Heaven Appears Hell!

The day Jesus, our Lord, died still remains fresh in my memory. Although all the other disciples fled, I remained there. Something held me there. Perhaps it was my love for Him. I was very young, and He always had a tender heart for me. The sight of my master being tortured was heartbreaking to me. Even more heartbreaking was the sight of His mother utterly heart-broken. What mother in the world can bear the sight of her own son tortured like a mad dog? The master entrusted His mother to me. “Here is your mother” he told me. He was asking His own mother to see me in His place.  

The one incident I vividly remember is the conversation between the thieves who were crucified at the left and right of the master. It was hard to listen and even harder to understand what they said. The one at the left accused Jesus. He thought that our Lord deserved His punishment. He started talking somewhat as follows:

“Jesus, you are a cheat. You cheated the entire nation. Although you are not a man of God, you pretended to be one. If you were a man of God, you would not be lying on the cross like us.  The people who blindly followed you are just foolish. Finally, someone could uncover your treachery.  No one can cheat all people forever.”

Thus he justified the punishment of Jesus, but he thought his own punishment was not justifiable. He claimed that he was innocent. He said,

“It is true that I have done some minor theft and all, but that was all for keeping myself from starving to death. I feel so furious that I, an innocent man, am being crucified along with Jesus, such a big cheat who cheated the entire nation.  I am seriously doubtful if the one who sits up there in heaven is just. Although He sees all these injustice, He remains there pretending to be blind.”

Thus even God was unjust in his eyes.  

Listening to all these, the man on the right side started speaking. He offered to answer his question if God was unjust. He began refuting the argument of the other one that he was punished unjustifiably. He said,

“Look, we have been thieves. Instead of living by our own effort and sweat, we lived off of the sweat of other people.  We robbed and killed innumerable people. We made countless innocent children orphans, and countless young women widows. We deserve even more punishment than this. Our bodies need to be thrown to the hungry vultures.”  

He continued his argument further, refuting what the other one said about Jesus. He said,

“Jesus, on the other hand, was someone who worked hard with his own hands. He lived on his own sweat.  He identified with all the people who had to work hard to make a living. However hard they tried, they found themselves in unseen chains. Jesus saw the sad plight of his fellow beings and was very much concerned about it. He received divine calling and power to lead a movement of people to liberate this land from darkness and evil. He healed the sick with a touch. The suffering, the poor and the needy were consoled and empowered by his words.  

“He stood with the so-called sinners as one among them. He told them that God loved them as they were. However, the people who claimed to be righteous hated Jesus. They couldn’t understand how someone like Jesus could be a friend to the sinners. Those “righteous” people were wolves disguised as shepherds. They have caught this man of God, and have nailed him on this wood!

“I have been blind, and I wasted away my life in darkness like you. But now I see the truth. I am being punished justly for what I have done.  

“He is goodness and righteousness in human form, and in him I see God, who does only what is good and right. Each time we do something evil, we nail our heavenly father to the cross.”

Thus he refuted what the other one said about God. According to the one on the left, God was sitting up there without managing the world as He should. God was being irresponsible and unjust. The one on the right claimed that God was not judging us, but was being judged by us, and this judging happens each time we do something evil.  

Finally, he turned to Jesus, and said, “Jesus, Lord, the victory of darkness is temporary, but the victory of light is ultimate. When light wins over darkness, you will be honored. My eyes would love to see that day.”

Jesus was listening to their conversation. Obviously, he was glad to hear what the one on the right said. He turned his head toward him and said, “My dear brother, I heard whatever you said. Know that the heaven is joyful for you!   I will see you again in the other world today, which is a world of goodness. However, it is sad that even heaven will appear a hell to those who see the good as evil!”

How sad it is, as my master said, that people live all their life in darkness without seeing the truth! Light appears darkness to them, and good appears evil to them! They are unable to see anything good, and they are unable to do anything good either. 

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