11. What about the thief on the cross?

Didn’t Jesus promise the thief he would go to Paradise the day he died? Let’s carefully consider the passage in Luke 23:42, 43: “He said to Jesus, ‘Lord remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”JTL7 6.1

First, let’s note that the thief didn’t ask to go to heaven that day. He asked that Jesus remember him when Jesus came into His kingdom. Further, Jesus couldn’t have meant that the thief would be with Him that very day, because on the Sunday morning after His death, the resurrected Jesus told Mary he had not yet been to heaven (John 20:17).JTL7 6.2

To understand what Jesus could be telling the thief, it is essential to know that the Bible was written without punctuation. Commas and periods were added by scribes centuries after the Old and New Testaments were complete. In this instance, the translators put the comma in the wrong place! Jesus wanted to encourage the thief by assuring him that his sins were forgiven and he would be resurrected at the Second Coming of Jesus. If the thief had gone directly to heaven the day that he died, there would be no need for a resurrection!JTL7 6.3

Let’s change the position of the comma to read: “Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” Now the passage fully harmonizes with the rest of Scripture.JTL7 6.4