If you were to “Google” the word paradise, you’ll get some remarkable pictures from across the globe and the mind of man. Many will show beautiful, lush tropical scenes with sandy beaches and sunny weather. Others will show scenes imagined by man for the likes of the old Land of the Lost television show or, more recently, Avatar.
The word paradise is only used three times in modern translations: Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:3; and Revelation 2:7. It is clear in 2 Corinthians 12:3 that paradise refers to heaven, the dwelling place of God since it is used as a synonym for the “third heaven.” It is also clear in Revelation 2:7 that paradise refers to heaven. In that passage, Jesus – through John – promises those Christians from Ephesus that if they conquer, they will eat of the tree of life in the “paradise of God”. Chapter 22 of Revelation places the tree of life in the Garden of God in heaven.
But what about Luke 23:43? To what destination does “paradise” refer? The Greek word paradeisos is a Persian word. Originally, it referred to parks or gardens of the kings and nobility. While the English word is not used in the Old Testament, the word paradeisos is used 47 times in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to the Garden of Eden as well as the new “garden” to come with the Messiah.
As the prophets pictured the Messianic Age, they used Paradise motifs (Ezekiel 36:35 and Isaiah 51:3 are two among numerous references). In other words, the prophets were predicting another Garden of Eden to come, comparable with, if not better than, the first Garden. Confidence in a resurrection of the dead spread and as it did so, many believed they would also participate in this new garden (paradeisos).
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It seems that this unseen paradeisos, the dwelling place of the righteous departed, is the place where Jesus says He will be with the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43. The thief would have fellowship with the Messiah in that garden. The thief wanted to be remembered in the kingdom (23:42). Jesus told him that he would be with Jesus in paradise/garden (23:43).
The place where Jesus went at death was not to be with the Father. That came at the ascension (John 20:17; Acts 1:9-11). Jesus did, however, go to the dwelling place of the righteous dead (hades; Acts 2:27, 31), the place He calls “paradise” to the thief. It is the garden before you get to the eternal garden of God, which is in heaven where the tree of life is located (Revelation 22). Jesus is the One who brings back (or makes available) the paradeisos of God to everyone, both Jew and Gentile.
–Paul Holland
