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Demas
Hi every body,at these good days I wanna speak about Demas .
and I wanna thank my dear friend Peter for help me at the translation God be with him.
Demas
Barabas, Demas, and Justace-Amachos…These were the names of the sinful thieves amongst whom Jesus was numbered. He was crucified with the later two instead of Barabas. Jesus was crucified with Dimas on His right and Justace-Amachos on His left. In the beginning of the scene, we see blasphemy and damnation from both Demas and Justace, as told by Mark the Evangelist, “And those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32). But suddenly the event took a whole new path. Demas was shocked to hear Christ say “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:31). What is this immeasurable amount of love from You on the cross? You ask for their forgiveness as they are crucifying You? Instantly, Demas began to sense the greatness of the One crucified with him. In the meantime, Justace was blaspheming Jesus saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). What is this cruelty Justace? Do you only care about escaping from the cross, don’t you think of escaping hell? Where you will end up? Didn’t you think of the One crucified whom you reviled and mocked? Didn’t you think of the injustice and insults against this innocent Man? At this point, we observe Demas sensing Justace’s cruelty and he rebuked him saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40). Then Demas looked to Christ and the two had the greatest silent conversation and discussion by exchanging looks until Demas believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ and ended the conversation with his great saying, “Remember me O Lord when You come into Your kingdom”. And this was the first request from Demas, obeying the commandment he had never heard: “Ask first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you”. And here we see Demas as a great example for resisting hopelessness. O Demas, you did not despair against death and you understood the message of Christ to you and gained the kingdom in the last moment of your life and became the first to enter paradise, so remember us before the divine throne, o you who stole the kingdom of heaven. And now, my friend, are you Demas or Justace-Amachos?
God bless.
and I wanna thank my dear friend Peter for help me at the translation God be with him.
Demas
Barabas, Demas, and Justace-Amachos…These were the names of the sinful thieves amongst whom Jesus was numbered. He was crucified with the later two instead of Barabas. Jesus was crucified with Dimas on His right and Justace-Amachos on His left. In the beginning of the scene, we see blasphemy and damnation from both Demas and Justace, as told by Mark the Evangelist, “And those who were crucified with Him reviled Him” (Mark 15:32). But suddenly the event took a whole new path. Demas was shocked to hear Christ say “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:31). What is this immeasurable amount of love from You on the cross? You ask for their forgiveness as they are crucifying You? Instantly, Demas began to sense the greatness of the One crucified with him. In the meantime, Justace was blaspheming Jesus saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). What is this cruelty Justace? Do you only care about escaping from the cross, don’t you think of escaping hell? Where you will end up? Didn’t you think of the One crucified whom you reviled and mocked? Didn’t you think of the injustice and insults against this innocent Man? At this point, we observe Demas sensing Justace’s cruelty and he rebuked him saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:40). Then Demas looked to Christ and the two had the greatest silent conversation and discussion by exchanging looks until Demas believed in the divinity of Jesus Christ and ended the conversation with his great saying, “Remember me O Lord when You come into Your kingdom”. And this was the first request from Demas, obeying the commandment he had never heard: “Ask first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you”. And here we see Demas as a great example for resisting hopelessness. O Demas, you did not despair against death and you understood the message of Christ to you and gained the kingdom in the last moment of your life and became the first to enter paradise, so remember us before the divine throne, o you who stole the kingdom of heaven. And now, my friend, are you Demas or Justace-Amachos?
God bless.
Comments
--That just strike me as odd. :o
I guess I get what you're saying, but I don't think it is said in an "in your face" sort of way. I mean, I don't think we are holding it against him that he was a thief. Rather, as emprocious pointed out, he is there to show us that it is never too late to turn to Christ. Even if you do so sincerely at you dying breathe, to Christ that still counts. Calling him a thief is not to "make fun" of him, but also to remind us of who we are. The same applies to St.Moses the Black, we say black not only because he was dark skinned but because his life before God was very "dark".
Cheers,
Fadi
The reason we still call Demas a thief is not because he lived is life as a thief, but rather in the last seconds of his life, he stole the kingdom of God. By saying stole I don't mean robbed but rather, "khatafha". By calling him a thief we are actually not despising him but remembering his great ability to follow the commandment he never heard through the grace of God.