Did the thief on the cross go to Heaven or Paradise immediately after he died?
Many people assume that the thief crucified with Jesus in Luke 23 went to Heaven the day both he and Jesus died. But a closer consideration of the facts provides a more accurate conclusion.
First, let’s remember that the original manuscripts of the Bible were not written with punctuation, since the Hebrew and Greek languages did not contain commas, periods, or any other punctuation marks. So when the Bible was translated to English, the translators added punctuation where they felt it was necessary. That being said, consider the punctuation in the actual biblical text:
“And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:43
It’s a fact that the placement of a comma can make the difference in how you interpret or comprehend a message. So notice that the translators placed a comma after the word “you” and before the word “today.” The placement of this comma indicates that Jesus is telling the thief that on that very day they would be in Paradise (Heaven).
But the Lord and His Word never contradict each other. God clearly would not teach one thing throughout His Word and then say the opposite in another! Therefore, based on what the Bible harmoniously teaches about death, and that the dead know nothing and sleep in the grave until the Second Coming (Ecclesiastes 9:5–6, 10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16–18; 1 Corinthians 15:51–53), we can safely conclude that Luke 23:43 contains a punctuation error on the part of the translators. Notice what happens when the comma placement is changed (emphasis supplied):
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43
“Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43
By moving the comma after the word “today,” the statement is now in harmony with the rest of Scripture. Please note that there is no change to the inspired words! The words are inspired, not the punctuation. Therefore, by correcting the comma placement, we have not altered the inspired words.
With the newly corrected punctuation, the statement made by Jesus is in harmony with the rest of Scripture. Jesus was simply declaring to the thief, on that day, that he would be in Paradise. When would this take place? When he is resurrected at the Second Coming to forever be with Christ in Paradise.
Another question we must ask is, did Christ, Himself, go to Heaven immediately after He died on the Cross? Based on John 20:17, we know that Jesus actually rested in the grave until the third day and did not ascend to Heaven until Resurrection Sunday. This is more evidence to support that Jesus did not intend to take the thief to Heaven immediately after he died, since He, Himself, didn’t go to Heaven upon death.