You can't use "Moses and Elijah" as evidence that when we die we go to heaven upon death and stay in harmony with all the other verses that speak of the dead not having any thoughts, memories, etc. Going to heaven will only happen when you are resurrected on the last day.
At first glance, this seems like a slam dunk. Jesus is saying, "Today you will be with me in paradise." Let's analyze this to see if it's as simple as it sounds.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Did Jesus go to paradise that day? | No. The Bible says he rested and rose on Sunday and had not yet ascended to the Father. |
| When did Jesus ascend to heaven? | It was at least 40 days after because Jesus died during Passover and ascended 10 days before the holiday of Pentecost. In those 40 days, he showed himself to |
| Is there a difference between Heaven and Paradise? | It certainly appears that way. Paradise is the "new Eden" where God creates the new garden for us to live in. The book of Revelation shows us that the tree of life is in paradise and paradise happens on the new earth in the new Jerusalem. So the thief is going to have to wait 1000 years in heaven with God before even stepping foot in paradise, but Jesus did promise him that he would be there, and he will. |
It's rather simple. The Greek manuscript does not contain punctuation at all. That's a "modern" concept and the manuscripts do not include things like commas, periods, quotation marks and yes...even spaces. Meaning, if we were to read it literally (without translation), it would look like:
andjesussaidtohimassuredlyIsaytoyoutodayyouwillbewithmeinparadise
Question: Given the knowledge above of when Jesus actually ascended to heaven, if you were a modern-day translator of the Greek manuscript to English, where would you put that comma?
Answer: If I were a modern-day translator and I know Jesus didn't ascend that very day (given the scripture above) I would logically have to conclude that the comma goes after "today". Does that make a difference?
Jesus died on Friday.
Jesus was rose on Sunday.
On Sunday, Jesus Stated to Mary that He had not yet ascended to the Father.
Jesus remained on earth for 40 days before ascending to heaven.
Jesus was seen by 500 people at once, again, before ascending to heaven.
The Greek manuscripts never used commas, periods, quotations or spaces.
Logically, the comma is in the wrong place. Otherwise, it would contradict the rest of scripture. The easy mistake in translation.
In summary, it's literally impossible that Jesus meant that the thief would be with Him in paradise that day because Jesus didn't go to heaven that day. Jesus says that himself many times, therefore, there's no room for error in understanding this. Jesus ascended after 40 days and the thief is dead, "sleeping", awaiting the trumpet sound. Clearly, and without any hesitation, I can say it's nothing more than a simple error in translation from not understanding where to put the comma. That simple.
Special mentions to: 
