{"id":175,"date":"2022-08-24T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=175&2022"},"modified":"2022-08-22T18:00:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T00:00:46","slug":"loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Matthew 27:27-31 (NIV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\"><p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">27<\/sup> Then the governor\u2019s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. <sup class=\"versenum\">28<\/sup> They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, <sup class=\"versenum\">29<\/sup> and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. \u201cHail, king of the Jews!\u201d they said. <sup class=\"versenum\">30<\/sup> They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. <sup class=\"versenum\">31<\/sup> After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew 27:27-31&amp;version=niv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Matthew 27:27-31<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>If you have ever wondered why Jesus chose the cross, our passage for this journal entry gives us a clue. While there were prophecies about His death, if we think logically about history and prophecy, He could have pointed the prophets to speak a different path for His life. Jesus was there when the story of history was being first being written, so why would He choose to go down the path that includes the most brutal torture imaginable, to ultimately face one of the most painful deaths imaginable?<\/p>\r\n<p>If Jesus\u2019 giving up His life for us was what was necessary, why choose the path with the most pain?<\/p>\r\n<p>When we read Luke&#8217;s gospel, we learn the clue: two thieves.<\/p>\r\n<p>I don\u2019t recall any prophecies about Jesus promising a thief paradise when He was facing His end, but the picture of Jesus facing all the torture, beating, and pain just to get through to us and show us that He cares is a powerful picture. Jesus could have promised the thief paradise while walking by, or while visiting him in prison, but instead, Jesus faced what the thief faced, lowered Himself into the same set of \u00a0experiences as the thief.<\/p>\r\n<p>This is not a picture of God looking down and simply lifting us up. <strong>This is a picture of Jesus coming down personally, and stooping lower than even we would choose to go, in order to save just one more person for God.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p>Jesus faced the torture and pain because He wanted to save the thief \u2013 who had yet to put his trust in Jesus. Jesus knew that this would only happen if He shared a neighboring cross, so Jesus chose that path.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>If Jesus loved a thief enough to orchestrate His death around saving him, how much more do you think He loves you and me?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--175\" 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, '175');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you have ever wondered why Jesus chose the cross, our passage for this journal entry gives us a clue. While there were prophecies about His death, if we think logically about history and prophecy, He could have pointed the prophets to speak a different path for His life. Jesus was there when the story [&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-175","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>Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - 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\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you have ever wondered why Jesus chose the cross, our passage for this journal entry gives us a clue. While there were prophecies about His death, if we think logically about history and prophecy, He could have pointed the prophets to speak a different path for His life. Jesus was there when the story [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cam\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@godstruthhisway\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cam\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"headline\":\"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":442,\"articleSection\":[\"Written Journal Entries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/\",\"name\":\"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/\",\"name\":\"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\",\"description\":\"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3\",\"name\":\"Cam\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\\\/gospeladventure\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/avatars\\\/2\\\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Cam\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","og_description":"If you have ever wondered why Jesus chose the cross, our passage for this journal entry gives us a clue. While there were prophecies about His death, if we think logically about history and prophecy, He could have pointed the prophets to speak a different path for His life. Jesus was there when the story [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/","og_site_name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reflectivebiblestudy\/","article_published_time":"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00","author":"Cam","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@godstruthhisway","twitter_site":"@godstruthhisway","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/"},"author":{"name":"Cam","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"headline":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31","datePublished":"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/"},"wordCount":442,"articleSection":["Written Journal Entries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/","name":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-08-24T09:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/loving-a-thief-matthew-27-27-31\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Loving a Thief: Matthew 27:27-31"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#website","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/","name":"Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure","description":"Your Life. God&#039;s Truth. His Way.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/#\/schema\/person\/6aa6c062baad6d28cd49429d13dee5e3","name":"Cam","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","url":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-content\/uploads\/avatars\/2\/b94b7ad9f3de7c191324b19a0e9c49a1-bpfull.jpg","caption":"Cam"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}