How to interpret the words
Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise
Luke 23.43 "And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." NASB
Luke 23.43 " "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." KJV
Because of the above sentence, there are different opinions in many churches. Two rather strongly differing interpretations have emerged. The first says that the thief was still in paradise with Jesus on the same day, while the second says that he was not, because the word "today" refers to the fact that Jesus singles out the day on which he utters the word. To me, such an interpretation is strange, to say the least, because it doesn't fit with the rest of Scripture. Who among us utters the words: "I say to you that today we will go for a walk together" having in mind that the walk will be on another day, and the word today is an indication of the day on which the sentence was spoken. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't make sense.
Nowadays, churches insist on their interpretations in many verses of Scripture, creating new religious factions for any reason. I don't mean just this verse, but the entire Bible. It is puzzling that representatives of the churches are unlikely to say that they don't know exactly what the verse says (and yet such exist), they forcefully seek clarification using confusing and vague explanations.
Let's take a look at the sentence in question:
Luke 23:43
Truly I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise.
Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.
Truly I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.
A comma changes the meaning of a sentence. It is known that punctuation marks were not present in the original writings. How should this sentence be read? The construction itself indicates that the answer is simple, but there are confessions that indicate otherwise. In the Bible, you will not find a sentence in which Jesus spoke in such a way as to insert a comma after the word today. Jesus' statements look like the following:
I say unto you - I say unto thee
Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,
For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,
For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
"I say unto thee, To day" - occurs only once
As we can see, none of the above sentences used in Luke's Gospel (including others) uses "today" after "I say to you," "I say unto you." Since Jesus had never said this before, why would he change the meaning of the statement and say it in such a strange way on the cross? After all, he clearly said that the thief who is with him will be in paradise today. Let's not forcefully create an entire ideology just to fit our creed. In Scripture we read:
John 10.30 "I and my Father are one."
and
John 14.10-11 "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."
The human mind does not know how God is created, how He unites Father, Son and Holy Spirit into one Body of God. We are too weak to fully understand this. We also don't know how Jesus reconciled life on earth with divinity, or if part of Jesus stayed in heaven. The Bible says that God is everywhere, with each of us, if so, did Jesus, put all of his divinity into an earthly body, or did any part of the power/body remain in heaven? We don't know, the Scriptures don't talk about it, it's all just our speculation, it hasn't been revealed to us.
When Jesus said that the rogue would be with him in paradise today, perhaps he meant that the part that remained in heaven would be with him. Even though all of Jesus' divinity was placed in an earthly body, God the Father and the Holy Spirit remained in heaven, and we know from Jesus' words that the Father and Jesus are one. Since They are one, the Holy Spirit is also one. A rogue going to heaven, in case he didn't find Jesus there, would have the Father and the Holy Spirit, who are One, and therefore a reflection of Jesus Christ.
Regardless of how one interprets this phrase, the most important thing is love for God and neighbor. All divisions over irrelevant issues give rise to quarrels and exaltation of one's own rationale, so that a person seeking the truth stands at a crossroads without knowing where to go.
