On Friday, Jesus was crucified and hung between two thieves. Luke tells us that one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him 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 received 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, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23: 39-43)
For 2 millennia, Christians have interpreted this invitation to mean heaven. Actually, it does not. When a person dies, his spirit leaves his body and returns to the Spirit World. Final judgement is yet to be passed, but some sort of preliminary selection takes place, either by God's assignment or the individuals' own choice. This realm is divided into Paradise and Spirit Prison. Spirits in prison are those that refused to choose the Lord or who haven't heard of Him.
Some reject the idea because they think that a Just God would not do that to His children, even His sinful children. In fact, He does not. He has made provisions for those spirits held in prison that they can learn of the Savior and choose to accept Him or reject Him, by their own choice. Even though that thief had sinned, by his own admission, in his final moment, he accepted God and acknowledged that he knew that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That is why Jesus could promise him Paradise.
On that Saturday, as Jesus' body lay in the tomb under heavy guard, His spirit was continuing the work of His ministry. Peter tells us: 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 unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing, wherein few . . . were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us. . . (1 Peter 3: 18-21)
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| Mandaeam baptism today |
Piggy-backing on the idea of baptism saving, Paul helps us understand how that, being a necessary ordinance for salvation, people could receive baptism when they had already died. He wrote to the Saints in Corinth, Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? (1 Corinthians 15: 29) This single verse if often overlooked. Paul was using baptism for the dead as a proof of the resurrection.
That says to me that it must have been such a common practice that he didn't need to expound on it any further. As proof of its ancient origin, there is a group of people in Iraq who still practice baptism in rivers; including baptism for the dead. They are called the Mandaeams and they trace their beliefs to John the Baptist. Latter-day Saint military personal encountered them during Desert Storm. The people were excited to hear the story of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery baptizing each other in the Susquehanna River. In Iraq, these people must practice in secret because they live in a Muslim country. I do not believe it was an accident the Latter-day Saint servicemen found them.
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When Jesus' followers were cowering in fear and mourning His death, He was still ministering to God's children. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we understand that while Christ was in the Spirit World, He called many from Paradise to preach to those in Prison. That preaching is still going on. I like to think that my late husband, Carmon, is among those carrying the gospel message to his family.
In our sacred temples, we perform proxy baptisms for our dead in a font set upon the backs of twelve oxen, as that replicates, in design, the Molton Sea in the temple of Solomon.
In perilous times like today, I take great comfort in seeing the warp and the woof of God's plan for His children in such complete continuity. Like the thief on the cross, I know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Unlike the thief, I didn't wait until I was dying to accept Him and His invitation to Paradise.
© Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson April 2020
*Quick in the scriptures mean alive. This is before Jesus' resurrection, so Peter is teaching us that the Spirit is alive, even after the physical body is dead.
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