“Where was Jesus between His death and resurrection?”

QUESTION: Where was Jesus between His death and resurrection? After His resurrection, He told Mary He had “not yet returned to His Father in heaven” (Jn. 20:17 NIV ), and He could not have gone to hell.

ANSWER: The Bible indicates that Christ’s spirit went to heaven when He died. He told the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with Me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43). Paradise (paradeisos in Greek) is the same place as the “third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2,4) and means “dwelling place of God” (Mt. 6:9). In Biblical times there was a concept of three heavens: the first was the atmosphere (Heb. 4:14); the second was the stars and galaxies. This means that Jesus went to the third heaven after He died. This is consistent with the fact that just before He died Jesus called out, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Lk. 23:46).

The Greek word anabaino is translated “returned” in John 20:17 (NIV), but according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (#305) it means “to ascend” or “ascended.” Mary Magdalene was probably worried that she would not be blessed when Jesus was no longer with her physically. He responded “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God’” (Jn. 20:17 NASB). She didn’t need to cling to Him as He would be around for another 40 days before ascending into heaven (Lk. 24:50-51; Acts 1:3,9-11).

The idea that Jesus went to hell between His death and resurrection comes from Article 5 of the Apostles’ Creed: “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead.” This creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Presumably Article 5 was derived from Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27,31, Ephesians 4:9 and 1 Peter 3:19. Some say that the purpose of Article 5 was to declare that Christ had a human soul that departed from His body when He died.

Also, in the Middle Ages, the words “hell” and “hades” became confused. The King James Version incorrectly used “hell” instead of “hades” in Psalm 16:10 and Acts 2:27,31. “Hell” (genna, Strong’s #1067) is the place of everlasting punishment. “Hades” (hades, Strong’s #86) is the place or state of the spirits of unbelievers after death – it is also a place of torment (Lk. 16:23-31).

Before Jesus’ ascension, the spirits of all people went to hades (sheol in Hebrew, Ps. 89:48). Since His ascension, only the spirits of unbelievers go to hades, while the spirits of believers go directly to be “with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:1-8). After the final judgment, those in hades will be cast into hell, also known as the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:14). Ephesians 4:9 states: “Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?” This means that the Lord’s ascension necessitated a previous descent from heaven to earth. The “lower parts of the earth” refers to the grave (tomb), not to hell.

First Peter 3:18-20 speaks of Christ “having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark.” The interpretation that best fits the context of this difficult passage is that by the Holy Spirit, Christ preached through Noah (Gen. 6:3; 1 Pet. 1:10-11; 2 Pet. 2:5) to the people alive in Noah’s lifetime. These people had since died, and their spirits were (and still are) now in hades because they had rejected Noah’s message. Christ didn’t literally preach to spirits in hades.

The Bible teaches that there is no second chance for salvation after death: “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). There is no evidence in the Bible of “purgatory” – a place of temporary punishment before one goes to heaven. Therefore, there is no benefit to prayer for the dead or baptism of the dead; these are human traditions with no biblical basis.

Jesus did not go to hell between His death and resurrection. Instead, His spirit was with the Father in heaven.

Answered by George Hawke