Today in Paradise.
Evidently, Jesus had been in a place called Paradise. When Jesus was put to death, two thieves were crucified with Him. "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, it is recorded, "saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Can there be any doubt that Jesus went at His death to the place called Paradise and abode there? But where is Paradise, or what kind of place is Paradise?
Where Paradise is we may not be able to determine; but what kind of place it is, it should not be difficult to discover. Teaching at Jerusalem one day, Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." But how could the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, unless He should minister also in the place of the dead? This undoubtedly is what Jesus meant; this, too, must be what He meant when He said to the malefactor, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise." And this is what the apostles learned to know to be the meaning of these sayings of Jesus. Peter, writing to the scattered churches, declared the truth in these words: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." And again, in the same epistle, Peter said, "For, for this reason was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." This makes it clear to us, then, that Jesus's promise to the malefactor, meant that Jesus would meet him that day in the abode of spirits. For thither did Jesus go that the dead also might hear His voice. His mission to the living was accomplished; He had yet to minister to the dead. Only when that ministry was finished could He return to His Father and report His labor accomplished. We may not know where Paradise is; but we know that the place called Paradise is the abode of the spirits of those who have lived in the flesh and have not yet been resurrected.
A plain explanation.
As usual, modern revelation makes plain to us things that are somewhat obscure in the Jewish Scriptures. The great Nephite prophet and philosopher, Alma, writing under the direction of an angel and the inspiration of Jesus Christ, explains very clearly the state of the spirit during the time between death and the resurrection. Says he, "Now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death, and the time of the resurrection. And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death, to the time appointed for the resurrection? Now concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection. Behold, it has been made known unto me, by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body; yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are righteous, are received into a state of happiness, which is called 'Paradise'; a state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow, etc. And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house; and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and this because of their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil. Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked; yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful, looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection."
Every knee and every tongue.
Not only in His life, but in the spirit ministry and in His resurrection, Jesus taught truths of vital importance to man in his search after God and eternal life. Resurrection is an actual uprising of a tangible physical body. In the resurrection we shall be as Jesus was. And the privileges of the divine plan of salvation are extended to the dead as well as to the living. That is why we perform the saving ordinances for the dead in the House of the Lord. "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
THE REFERENCES
Matt. 28:1-20. 1 Cor. 15:5-7.