“ ‘Today . . . With Me in Paradise’ ”

One of the Bible passages most widely used to try to prove the immor-

tality of the soul is Luke 23:43—“He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you

will be with me in Paradise’ ” (NRSV). Almost all Bible versions (with

few exceptions) translate this text in a similar way, giving the impression

that on the very day Christ died, Christ and the thief would be together

in Paradise. This should not surprise us because those translations were

made by biblical scholars who believe in the dogma of the natural

immortality of the soul. But is this the best translation of the text?

Compare Luke 23:43 with John 20:17 and John 14:1–3. How should

the promise to the repentant thief on the cross be understood in

light of Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene and His promise to His

disciples?

The assumption that Christ and the thief went on that same day to

Paradise (or heaven) contradicts Jesus’ words to Mary Magdalene after

His resurrection, which affirm that He had not yet gone to the presence

of His Father in heaven (John 20:17). This error, that both Jesus and the

repentant thief went to heaven that day, also contradicts Jesus’ promise

to His disciples that they would be taken to heaven only at His second

coming (John 14:1–3).

The issue in Luke 23:43 is whether the adverb “today” (Greek

sēmeron) should be linked to the verb that follows it (“to be”) or to the

verb that precedes it (“to tell”). Wilson Paroschi recognizes that “from

the grammatical standpoint,” it is virtually impossible to determine the

correct alternative. “Luke, however, has a definite tendency of using this

adverb with the preceding verb. This happens in 14 of the 20 occurrences

of sēmeron in Luke and Acts.”—“The Significance of a Comma: An

Analysis of Luke 23:43,” Ministry, June 2013, p. 7.

So, the most natural reading of Luke 23:43 would be “Truly I tell

you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” In this case, the idiomatic

expression “I tell you today” emphasizes the relevance and solemnity

of the statement “you will be with Me in Paradise.” In short, Jesus was

promising him, right then and there, that he would be saved.

Read the story of the repentant thief (Luke 23:39–43), who,

despite his sin, despite the fact that he had nothing to offer God,

was promised eternal life by Christ. How does this story power-

fully reveal the great truth of salvation by faith alone? In what

ways are we just like that thief? In what ways do we differ?