One should also consider that the interpretation is a grammatical one. For example.
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
This says that Jesus and the thief will be in paradise that very day. however what if the comma which does no appear in the original text, moved?
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee To day, shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Suddenly it is different. Now Jesus is simply saying that this day/fri, I am telling you that you will be in paradise. in other words he made the promise on that day.
This is not inconsistent with the way they spoke then.
but how can we know which one is accurate?
check out this verse:
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
notice that the Tree of life is in the Paradise of God. So find out where the tree of life is and you have your paradise.
Now we know that the tree of life was originally in the Garden of Eden. but where is it now?
In Revelation we are given a description of the new heavens and the new earth which is to come.
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
again the tree of life is the reward of those who obey God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
So it stands to reason that the thief on the cross who repented and followed Jesus gained the promise that He will be in heaven.
Another point.
Paul spoke of the "third Heaven" which is known to be heaven the dwelling of God and the angels. Three heavens, our atmosphere, space and Gods dwelling place.
Notice what Paul says when he was taken in vision to heaven.
2Co 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth
such an one caught up to the
third heaven.
2Co 12:3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth
2Co 12:4 How that he was caught up into
paradise, and heard
He called the third heaven, paradise. They are one and the same.
Now being that Heaven is a future reward that no one gets till the end.
Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
it becomes clear that we are in fact dealing with a grammatical error, neither Jesus nor the thief went anywhere that day except into the earth.