Part 16
Chapter 9,
‘The man who was born blind,
Healed on the Sabbath day,
Whereas I was blind, now I can see.
Part 15
Chapter 8,
‘I am the Light of the world’
Lights in earthen vessels,
Witnesses of Jesus,
If you believe not you will die in your sins,
Part 14
Chapter 8,
The Mount of Olives, 
The importance of private prayer,
The woman taken in adultery,
What did Jesus write on the ground?
Go and sin no More,
Part 13
‘My hour is not yet come’,
The Divine plan and purpose,
Part 12
Chapters 6/7,
False believers, Judas,
Jesus’ experience of life,
Never man spake like this man,
The hypocrisy of the pharisees,
Part 11
Chapter 6,
 am the Bread of Life,
Manna that came down from Heaven,
Enough to meet the needs of all,
Within the reach of all,
I will raise him up at the last day,
Part 10
Chapter 6,
The calming of the storm,
The importance of prayer,
The importance of obedience,
The storms of life,
Part 9
Chapter 6
The feeding of the 5,000,
What we give he takes,
What he takes he breaks,
What he breaks he blesses,
What he blesses he uses,
Part 8
Chapter 4/5
The nobleman’s son,
The man at thepool of Bethesda,
Pharisees plan to kill Jesus,
Two resurrections – one unto life – one unto judgement,
Part 7
Chapter 4,
The Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well,
The well is deep,
The world’s pleasujres,
Only Christ can satisfy,
Part 6
Testimony of John the baptist,
Conditional immortality,
Ch. 4 The woman at the well,
The Samaritans,
Part 5
Chapter 3. Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews,
The New Birth,
The New Kingdom,
How can these things be?
Part 4
The Jewish Passover
Cleansing the Temple
Jesus resurrection prophecied
Signs and miracles testified that he was the Messiah
Part 3
The marriage at Cana,
Jesus first miracle,
Water into wine
Part 2
John the Baptist,
The forerunner of Christ,
The baptism of John,
‘Behold the Lamb of God’,
Part 1
In the beginning was The Word,
The deity of Christ,
All things made by Him,
A Light shining in darkness,
Written to gentiles,
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee
“To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”.
The question which is asked is this, did the thief go to “paradise” that day to be with Christ? Almost without a moments hesitation many Christians would answer “yes” but is that indeed what happened? Let us look carefully at the facts. The thief’s request was “Lord remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom”. The thief was no doubt an Israelite and as such knew well the promises of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah and the kingdom He would reign over. He had read the superscription written over the Saviour’s head “This is Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews”. He had watched the Lord and listened to His words and realized He was indeed the King. The thief did not ask to be taken to heaven to be with the Lord when he died that day but for Christ to remember him when he came into His kingdom. Our Lord’s answer to him was regarding that day when His kingdom will be set up on earth otherwise it had no relevance. He promised the thief that he would be part of it when it would come. Later, after His resurrection the Lord told Mary “I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to My God, and your God”. Surely these plain words of scripture are clear, Jesus had not at that point ascended into heaven. The problem lies with the comma and where the translators have placed it in the verse. Greek scholars inform us that in the original greek there are no punctuation marks so it was at the discretion of the translators where they placed it. The words of Christ to the thief are easily understood when we recognize this important fact, He simply told him “I tell you today you will be with me in paradise”. The word “paradise” has the definite article and should read “The paradise”, not referring to heaven at all but the paradise of the kingdom set up on earth. Someone is sure to say that’s what the Jehovah Witnesses teach about this verse. We are not interested in what JW’S say and indeed recognize them as a false cult but we cannot change the true meaning of the verse just to get one over on them. The readers will see as we deal with other texts that it would have been scripturally impossible for the thief to go to heaven that day anyhow, but more on that later.
Luke 23.43   “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee
“To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise”.
The question which is asked is this, did the thief go to “paradise” that day to be with Christ? Almost without a moments hesitation many Christians would answer “yes” but is that indeed what happened? Let us look carefully at the facts.
The thief’s request was “Lord remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom”. The thief was no doubt an Israelite and as such knew well the promises of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah and the kingdom He would reign over. He had read the superscription written over the Saviour’s head “This is Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews”. He had watched the Lord and listened to His words and realized He was indeed the King. The thief did not ask to be taken to heaven to be with the Lord when he died that day but for Christ to remember him when he came into His kingdom.
Our Lord’s answer to him was regarding that day when His kingdom will be set up on earth otherwise it had no relevance. He promised the thief that he would be part of it when it would come. Later, after His resurrection the Lord told Mary “I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to My God, and your God”. Surely these plain words of scripture are clear, Jesus had not at that point ascended into heaven.
The problem lies with the comma and where the translators have placed it in the verse. Greek scholars inform us that in the original greek there are no punctuation marks so it was at the discretion of the translators where they placed it. The words of Christ to the thief are easily understood when we recognize this important fact, He simply told him “I tell you today you will be with me in paradise”. The word “paradise” has the definite article and should read “The paradise“, not referring to heaven at all but the paradise of the kingdom set up on earth.
S omeone is sure to say that’s what the Jehovah Witnesses teach about this verse. We are not interested in what JW’S say and indeed recognize them as a false cult but we cannot change the true meaning of the verse just to get one over on them. The readers will see as we deal with other texts that it would have been scripturally impossible for the thief to go to heaven that day anyhow, but more on that later.