Luke 23:39-46
Jesus and A Believer in Heaven
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
John 20:17-18
I Have Not Yet Returned to My Father
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
John 20:1-9
The Empty Tomb
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
The day after Jesus' death is a complete mystery...This is a great mystery because we do not understand life after death...Jesus is divine, and we are not...Even if we were given a greater amount of information, it is still possible we would not understand the last three days of His life...Jesus in the Gospels gives us the exact amount of information that He wants us to have (because knowing all things, He knows the right amount of everything, including information that we need)...
There is only very sparse information about the day after His death...Where He went, and where He was will be questions until we get to His Kingdom...Some of the verses give us only an inkling of what did happen the day before His resurrection...
Jesus was being crucified on the cross...There were two criminals being crucified beside Him...One was becoming a believer and the other fellow did not believe and hurled insults at the Messiah...The one criminal rebuked the other criminal, and told him that Jesus had done nothing wrong...The believing criminal on his last day of life ask Jesus to remember him when He went into His Kingdom...Jesus told him today you will be with Me in paradise...
St. Luke wrote that Jesus used the word today...Jesus said today you will be with Me in paradise..So the spirit of the believer and the Spirit of Jesus on the day of His death and the death of the new believer were in heaven (that very day)...His Spirit did not wait three days on earth, to get to heaven...It must have ascended immediately to heaven...Jesus in His last words on the cross, written by St. Luke, says “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last...We might assume that His Spirit was received by His Father that very day with the new believer...This sort of reinforces the idea that Jesus', at least His Spirit goes to heaven on the day of His death...
To further confuse (at least this author), St. John writes that Mary Magdalene tried to hold on to Jesus after His resurrection...Jesus tells Mary, "Do not hold on to Me, for I have not returned to the Father."...He was in heaven the very day of His death, according to the earlier verses...This, to me, may mean we have a Spiritual body (although body is probably not a good description) and a physical body...They might be able to be in different places, but that is only a guess...Jesus does not tell Mary that He has been or not been to heaven to see His Father, He says He hasn't returned to His Father...It may mean that He would ascend twice into heaven once by Spirit and His body, or maybe once by Spirit only (if our Spirits can be in two places at once...Or Maybe since Jesus is Divine, His Spirit and body can be in two different places)...
While His death, and the day of His empty tomb, and resurrection remain a great mystery to us, one thing Jesus makes perfectly clear...He could have just called God His Father, when He says, I have not returned to My Father...Jesus tells us that God is our Father as well as His Father...He tells Mary (let go of Me right now) and go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God....We do know that we are children of God, when He tells Mary, Your Father, and Your God...God is our Father too...We also know that God is Love...
So while the Incarnation of Jesus, the Passion of the Christ, and His Resurrection remain a mystery, there things (here) are not a mystery...Believers know that Jesus walked the earth and was crucified...Secondly Jesus taught in detail that God is our Father...And number three, we know that God is Love (1 John 4:8)...