Jesus said to the repentant malefactor crucified with Him, "Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." This statement has been misunderstood by many to mean that the thief would be with Him in Paradise on that very day. However, since Jesus was buried and remained in the grave for three days and three nights, as He Himself declared, He could not have been in Paradise on the day of the crucifixion. The malefactor, therefore, could not have entered Paradise that day either, for Christ has preeminence in all things and would not be preceded by another. Whenever the repentant malefactor enters Paradise, Christ will be there too, as He promised. Paradise is located in the presence of God's throne, in the third heaven, and is associated with the New Jerusalem, which contains the tree of life. This city is not yet complete, as Jesus is still preparing a place for us, and it will not descend to earth until after the Millennium. Thus, the malefactor has not yet entered Paradise. The correct understanding of Jesus' words emphasizes the time of His promise, not the time of entering Paradise. The repentant malefactor remains dead and buried, awaiting the resurrection when he will eventually enter the Paradise of God with Christ.

In Luke 23:43, Jesus tells one of the criminals crucified next to Him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." The common interpretation is that Jesus promises the criminal he would be with Him in Paradise, assumed to be heaven, later that day after both had died. However, Jesus gave only one sign of His identity: that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights. If Jesus was not in the grave for three days and three nights, He is not our Savior. Since He was telling the truth, He must have been in the grave for exactly three days and three nights, thus He could not have been in Paradise that day. Following this through, if He was not in Paradise on the day He died, neither was the criminal hanging next to Him. The apostle Paul corroborates that Jesus fulfilled His prophecy in I Corinthians 15:3-4, stating that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Paul says Jesus was buried, not that His consciousness went to Paradise. John provides further proof in John 19:41-42, stating that Jesus was laid in a new tomb in a garden. Similarly, Peter in Acts 2:31 states that Jesus' body and soul were in Hades, not in Paradise. Jesus Himself confirms He was not simultaneously in the grave and in Paradise when He tells Mary Magdalene in John 20:17 that He had not yet ascended to His Father. Nevertheless, the time is coming when the repentant criminal will eventually enter the Paradise of God promised to come to this earth. The Greek word translated as Paradise, used only three times in the New Testament, means park or garden, describing an Eden-like setting and indicating the presence of God's throne. This is seen in II Corinthians 12:1-5, where Paul relates a vision of being caught up to the third heaven, into Paradise. Revelation 2:7 mentions Paradise as the location of the Tree of Life, and Revelation 22:1-2 describes a river of water of life and the Tree of Life in the context of a new heaven and a new earth, with the New Jerusalem descending and containing God's throne. This will be Paradise, and the repentant criminal will be there with Jesus Christ.

If the thief on the cross lived again the day that he was crucified, ascending to heaven, he would have gone there without Jesus Christ and been a jarring exception to the Bible's clear statements about when the resurrection takes place. The thief on the cross could not have been made perfect or resurrected with an incorruptible spirit body ahead of all of the saints of God, nor could he have been made perfect before Christ. Much of the misunderstanding of this verse stems from the placement of the comma. Modern translations predominately place a comma after the word you, giving the impression that the remaining phrase, "today you will be with Me in Paradise," means that the criminal to whom Jesus was speaking would be with Him in Paradise later that day. However, without punctuation, Luke 23:43 reads, "And Jesus said to him assuredly I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise." If He indeed had meant that the criminal would be in Paradise with Him that very day, He would have contradicted Himself and the Bible on numerous accounts. This apparent dilemma is easily resolved if the comma is placed after the word today. Properly punctuated, Luke 23:43 reads, "And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.'"

The criminal crucified beside Jesus did not go to Paradise on the day of his death. The spirits of both Jesus and the criminal returned to God the Father, as do the spirits of all people. However, their consciousness ended at death, meaning their complete persons were not with the Father. Jesus committed His spirit to the Father, yet He told Mary after His resurrection that He had not yet ascended to His Father. Death is a definite stopping point where consciousness and experience do not continue. The dead do not praise the Lord nor do they have any consciousness or awareness in the grave. The human spirit does not have consciousness inherent within it and depends on a living body for consciousness. Even though the spirits of the dead return to the Father, Jesus stated that no one has ascended into heaven, indicating that the spirit is not the entire person but a component that has no consciousness without a body.

In Luke 23:43, Jesus Christ speaks to the criminal crucified beside Him, using the phrase "Assuredly, I say to you today, you shall be with Me in Paradise," adding solemn emphasis to His promise that the criminal would be with Him in His Kingdom on earth at some point. This encounter, unique to Luke's gospel, reflects Luke's focus on Christ's humanity, portraying Him as the universal Man who relates to all people. Despite the criminal's status as a common thug caught in crime against the state, Jesus does not reject him but recognizes his faith in the coming Kingdom and in Jesus' resurrection from death. The criminal understands that Jesus would remember him upon His return, implying his own resurrection, and Jesus assures him of future life in Paradise. Luke highlights Christ's willingness, even in His final moments, to offer comfort and encouragement to the man dying next to Him. The use of the idiom "today" in Jesus' statement underscores the gravity and universality of His promise, extending beyond the criminal to all who have not turned away.