April 15, 2022 – Click here to listen
After Jesus said, “It is finished,” on the cross, “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit”. His dead body remained on the cross until it was taken down and placed in a nearby tomb. His spirit, however, was elsewhere. Three days later, His body and spirit were reunited, and He rose from the dead, but where was His spirit during those three days?
There is much speculation about this subject. It is somewhat a mystery because Scripture does not do much to answer that question. But it does give us a glimpse of at least part of that time. One of the thieves crucified with Jesus recognized who Jesus was, confessed that he was a sinner, and prayed that Jesus would remember him when he came into his kingdom.
In response, Jesus told him in Luke 23:43, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise”. So, after His death, Jesus went to the place of blessing where God is — heaven. And that’s where the believing thief went, too.
Jesus’ promise to the repentant thief on the cross, was that they would both be together in Paradise. Not at some time in the future, but that very day. As believers, we look forward to the resurrection and transformation of our bodies. But that resurrection is still in the future, awaiting Jesus’ return. So, Jesus’ spirit was in paradise. It makes perfect sense that He would first visit His saints including Abraham, David, Joshua, Daniel, the beggar Lazarus, the thief on the cross, and everyone else who had previously been justified by faith who were awaiting him there.
So at least part of that time He was in paradise, but there is a second passage in the Scripture that many believe has something to say about this mystery. In 1 Peter 3:18, Peter talks about Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. There is a part of this passage that is challenging to understand and that has generated a variety of interpretations over the years.
Peter says in 1 Peter 3:18, He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits — to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Hmmm . . . Was Jesus preaching the Gospel to them or proclaiming victory. No one knows because Scripture doesn’t tell us what He was doing and/or saying to them; it just tells us He went there.
Many have looked to explain this and perhaps the most popular is something referred to as, “The Apostle’s Creed”. It is an early statement of Christian belief that is of unknown origin and date. Included in this creed is the statement about Jesus that he “was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. On the third day he rose again.”
The expression “he descended into hell” is controversial. Some denominations eliminate it altogether. Others change it to say that he “descended to the dead.”
I believe that it is important to recognize that the Apostle’s Creed is not Scripture and was never considered to be such and thus in my mind cannot be trusted any more than our own guess. It is mostly based on Scripture, except for the statement about Jesus descending into hell. One of Satan’s ploys to deceive us is to mix some truth in with his lies and we should be careful but nonetheless, it is an interesting thought.
At the end of the day, nowhere in the Scripture is something like this found. The closest would seem to be the 1 Peter 3:18 reference, discussed above. Some have also seen Ephesians 4:9 as referring to this: “What does “He ascended” mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the very One who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things . . . “
What is unequivocally clear from Scripture is that Jesus was not a prisoner in hell for those three days. In fact, Colossians 2:15 would seem to say just the opposite, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Indeed, it was at the cross that Satan and those aligned with him were defeated. If Jesus did descend into hell, it was as a victorious conqueror rather than a chained prisoner.
Okay so what does this mean?
In the end, I do not believe we can know for sure just what Jesus did during those three days, other than being in Paradise with the thief. Based on the vague Scripture presented I do believe He also visited hell to proclaim victory to those who had rejected God and especially the demonic fallen angels including Satan.
The only thing we know for sure is that, according to Jesus’ own words on the cross, He went to paradise. We can also say with confidence that, due to His work of redemption being finished, Jesus did not have to suffer in hell.
1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey . . .
Have a wonderful Easter weekend. Remember this is the holiest time of the year and whatever it takes I ask you to please go to church this Sunday and thank God for what He did for us on that old rugged cross!