The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 1

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Christ’s Majestic Answer to the Penitent’s Plea

I. Problem Text (Luke 23:43): Penitent Thief—“Today”—and “Paradise”

We now turn to the second “problem text” in the Gospels—the solemn promise made by Christ to the penitent thief on the adjacent cross at Calvary. This passage is always brought forth by proponents of Innate Immortality as “proof positive” of the uninterrupted immortality of the soul—as demonstrating that both Christ and the repentant thief went that very day to “Paradise” (some intermediate place between the grave and the resurrection), and thus that their condition must have been one of continued consciousness and intelligent fellowship after death. However, it is not that simple or conclusive. Let us examine the evidence. CFF1 270.1

1. SETTING OF THIS AMAZING EPISODE

The background briefly is this: Two malefactors (or “thieves,” Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27) were led, along with Christ, to Calvary, and crucified with Him there, one on the right hand and the other on the left amid the taunting throng. The trilingual superscription, “This is the King of the Jews,” was placed upon Christ’s cross (Luke 23:38). Then one of the anguished malefactors railed on Christ, saying, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39). But the other rebuked his criminal companion, saying: CFF1 270.2

“Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art to the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:40, 41). CFF1 270.3

Then it was that Jesus replied (as punctuated in most English versions), “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). CFF1 271.1

2. ACQUAINTED WITH CHRIST’S CLAIMS AND OFFERS

That is the scene. The penitent thief had evidently been in the crowd that had witnessed Jesus’ miracles. His words attest that he must have listened to Christ’s marvelous teaching about His coming kingdom. He must have heard His gracious invitations to come unto Him and find the longed-for forgiveness and peace that he craved. Perhaps he had seen Jesus raise the dead. Possibly he had heard Jesus say that He must be crucified, but would rise again in triumph. CFF1 272.1

It is inconceivable that anyone would make such a request without such a background, for here were a dying thief and a dying Christ in paralleling positions on adjoining crosses. He might even have been a follower for a time, before he had turned under pressure of evil companions to the crimes for which he was now paying the bitter penalty. In any event, he knew Christ’s claims and offers. And in his eleventh-hour extremity he turned in contrition to Christ, recognizing His sinlessness and believing in His claims. CFF1 272.2

But let us probe into the intent of the penitent’s request, and especially into the import of Christ’s reply. CFF1 272.3

3. WHAT, WHERE, AND WHEN IS “PARADISE”?

Let us observe at the very outset that one of the chief deterrents to the popular contention is the dual fact (1) that the thief did not die that day, and (2) that Christ did not go to Paradise that day, irrespective of where it is. But this leads us directly into the what, where, and when of Paradise (Paradeisos). The word “paradise” occurs but three times in Scripture—twice in addition to this use in Luke 23:43. Note carefully the first one: Paul was caught up, in vision, into the “third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2), which in verse 4 is expressly affirmed to be “paradise.” Paradise, therefore, is, first of all, clearly in the third heaven. CFF1 272.4

The second usage is in our Lord’s promise in the Apocalypse, “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). This establishes the fact that Paradise is likewise where the tree of life now is. And in Revelation 21 and 22, in the description of the New,Jerusalem above, we read of—“a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it [the city], and on either side of the river [of life], was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month” (Revelation 22:1, 2). CFF1 272.5

In the Septuagint, the “garden” of Eden is described as the “Paradise in Eden” (Genesis 2:8). So the tree of life grows in the midst of the Paradise of God, the Holy City, on the banks of the river of life, which proceeds from the throne of God. That was the Paradise of the Old Testament, of which the prophets of old foretold in glowing terms. That is likewise the Paradise of the New Testament—in the third heaven, where the tree of life is, and where God maintains His throne. Whoever, therefore, goes to Paradise goes into the presence of God. CFF1 273.1

Paradise is emphatically not Hades, nor any part of Hades, as some contend. So if Christ and the thief went to Paradise on the day of the crucifixion, they must have gone into the presence of God the Father. But let us go back to certain basic considerations. CFF1 273.2