{"id":174,"date":"2022-08-17T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=174&2022"},"modified":"2022-08-15T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:00:00","slug":"it-begins-today-luke-23-32-43","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/it-begins-today-luke-23-32-43\/","title":{"rendered":"It Begins Today: Luke 23:32-43"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Luke 23:32-43 (NIV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\"><p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">32<\/sup> Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. <sup class=\"versenum\">33<\/sup> When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals\u2014one on his right, the other on his left. <sup class=\"versenum\">34<\/sup> Jesus said, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.\u201d And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">35<\/sup> The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, \u201cHe saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">36<\/sup> The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar <sup class=\"versenum\">37<\/sup> and said, \u201cIf you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">38<\/sup> There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">39<\/sup> One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: \u201cAren\u2019t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">40<\/sup> But the other criminal rebuked him. \u201cDon\u2019t you fear God,\u201d he said, \u201csince you are under the same sentence? <sup class=\"versenum\">41<\/sup> We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">42<\/sup> Then he said, \u201cJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">43<\/sup> Jesus answered him, \u201cI tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke 23:32-43&amp;version=niv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Luke 23:32-43<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>We have hinted at the idea of Jesus dying for us while looking at other passages, and again in this entry, we are looking at a passage and idea that builds upon this \u2013 and we will be discussing the thief on the cross.<\/p>\r\n<p>In this passage (verse 43), we are able to see Jesus promise the thief salvation \u2013 after a life of sin. This action tells me what some people might call a \u201cdeathbed confession\u201d is possible, but nowhere do we read or see how that path would be recommended.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, simply opening up this last minute redemptive option shows us just how much Jesus loves and cares for us. It is powerful to think that Jesus endured all that torture and pain to give two sinners the opportunity to repent and be forgiven. One of them takes Jesus up on the deal, and puts his trust in Him for what will come after death. <\/p>\r\n<p>In our own lives, we should never plan to repent and ask for forgiveness right before we die. The obvious reason is that we don\u2019t know when we\u2019ll die. Another equally valid reason is that the more we reject Jesus while living our lives, the less likely we will even think about turning back to Him when we are at our end. But the biggest reason is what this decision says about our opinion of God\u2019s plan for us.<\/p>\r\n<p>If we live our lives with the idea that we can turn back to God at the end of our lives, we are basically telling ourselves and others that God\u2019s plan is not the best for us here on earth. Living like this says to others that, \u201cMy way is better than God\u2019s way while I\u2019m alive, and that He wants me to miss out on something worth doing\/experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>Is this true? Does God want us to miss out on some things?<\/p>\r\n<p>Yes. God wants us to miss out on things that cheapen our value as human beings, on things that ruin relationships with others, and on things that harm ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. We are way more valuable to God than we often give ourselves credit for \u2013 because Jesus died to give <em>you<\/em> the opportunity to be saved. <strong>Jesus died for <em>you<\/em>, to pay <em>your<\/em> debt, so that <em>you<\/em> can accept the gift of eternal life which begins today \u2013 long before your deathbed.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--174\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '174');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We have hinted at the idea of Jesus dying for us while looking at other passages, and again in this entry, we are looking at a passage and idea that builds upon this \u2013 and we will be discussing the thief on the cross. In this passage (verse 43), we are able to see Jesus [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>It Begins Today: Luke 23:32-43 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/it-begins-today-luke-23-32-43\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It Begins Today: Luke 23:32-43 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We have hinted at the idea of Jesus dying for us while looking at other passages, and again in this entry, we are looking at a passage and idea that builds upon this \u2013 and we will be discussing the thief on the cross. 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