Paradise Found

Scripture Reading: Luke 23:43

[Jesus] said to [the thief on the cross] “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Dr. Oscar Johnson was the longtime pastor of Third Street Baptist Church in Saint Louis. He recounted how that one Good Friday morning he noticed a church holding a Good Friday service. He made the impulse decision to stop and attend.

The services had already begun and he could hear the singing from the parking area. He slipped in the back door and discovered that he was the only white man in the black congregation. Feeling that God had led him there, and seeing the warm smiles that greeted him, he decided to stay. He said he would always be grateful he did. He said that day he learned the meaning of the text I quoted above in a way he had never thought of before.

The old pastor was discussing what it meant to be in paradise. He said some people thought Jesus just meant heaven. Others believed it was Abraham’s bosom. Some, he said, didn’t have any idea what Jesus meant by paradise. The preacher admitted it was difficult to know for certain what it meant, but he went on to paint an imaginary scene that he believed explained what paradise meant.

He described the angelic choirs singing, and the streets of gold shining when Jesus returned to glory after the resurrection. And then he described Gabriel welcoming Jesus:

O Lord! We are so glad you have come home. We don’t know why you died as you did on earth. There are many things we want to ask you. But we want you to know that glory has not been the same since you left. The choirs have not sung as they once did. The light is not as bright as it once was. We are so glad you are home. Things will be better now that you are back. Welcome home, Lord. Welcome home.

But Master, who is that there beside you? Isn’t that man a thief and a robber? What is he doing here?

And then the preacher said that Jesus put his arm around the thief, looked at Gabriel, and quietly answered, Oh, him. Well, don’t you worry about him, Gabriel. He is with me. He is with me!

Whatever else paradise means, it primarily means we are with Jesus.