This is just my impression,
Luke 23:43
Jesus said to him, “I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me.”
1 Peter 3:19
and in his spiritual existence he went and preached to the imprisoned spirits.
1 Peter 4:6
That is why the Good News was preached also to the dead, to those who had been judged in their physical existence as everyone is judged; it was preached to them so that in their spiritual existence they may live as God lives.
Matthew 27:50-53
King James Version
50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Ephesians 4:8-10
Good News Translation
8 As the scripture says,
“When he went up to the very heights,
he took many captives with him;
he gave gifts to people.”
9 Now, what does “he went up” mean? It means that first he came down to the lowest depths of the earth.] 10 So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence.
2 Corinthians 12:3-4
I repeat, I know that this man was snatched to Paradise (again, I do not know whether this actually happened or whether it was a vision—only God knows), and there he heard things which cannot be put into words, things that human lips may not speak.
Basically, before Jesus death and resurrection. The dead was in the grave. Paradise at that time was the good side of the grave. When Jesus died He preached to or announced the good news. At his Resurrection or between his death and Resurrection the OT saints rose from the dead. When Jesus went to heaven either before or after his resurrection paradise was moved to Heaven. That is why Paul was caught up to paradise, and not taken down to it.
"The word "paradise" is probably of Persian origin. It occurs but three times in the Old Testament, namely, in Cant. iv. 13, Eccl. ii. 5, and Neh. ii. 8. In the first of these passages it means "garden"; in the second and third, "park." In the apocalypses and in the Talmud the word is used of the Garden of Eden and its heavenly prototype (comp. references in Weber's "Jüdische Theologie," 2d ed., 1897, pp. 344
et seq.). From this usage it came to denote, as in the New Testament, the abode of the blessed (comp. Luke xxiii. 43; II Cor. xii. 4; Rev. ii. 7).
...
Banquet for the Righteous in Paradise.
Regarding the feast that is prepared for the righteous in paradise, the Leviathan and "the wine preserved in its grapes since the six days of Creation" are the main courses to be served at the banquet (B. B. 75a). The order of the banquet follows: "The Almighty invites the righteous into paradise. King David requests God to join the company. The angel Gabriel brings two thrones, one for God and one for David, as the Scriptures say, 'his throne as the sun before me' (Ps. lxxxix. 36). They feast and drink three goblets of wine. The toast (grace before meals) is offered, to Abraham, 'the father of the world,' but he declines because he had a son (Ishmael) who antagonized God. Isaac, in turn, declines because one of his descendants (an Edomite) destroyed the Holy Temple. Jacob declines because he married two sisters (against the Law). Moses declines because he did not cross the Jordan into Palestine. Joshua declines because he left no issue. Finally, King David accepts the toast, saying: 'I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord' (Ps. cxvi. 13). After grace the Law is produced, and God, through the interpreter, Zerubbabel ben Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2), reveals the secrets and reasons of the commandments. David preaches from the Haggadah, and the righteous say: 'Let His great Name be hallowed forevermore in paradise!' The wicked in Gehinnom, on hearing the doxology, take courage and answer 'Amen!' Whereupon the Almighty orders the attending angels to open the gates of paradise and to permit the wicked to enter, as the Scriptures say, 'Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth [] may enter in' (Isa. xxvi. 2), the word 'emunim' being interpreted 'who observe to answer "Amen"' [; plural, ]" (Tanna debe-Eliyahu Zuṭa xx.)."
"
ABRAHAM'S BOSOM:
By: Kaufmann Kohler
In the New Testament and in Jewish writings a term signifying the abodeof bliss in the other world. According to IV Macc. xiii. 17, the righteous who die for their faith are received by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in paradise (compare Matt. viii. 11: "Many shall come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven"). In Ḳid. 72b, Adda bar Ahaba, a rabbi of the third century, is said to be "sitting in the bosom of Abraham," which means that he has entered paradise. With this should be compared the statement of R. Levi (Gen. R. xlviii.): "In the world to come Abraham sits at the gate of Gehenna, permitting none to enter who bears the seal of the covenant" (see Circumcision).
In the Hellenistic Testament of Abraham it is Adam, the representative of humanity, who sits at the gate of hell and paradise; the Jewish view of later times placed Abraham, the progenitor of Israel, in Adam's place. This was also the view of the New Testament writers as presented in Luke, xvi. 19-31, the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, the beggar, died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's Bosom; the rich man died and was put into Gehenna, where he saw Lazarus in the Bosom of Abraham, full of joy, whereas he suffered great torment. Thereat he cried: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me!" and finally he asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his father's house to admonish his five brothers to lead lives characterized by repentance, in order not to meet the same fate as his own."
PARADISE - JewishEncyclopedia.com
ABRAHAM'S BOSOM - JewishEncyclopedia.com
