THE THIEF ON THE CROSS by G. B. Thompson

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 24, 1898

THE THIEF ON THE CROSS.

By G. B. Thompson

“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” Luke 23:43. These words of Jesus to the dying thief are clung to by believers in inherent immortality as furnishing proof of the consciousness of the dead, and their entering upon their reward immediately at death. And to a careful and superficial reader, they might seem to contain some evidence in this direction. But by carefully examining the text and comparing it with other scripture, it is found to contain no support for the pagan notion of man's natural immortality. This is clear for several reasons.

In the first place, the thief did not ask to be remembered until Jesus came “into” His kingdom, and this is at the second coming of Christ. 2 Tim. 4:1; Matt. 25:31. Then is when He sits upon His throne in His kingdom. Then is when the righteous are rewarded, and will shine as the sun in the kingdom. Matt. 16:27; 13:40-43. It was at this time the thief asked that he might be remembered, and this the Saviour promised.

Again, the death of Jesus was something more than His humanity. The sacrifice was divine as well. He gave all there was of Him; He made no reserve. He made “His soul an offering for sin.” Isa. 53:10. But His soul was not left in hades. He arose a conqueror. But it was not until the third day that the celestial visitant descended and broke the cerements of the sepulcher, and called Him forth. It was, therefore, impossible for Him to be with the thief on the day of His death in Paradise, or around the throne of His Father. (See 2 Cor. 12:2; Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2.) And that He was not in Paradise with His Father till after His resurrection, is rendered absolutely certain by the Saviour Himself. When Mary, on the morning of His resurrection, recognized Him, and in joy was about to embrace Him, He said, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father.” John 20:17. Here we are plainly told that Jesus was not there.

And the thief was not there. Death by crucifixion was a slow, lingering death; and those who suffered the infliction of this punishment frequently lived for a number of days. Jesus, crushed by the weight of sin, died the same day, which was such a remarkable event that when Pilate heard of it he marveled that He was “already dead.” Mark 15:44. And he could not believe such a thing to be true until the report was confirmed by the centurion who saw Him die. Verse 45.

Jesus was removed from the cross near the close of the day, and the thieves were both living then, for which reason they brake their legs, so that when removed from the cross, in harmony with Jewish tradition, they could not escape. John 19:31, 32. It is, therefore, quite unlikely that the thief died on the day he was crucified, hence could not have met the Saviour in Paradise that day.

That which has given rise to the controversy concerning the meaning of the text, is the unfortunate manner in which it is punctuated. The very words of the Bible in the original languages in which it was written, are, in the mind of the writer, inspired. But at that time there were no punctuation marks, hence the marks of punctuation are not inspired. The Greek is written without these. The comma came into use near the close of the fifteenth century, and when the Bible was translated, they placed the comma in the texts as their judgment dictated. Later, it has been more fully punctuated. In this case, as well as some others, the judgment of those who have done this work was faulty. They interpreted what God said according to their belief, and punctuated accordingly. Had they placed the comma after the word “to-day” instead of before, it would have then read in harmony with the teaching of the Bible throughout. It would then read, “Verily I say unto thee to-day, shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.” That is, Jesus told the thief that day, while He Himself was dying, that he, the thief, would be with Him in Paradise. This is what the text says.

Rotherham, in his most excellent translation of the New Testament, translates and punctuates the text thus: “And Jesus said to him, Verily, to thee I say, this day, with Me shalt thou be in the Paradise.” Then he adds the following foot-note:—

It is left for the reader to determine whether the words “this day” should be joined (a) with the former part of the sentence, or (b) with the latter. In favor of (a) may be urged (1) the fact that semeron, “this day,” does not always stand first in the clause to which it belongs (see Luke 2:11; 5:26; 22:34; Acts 20:26; 22:3; 24:21; 26:29); (2) that being essentially a demonstrative word, it will bear any reasonable stress which may be laid upon it, whether it be placed before or after the words which it qualifies; (3) that it is far from meaningless if regarded as belonging to the opening words of assertion.

(Thou dost ask to be remembered then; verily thou art assured now. As on this the day of My weakness and shame, thou hast faith to ask, I this day have authority to answer); (4) that the latter part of the verse is thus left free to refer to the very matter of the supplicant’s request (“Thou dost ask to be remembered when I come in My kingdom; thou shalt be remembered then: and with distinguished favor: thou shalt be in My kingdom; shalt be with Me in the very Paradise of My kingdom, in the garden of the Lord . . . in that most central and blessed part of the coming kingdom, of which thou dost believe Me to be the destined King.”)

This makes the text clear, and in harmony with the Scriptures throughout. And what faith it revealed as being in the heart of the thief! While the priests, rulers, and all the angry mob were taunting the dying Saviour; while hope had expired in the hearts of His chosen disciples; while shame and ignominy were being heaped upon the head of Jesus, and He Himself dying—the faith of the thief looked through and beyond all this, believed Him a king, believed that He would live and reign as sovereign in a coming kingdom, and requested that in that hour of complete triumph over every foe, he might have a place with Him among the victors. And it was granted. Reader, will you and I be there with the penitent, pardoned thief? G. B. THOMPSON.

Newburg, W. Va.