If this thief was not speaking of an earthly kingdom of Israel he would have had to know that Christ was going to be resurrected from the dead, and then set up His kingdom when no one, not even the twelve know.
THE MOCKERY OF JESUS
MOCKERY AT HIS TRIAL BEFORE PILATE "Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the palace, and gathered unto him the whole band. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and they platted a crown of thorns and put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spat upon him, and took the reed and smote him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the robe, and put on him his garments, and led him away to crucify him" (Matthew 27:27-30). "And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment; and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him with their hands" (John 19:2-3).
The scarlet robe, crown of thorns, a reed in His hand, and kneeling down before Him was mockery of His claim to be a king.
"Now it was the Preparation of the Passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he said unto the Jews, Behold your King! They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate said unto them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar’" (John 18:14-15). Jesus was the king the Jews were looking for, but He said, "My kingdom is not of this world," and when He did not restore the earthly kingdom to Israel as they thought their savior was going to do, they rejected Him and mocked Him.
MOCKERY BY PILATE WHEN CHRIST WAS ON THE CROSS "And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written’" (John 19:19-22). When Pilate put this on the cross of a man he did not think was a king, or who would ever be a king, it was nothing but mockery by Pilate.
MOCKERY BY THOSE THAT PASSED BY, THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE ROBBERS. Matthew 27:39-48 "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, You that destroyed the temple, and builds it in three days, save yourself: if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. He is the King of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him. He trusted on God; let him deliver him now, if he desires him: for he said, I am the Son of God. And the robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of them stood there, when they heard it, said, ‘This man calls Elijah.’ And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. And the rest said, Let be; let us see whether Elijah cometh to save him."
Mark 15:29-32: "And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, ha! You that destroys the temple, and builds it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross. In like manner also the chief priests mocking him among themselves with the scribes said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reproached him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calls Elijah. And one ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let be; let us see whether Elijah comes to take him down."
THIS MOCKERY WAS OVER CHRIST CLAIMING TO BE KING BY:
MOCKERY BY THE BOTH ROBBERS. "And robbers also that were crucified with him cast upon him the same reproach" (Matthew 27:44). Matthew and Mark give no details of the mockery by both robbers saying only that they "cast upon him the same reproach." Luke tells how they "cast upon him the same reproach." Just as Pilate did not believe Jesus, who had never been king over any nation and was about to be put to death, was "THE KING OF THE JEWS," this robber did not believe the person being put to death with him would ever be a king and come into His kingdom. "And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also scoffed at him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, offering him vinegar, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself’. And there was also a superscription over him, ‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS’. And one of the malefactors that were hanged railed on him, saying, ‘Are not you the Christ? Save yourself and us’. But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss’. And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’. And he said unto him, ‘Truly I say unto you, to-day you shall be with me in Paradise’’" (Luke 23:33-38).
WHAT DID THE THIEF ASK CHRIST TO DO?
CHRIST DID NOT GO TO HEAVEN THAT DAY. When will anyone go to Heaven? Not unto after the judgment. We must wait for the resurrection and judgment before we will go to Heaven. Did Christ tell the theft that he would be in Heaven that day? Jesus did not go to paradise that day. He had said He would be in the heart of the earth (grave) for three days (Matthew 12:40); “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” It was on Friday evening just before the beginning of the Sabbath day when Christ told the robber that he would be with Him in Paradise, but on Sunday morning He said, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father" (John 20:17). Paul said Christ died, was buried, and was raised on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; see Matthew 12:40). He was dead and in the grave unto the third day when the Father raised Him. If Christ was alive and went to Heaven the day He died, what was His resurrection on the third day? It would be nothing but mockery to say He was raised from the dead when He was alive in Heaven. Christ said, "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man" (John 3:13). If Moses did not ascend into Heaven at his death and had not ascended at the time Christ spoke this, how did the robber ascend to Heaven if Moses and David did not? In an attempt to make a passage say someone went to Heaven at death the thief has been made to be better than Moses and David? Where was Christ from His death to His resurrection? "He foreseeing this spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was he left unto Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus did God raise up" (Acts 2:31-32). This is from Psalm 16:10, "Because you will not abandon me to the grave (sheol)" New International Version.
WHICH WAY DO THEY SEND CHRIST? The advocates of an immortal soul say Christ went both up and down at His death.
WHAT IS NOT SAID:
Christ went to the grave that day, not Heaven. Both Christ and the robber were in hades - the grave - on "this day.”
FOUR PROBLEMS
THE KING JAMES VERSION AND THE COMMA
The way it is worded in the Kings James Version makes Christ be asking the thief a question (“shall thou be with me in paradise”) with the question mark left out, and it ends the question with a period.
As it is in the Kings James Version with the Old English changed to today English."
As it is in the King James Version, the thief is asked a question, no promise that he will be in paradise, Heaven, or anyplace in that day, or any day is given to him. Yet this question Christ asked is frequency used to prove Christ was telling the thief that they both would be together in Heaven that very day.
Christ went to the grave that day. Where is Paradise? The only other two uses of Paradise in the New Testament are:
(1) Paul was "caught up into paradise," which he says is in "the third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).
(2) "To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7); the tree of life is in the New Jerusalem (See Revelation 21:1 to 22:5).
Many translations make Christ be telling the thief that they both would be together in paradise (Heaven?) that day.
With the comma where it is in most translations, Christ answer to the mockery of the thief was that he would be with Him that day. That day Christ was in the grave; therefore, Christ told the thief that he would be in the grave that day. Telling the thief that he was going to die and be in the grave that day does not sound like an answer the thief would have received if he had truly repented and was forgiven.
If Christ were telling the thief that he would be with Him in Heaven it was not on that day; the comma, which is not in the Greek must be moved for both Christ and the thief went to the grave that day, not to Heaven. "I say unto you to-day, you shall you be with me in paradise." This would not make the being in paradise be on that day, not on the day of their death. If the thief truly did repent and by "paradise" Christ was telling the thief that he would be in Heaven with Him, the comma must be put after "today" for Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day.
The Greek, in which the New Testament was written, did not have chapters or punctuation. Men have added the punctuation. The oldest manuscripts are all capitals, the words are not separated, and there is no punctuation.
There was not a comma in the whole New Testament. Men put all the punctuation marks in the Bible we use today, not God. The translators could sometimes make it say what was consistent with their beliefs by the way they used punctuation. Move the comma, which was not invented unto 1490 and was added by uninspired men in the King James Version by man in A. D. 1611, and it does not say when they would be in paradise.
Dots were put into the Greek in the ninth century to separate the words. The dots and all later punctuation of all Greek texts, which has been added after the ninth century is entirely on human authority.
"This day" and “I command you today” is a common expression in the Bible to stress the time of the promise or command. See Genesis 31:18; Exodus 34:11; Deuteronomy 4:26; 4:40; 6:6; 7:11; 8:1; 8:11; 10:13; 11:8; 11:13: 11:18; 30:5.
The Companion Bible, Appendix 173: "The interpretation of this verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests wholly on human authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of any kind till the ninth century, and then it is only a dot in the middle of the line separating each word."
To put the comma where the King James Version put it makes Jesus be saying He would be in paradise that day when He know He would not be in paradise that day. The King James translators, who believed that everyone will go immediately to Heaven or Hell at death, punctuated it to makes both Christ and the thief be in Heaven on that very day.
H Leo Boles: "Evidently Jesus did not mean that this robber would go with him to heaven that day, as it seems clear from other statements that Jesus did not go to heaven that day. His day of ascension came about forty days after that time" A Commentary On The Gospel Of Luke, page 454, 1954, Gospel Advocate Company.
Curtis Dickinson: “It may be asked why translators of most modern version do not place the comma after the ‘today’ so that the verse will harmonize with other scriptural teaching on death and resurrection. We might as well ask why they do not translate the Greek bapitizo as ‘immerse’ or diakonos as ‘servant’ instead of merely spelling them with English letters. To do so would put the translation at odds with most denominational doctrine and almost insure it failure to be accepted.” “The Witness” Volume 30, Number 8, 1990.
There is no grammatical justification for the placement of the comma before "today." Christ or the thief did not go to Heaven that day. By moving the comma that was added by uninspired men with a theological prejudice, the conflict with other passages is removed even if "in paradise" does mean "in Heaven."
Note: The punctuation can change the meaning of the same words.
“After he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, set down on the right hand of God.”
“After he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever set down on the right hand of God.”
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman, without her, man is nothing.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(2). “TO DIE IS GAIN” Philippians 1:21-23
When this passage is used to prove that a person takes up residence in their permanent abode at once in Heaven at death, it is taken out of context. Paul says, "So that my bonds became manifest in Christ throughout the whole praetorian guard, and to all the rest; and that most of the brethren in the Lord, being confident through my bonds, are more abundantly bold to speak the word of God without fear" (Philippians 1:13-14). His imprisonment was not a personal gain, but because of it the word of Christ was being preached; therefore, it was gain to the cause of Christ. In verse 18 it did not matter the motives, Christ was being preached and he rejoiced. Verse 20 "So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death." If he lived, he would preach Christ. If he died, others would be made more bold and preach Christ because of his death. Verse 21 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26). It was not a personal gain for Paul. He knows that if he died before the coming of Christ he would not be in Heaven unto after the resurrection and judgment at the second coming of Christ. He knows his death would be a gain for the cause of Christ, and that Christ would be preached because of his death, not a personal gain for himself. Verse 22 "But if to live in the flesh, if this shall bring fruit from my work, then what I shall choose I know not" If he lived and preached Christ, or if his death would cause others to preach Christ, which one would bring the most fruit, he knew not. He is not saying he did not know whether (1) living in this world was best, (2) or living in Heaven was best, but this is what he is changed to say when this passage is used to prove an immortal soul.
Philippians 1:12-30: When it became known that Paul was in prison it was gain to the Gospel for it made others bold to preach the Gospel, and made others preached the Gospel “thinking to raise up affliction for me in my bonds.” In the same way Paul is saying his death would be gain to the cause of Christ just as his being in prison was, not a personal gain. If "To die is gain," means we go to Heaven when we die, why would Paul say he did not know if going to Heaven was better than living on earth; why do we go to a doctor to get well and do all we can to keep from going to Heaven; why do we pray for each other when one of us is sick; would we not asking God not to take us to Heaven and are thankful if He does not? The reason we do not want to die is that death is not a gateway to Heaven, but death is an enemy, which makes the resurrection be absolute necessity; without it there would be no life after death for anyone. If death were a gateway to Heaven, we would be praying, "Lord, do not make us come live up there with You, let us live down here on earth where Satan can tempt us."
We are repeatedly told we will be with the Lord at His coming, not at death (2 Thessalonians 2:1) when He shall appear (Colossians 3:4), yet "To die is gain" is used to set aside many plain and clear passages, and make the entrance to Heaven be immediately at death, not after the resurrection.
Passages that do not have spirit or soul in them
But are used to prove both
(3). “TO DEPART AND TO BE WITH THE LORD”
Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8
Philippians 1:23: “But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ.” Be with the Lord at the Judgment Day, not instantly at death: In the same letter Paul says, "If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:11). Every time Paul discusses life after death he always points to the resurrection; without it there would be no life after death. He tells the Thessalonians that we will be with the lord after the resurrection, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always BE WITH THE LORD" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). It was Paul, “I” that had a desire to be with the Lord, not something in Paul that had no substance.
2 Corinthians 5:8: “Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you…are willing to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord…For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body” (2 Corinthians 4:14-5:10). The context 2 Corinthians 5:8 is the resurrection and judgment at the coming of Christ, not to be in Heaven at the moment of death; it is taken out of it’s context and changed to contradict it context.
Many passages show that Paul’s whole hope of being with Jesus was at the resurrection, not at the moment of death. "Hencefo