Meditating on one of the Seven Sayings of Jesus on The Cross is a traditional way to kick off the Good Friday evening services at the CSI church that we occasionally attend.
There, Christopher Achen asked me once again if I would oblige and do one meditation, except he did the asking two years ago.
I agreed but didn’t get into it, lazily sat on it, and last year passed us by. Then came this year. Nothing came prodding my awareness and I was going to, without care, postpone it again, one more time, for one more year.
And who but my most ardent supporter, my ‘Yes, You Can’ husband, prodded me out of my lethargic state.
So I dusted off the cobwebs of my brain and sat down to give it some serious thought.
Just to be clear, 6 other parish members were asked to do the same, each on a different saying.
Those who participate get to pick their choice Word.
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“Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise.” Luke 23:43
This is what I chose.
This is presumably Jesus’ Second (out of seven) Saying. Right after, ‘Father, Forgive Them For They Know Not …’.
And He said it to the thief on a cross to his right.
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‘All I ever needed to know about life’: the Good, the Bad, and what sits in between, I learned from Genesis Chapter Three.
Shakespeare never said it better.
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So, what exactly is Paradise?
There are those of us who believe there’s nothing such.
For the purpose of this devotion, let’s give them a rest.
But for those who do have an accepting concept of what’s termed Paradise, it conjures up diverse images.
At a minimum, there is the Earthly Paradise and then there is the Heavenly One.
One of the first images to an abode close enough is in Genesis Chapter Three.
The Garden Of Eden. For sure, it was Earthly.
So what was Eden?
It had Man, Woman, lush vegetation, and many creatures, which sadly, for mankind, included one that ‘crawls on the ground’ and ‘bites man’s heels’: a snake. Genesis: Chapter 1.
Man was given dominance over all, even the snake.
In spite of the presence of the crawlies, it was pervasively peaceful. Because the finest part of it was:
God Himself came to visit Man’s domicile every day.
He walked with the Man and the Woman every day. He was part of their daily life.
Kind of blissful, one might say.
Man was Adam. Woman was Eve.
Even in this idyllic realm, there was unbearably, the snake. Ouch!
Why the ‘Ouch’?
Snake is inherently slimy, slithery, venomous, and it travels in a crooked pattern. Enough said. Those features speak for themselves.
And whether we like it or not, the snake was also part of Creation.
Poignantly, the Crooked One was crawling right under God’s Feet.
Good and Evil side by side.
Man, in sharp contrast, and almost just the way God intended, possessed a superior brain, was innately inquisitive, and was constantly on a quest to grab something beyond what’s presently within his reach.
We all know it by heart by now, but The Genesis Narration follows like this.
The snake in his devious Snakeness, the way only a snake can be, wanted to trick Man into not being God’s Best Friend. His jealousy got the best of him, and there was nothing ‘best’ to start with.
To this end, the snake artfully approached Eve first with his enticing suggestion.
Notice, he did not go to Adam. Why?
I can’t state here what my hypothesis is about ‘why’. I think Shakespeare said something about it in Hamlet. 😉
And for Eve’s part, it was not enough for her to take ‘The Bite’, of doing what’s wrong in the eyes of God, by herself.
Eve went to Adam and presented the same tempting option to him.
Now Adam takes The Bite: doing what’s wrong in the eyes of man and God: Part 2.
Man was supposed to be in control. He could have said ‘no’.
Observe the pattern here?
It’s never enough that we take The Fall by ourselves.
We often act in ways that cause others to Fall.
We have to enlist an ally in the wrongdoing.
A kindred spirit. A partner in crime. A comrade.
A companion who’s complicit by being silent.
By supporting a supportive friend. Offering blind loyalty. Applying ‘Situational Ethics’.
Resorting to phrases that validate: ‘What I say may escalate the conflict’.
‘Go along to get along’. ‘If you can’t fight them, join them’.
‘The end justifies the means’. ‘I was just doing it for her’.
No need to go on.
We all know how it rolls.
Then suddenly, it doesn’t feel so wrong no matter how wrong it is.
We’re also aware how the plot ends.
Man was let go from Paradise. ‘You’re fired’. Ouch! Again.
Some call it Punishment.
I phrase it, having to face the consequences of one’s actions. It varies slightly from ‘punishment’.
It’s that helpless feeling of, ‘oh! I wish hadn’t done it that way’.
‘Wish I could take it back’. ‘Can I have a do-over?’.
‘Wish there were another option’.
The guilt that gnaws at you, makes you feel terribly embarrassed (naked), makes you desire to ‘hide‘ from the wronged, from God.
Punishment enough.
God Wept. For the first time.
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Thankfully and Gracefully, this is just the end of only one part of the story, not the end of The Story.
God in his Infinite Love, gave us an ‘out’. He cut his favourite creation some slack.
With Grace, we may get a Second Chance. A chance to make amends. To do it right this time.
With Grace, we’ll grab it before the chance slips away.
God promised: ‘Someday a woman’s offspring will deal a blow to the Serpent’s Head’.
Note, it’s the ‘Woman’s Offspring’. “The Progeny Of A Virgin”.
I don’t know about you, but I’d presume, when you crush a slithery creature’s head with a big Plank of Wood, (may be as that in The Cross?), it pretty much cannot slither anymore. The crookedness is suddenly stilled.
Remember, The One the ‘snake charmed’ is The One who gives birth.
First Sin and Final Redemption.
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The Thief On The Cross.
Now, what does this all have to do with the Thief On The Cross?
If we read Chapter 23 of the Gospel According to Luke (the only Gospel where the Second Saying is found),
It speaks that the thief takes a few requisite steps before he has a direct Encounter with Jesus.
One: he admonishes his fellow thief to fear God.
Two: he admits his own wrongdoing.
Three: he recognizes that Jesus is sinless, The Son Of God.
Four: and finally, he exhibits his desire to be received into The Kingdom.
When the thief turns remorseful and asked for Forgiveness from the One who stilled the devil, death as a punishment was overcome.
With Resurrection, death was defeated.
And Man has regained his presence in that Lost Paradise. He now has the company of God once again.
The place that was lost to Man, and from where he was banished, was given back on The Cross.
Imagine that. All with the stroke of one saying. A proclamation.
A Word. By The Word.
Today. You. Will Be with Me. In Paradise.
It is available: Today … As in, Right now.
‘You’: … as in, the one who repents.
With Me. … as in, With God’s Son.
In Paradise. … As in, With God.
Repentance leads to Forgiveness.
Forgiveness leads to Paradise. The Heavenly One.
From Eden To The Cross.
From The Cross to Paradise.
The choice really is ours.
From, ‘I Am That I Am’ to,
‘I Am Who You Say I Am’ to
‘I Will Be With You To The End Of Time’.
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wishing you all Easter’s Hope...
mercy
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