Thank you for your recent telephone call and your question concerning Luke 23:43 and the conversation Jesus had with the “thief on the cross.”
Jesus said that the repentant malefactor would be with him in Paradise. If we can prove where Jesus went when he died, then we can prove whether the malefactor really went to Paradise that day.
Paul states: “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3‑4). Jesus was buried—it does not say his body was buried and that his soul went to Paradise. It reads that he—Jesus, himself—was buried. He was dead for three days and nights.
John gives further proof where Jesus was. “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre. . . . There”—in the tomb—the grave—“laid they Jesus” (John 19:41‑42). It was Jesus who was laid in the tomb, not merely his body. Jesus was dead.
Peter also refers to this: “He [the prophet David] seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption” (Acts 2:31 KJV). Jesus was not in Paradise; he was in hell. The word “hell” ought to be rendered “grave.” The original Greek word used here was hades, meaning the “grave.” It does not mean a fiery, burning hell. The Bible uses another word for that.
Hell or the grave is not Paradise. Since Jesus did not enter Paradise the day of the crucifixion, then neither did the malefactor enter it. Christ has “pre-eminence” in all things (Colossians 1:18). The malefactor, therefore, could not have preceded Christ to Paradise. Whenever the malefactor enters Paradise, Christ will be there too.
Some use 1 Peter 3:19‑20 as supposed proof that Jesus was alive when he was dead—that he preached to spirits in prison during the time he was in the grave asleep in death. But notice what these verses really say. Wicked angels who followed Satan are in chains of darkness, imprisoned for their own folly (Jude 6). When did Jesus preach to the imprisoned spirits? Read it: “. . . in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing” (1 Peter 3:20). Jesus preached to the wicked angels in the days of Noah, not during the time he was in the tomb.
Where is Paradise? Paul wrote of one who was given marvellous revelations from God. In a vision he was “caught up to the third heaven”—God’s throne. “He was caught up into PARADISE” (2 Corinthians 12:1‑5). Paradise is located in the presence of God’s throne.
The Bible further describes Paradise: “To him that over-cometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7, American Standard Version). Note that the tree of life is in the Paradise of God.
Revelation 22, verses 1 and 2 refer to “the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” In this city we find “a river of water of life . . . proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. . . . And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life” (American Standard Version). The new Jerusalem contains the tree of life. The Paradise of God is the new Jerusalem.
Jesus said the malefactor would be with him in this Paradise. The new Jerusalem is not yet finished. Jesus is still preparing a place for us in it (John 14:2). Not until after the Millennium will it be fully ready (Revelation 20:1‑5). Not until then will it descend to earth—not until then will the malefactor enter Paradise.
Then what did Jesus mean by saying, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise”? The thief’s plea was, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The plain fact is that Jesus has not yet come into his kingdom (Luke 11:2; 19:11; 1 Corinthians 11:26; 1 Thessalonians 4:13‑17; 1 Corinthians 15:23, 49‑52).
Also, most translations of Luke 23:43 are improperly punctuated. A comma placed before the word “today” is incorrect. Punctuation was not used in the Greek that Luke wrote. It was added centuries later. Here is, word for word, the order in the inspired original Greek: “Verily I say to thee today, `With me shalt thou be in the Paradise.’” Jesus stressed the time of his promise—not the time he would be in Paradise.
The malefactor is still dead and buried. Jesus alone is the firstborn from the dead (Romans 8:29; Acts 26:23; 1 Corinthians 15:23). But the time is coming when this man shall be resurrected also and eventually shall enter the Paradise of God along with all the other saints to be with Christ.