Note 4 at Lk. 23:43: This paradise that Jesus spoke of must have been the same place that Jesus called "Abraham's bosom" (see note 3 at Lk. 16:22, p. 303) when He gave the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Ephesians 4:9 with Acts 2:25-31 make it very clear that Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth after His death, and John 20:17 shows that it was some time after His resurrection before Jesus ascended back to His Father. Therefore, this paradise was the "Abraham's bosom" located in "sheol" in the lower parts of the earth (see note 3 at Mt. 12:40, p. 131).

Paul later speaks of a man being caught up into paradise, which he uses interchangeably with the term "the third heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2,4). Paradise is also spoken of as being in heaven in Revelation 2:7. It must be that when Jesus went to paradise that was then in the heart of the earth and led the godly captives out (Eph. 4:9), that He moved paradise to heaven with Him.