The Thief did ask only.....'remember me'.....
The Carpenter responded in a manner showing He saw .....'something else'.
Well stated Thief. (I am wondering if your screenname has some identification with the man in question)
It was an observation, made in the form of a promise. It was not one that the Jews were unfamiliar with.
All ancient Jews believed in the physical resurrection of the dead to the re-established kingdom of God in literal Israel on earth under Messiah's kingship.
Judaism, like Christendom, split into sects with differing beliefs about how the scriptures should be interpreted.
The Sadducees did not hold the resurrection (among other things) to be true, whereas the Pharisees did. (Acts 23:8)
If we take an overview of that basic belief, and examine how it got all twisted up in misinterpretation, we will see how man has painted a completely different picture to how the scriptures were originally understood. The devil of course has been behind the scenes pulling the strings and laughing at our gullibility.
Lets try to put it as simply as we can.....
In the beginning, God's first purpose was to have perfect human beings inhabit a specially prepared planet and fill it with their 'kind'. He also told them to 'subdue' the earth, which basically meant to bring the land outside the garden under his care and control. So originally God intended for man to be the caretaker of his handiwork, being held responsible for looking after the animals, the earth itself and each other.
The garden was a blueprint for what God wanted the whole earth to become. God supplied all the raw materials and allowed man's own creativity to do the rest. He had made them strong and healthy, fully prepared for physical work with the ability to feel immense satisfaction at a job well done. As perfect creatures reflecting their Maker's qualities, they had no defects to prevent them from carrying out their assignment perfectly. If things had gone to plan, we would all be enjoying that paradise with them right now.
Unending life however, was to be enjoyed on the condition of their continued obedience....but there was a rebel in the camp!
For aeons of unknown time, one of God's magnificent spirit creatures was harboring ambitions that were out of harmony with his God assigned station. As a being who also possessed free will, no doubt this creature had thought long and hard about how he could move up the chain of command and even become a god himself. That is not something one can do when surrounded by beings of equal power. At best, all he could be was their leader. He already held a high station as a Cherub, but it was obviously not enough for him...he wanted more. (Ezek 28:12-14)
With the creation of lesser beings, this one saw his chance to fulfill his ambitions.
Who knows what he thought he could accomplish by his actions. Perhaps he underestimated that God would block access to the tree of life?
As a 'covering Cherub' in the garden, he was there sizing up the situation and waiting for an opportune time to make his move.
When the woman was alone he took the opportunity to plant seeds of doubt in the newer less experience member of the human race. (he still targets the weak and inexperienced) He knew that Adam had waited a long time for a mate of his own, so if he could get the woman to disobey the only command there was that carried a death penalty, he hoped he could get the man to follow her in rebellion. He figured right. Divide and conquer works!
It was stated that the woman was "thoroughly deceived" by the words of the serpent.....but Adam was not. It was through the man that sin entered into the world. (Rom 5:12) His decision was made as a wilfull and deliberate act of defiance.
Once the knowledge of good and evil was unleashed, there was no way to take it back. God stepped in immediately with a solution to redeem Adam's future children who would inherit the defect of sin and continue to pass it on indefinitely.
A seed would come to deliver a fatal death blow to the head of the serpent and undo all the evil that he had caused, but not until a heel wound had been inflicted by him. (Gen 3:15)
Time is a very important factor to understand in the outworking of God's purpose concerning the seed. The events in Eden were over 4,000 years ago. The appearance of the seed and the heel wound (Christ's death, from which he was resurrected) took place 2,000 years ago. Are we getting some idea of God's timeframe? He does not operate in earth time, but in universal time. Why? Because the original rebel was not human. He was an angel who operates in the same timeframe as the Creator and needs to be dealt with in that time.
In human years, it has been an extraordinarily LONG time, but in God's counting of time, (1,000 years as one day. 2 Pet 2:8) he basically gave the devil a week to prove that he was the better choice of ruler over the human race.
God's promise of a seed was later recorded by Moses and taught to Abraham's descendants who became God's nation. The seed of promise was to come through the tribe of Judah and he was to establish his kingdom on earth with a temple and a priesthood. He was to be a priest "in the manner of Melchizedek", who was both a king and a priest before the nation of Israel was formed. Once the tribal system was established, kings could only come from one tribe and priests from another, making it impossible for one to be both.
The idea of a promised earthly king, sent by God to rule over his people stayed with Israel right up until Christ came. But Jesus did not fit their ideas of a political ruler who would liberate Israel from Roman bondage and oppression and re-establish Israel as an independent nation once more. Jesus came as a gentle (weak from their perspective) prophet, giving sincere ones refreshment from the impossibly strict rules of the Pharisees and the fanatical political ideals and violence of the radicals. Jesus re-established the true way to serve God....spiritually. This is what the Jews had lost. They had become entangled in legalism and forgotten about love and mercy.
Jesus' disciples did not understand the spiritual true nature of his teachings until after his death. They still expected him to establish his kingdom on earth right up to the time when he returned to his Father. (Acts1:6)
It was not until Pentecost that holy spirit revealed the true spiritual nature of the kingdom. Jews had no notion of going to heaven...they expected to be rulers on earth with a physical temple and an earthly priesthood. It is what their scriptures had always taught them. But now things were taking on a whole new perspective. Paul called it a "sacred secret" which was gradually revealed by God's spirit, unfolding as time went on.
With their anointing came a desire they had never had before....the desire to leave their earthly home and go to heaven to be with their Lord. They were given a demonstration of the power of holy spirit to perform miracles, to heal the sick and even to raise the dead. Something that would take place on a grand scale in the new earth to come.
Now lets see what happened to twist everything up so that there are way too many interpretations of what it all means.
The Jews still await their Messiah, who has never come. Fleshly Israel is still waiting to be re-established in their homeland under the rule of the Messiah, the "Prince of Peace". But Israel in in a terrible state politically, at war with the Palestinians and trying to ally themselves with other nations for support as they have always done. God punished his ancient nation for doing this. Their condition is anything but peaceful.
Christians have completely missed the point of the kingdom, imagining that everyone has to go to heaven for some reason.
The original purpose of God never went away or got lost in the outworking. It has always remained the same. It is man who has messed it up.....with a little help from the adversary, whose main M O is confusion.
What Adam lost, (paradise on earth) will be given back by the sacrifice of the seed and the reconciling of sinful mankind back with their heavenly Father.
Christ came to choose the members of his 'cabinet' and form them into a perfect working model of the temple arrangement. He is the High Priest.
Each of the compartments in the earthly temple represented a heavenly part. Each of the positions and roles of the priests are represented in the role played by those chosen to be priests with Christ in his kingdom. They are a finite number (Rev 14:1,3) and the 12 apostles form the foundations of that spiritual heavenly temple arrangement.
No one went to heaven before Christ (John 3:13) so that means that all who died before Jesus opened the way to heaven, sleep in their graves awaiting the promised resurrection when Jesus will call them out of their tombs. (John 5:28, 29) The thief will be among them.
When Christ was enthroned as King (Dan 7:13, 14) the time came for the "first resurrection" to begin. (Rev 20:6) Members of his government would begin to take up their assigned positions in the kingdom arrangement.
It was also the time for satan to be evicted from heaven to the vicinity of the earth. This means increasing woes for mankind, which we are all experiencing right now. But the devil's time of rulership is almost over. His influence over the kingdoms of the world will be stripped away and "crushed" out of existence. God's rulership will be re-established over mankind forever. (Dan 2:44)
"New Jerusalem" is the kingdom, (the bride of Christ) with Jesus as king and his "joint-heirs" to assist him, and it is to have earthly subjects. (Rev 21:1-5; Rom 8:17)
Jesus will give us back what Adam lost for his children....unending life in paradise on earth, as it was meant to be in the beginning. :yes:
:sorry1: this was so long....
a day or so earlier you said the thief was getting a resurrection to Paradise and now you said he's going to heaven 