The above words are taken from Luke 23:43, but the added question mark is the writer’s. It has always seemed that there has been something wanting in the generally accepted explanation of this incident, and this article is the result of much thought and the collation of opinions of a number of others.
First, shall we settle the point of the nature of those who were crucified with Jesus? It is often said that they were political prisoners, and that one may have been baptized in earlier years. The Emphatic Diaglott gives the word “lestai,” which is the same as used in the phrase “Now Barabbas was a robber,” and, therefore, the word “thieves” cannot be objected to.
The testimony in Matthew 27 is very plain. They that passed by reviled him, and such phrases as the following are used: “If he be the king of Israel let him now come down from the cross”; “he trusted in God, let Him deliver him”; and then the crux of the argument in verse 44, “the thieves also, which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth.” The words which they used can be taken from Luke’s account; and although verses 40 and 41 of chapter 23 seem to incline to the popular view, if we keep to the spirit of the Matthew version we have to say that the thieves were hardened and in the hour of death gave vent to blasphemy; and being hung on either side of one who claimed to be the Son of God, their reviling took the line of sarcastic reference to what would seem to them the irony of the situation. This is indicated by the two most important verses, viz., 42 and 43. The words used were, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom”; and when we think that Jesus had preached about a kingdom for three and a half years, was now facing death like any other offending mortal, and even his disciples had fled (the whole thing in their eyes having failed to materialize), it is only natural that it should influence the nature of their revilings. Jesus might have ignored their remarks, but with dignity and scorn said, in effect “Shall a man like you be with me in Paradise?” The words of the thieves were blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, concerning which Jesus had said, “It shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world or the next.”
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Author: S. C. Orchard
Keywords: semeron, Paradise, paradise today, In Hades, thief on the cross, comma, punctuate, today I say unto you, today you will be with me in Paradise, Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise, Be with me in paradise, This day you shall be with me in paradise, Thief paradise, immortality of the soul, immortal soul, soul is immortal, afterlife, intermediate state
Bible reference(s): Luke 23:43
Source: “Shalt Thou be With Me in Paradise?,” The Testimony, Vol. 16, No. 181, January 1946, pp. 11-4.
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