Drumroll please. This is our last kingdom text: Luke 23:42. It comes with evocative connections:
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. ”
43 Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
1. The good criminal on the cross petitions Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom, and the criminal clearly sees kingdom as eternity at some level -- as Jesus' eternal kingdom.
2. Jesus promises that the man will be with Jesus "today" in Paradise. "Paradise" is a typical Jewish term for new creation and the garden of delights opened to those who are God's people after death.
3. Jesus -- no one else -- promises this man Paradise because he recognizes Jesus as innocent, himself as guilty and in need of mercy, and he sees in Jesus the way into kingdom's paradise.
4. Notable here is that this all happens "today" -- in that day at that time. In other words, if we connect Paradise to kingdom, then clearly this kingdom reference refers to a post-death eternal reality.
Has anyone turned this series into a Word document? Let me know if you have.
After our Preparing for Pentecost I will do a series on the meaning of "wrath" in the NT, but I may have to wait until we get back from South Africa to get it going.
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Thanks Scott, for this great series and thanks to all the thought provoking band of commentators.
MarkE gets a response - I probably just got a sigh of exasperation.
MarkE - I think you must be right.
More seriously though - I would love to see more on the relationship as promised in the series opener; and on the evidence in the Epistles, not just the Gospels. We have explored Kingdom in the synoptic Gospels, but not the relationship between Kingdom and present or post-resurrection reality (Church). The situation is like one dragged from the table after the soup - but before the entrée arrives ...
RJS,
Well, give me some time to think about it some.
Scot-
Thanks for this series. I have enjoyed the insights especially the now versus not yet aspects, kingdom as being a society, and how it relates to the person of Jesus. I felt the 70 A.D. comments were forced. I will definitely follow a series on the wrath, but would echo above comments calling for some overall conclusions.
Have fun and stay busy - Luke 19:13
-The Orange Mailman
Thanks for doing this series Scot. I've really appreciated your thoughts on the Kingdom.
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