Luke 23:42-43...”Then he said: “Jesus, remember me when you get into your Kingdom.”
43 And he said to him: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Since there was no punctuation in Greek, the placement of the comma is important because changing its location also changes the meaning of what Jesus told this repentant thief.
If it is placed after the word “today”, it reads...
“Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
This was said in the form of an oath made that very day. It was not an odd thing for a Jew to say in those times.
i.e., the second coming on the last day of the current universe
I’m not sure that there is such a thing as a “current universe”, as everything God made was pronounced “very good” on the day of its completion. The universe of God’s making will stand forever, as will this earth. (Eccl 1:4; Psalm 78:69; Psalm 104:5) There is no defect or fault with the material creation....sin came only through man....so it is wicked mankind who will be removed from the earth......the earth and the universe will “stand forever.”
This criminal died on his last day on Earth. When a person dies, time stops with respect to him (e.g., gravitational time dilation). When he is resurrected, he will be with Jesus in paradise. To him, it will be the same day: today, i.e., the last day of the old universe. From his perspective and God's perspective, there wasn't even any waiting. His today is the same as his last day on the old earth and is the same as the last day of the universe after he is resurrected,
John 6:40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
This is an important point since the resurrection of the dead is a scheduled event, split into two parts. There is a “first resurrection” of the ones chosen from the earth to be “kings and priests” in the heavenly kingdom, (Rev 20:6) and later when Christ has cleansed the earth of all wickedness, a general resurrection of the dead (both righteous and unrighteous ) will take place as Jesus calls these ones from their graves on earth...some to life after a faithful course...and other to a period of judgment. (John 5:28-29) These will be the subjects of the heavenly kingdom. (Rev 21:2-4)
Since there is no teaching of an immortal soul in the Bible, those in their graves “sleep”, unaware of the passage of time, hence, at their resurrection, they will open their eyes as if they fell asleep only a moment ago. Death does not take us to destinations unknown. Death is no more scary than a good night’s sleep.
The incorrigibly wicked will simply not wake up. That is the difference between hades and Gehenna.
Gehenna is the place from which no one is resurrected. It is eternal death. God does not need to torture anyone. He has no desire to do that. No law of God required torture as a punishment....death was enough.
Some believe that the dead have a conscious spirit existence in Sheol/Hades as in the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus. I think that is a parable meant to be symbolic and not physical.
I don't think our dead loved ones can presently see us from heaven.
Indeed...some believe that Lazarus and the rich man are real characters, but they symbolize those who were alive in Jesus’ day. The rich man pictured the Pharisees living the high life, whilst the poor beggar went without, hoping for a few crumbs to fall from the rich man’s table. The beggar pictured the lost sheep, to whom Jesus was sent, sadly neglected by their religious shepherds. They changed places in their symbolic “death” to their former status.....the rich man in anguish at being exposed by Jesus as frauds and hypocrites, and the beggar gaining favour with God because of accepting his Messiah and were finally fed the food needed to nourish and sustain them spiritually. (The bosom of Abraham pictured favour with God)
Taken literally, it is clearly ridiculous. Can heaven and hell be within speaking distance to one another....and can a drop of water on a man’s finger would quench the thirst of someone in flames???
Another Lazarus was not a parable but a real person. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. He was dead for 4 days (John 11:39). I don't think he would appreciate Jesus resurrecting him while he was enjoying his time in heaven.
Yes, Jesus called Lazarus from his tomb, not from heaven. How would it have been doing him a favour calling him back to a sinful state on earth if he was now a perfect spirit being in heaven? Where did Jesus say Lazarus was? (John 11:11-14) He said he was “sleeping”.
A “soul” in the Bible is any earthly creature that breathes. That includes animals and humans who breathe the same air and die the same death...(Eccl 3:19-20)....they stop breathing, which deprives the body cells of oxygen and the organs which depend on that oxygen, begin to cease functioning. First the brain, which is the control centre of the whole body, loses function and the organs that sustain breathing stop working...the lungs and the heart stops pumping oxygenated cells around the body and it dies. The “soul” in scripture is the whole person. Souls are completely mortal. They depend on external things to keep living, but once these things are withheld, (oxygen, food or water) the soul dies. (Ezekiel 18:4)
The “spirit” in man is a whole other topic....this word is also associated with breathing. When Adam started breathing, he “became a living soul”......God began his life by giving him breath (spirit) But this word in the Bible doesn’t have only one meaning.
The Hebrew word ruʹach and the Greek word pneuʹma, often translated “spirit,” have a number of meanings. All of them refer to that which is invisible to human sight and gives evidence of force in motion. The Hebrew and Greek words are used with reference to (1) wind, (2) the life-force in earthly creatures, (3) the impelling force that issues from a person’s figurative heart and causes him to say and do things in a certain way, (4) inspired expressions originating from an invisible source, (5) spirit persons, and (6) God’s Holy Spirit or his power.
