Calling All Theoblogians #9

I suspect the answer to this question may well be, "It doesn't matter," but I'm going to ask it anyway.

When a Christian dies, do they go to be with Jesus straight away, or does every Christian (dead or alive) have to wait until Jesus returns?

A few years ago, I was having a conversation with some friends and their housemates about this issue.  All of these people are Seventh Day Adventists, and Adventists believe in the doctrine of 'soul sleep' (see their Official Belief No. 26 from the Seventh Day Adventist homepage). They believe that when a Christian dies, they remain in an unconscious state until the second coming of Christ.  1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 is one passage in Scripture where they get this belief from, but there are others.

This belief differs greatly with the opinion of many other denominations which believe a Christian goes to be with Christ the second they die.  I've heard many people say, "They've gone to be with Jesus," after losing a loved one, and they get this from Luke's account of Jesus' conversation with the repentant thief at the crucifixion:
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-43)

My Seventh Day Adventist friends believe that since the original text contained no commas, where you place the comma in the English translation completely changes the meaning of the verse.

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (This sounds like the thief will be in paradise with Jesus TODAY).

"I tell you the truth today, you will be with me in paradise." (This sounds like Jesus is telling the truth TODAY, but that does not mean the thief will be in paradise today).

A number of Christians believe that they will go to be with Jesus as soon as they die, and will be looking down on their loved ones from heaven.  For one lady I know of, this enslaved her because she believed her late husband was watching her so she felt pressure to dress in a way that would please him.  My SDA friends don't believe this because they argue they wouldn't be in much of a paradise if they could see their loved ones suffering on earth.  I'm inclined to agree with them there!

One pastor I know said he thinks it is both.  That when Christians die, they go to be with Jesus, but also a lot depends on the coming of the new creation.  He said it sounds ludicrous to think it could be both, but he thinks Scripture presents it as both.

I also suspect this question is unanswerable simply because you'd have to die and come back to tell people what it was like.  But I thought I'd throw it out there anyway to see if anyone can shed some insight on the Scriptures I mentioned.