from a tree had closed the gates of paradise against humanity; one hanging on a tree now promises paradise to a repentant sinner. Angels with flaming swords had once blocked the entrance to paradise; here God has opened up a new doorway through the broken body of his Son. If this man can be promised paradise through faith in Jesus, there is no-one against whom the gates are now barred. “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10:11).

I remember some years ago when I was a pastor in London. I had been knocking on doors in a certain street and talking with residents. One recently retired East Ender welcomed me and over some months we had many conversations together. But the one thing he just could not accept was the grace of God. He could not get his head around the fact that bad people could have a place in paradise. For him, the matter was clear; we all get what we deserve. He felt that he wasn't too bad a character and was prepared to take his chances. I could not get him to see his own need, nor the wonder of a Saviour who have given himself to secure our redemption.

Do you rejoice in this, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"? The worst of people found acceptance with him – tax collectors and sinners. And the most religious came to see that they had nothing to plead before him but their need. This is what Saul the Pharisee discovered through an encounter with the risen Savour. Like the dying thief, he saw that the crucified Jesus was the promised Christ, the hope of Israel and of the whole world.

Looking to Jesus, do you have the full assurance given to that criminal, that you also will be with him in paradise? "There is life for a look at the crucified one."

Father God, we thank you for the wonder of your saving grace in the Lord Jesus. I confess that I have no more right to paradise than had that dying thief. But I ask that you would remember me, forgive me, cleanse me. I believe that you are the way, the truth and the life. I believe that you are the door that leads again into the Garden of God. Help me to walk with you in the way and to draw others to join you in the walk to paradise.

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Feb 15 2019 - Exodus 6:1-12 – God's promise of freedom

Moses' first appeal to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go had proved a miserable failure. Pharaoh had not only scornfully refused Moses' demand, he had increased the burden on the Israelite slaves. The Israelites had complained to Moses and Moses had complained to God.

In today's passage we read the Lord's response to Moses' complaint. "Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country’" (6:1).

In effect, the Lord is saying, "Did you really think that the Israelites would be released from their slavery just because you told Pharaoh that this is what I was demanding? No, you will not manage to free them by the force of your personality or the strength of your demands. I, the Lord, am the one who will come and rescue my people by my own power. When the Israelites are released, no-one will be in any doubt that you are not the one who has done it. It will be clear that I the living God have broken Pharaoh's power." Moses' initial demand and Pharaoh's initial response were just preparation for the real battle to come – like boxers facing up to one another ahead of their match and making all manner of threats. The posturing is now over and the real battle is about to begin; not a battle between Moses and Pharaoh but between Yahweh the living God and Pharaoh and the so called gods of Egypt.

God then reminds Moses of who he is. He is the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God who made promises to these men and who has revealed himself as God Almighty; nothing can prevent him from keeping his promises. Now he has revealed that his name is Yahweh, the God of the covenant who will be with his people to do all he has promised. He has heard the Israelites' groans and has come down to save them.

Moses is to go to the Israelites with this message from God, "I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD" (6:6-8).

Notice the repeated "I" in these verses. The emphasis is upon what the Lord himself will do precisely because he is the LORD, Yahweh, their God. The rescue of the Israelites from Egypt will be a powerful demonstration that their God is like no other; he is the living God who hears and acts to save his people and bring them to live with him.

Despite these words, the Israelites do not believe Moses, nor is Moses keen on renewed confrontation with Pharaoh. Their experience of past failure makes them reluctant now to trust God and to take him at his word.

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the living God who has not been content to leave us in slavery to sin. God has seen our plight and has come down to rescue us by his own power through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can trust him to do for us all that he has promised. We need not allow our own experience of failure to turn us away from trust in God.

Almighty God, I thank you that you save by your own power and are not limited by the failures of your people. Since you did not spare your own Son but gave him up for us all, fill us with the assurance that nothing will ever separate us from your love. You will be faithful to all your promises and will bring us safe to glory.

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Peter Misselbrook