Passion Week Saturday - In Paradise

Luke 23:43 – And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

Where was Jesus on Saturday?

In one sense, the answer is quite simple: His body was in the tomb, but His eternal Spirit was in heaven with His Father and with all the saints.

In another, the answer is profound: the Son of God, our great God and Savior (Titus 2:13) died. His body was wrapped in linen cloths, and it was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb (Luke 23:53).

But that was just His body. The moment He breathed His last, Jesus in His Spirit went immediately into the presence of His Father in heaven.

And the glory that He had before He took on human flesh, the glory that He had before the foundation of the world…the full radiance of that glory was His again as He powerfully entered His home, having conquered sin and death.

And His promise to the thief who was hung on a cross next to His, the one who confessed faith in Him, was fulfilled — that criminal was with Him in Paradise today.

In one more day, the prophecies of the Old Testament would be proven true: the Holy One of God would not undergo decay or corruption as He would be raised from the dead to His new, glorified body.

But on this day, He was in Paradise with that thief and with all the other redeemed, deceased sinners washed clean by His blood.

So that when we die, our faith and hope are squarely in God. Our sure hope is that we will be with our Lord in the instant we breath our last. We will be with Him in Paradise.

And we will from that point on dwell with Him forever. And we, like that thief, will gladly await the gift of our resurrection bodies. And all that waiting will seem as if no time has passed. Because that’s what it feels like to be with the One you loved – time just flies.

But this time, time will be no more as we commune with Christ forever.