We Never Talk about Paradise

 

We never talk about this as Christians,

but many churches hold to the Catholic

confession that Jesus descended into

hell before God raised Him bodily

from death. There is no singular 

scripture that tells us so, but we know,

from Jesus' grief over Lazarus' death,

that experiencing death without Jesus

was was difficult to bear. We also know

that death before Jesus made the way to

 Heaven (before He ascended to Heaven),

was grievous in more than one way. In

some cases, the grave itself was a horror,

 with souls like the demon-possessed 

man dwelling there, among remains

buried in deep caves.

Having established all of the above, let's talk about something we never discuss; and that's what Jesus meant by "paradise."

Although we know the spirit of a soul who is committed to Jesus today is present in Heaven as soon as the spirit leaves its bodily home, that wasn't so when Jesus himself died in body. Jesus agonized even before He was crucified, knowing not only how He would suffer bodily, but knowing all the more that the Holy Spirit, His and our Heavenly Father, our lifeline to Heaven, would withdraw from Him: that He spiritually would need to be void of God, in a grave, a beautiful garden grave but a grave.

And that's the sense I personally feel in Jesus' saying, "Today, you will be with me in paradise," in answer to the man who accepted eternity in Him while they each hung on a cross. I believe Jesus was saying, in effect, I can't explain to you right now that I'm not going to the Father right away, that the both of us have to wait a few hours; but as best as I can tell you, although we'll be in a beautiful earthly place today, we won't have Heavenly rest right away. We'll have a difficult wait without being in the Spirit, but, be assured, I won't forget you. I'll take you up in the Spirit when the Father delivers me first from that death.

... Praying God will add understanding to His magnified word