Nor did the thief's question suggest such a thought. His faith grasped
Christ's resurrection, the resurrection of His children, and the coming
kingdom; and that day on the cross, in the moment of the deepest
humiliation of the Son of God, the repentant sinner cried, "Lord,
remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." And the Saviour replied,
"Verily I say unto thee today"--this day, when the world scoffs and the
darkness presses upon Me, this day I say it--"shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise." Luke 23:42, 43.
The punctuation that makes it read, "Today shalt thou be with Me in
Paradise," is not a part of the sacred text, and puts the Saviour's
promise in contradiction with the facts of the whole narrative and the
teaching of Scripture.
_4. The Rich Man and Lazarus_
"Then there is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus," one says,
"where Lazarus and Dives are talking, though dead--Lazarus in Abraham's
bosom and the rich man in torment."
But that is a parable; and no one can set the figures of a parable
against the facts of positive Scripture. In parables, lessons are often
taught by figurative language and imaginary scenes which could never be
real, though the lesson is emphasized the more forcefully.
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