"The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." (Matt. 27:44.)

"And they that were crucified with him reviled him." (Mark 15:32.)

"And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst." (Luke 23:39-45.)

This is the only gospel account that gives this saying of Jesus to the thief on his right. We are indebted to Luke for recording these words. Many volumes have been written about these seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. One author entitled his book, The Seven Windows, S. J. Reid. He meant that these sayings were seven windows into the soul of our Lord. Another called his Seven Words of Love, Herbert Lockyer. He referred to them as a love that forgives, transforms, provides, questions, suffers, triumphs, and surrenders. Even another entitled his book Words of Triumph, Ronald S. Wallace. The seven words are: word of forgiveness, of pastoral care, of affection, the cry from the depths, a cry of pain, a cry of victory, and a prayer of peace. Another author, Herschel H. Hobbs, The Crucial Words From Calvary, gave these seven words: concern, compassion, comfort, conquest, championship, completion, and committal.

Seven sayings and three hours of silence. Of the six hours on the cross, three hours were filled with darkness and silence. The Bible does not record anything that was said by anyone during the hours of darkness. Looking at the gospel accounts, it seems that three sayings were spoken before the darkness. They are: Father, forgive them; Behold thy mother/thy son; and Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. After the three hours of darkness, we have the other four sayings: My God, my God; I thirst; It is finished; and Into Thy hands I commend my spirit.

The drama of this scene. S. J. Reid wrote concerning Jesus’ words to the penitent thief, "One of the most touching incidents that ever happened in the history of the world is the scene which took place between our Savior and the penitent thief." (The Seven Windows, Reid, 37.) Jesus loved being around penitent sinners. He ate with them and died with them. No sooner was the Savior nailed to the cross that He started drawing men unto Himself. This thief was the first! (John 12:32.)

It is difficult for us to fully comprehend this scene. Have you ever walked into a hospital room or home where someone was dying? There is a quietness that prevails. Remember the three hours of darkness and silence? There is a reverence and respect shown to the person and family. Here, outside of Jerusalem on the hillside, three hang publicly exposed and dying. Family and friends wept below. The two thieves and Jesus are suffering indescribable pain. Both thieves join the others in railing against the Lord. Then, one of the thieves, rousing enough courage and strength to breathe and speak, rebuked the other thief. The group below must have been straining to hear their words. The words were hard to understand being blurred with pain. The penitent thief asked to be remembered in his kingdom. Jesus, perhaps, turned his head in pain and whispered, Today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.

What wonderful words to hear! There is no reply given or needed by the thief. He is satisfied. That is enough. He is ready to die. But, just then, the earth was filled with darkness and a hush falls upon everyone around the cross and in Jerusalem. People everywhere are wondering what is happening.

To simplify our study, I want to emphasize three words from Jesus’ reply: today, you, and paradise. Obviously, the phrase, with me, is significant, but it will be included in the words, you and paradise.

It is interesting to note the general attitude of people in Scripture and today about things religious. We usually think that biblical things are far removed and they will occur sometime off in the distant future. But with Jesus our Lord, it is always TODAY! Note these examples:

Jesus said to Martha, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall arise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:23-26.) Martha did not understand that with the Lord being present, the resurrection from the dead is a present reality. I am the resurrection and the life.

Jesus shocked the religious leaders by telling sinners in their presence that they were forgiven of sins. They asked, Who can forgive sins but God? Jesus replied, "But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise and take up thy bed and go thy way into thine house. (Mark 2:10-11.) Jesus raised the dead and forgave sins. They imagined that such things were far removed, off in the future, at some future judgment, maybe, sometimes. Jesus said, Today!

When Jesus worked miracles, the religious leaders tried everything to discredit what he did. Finally, they said, Well, if your are doing miracles, it must be by the work of Beelzebub. This, of course, admits that he was doing miracles. Yes, you may be healing people, but you cannot do that on the Sabbath Day! Jesus replied, "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you." (Luke 11:20.) The thief heard some things about the kingdom of God. He envisioned it far away. Remember me when (whenever) you come in your kingdom. But with Jesus the kingdom is always near. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He embodied all the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom. When Jesus is near, the kingdom is near. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matt. 6:10.) "The kingdom cometh not with observation. . . for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21.)

Do you desire salvation? Now is the time. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Cor. 6:2.) Luke recorded the beginning of the church by writing these words, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:41.)

With Jesus, we have God in the flesh. He does not have to say, Well, I will go and find out for you; I’ll get back with you. You will have to wait a few days. It is always, Today.

One of the rules of proper interpretation of any book is to find out who is speaking, to whom it is spoken. Clearly, these words are addressed to the thief on his right hand. It is not being spoken directly to us. When Jesus said that you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you (he was not talking to any of us, but to the apostles). (Acts 1:8.)

One of my teachers at IBC, Basil Overton, said that we should look to Jesus on the cross and not to the thief on the cross for the means of our salvation. It is amazing how many people apparently want to be saved like the thief. But there are so many obvious differences between lost people today and the thief on the cross. Among them are: 1) He was nailed to a cross and dying. Do you want to take his place? 2) Jesus was near him, also dying. You do not have Jesus saying these words to you. Jesus had power on earth to forgive sins. (Mark 2:10.)

Why do people want to be saved like the thief? Primarily, because they think his was the easiest way to be saved. It avoids baptism. If the thief were in your shoes and you in his, he would not want to switch with you for anything. I believe he would have readily obeyed the Gospel. We have it easier than he did!!

Why do people not want to be saved like Noah? It took too much work! You would have to build an ark. Why not like Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace? Oh, no, not like that. Why not like the rich young ruler? Go sell all that you have; give it to the poor and come follow me. Why not like the adulterous woman of John 4? Go call your husband and come here. (John 4:16.) No, that is too personal.

The chief issue is baptism; whether it is essential or not. The answer is, Yes, it is essential. Why was the thief not required to be baptized. The simple answer is that baptism is required in the new testament. Jesus and the thief died as Jews under the old covenant where baptism was not required. (Gal. 4:4.)

Secondly, it is not possible to separate the physical aspects of conversion from the physical. The new birth that is essential requires a birth of water and the Spirit. (John 3:3-5.) The aspects are connected so as to be one birth.

Jesus words to Nicodemus apply to us, as well as those of Peter on Pentecost. He said, "Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation." (Acts 2:38-40.)

What does the word, paradise, mean?

In the Greek New Testament, the word, "paradeisos" occurs only here in Luke 23:43, in 2 Cor. 12: 4 and Rev. 2:7. This man, whether in the body or not, was "caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Cor. 12:4.) Paul described this place as "the third heaven." (v. 2) The Lord promised those at Ephesus, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." (Rev. 2:7; see also Rev. 22:1-2.) Obviously, this is a symbolic reference to a beautiful place beyond this life. Jesus said that it meant being "with him" and Paul called it "the third heaven."

The classical definition. Remembering that the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt, about 250 BC, we have additional places where the word, paradise, is used. The first is Genesis 2:8. "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden (paradise), and there he put the man whom he had formed." What follows is the classical description of paradise. It is an earthly paradise, a place of bliss, great fertility, abundance of water, peace among animals, peace between man and animals, communion with God, sexual innocence, absence of pain in childbearing, absence of toil, and absence of illness and death as long as they walked with God. Paradise is the world of contrast to the real world people live in. A world without death becomes a world in which death belongs; to be naked is changed to being dressed; collecting food to hunting food; and sexuality is now associated with shame in this world.

Earthly paradise as the abode of God. God did walk in the Garden when Adam and Eve lived there. (Gen. 3:8.) It is called "the garden of the Lord." (Gen. 13:10.) "Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that is was well-watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar." Ezekiel likewise refers to it as "the garden of God." (Ezek. 28:13, also Ezekiel 31:8, 9.)

Jewish conceptions of paradise. A belief in the existence of such a place on earth never died out according to apocryphal writings. In Life of Adam and Eve (2nd century AD; the Fall is narrated by Adam and Eve), Eve and Seth walked toward the regions of paradise to obtain oil to anoint the sick. The territory of Sem bordered the Garden of Eden. (Jubilees 8.16; This book is a Jewish work from the 2nd century BC. It is an extensive retelling of the fall in Paradise.) They believed that the Flood destroyed everything except the Garden of Eden. (Jubilees 4.24)

Paradise in the early church. (Paradise Interpreted, H. S. Benjamins, 153-167.) Though man lost his paradise home, through the work of Christ paradise is again accessible.

Some in the early church believed that paradise was gained directly by entering the church. Baptism ushered one into paradise. Christian virgins lived the paradisiacal life. They taught that the last steps on the road leaving paradise should be the first steps returning to it. Marriage, then, is the last stage of our separation from the life that was led in paradise. Then we must retire from vain labor, wisdom of the flesh, stand in the sight of our Creator and feel ceaselessly and continually the delight of it.

Paradise and the paradisiacal life are not only connected to baptism and virginity, but also to martyrdom and the monastic life. The life of a monk was seen to be a restoration of the life of Adam in paradise. Augustine saw the conflict. The church could not live up to its claim of purity. Evil desire remained after baptism. The Christian life is more like the wilderness wanderings of the Jews before entering the promised land. Therefore, man does not enter paradise upon being baptized.

Paradise in the Koran. Mohammed’s description of paradise is very physical, earthly and even sensual. He wrote about four gardens with a gushing spring in each to water them. The gardens bear every kind of fruit in pairs. The just shall recline on couches within reach of the fruit. There will be bashful virgins, fair as corals and rubies, chaste and fair. They will be dark-eyed virgins sheltered in their tents whom no man has touched before. At the end of each ayat, he adds, "Which of the Lord’s blessings would you deny?" (Surah 55, Ayat 47-74; Surah 37, Ayat 43-49; Surah 76, Ayat 41-44.)

The mystics and charismatics today. Some believed that one could enter paradise alive on a rapturous journey. Paul saw an abundance of visions concerning heaven that he was not permitted to utter. However, a book, Apocalypse of Paul, third century AD, was probably written stimulated by Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12. Others have likewise claimed such experiences. Unlike the apostle Paul, they write and speak about their "experiences." Paul did not use that vision of paradise as the basis for the Gospel he preached. Mystics and charismatics today form an entire theology around what they claim to have seen. To them, these journeys to the other world is their Gospel.

Heavenly paradise. The New Testament places paradise in heaven. (Luke 23:43, 2 Cor. 12:4, Rev. 2:7.) One writer said, "People might grow uneasy with the idea of paradise on earth. Is it appropriate for the just, let alone God, to dwell on earth?" (Paradise Interpreted, Gerald P. Luttikhuizer, ed., 1998.)

Paradise is a symbolic reference to heaven. Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven. (Phil. 3:20.) Heaven is the abode of God, the angels, and all the redeemed. (Heb. 12:22-24.) Jesus’ last words on the cross were, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. (Luke 23:46.) Paradise is where the spirit of Jesus and thief ascended upon death. It is a place in the Father’s hands.

I have purposefully avoided the discussion about the Hadean world and its divisions, paradise and tartarus. I have not addressed the Hadean world, as an intermediate state of the dead. Jesus used the word, paradise, a reference to the beautiful garden of Eden to describe the beauty of the place to which He and the thief were going.