Are our deceased loved ones, who died in the Lord, already in heaven? It is a common refrain at funerals for the pastor to comfort the grieving by assuring them that the recently departed are, today, in the presence of God. One passage referenced to support this idea is found in Luke. Luke 23 contains the familiar story of the thieves crucified alongside Jesus. While one thief insulted Jesus, the other asked Jesus for something:
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” 43 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43 BEREAN)
Jesus’s response is usually cited as evidence that upon death, the faithful go immediately to paradise where they are awake, alert, and active while awaiting the resurrection and judgment. Upon first glance, the verse does seem to support this conclusion. However, this is not the only possible meaning of Jesus’s promise to the thief.
What else could Jesus have been saying?
There are three different ways we can understand Jesus’s statement. The first is the traditional understanding that Jesus and the thief’s “soul” went immediately to paradise – that very day. Since this understanding is so well known, I will not elaborate upon it.
A second explanation is grammatical in nature. There is compelling evidence that the comma in this verse is misplaced in our English Bibles. The placement of the comma dictates whether Jesus was stressing the timeless of when He was making the promise or when He would fulfill it. Commenting on the Greek New Testament, Mounce states, “Originally the Bible was written in all capital letters without punctuation, accent marks, or spaces between the words.”1 This means that translators added every comma, period, semi-colon, and question mark in our Bibles. The punctuation we see in our English Bibles is the result of the translator’s interpretation of what the New Testament authors were trying to communicate!
The third option comes from a pastoral perspective. Some argue that Jesus’s words to the thief were meant to comfort him in his final moments, not provide a theological lesson. They suggest that even if thousands of years of unconsciousness passed before the thief entered paradise, he wouldn’t perceive that time, so Jesus’s statement would still be true. This view holds that in such a painful, pastoral situation, being strictly literal might hinder effective communication.
Let’s break these last two possibilities down.
The grammatical argument
The grammatical argument asserts that the comma before the word “today” is misplaced. As stated above, in the original Greek text there were no punctuation marks. Punctuation was added by translators. This argument asserts that the comma should come after “today,” not before it, so the verse would read:
And he said to him, Truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in Paradise.
This change in punctuation significantly alters the meaning of Jesus’ statement:
Traditional reading (comma before “today”): Jesus is promising the criminal that on that very day, they would be together in Paradise, suggesting an immediate transition to paradise upon death.
Alternate reading (comma after “today”): Jesus is emphasizing that he is making this promise on this day, but not necessarily that its fulfillment will occur on the same day. The timing of their reunion in paradise is left unspecified.
Today is an ambiguous adverb
What is the evidence that the comma is misplaced? The way Luke worded this sentence in Greek leaves open the possibility that the adverb “today” could be modifying either “I say to you” or “you will be with me.” Luke’s phrasing in this sentence results in an ambiguous adverb. It is therefore a matter of debate about which verb it modifies.
The weight of scholarship comes down on the side of the traditional comma placement. In fact, no English Bible translation that I have access to uses the alternate comma placement. Of course, the majority can be wrong, so numbers are not always indicative of truth. Nevertheless, when that many scholars agree on something, it should be given serious consideration.
Bucking the trend, E.W. Bullinger in his work, “A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament” says there is a pattern in the Greek New Testament which undermines the majority’s conclusion. He observed, “When it [today] comes after a verb, it belongs to that verb, unless it is separated from it and thrown into the next clause by the presence of hoti (that).”2 Thus, Bullinger concluded that Luke 23:43 calls for the alternate placement of the comma.
Of two minds about today
Language experts hold two different opinions about where to place the comma. Dr Joseph Hong has studied the difficulties of punctuating “today” in Luke 23:43. Agreeing with Bullinger he says, “as a rule ‘today’ is placed after the related verb” but he ultimately concludes that the traditional comma placement is most likely the correct one.3
Taking another approach to solve this problem, Thomas Farrar has conducted a statistical analysis of related syntactic patterns in Luke and Acts. He notes several good reasons why the alternate comma placement is plausible but concludes that his syntactic analysis indicates that the traditional comma placement is most likely the correct one.4
Interestingly, Farrar and Hong both concede that they cannot say with absolute certainty where one should place the comma.5 6 However, Farrar adds that “Bible translations should footnote ST [the alternate comma placement], and scholars should not ignore or dismiss it, but treat it as a defensible exegetical position.”7
Where does this leave us?
The bottom line is that even though our English Bibles place the comma such that Jesus says the thief would be with Him in paradise that very day, this placement is not at all certain. To determine the comma’s correct position, we must defer to the overall biblical context.
The pastoral argument
The pastoral explanation for Luke 23:43 offers a perspective that prioritizes emotional truth over technical precision. This view recognizes that Jesus, in his own anguish on the cross, was addressing a dying man in extreme pain and distress. In such a moment, offering complex theological distinctions about the timing of resurrection or the nature of paradise would likely have been confusing and even callous. Instead, Jesus provides comforting words—language designed to soothe, reassure, and bring peace.
This approach acknowledges the human reality of the situation. The “good thief,” suffering and facing imminent death, needed immediate comfort, not a doctrinally precise lecture. By saying, “Today you will be with me in Paradise,” Jesus offers him exactly that—the assurance of swift relief and divine companionship. Even if, from an earthly perspective, thousands of years might pass before God fulfills this promise, from the thief’s perspective it would feel immediate, as if no time had passed.
This pastoral reading suggests that Jesus, with profound empathy, spoke in terms that would be most meaningful and consoling to the thief in his final moments. It reminds us that language serves multiple functions—not just to convey literal facts, but also to comfort, inspire, and connect emotionally, especially in times of great suffering.
Let’s remember the predicament that Jesus and the thief were in. Both were suffering, mentally and physically, while dying the most gruesome death the Romans could inflict. Was either man in a frame of mind conducive to a deep theological discussion about the nature of the afterlife? Jesus simply addressed the most immediate need of the thief which was reassuring him of a place at Jesus’s side.
How do we know which of these interpretive options is correct?
A few more questions are in order that impact how we should view Jesus’s statement.
Where/what is paradise?
Paradise (Greek: paradeisos, παράδεισος) is only mentioned three times in the New Testament: Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Rev. 2:7. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) uses the word paradise in Genesis 2:8:
And the LORD God planted a garden [paradeisos] in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. (Gen. 2:8 BEREAN)
In fact, BDAG gives two definitions for paradeisos: “1. the garden of Eden, 2. a transcendent place of blessedness.”8 This suggests that paradise is the place where God dwells – a.k.a. Heaven.
To expand upon this, we should note that Paul’s experience he related in 2 Corinthians 12:2-3 equates paradise with the “third heaven” which is generally accepted to be the place where God dwells.9 10 11
In reference to Revelation 12:7, is there any reason to doubt that the “paradise of God,” where the tree of life is found, could be anywhere other than heaven? We can reasonably conclude that paradise is another name for heaven.
Where did Jesus go that day?
As F. LaGard Smith has noted, “The crucial question, then, is not whether the thief went to heaven (paradise) that day, but whether Jesus did!”12 Wherever one went, so did the other. Did Jesus go straight to heaven after He died? Smith correctly observes that Jesus Himself denied that he had yet been to heaven. John’s gospel says:
“Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’” (John 20:17 BEREAN)
According to Jesus’s own words, even after His resurrection, He had not yet gone back to His Father in heaven. If Jesus did not go to paradise (heaven) “today,” neither did the thief. Therefore, Jesus’s words force us to conclude that He did not mean to say that He and the thief would be in heaven immediately after death.
Consistency in interpretation
Christians who believe that we go to heaven immediately upon our death can do so only by ignoring all of the Old and New Testament passages which say otherwise. Remember, the Bible’s use of the word soul refers to our whole being. We are a soul; a body supplied with the God given breath of life. When the breath of life goes back to God, the Bible says we sleep, know nothing, and experience no activity.
On this very topic, Peter van Inwagen asked, “If, between one’s death and one’s resurrection, one exists as a disembodied Platonic soul, why does Paul repeatedly refer to death as a sleep?”13 Indeed, why does the Bible compare death to sleep more than fifty times?
In short, one can reconcile passages such as Luke 23:43 with the biblical concept of the “sleeping dead.” Alas, the reverse is not true. We cannot harmonize the idea of going to heaven (paradise) immediately after dying and existing as a fully conscious disembodied soul with the rest of the Bible.
Today is the day of your salvation
The grammatical and pastoral arguments are not mutually exclusive, but complementary. The thief asked Jesus, “Remember me when you become King.” Jesus’s reply was even better than what the thief hoped for. Instead of saying, “Yes, I’ll remember you when my kingdom comes,” Jesus promised something more immediate: “You won’t have to wait that long. Today is the day of your salvation.”
All of this raises a poignant question: Why do we find a deceased loved one in heaven more comforting than one who is peacefully sleeping? The Bible’s consistent portrayal of death as sleep suggests a state of rest, free from pain or anxiety, awaiting the joyful awakening at Christ’s return. Is not this divinely granted peace, this assurance of ultimate restoration, just as comforting as an immediate transition to paradise?
References
- Mounce, William D.. Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar (Zondervan Language Basics Series) (p. 67). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.
- E.W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 811.
- Hong, J. “Understanding and Translating ‘Today’ in Luke 23.43.” The Bible Translator 46, no. 4 (October 1, 1995): 412, 416.
- Farrar, Thomas J. “Today in Paradise?: Ambiguous Adverb Attachment and the Meaning of Luke 23:43.” Neotestamentica 51, no. 2 (2017): 200.
- Farrar, Thomas J. “Today in Paradise?: Ambiguous Adverb Attachment and the Meaning of Luke 23:43.” Neotestamentica 51, no. 2 (2017): 203.
- Hong, J. “Understanding and Translating ‘Today’ in Luke 23.43.” The Bible Translator 46, no. 4 (October 1, 1995): 416.
- Farrar, Thomas J. “Today in Paradise?: Ambiguous Adverb Attachment and the Meaning of Luke 23:43.” Neotestamentica 51, no. 2 (2017): 200.
- Bauer, W., F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, eds. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3d, Accordance electronic ed., version 2.8. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. BDAG, s.v. “παράδεισος,” 761.
- Kaiser, Walter C., Peter H. Davids, F. F. Bruce, and Manfred T. Brauch. Hard Sayings of the Bible. Downer’s Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2010. 627.
- Arnold, Clinton E., ed. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Volume 3: Romans to Philemon. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2002. 254.
- Smith, F. LaGard. Afterlife: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door, Sheol, Heaven, Resurrection, Hades, Hell, Judgment, Purgatory, Limbo, Rapture. Nashville, TN: Cotswold Pub., 2003. 85.
- Smith, F. LaGard. Afterlife: A Glimpse of Eternity Beyond Death’s Door, Sheol, Heaven, Resurrection, Hades, Hell, Judgment, Purgatory, Limbo, Rapture. Nashville, TN: Cotswold Pub., 2003. 86.
- Inwagen, Peter van. “Dualism And Materialism: Athens And Jerusalem?” Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers 12, no. 4 (October 1, 1995): 481.