Hi Kim,

Yes, that's a good comment. We often see such references to the afterlife. Those writing in the first century knew that people go from this plane of life into the afterlife immediately. They never thought people would "sleep" or not be accessible to their loved ones. Those were inventions of the church.

Yeshua (Jesus) also undoubtedly said, "In my father's house there are many mansions." That was a reference to all of the spiritual planes.

Love and peace, Craig