November 19th, 2022

As was mentioned last time, this Sunday is called the Last Sunday of the Church Year, and this is also our last Sunday in the Gospel according to Luke for a while. Next week starts us again at the very beginning of the three-year series, and we will start again with the first of the three similar accounts, the Gospel according to Matthew.

As was also mentioned last time, this Sunday has other endings. The Old Testament text is from the last book of the Old Testament (Mal 3:13-18), and the Gospel text is about the end of Jesus’ life, when he was on the cross (Luke 23:27-43). But it could also be stated that this gospel text has a significant beginning.

Technically speaking, the gospel text does not include the death of Jesus. The last verse of the text is verse 43, and Jesus is still alive at that point, alive enough to tell the criminal next to him that today he will be with him in Paradise.

In the previous verse, the criminal had asked the following favor of Jesus: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ This response of Jesus is left out of the other accounts, and it is even a significant difference from what is given in the other accounts. There we have both criminals mocking him, along with the others around him (see Matthew 27:44 and Mark 15:32b; cf. John 19:18). But obviously there was eventually a change of heart.

The uniqueness of Jesus’ statement to the eventually repentant criminal is compounded by the fact that Paradise is only two other places within the entire New Testament. Besides this occurrence, it is also in 2 Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 2:7. It may be helpful to see these verses in context (and what follows is a somewhat-literal translation of these texts):

I know a man in Christ, before fourteen years, whether in body I know not, or outside the body, I know not, God knows, caught such a one to a third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in body or without the body, I know not, God knows, that he was caught into the paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not permissible for a man to speak (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

To the angel of the Ephesus church, write: These things says the one holding the seven stars in the right of him, the walking one in midst of the seven lampstands, the golden: I know the works of you and the labor and the endurance of you, and that you are not able to bear the bad ones, and testing the ones saying themselves apostles and are not, and you found them liars; and endurance you have, and bearing because of the name of me, and you have not grown weary. But I have against you that the love of you, the first, you did leave. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, and repent, and the first works do; and if not, I am coming to you and will move the lampstand of you out of the place of it, if you do not repent. But this you have, that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which also I hate. The one having an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the overcoming one, I will give to him to eat of the tree of the life, which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:1-7).
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The first time a word is used in the New Testament is an important thing, especially if it is a word that was around near the beginning of time as well. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word paradise also appears in Genesis 2:8. There are only a few words that appear at the beginning and at the end of the scriptures—with Jesus using it in the middle.