Luke's gospel account shows that an evildoer, being executed alongside Jesus Christ, spoke words in Jesus' defence and requested that Jesus remember him when he 'got into his kingdom'. Jesus' reply was : " Truly I tell you today, You will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43- New World Translation)
The punctuation shown in the rendering of these words must, of course, depend on the translator's understanding of the sense of Jesus's words, since no punctuation was used in the original Greek text. Punctuation in the modern style did not become common until about the ninth century C.E. Whereas many translations place a comma before the word "today" and thereby give the impression that the evildoer entered Paradise that same day, there is nothing in the rest of the scriptures to support this. Jesus himself was dead and in the tomb until the third day and was then reurrected as the "firstfruits" of the resurrection. (Acts 10:40, 1 Corinthians 15:20 ,Colossians 1:18). He ascended to heaven 40 days later. ( John 20:17, Acts 1:1-3,9)
The evidence is, therefore, that Jesus' use of the word "today" was not to give the time of the evildoer's being in Paradise but, rather, to call attention to the time in which the promise was being made and during which the evildoer had shown a measure of faith in Jesus. It was a day when Jesus had been rejected and condemned by the highest-ranking religious leaders of his own people and was therefore sentenced to die by Roman authority. He had become an object of scorn and ridicule. So the wrongdoer alongside him had shown a notable quality and commendable heart attitude in not going along with the crowd, but, rather, speaking out in Jesus' behalf and expressing belief in his coming Kingship. Recognizing that the emphasis is correctly placed on the time of the promise's being made rather than on the time of its fulfillment, other translations, such as those in English by Rotherham and Lamsa, those in German by Reinhardt and W. Michaelis, as well as the Curetonian Syriac of the 5th century, rendered the text in a form similar to the reading of the New World Translation , quoted above. -from the book- Insight From the Scriptures.
The punctuation shown in the rendering of these words must, of course, depend on the translator's understanding of the sense of Jesus's words, since no punctuation was used in the original Greek text. Punctuation in the modern style did not become common until about the ninth century C.E. Whereas many translations place a comma before the word "today" and thereby give the impression that the evildoer entered Paradise that same day, there is nothing in the rest of the scriptures to support this. Jesus himself was dead and in the tomb until the third day and was then reurrected as the "firstfruits" of the resurrection. (Acts 10:40, 1 Corinthians 15:20 ,Colossians 1:18). He ascended to heaven 40 days later. ( John 20:17, Acts 1:1-3,9)
The evidence is, therefore, that Jesus' use of the word "today" was not to give the time of the evildoer's being in Paradise but, rather, to call attention to the time in which the promise was being made and during which the evildoer had shown a measure of faith in Jesus. It was a day when Jesus had been rejected and condemned by the highest-ranking religious leaders of his own people and was therefore sentenced to die by Roman authority. He had become an object of scorn and ridicule. So the wrongdoer alongside him had shown a notable quality and commendable heart attitude in not going along with the crowd, but, rather, speaking out in Jesus' behalf and expressing belief in his coming Kingship. Recognizing that the emphasis is correctly placed on the time of the promise's being made rather than on the time of its fulfillment, other translations, such as those in English by Rotherham and Lamsa, those in German by Reinhardt and W. Michaelis, as well as the Curetonian Syriac of the 5th century, rendered the text in a form similar to the reading of the New World Translation , quoted above. -from the book- Insight From the Scriptures.
