Jesus Told a Lie?

Did you see the Blood Moon in July?...

We here in the UK were not able to see it because of the cloud cover. So did it happen? People around the world said they saw it. We read about it in the newspapers, saw it on TV. We believe it happened because other people said it did.

What about does God exist?  We haven't seen God, so does He exist? We also have to trust the words of those people who say God does exist. We get their words from the Bible.  Can we trust the Bible?

God caused the Bible to be written, but has man written it down correctly. There are many different translations of the Bible. Are they word perfect in saying what God meant?  If they are then JESUS TOLD A LIE.

Jesus did not lie, so how can we explain this? Lets look at the lie.    

When Jesus was being crucified, the thief on the cross said to Jesus Luke 23:42-43“Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom” And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." So did Jesus and the thief go to heaven when they died that day? If they did, then Jesus told a lie to Mary Magdalene 3 days later.

When Mary went to the tomb 3 days after the crucifixion, she found the tomb empty. Seeing someone she thought was the gardener, she asked him where the body of Jesus was. This person was Jesus, and he said to her. John 20:17"Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

This was 3 days after Jesus had told the thief, “today you will be with me in paradise”. So did Jesus tell a lie to one of them?

Lets look at what was said and see if we can solve this problem. If we move the comma in the promise to the thief it now becomes “I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise”,or to paraphrase it, “I'm telling you now, you will be with me in paradise”. That puts a different twist to the reply to the thief.

So Jesus did not tell a lie, the translators got it wrong. When Jesus spoke to Mary he was telling the truth. He had not gone to heaven. Indeed he did not go to heaven until 40 days after the crucifixion. We are told in Acts 1:9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." What the Angels (the two men on white robes were Angels) said that Jesus would come again. Why should Jesus come down from heaven back to the earth? To set up God's Kingdom on Earth. Then Jesus will fulfil his promise to the thief. He will be with Jesus in paradise, here on earth.

There are no verses in the New Testament that say people will go to heaven when they die, but there are almost 300 verses that say the Kingdom will be on Earth.

 1 Thess 4:16  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

This is when the thief, and you, if you are willing to receive Jesus, will be in God's kingdom, here on earth.

Wardley Christadelphians hold a Bible hour every Sunday at 5:45 to help you to Understand the Bible. A Bible class every Thursday at 7:45 to help you Study the Bible, and a coffee morning every Thursday morning at 10:30 to Discuss the Bible.

Please feel free to come to any or all of these. You are most welcome.

You can find out about the Wardley Christadelphians on their Website Just type in Wardley Christadelphians

The Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version  (ESV)