what did Jesus mean when He told the thief on the cross, "today you will be with Me in paradise"?

Question

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, so what does He mean when He told the thief, "today, you will be with Me in paradise"? Jesus did not ascend to heaven on that same day, right? so what do you think that place He referred to as paradise must be?

Answer 1

Paradise was a compartment reserved for those who died under obedience to the Old Testament sacrificial system until Christ came. Christ descended into this compartment after His death and "led captivity captive." Meaning his sacrifice fulfilled all the Old Testament sacrifices. So those who were held "captive" in paradise were now free to go to the Father in the place we call heaven. Some of these spirits in transition were seen walking the streets of Jerusalem.

Answer 2

these passage is found in Luke 23:43 "Assuredly, I say to you, today you Willl be with Me in Paradise." When the Gospels were first written, there was no punctuation in the original Greek. The writer did not mean to put any commas because there were no commas back then. Translators, however, how to figure out where to place the commas. How do we know that that commas belongs there. See the difference it makes when you move the comma. "Assuredly, I say to you today, you wil be with Me in Paradise''. You gotta read each passage of the Bible with the whole context of the Bible. Like you say Jesus did not go to heaven that same day. He ascended to heaven some time later. What he meant here is that He has telling the thief that same day, that he will go to heaven some time later. Did you know that people don't go to heaven or hell right after they died. Read these passages in your Bible. Acts 2:34. It talks about David not being in heaven right now. Remember, David was a good man. Jesus also calls death a sleep when he rises Lazarus.

Commas do make a big difference.

Take a look at this:
Women without her men, are nothing.
But now if we move the comma:
Women, without her men are nothing.
If the people all ready went to heaven why is ther a reserection?

Answer 3

The thief wouldn't be with Jesus in heaven. Jesus said prior that those that would go to heaven would have to be "born again" [John 3:5]. There is nothing to indicate that the criminal besides him on the tree had been born again. Jesus didn't mean that the criminal that very day would be with him in Paradise. Jesus in the future would be King of God's heavenly government and that criminal would receive a resurrection [ Acts 24:15 ] and have an opportunity to live on the earth that will eventually become a paradise.

Answer 4

Since Jesus said he had not been to see the father yet, you can rule out heaven.

I think you need to look at the parable about the rich man and Lazarus to get some background.
Lazarus was a beggar that was laid at the gate of the rich man.
Lazarus died.
The rich man also died, and was buried, and his Spirit went to Hades.
Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom, I believe this is what is called Paradise.
It was apparently next to Hades.
The rich man is able to see Lazarus and to talk to him.
He cries out to Abraham to send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and touch the rich man's tongue.
The story continues, but that is the background to which Jesus is speaking.

In 1Peter 3:18-20;
18 ¶ For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

When Jesus died on the cross, before his body was even put in a grave, Jesus went to the prison [fulakh] where those who died in the days of Noah were kept.

I believe this is the same place that the rich man went that was called Hades, and outside the cage [fulakh] is Abraham's bosom the place that Jesus said the thief would be with him.

Jesus went into Abraham's bosom, and then stepped into the cage where those who died during the flood were kept.

grace2u

Answer 5

On that day the repentant thief died. All activity stopped. Someday in the future when Jesus resurrects him, it will seem like the same day because activity will pick back up again. There is no time between death and life. To the thief he will have to because the ransom had not been paid. be told what has happened. He rose that day to paradise earth. Not heaven because Jesus was 43 days before he entered heaven. Then he had to set at the right hand side of his father until he has placed all his enemies at his feet. Jesus is now ruling in his Kingdom and soon the thief will be back to earth to continue his day. No one went to heaven before Jesus called these chosen ones up after his areignment as King. No one that died before Jesus got to heaven will be in heaven because the ransom had not been paid yet. They will be back on earth to serve God as Princes on the earth.

Answer 6

Paradise is "yonder Paradise", the ever glowing seraphic place past the nearby hills of your soul. It is a place that you never can reach unless you actually have gained your access to it, unless you have reached it. Paradise is the place for you where you are exposed to the ever glowing glory of God's nearness.

Jesus said to the thief, "today you will be with Me in paradise", because the thief had got the honor of having to share a torture to death together with Jesus. In that terminal suffering circumstance on Earth the thief was a terminal comrade to Jesus, therefore it is quite understandable that Jesus wanted to take that thief with him in Paradise. I would have promised the same, I dare guess.

Jesus could simultaneously be on Earth and in Paradise because he ... was Jesus. His presence on Earth and in the dead world could be physically visible and limited or invisible and unlimited, and so the whole way round, because here it is Jesus you are talking about.

Jesus did indeed ascend to Heaven on that same day - in fact he was both "here" on Earth in a sepulcher, and "there" in yonder Heaven, and anyway he was also with the dead until the third day. Efter having resurrected Jesus is reported to have been physically on Earth for some time and to have shown Himself to some people. Then He is reported to have ascended to Heaven definitely. Anyway, by His powers Jesus can always be both her on Earth and there in yonder Paradise and be visible or invisible at both places. His holy presence here on this Earth has a life of its own. His presence has lived and has grown thru a couple of millennia now, and we never know whether it wil grow old and eventually die or live for ever and ever in the centuries and millennia. There is a sort of holy transcendental meaning behind all this that we are not able to grasp, not yet, maybe never.

Answer 7

paradise doesn't necessarily mean heaven. it could be purgatory, because Jesus, after he rose from the dead, He stayed on earth for 40 days before he ascended into Heaven. of course, Jesus is God and everything is possible with Him, but why didn't He tell the thief, "today you will be with Me in Heaven with my Father", instead of, "today, you will be with me in Paradise"? Jesus descended unto the dead and on the third day He rose again. people who are in heaven are not considered dead by God, so where did Jesus descended before He rose on the third day? unto the dead. that explains everything. Paradise is not the same as Heaven.

Answer 8

that's an interesting question because to answer that honestly you have to look at how the scriptures where written . the originally without punctuation or vowels, so depending on where the comma is put it can lead to to different answers. one interpretation of the bible says Truly i say to you. today you will be with me in paradise means right now at that moment. another version is truly i say to you today, you will Be with me in Paradise. it refers to a future event, the Paradise that Jesus was referring to at that time had to be the same place that Abraham,Isaac, and king David all looked for, and it had to be here on this earth. Why do i say that, that's because until Jesus died he had not fulfilled the requirement set out buy god in chapter three of the first book of the bible. uni ll Jesus died there was no heavenly hope, because the ransom had not been paid.

Answer 9

Paradise... Where was the original Paradise? It was here on earth, and the original home of Adam and Eve. Now that paradise was lost when our first parents sinned. Therefore, when Jesus said to the thief "you will be with me in paradise" he meant that thief will be resurrected here on earth when Paradise is
re-stored under Jesus' rule. (In a sense being with him in Paradise)

Answer 10

Jesus was God; God was in Heaven.

heh. Remember also that Jesus died and resurrected... in 3 days. That leaves 3 days for paradise. Then he came back to Earth for a while, promised the Holy Spirit, and ascended into heaven.

Only God can say that 1+1+1=1, and only God can be in two different places at once.

It's pretty cool.