Holier Than Thou - Biblical Contradictions

Was the thief on the cross with Jesus in paradise that same day?

Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Luke 23:43, "Jesus answered him, 'I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.' "

According to Matthew chapter 12, Jesus claimed that after his death he would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, however, according to Luke chapter 23, he told the thief on the cross that he would be with him in paradise that same day.

"Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." (Ecclesiastes 7:3-4, KJV)

"Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 8:15, KJV)