“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43. Does this verse prove that there is life immediately after death? Let’s examine.
This verse was written in Greek. The Greek language is without punctuation. The adverb sēmeron, which is “today” in Greek, stands between two clauses which read, literally, “truly to you I say” and “with me you will be in the paradise.” Greek usage allowed an adverb to appear anywhere in a sentence the speaker or writer desired to place it. Merely from the Greek construction of this sentence it is impossible to determine whether the adverb “today” modifies “I say” or “you will be.” Either is possible.
Now, on the eve of the betrayal—less than 24 hours before making this promise to the thief - Jesus had told the disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions. … I go to prepare a place for you. … I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” John 14:2, 3. Yet, three days later Jesus informed Mary, “I am not yet ascended to my Father” John 20:17. Obviously, Jesus did not go to paradise, and was not in paradise, on the day of His crucifixion. Therefore, the thief could not have been with Jesus in paradise.
In placing the comma before “today,” the translators were guided by the unscriptural belief that the dead receive their rewards at death. But neither Jesus nor the writers of the New Testament believed or taught this. To place the comma before “today” would make Jesus contradict all that He and all the writers of the Bible have plainly stated elsewhere. Accordingly, the Scriptures themselves require that the comma be placed after the word “today,” not before it.
For more Bible verses on this much discussed and confused subject, please read: The Thief on the Cross.
