When it comes to the New Testament, and the condition of “the believing dead” or the “dead in Christ” between death and the resurrection, there are three important passages we should first consider.
The first of these contain Jesus’ words to the penitent thief on the cross. Let’s begin with what the thief asked of Jesus and what our Lord said to him (Share Luke 23:42-43).
Earlier this thief had rebuked the other criminal there on the cross with him and had expressed sorrow for his own wrongdoings (v. 41). He then turned to Jesus and as someone who seemed to understand and believe in Jesus as the Messiah who would one day establish a glorious kingdom, he asked, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” The thief did not expect to be remembered until some time in the far distant future. But Jesus’ reply promised him even more than he asked for: “Today you shall be with me in Paradise” (v. 43).
The word paradise is used only here and in two other New Testament passages, 2 Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 2:7.
In the 2 Corinthians passage Paul tells us that he was caught up into Paradise in a vision; the expression Paradise is parallel to the third heaven in verse 2. Here, therefore, Paradise means heaven, the realm of the blessed dead, and the special habitation of God. In Revelation 2:7 we read about the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God – here again Paradise refers to heaven, though to the final state rather than to the intermediate state. We conclude that Jesus promised the penitent thief that the latter would be with Christ in heavenly bliss that very day. This promise, needless to say, did not exclude Jesus’ remembering the thief at the time of his Second Coming, when he would indeed come finally into his kingdom, but it affirmed that already on that day, immediately after his death, the penitent thief would share heavenly joy with Christ.
In the 2 Corinthians passage Paul tells us that he was caught up into Paradise in a vision; the expression Paradise is parallel to the third heaven in verse 2. Here, therefore, Paradise means heaven, the realm of the blessed dead, and the special habitation of God. In Revelation 2:7 we read about the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God – here again Paradise refers to heaven, though to the final state rather than to the intermediate state. We conclude that Jesus promised the penitent thief that the latter would be with Christ in heavenly bliss that very day. This promise, needless to say, did not exclude Jesus’ remembering the thief at the time of his Second Coming, when he would indeed come finally into his kingdom, but it affirmed that already on that day, immediately after his death, the penitent thief would share heavenly joy with Christ.
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