What Did Jesus Promise The Thief?
A comma, a late addition to the Greek text, introduced by a medieval scribe in an obscure scriptorium provides half of the scriptural support for endtime disciples believing that they will immediately go to heaven upon death. But the textual logic imbedded throughout Scripture will not have a thief preceding Jesus into heaven. So a popular passage must be read without the punctuation that was added to help “clarify” meaning.
All of humanity is represented at Calvary in the three individuals crucified on the Preparation day for Passover in the 31st year of this Common Era (an argument can be made for it being 30 CE instead of 31). On either side of Jesus was a lawbreaker, one of whom blasphemed Christ, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39). This criminal wanted down from the cross before he died; he wanted to save his physical life. He did not really believe that Jesus was the Christ, hence his mocking question. And he received nothing from Jesus, not even an acknowledgement of his existence.
The second thief was more honorable than the first to speak: he rebuked the other, for he believed that Jesus was the Christ. He asked the first if the first did not fear God, and he acknowledged that the two criminals were worthy of death, that they were receiving their just due for their transgressions of the law. But he said that Jesus had done nothing wrong. He then turned to Jesus and said, as Luke recorded the account in a literal transcription: “And he said to Jesus, Remember me, Lord, when you come in the kingdom of you” (Luke 23:42).
Jesus heard this second criminal acknowledge his own transgressions of the law and that the law is good, and Jesus heard this second criminal acknowledge Him as God and express belief that He would be resurrected back to life to receive the kingdom of heaven. Thus, Jesus tells this second criminal that he will receive everlasting life: “And said to him Jesus, Truly I say to you[,] today with me you will be in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
The problematic comma is bracketed. Again, this comma is not in the earliest manuscripts that do not have punctuation, accents, or even the letters broken into words. And if it were placed on the other side of “today” the statement Jesus made would read, I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise, which now agrees with the fact that Jesus would not “that day” be in paradise, but would be dead and buried in the Garden Tomb. Jesus does not ascend to heaven until the morning of the fourth day (John 20:17); so it is textually impossible for this criminal to be in paradise with Jesus the day of their crucifixion.
An overlooked detail? By the majority of Christendom, yes!
Jesus said that He would give one sign concerning His identity: ‘“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” (Matt 12:40). Jesus and the two criminals were crucified on the Preparation Day for the high Sabbath (John 19:31). The high Sabbath was the 15th of Abib (Lev 23:5-7), with the Passover lamb to be sacrificed at even between the 14th and the 15th. The Pharisees in 1st-Century Judea reckoned between the evenings to mean 3:00 pm in the afternoon. Jesus died about 3:00 pm (Matt 27:45-50) on the 14th. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus from the cross and at dusk, placed it in the Garden Tomb (John 19:38-42). So by Jesus’ words, the count of the three days and three nights begins with the high Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Abib. Jesus is in the heart of the earth all of the 15th, all of the 16th, and all of the 17th, the weekly Sabbath. Then at the beginning of the 18th, the first day of the week, He is resurrected, and He is gone before daybreak (John 20:1). Thus, Jesus was crucified on Wednesday the 14th of Abib. He had entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Abib, the weekly Sabbath, when the Passover lambs were selected. He entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath as both the selected Passover Lamb for the household of God, and as the future high priest of Israel. He was cutoff mid week as prophesied (both mid calendar week and in the middle of seven years of ministry), and fulfilled the only sign He gave as proof that He was of God. He was three days and threes nights in the heart of the heart, and He had not ascended to heaven prior to when Mary Magdalene saw Him the morning of the first day of the week. Therefore, the criminal could not be with Jesus in paradise on the 14th of Abib.
Heaven is timeless. From the perspective of the heavenly realm, everything that happens occurs on the same day. So if an argument is made that “today” references the unchanging moment that would be “the present” in the heavenly realm, then not only would Jesus ascend to His God and Father today but the resurrection of disciples upon Jesus’ return two millennia later would also be today, the same day. Thus, confining the narrative perspective to within time, the criminal to whom Jesus promised everlasting life did not ascend into heaven on the 14th of Abib, the day when Jesus promised that he would be with Jesus in paradise; for Jesus did not ascend to paradise that day. The comma is misplaced.
The cross kills by suffocation (and by shock as modern research has shown). A crucified person loses his or her breath; thus, the cross serves as a representative for all means of death from loss of breath. It is the apt symbol representing death. Therefore, being raised up on the cross symbolizes short term life after death, for a person doesn’t immediately die when crucified. As such, the two criminals live after they are dead in a symbolic sense. Once raised on a cross no one was going to come down alive. Death was declared when the person was raised up. So the two criminals serve as lively shadows for all who will appear before God in the great White Throne Judgment, when every person who has not previously been born of Spirit will receive “a second birth” through resurrection from death. And as the first thief mocked Christ, many who are returned to life will want to save their physical lives. Some will acknowledge that they were worthy of death and will be like the second thief—and it will be this latter group that will receive everlasting life when resurrected in the great White Throne Judgment. It will take no longer for those who are returned to life to determine their fate than it took for the two thieves.
A misplaced comma did not send the second criminal into heaven on the 14th of Abib 31 CE. He is not there yet from the perspective of being within time, for no one will precede another except for the man Jesus who came down from heaven. All who have received the promise of eternal life, and all who have been born of Spirit will be resurrected upon Christ Jesus’ return (1 Cor 4:5), with those who have been born of Spirit being either resurrected to life or to condemnation (John 5:28-29). It is merely wishful thinking to believe that a misplaced comma made a thief the last Adam.
Jesus’ promise to the thief, made while both still lived physically, was the inheritance of eternal life when judgments are revealed. He would have extended the same promise to the lawyer (Luke 10:25) and to the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18) if the lawyer had put into practice what the lawyer knew to do, and if the young ruler had sold all he had, given his wealth to the poor, and followed Jesus. Neither was willing to extend love or faith. The second thief was willing to extend both.
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"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
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All of humanity is represented at Calvary in the three individuals crucified on the Preparation day for Passover in the 31st year of this Common Era (an argument can be made for it being 30 CE instead of 31). On either side of Jesus was a lawbreaker, one of whom blasphemed Christ, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39). This criminal wanted down from the cross before he died; he wanted to save his physical life. He did not really believe that Jesus was the Christ, hence his mocking question. And he received nothing from Jesus, not even an acknowledgement of his existence.
The second thief was more honorable than the first to speak: he rebuked the other, for he believed that Jesus was the Christ. He asked the first if the first did not fear God, and he acknowledged that the two criminals were worthy of death, that they were receiving their just due for their transgressions of the law. But he said that Jesus had done nothing wrong. He then turned to Jesus and said, as Luke recorded the account in a literal transcription: “And he said to Jesus, Remember me, Lord, when you come in the kingdom of you” (Luke 23:42).
Jesus heard this second criminal acknowledge his own transgressions of the law and that the law is good, and Jesus heard this second criminal acknowledge Him as God and express belief that He would be resurrected back to life to receive the kingdom of heaven. Thus, Jesus tells this second criminal that he will receive everlasting life: “And said to him Jesus, Truly I say to you[,] today with me you will be in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
The problematic comma is bracketed. Again, this comma is not in the earliest manuscripts that do not have punctuation, accents, or even the letters broken into words. And if it were placed on the other side of “today” the statement Jesus made would read, I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise, which now agrees with the fact that Jesus would not “that day” be in paradise, but would be dead and buried in the Garden Tomb. Jesus does not ascend to heaven until the morning of the fourth day (John 20:17); so it is textually impossible for this criminal to be in paradise with Jesus the day of their crucifixion.
An overlooked detail? By the majority of Christendom, yes!
Jesus said that He would give one sign concerning His identity: ‘“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’” (Matt 12:40). Jesus and the two criminals were crucified on the Preparation Day for the high Sabbath (John 19:31). The high Sabbath was the 15th of Abib (Lev 23:5-7), with the Passover lamb to be sacrificed at even between the 14th and the 15th. The Pharisees in 1st-Century Judea reckoned between the evenings to mean 3:00 pm in the afternoon. Jesus died about 3:00 pm (Matt 27:45-50) on the 14th. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus from the cross and at dusk, placed it in the Garden Tomb (John 19:38-42). So by Jesus’ words, the count of the three days and three nights begins with the high Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread, the 15th of Abib. Jesus is in the heart of the earth all of the 15th, all of the 16th, and all of the 17th, the weekly Sabbath. Then at the beginning of the 18th, the first day of the week, He is resurrected, and He is gone before daybreak (John 20:1). Thus, Jesus was crucified on Wednesday the 14th of Abib. He had entered Jerusalem on the 10th of Abib, the weekly Sabbath, when the Passover lambs were selected. He entered Jerusalem on the Sabbath as both the selected Passover Lamb for the household of God, and as the future high priest of Israel. He was cutoff mid week as prophesied (both mid calendar week and in the middle of seven years of ministry), and fulfilled the only sign He gave as proof that He was of God. He was three days and threes nights in the heart of the heart, and He had not ascended to heaven prior to when Mary Magdalene saw Him the morning of the first day of the week. Therefore, the criminal could not be with Jesus in paradise on the 14th of Abib.
Heaven is timeless. From the perspective of the heavenly realm, everything that happens occurs on the same day. So if an argument is made that “today” references the unchanging moment that would be “the present” in the heavenly realm, then not only would Jesus ascend to His God and Father today but the resurrection of disciples upon Jesus’ return two millennia later would also be today, the same day. Thus, confining the narrative perspective to within time, the criminal to whom Jesus promised everlasting life did not ascend into heaven on the 14th of Abib, the day when Jesus promised that he would be with Jesus in paradise; for Jesus did not ascend to paradise that day. The comma is misplaced.
The cross kills by suffocation (and by shock as modern research has shown). A crucified person loses his or her breath; thus, the cross serves as a representative for all means of death from loss of breath. It is the apt symbol representing death. Therefore, being raised up on the cross symbolizes short term life after death, for a person doesn’t immediately die when crucified. As such, the two criminals live after they are dead in a symbolic sense. Once raised on a cross no one was going to come down alive. Death was declared when the person was raised up. So the two criminals serve as lively shadows for all who will appear before God in the great White Throne Judgment, when every person who has not previously been born of Spirit will receive “a second birth” through resurrection from death. And as the first thief mocked Christ, many who are returned to life will want to save their physical lives. Some will acknowledge that they were worthy of death and will be like the second thief—and it will be this latter group that will receive everlasting life when resurrected in the great White Throne Judgment. It will take no longer for those who are returned to life to determine their fate than it took for the two thieves.
A misplaced comma did not send the second criminal into heaven on the 14th of Abib 31 CE. He is not there yet from the perspective of being within time, for no one will precede another except for the man Jesus who came down from heaven. All who have received the promise of eternal life, and all who have been born of Spirit will be resurrected upon Christ Jesus’ return (1 Cor 4:5), with those who have been born of Spirit being either resurrected to life or to condemnation (John 5:28-29). It is merely wishful thinking to believe that a misplaced comma made a thief the last Adam.
Jesus’ promise to the thief, made while both still lived physically, was the inheritance of eternal life when judgments are revealed. He would have extended the same promise to the lawyer (Luke 10:25) and to the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18) if the lawyer had put into practice what the lawyer knew to do, and if the young ruler had sold all he had, given his wealth to the poor, and followed Jesus. Neither was willing to extend love or faith. The second thief was willing to extend both.
"Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
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Labels: heaven, resurrection
posted by T, L & F … at
10:17 AM
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