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Earth Not Heaven Paradise Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.—Luke 23:43, KJV Michael Nekora Most translators agree about how to translate this text from Greek into English, though not all. Even Benjamin Wilson in his Emphatic Diaglott, gives it the sense contained in the words used in the King James Version. They have done this in spite of the implications of three important questions:
1. Did Jesus go to paradise that day?
2. Did Jesus go to hell that day?
3. Did the thief obtain salvation simply because he
asked Jesus to “remember” him? In the Emphatic Diaglott the Greek text is printed in the left column with English words under each Greek word; a readable English translation appears in the right column. While modern published editions of the Greek text do contain punctuation, the original Greek text not only lacked punctuation, it also had no spaces between words and used only capital letters. Thus a literal translation taken from the left column of the Emphatic Diaglott might look like this if it appeared as the original Greek: ANDSAIDTOHIMTHEJESUSINDEEDISAYTOTHEETODAYWITHMETHOUSHALTBEINTHEPARADISE When we see letters run together like this, it helps us appreciate how much written communication has benefitted by the introduction of punctuation, spaces between words, and lowercase letters. It also makes us appreciate some of the difficulties and potential ambiguities involved in deciding at what point one thought ends and another begins in the original Greek text of the New Testament. Experts in the Greek language do not agree among themselves in every case. The Companion Bible makes this observation about the early Greek manuscripts: “Punctuation as we have it today is entirely absent [from the extant Greek manuscripts]. … The text reads on without any divisions between letters or words until MSS. of the ninth century, when … there is seen for the first time a single point which separates each word. … None of our modern marks of punctuation are found until the ninth century, and then only in Latin versions and some cursives. From this it will be seen that the punctuation of all modern editions of the Greek text, and of all versions made from it, rests entirely on human authority, and has no weight whatever in determining or even influencing the interpretation of a single passage. This refers also to the employment of capital letters, and to all the modern literary refinements of the present day.”1 The meaning of Jesus’ words can be changed significantly depending upon the punctuation. Notice how differently these words sound in the Rotherham translation: “And he said unto him—Verily I say unto thee this day: With me shalt thou be in Paradise.” In English the words spoken by someone are placed in quotation marks. The Greek hoti (Strong’s #3754, often translated “that”), performs a similar function. When present in Greek, it introduces a direct quotation. For example, when Jesus came to Zacchaeus’ home, we read: “And Jesus said unto him that [Greek: hoti, but the word does not appear in the KJV] this day is salvation come to this house” (Luke 19:9). Clearly Jesus meant the day he entered the house. Because hoti is absent in Luke 23:43, the meaning is ambiguous and a translator must decide how to render it: 1) either Jesus told the thief he would be in paradise with him that day, or 2) “today” is used for emphasis or solemnity, and the promise would be fulfilled at a future time. In commenting upon the King James translation of Luke 23:43, the Companion Bible agrees with the Rotherham rendering and picks option two. It says “today” is a Hebrew expression and cites Deuteronomy 4:26 as an example: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.” (This expression occurs forty-two times in Deuteronomy alone.) Thus the word semeron (Strong’s #4594, translated “today” eighteen times and “this day” twenty times in the KJV) gave Jesus’ words a gravity and solemnity, as did the word “verily” which means “amen” or “so be it.” Jesus was replying to the thief’s request: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The thief was thinking about a future “coming” and a future “kingdom.” He knew they were all going to die that day. Jesus told him he would be “remembered” when his kingdom became a reality. Paradise Where is paradise? It is not heaven, and the thief certainly would not think Jesus was referring to heaven. Such a belief formed no part of Jewish thought or teaching. Some Jews believed in a resurrection from the dead and some did not: “The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both” (Acts 23:8). The Bible does not tell us how the Sadducees explained why their ancient writings frequently referred to kings, even evil ones, as “sleeping” when they died (see 1 Kings 22:40 where Ahab “slept with his fathers”). The verb “to sleep” in this context makes complete sense only if there is to be a future awakening. There is an even more crucial objection to thinking paradise means heaven. One obtains a heavenly body in the resurrection only if one has first been begotten by the holy spirit (1 Peter 1:3,4). At the time Jesus spoke the words in this text, he was the only one who had been begotten of the spirit (Matthew 3:16,17; John 7:39; Acts 1:5,8; cf., Acts 2:4). Spirit begettal must precede spirit birth (1 Corinthians 15:47-50). As Jesus explained to Nicodemus, one must be “born again” to see the kingdom of God (John 3:3,5) and that certainly had not happened to the penitent thief. The Greek word paradeisos (Strong’s #3857) comes from the Hebrew word pardace (Strong’s #6508), a word meaning “park” and translated either forest or orchard in the Old Testament. Strong’s says paradeisos means an “Eden (a place of future happiness).” The Greek word appears in these two other places: “How that he [Paul] was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”—2 Corinthians 12:4 “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” —Revelation 2:7 The reference to the “tree of life” calls to mind the original Eden: “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden” (Genesis 2:9). The Bible begins with a description of “Paradise Lost” and ends with the certainty of a future “Paradise Restored” for those willing to accept the conditions associated with its righteous administration: “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. … And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:1, 2,17). We can best understand what paradise is if we picture before our mental vision what the first earthly paradise, the Garden of Eden, was like. Adam and Eve enjoyed life with absolutely no physical, mental, or moral sickness of any kind. The brute creation co-existed with mankind with no fear on either side. The earth brought forth its increase abundantly with little effort required to make it happen. Man and woman enjoyed daily communication with their creator (Genesis 3:8). And best of all, there was no death. This halcyon environment was perfectly suited in every respect for the human race. In fact God himself pronounced it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). This is the paradise condition that will be restored on this planet when God’s plan reaches fruition, namely the blessing of all the families of the earth (Ezekiel 36:35,36; Isaiah 35:1,2). The penitent thief will be there, in fact both thieves will be raised to life in the resurrection (Acts 24:15). Jesus did not speak to the second thief about his future because he did not ask, and he showed no faith. However, neither did Jesus condemn the second thief. In the coming resurrection the Roman soldiers will be there too, along with the bloodthirsty scribes and pharisees who prized their own status and authority and would do anything to keep it. They will all be in “paradise” not because they did or said something that awarded it to them as a prize, but because Jesus laid down his life as a ransom for all: “Who [Christ Jesus] gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:6). “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22; cf., Romans 5:18). However, the heart attitude shown by the penitent thief indicates that he will quickly conform to the principles of the kingdom and be especially blessed and likely to attain everlasting life with the others who are obedient. Death-bed Repentance Luke 23:43 does not teach that one can do whatever he pleases during life because salvation is assured if there be repentance on one’s “death bed.” The facts speak otherwise: 1. The thief did not go to Paradise that day; he died and remains asleep in death awaiting the resurrection. 2. Jesus Christ did not go to Paradise that day; he died, and was resurrected two days later. 3. Paradise, in the sense of a restored Eden, did not exist then, and does not exist today. 4. The whole earth will become Paradise (Eden restored) in Christ’s kingdom which, although imminent, is still future. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”—Revelation 21:3-5 How wonderful is this great plan God has formulated for blessing the entire world of mankind in the kingdom (Ezekiel 34:26).
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