Did Jesus Go To Hell After He Died?

Hey guys,

An interesting discussion began when a close friend of mine (Brad) brought up this question while catching up with him on the phone one evening.

Did Jesus go to hell between his death and resurrection? - I used to think that he actually did but in the sense that he went through hurt/pain on earth meaning hell! Oh how wrong i was!!

I did a google search and came up upon this which i think seems to be the right thing:

http://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-go-to-hell.html

Again i didn't know that there was a difference between hades and hell. Is it true that hades is a waiting place for the unbelieving dead and paradise for the righteous dead? And hell and heaven being two different places that are yet to be occupied by us?

Also this short video which confirms what i just read on that link:


Any help on getting this more clear would be great!!

Thanks
Jake
 
G'day Jake. Take a look at Eph 4:8,9,10. We acknowledge that Jesus is God and God is omnipresent. Personally I don't think Jesus 'went to hell' in the usual sense of the word, but He was there and preached to the spirits in prison. see 1 Peter 3:19.
Remember we are considering God here not a mere mortal. When He told the fellow beside Him on the cross that he would be with Him in paradise that same day, it was true. That He preached to the spirits in prison, (presumably during the 3 day period before resurrection) is also true. Impossible for you and I, a snack for the Lord because He is everywhere all at the same time.
Hope this helps.
 
Hey Calvin,

Thanks for clearing up some of that. Yeah in beginning that he didn't go to hell during that 3 day period, but he did go to hades/sheol - 1 Peter 3:19 (like the Bible says to preach to the spirits in prison). What could be the reason for him preaching to the prisoners during that 3 day period? Could it be that he forgave them and took them to paradise? Hence Jesus using the phrase - "Father forgive them" before he breathed his last.

Im thinking that Hades isn't Hell but its a place where the souls of unbelievers are kept whilst the righteous dead go to paradise. Or is the paradise Jesus is referring to here is heaven?

Just trying to get this clear... :)

Jake
 
Jake, in many ways 'Hell' is just a generic term for the place other than heaven were people go after they leave here.
There are times when laboring over the exact meaning of a word is important, but sometimes we have to think about the original author's preference for a word when two or more words have similar meanings. But maybe that is getting in too deep, sufficient to say that we ought not get too bogged down on semantics.

Having cleared that up or maybe confused the whole issue:
Im thinking that Hades isn't Hell but its a place where the souls of unbelievers are kept whilst the righteous dead go to paradise. Or is the paradise Jesus is referring to here is heaven?
Paradise is another name for the garden of Eden or the garden of God. BTW, note that it referred to a garden that is in Eden, not the region that is or was called Eden.

Could it be that he forgave them and took them to paradise? Hence Jesus using the phrase - "Father forgive them" before he breathed his last.
Well I think Eph 4:8 implies that Jesus took with Him many souls that were formerly captive. The context strongly suggests that these were (past tense) taken with him as He ascended on high ie. to heaven, and so could not be referring to the future rapture. So I think it fair to understand that Jesus did in fact preach to the souls of men (and women) who were imprisoned in hell awaiting judgement.
As for the request for the Father to forgive them, I would go with the traditional interpretation that He was requesting forgiveness for those who were murdering Him on that cross......that includes you and me by the way.
 
Hey Calvin,

Thanks for clearing up some of that. Yeah in beginning that he didn't go to hell during that 3 day period, but he did go to hades/sheol - 1 Peter 3:19 (like the Bible says to preach to the spirits in prison). What could be the reason for him preaching to the prisoners during that 3 day period? Could it be that he forgave them and took them to paradise? Hence Jesus using the phrase - "Father forgive them" before he breathed his last.

Im thinking that Hades isn't Hell but its a place where the souls of unbelievers are kept whilst the righteous dead go to paradise. Or is the paradise Jesus is referring to here is heaven?

Just trying to get this clear... :)

Jake

Jake,

Allow me to quote Dr. Luke who in fact is quoting the Lord Jesus as He taught on Hades/sheol.

Luke 16:20-28........................
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

From the words of Scripture we clearly see that the rich man is "tormented with fire" hence the name for this olace is then TORMENTS. It is divided by a FIXED GULF and the other side of the place we see is called PARADISE.

When Jesus told the man on the cros that "TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE" He was referring to this place. It is also callled Abrahams Bossom. So we see by the Scriptures that Hades/Sheol is a place where the souls of the lost wicked are held and also the saved souls of the believers.

We see that Jesus Himself said that "TODAY you will be with me in PARADISE". That can only mean one thing..........
Jesus actually did go into the PARADISE side of Hades/Sheol as Calvin said and that is found in Ephesians 4:8-10

"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things."

When Jesus ascended, He took with Him the souls of the saints who were in PARADISE with Him to heaven and now there is no one in the PARADISE side of Hades/Sheol. The TORMENTS side of that place is still occupied and grows every second.

Peter confirms all of this in 1 Peter 3:18-19
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the un-just, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quicked by the Spirit. By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prision".

Then Peter says in verse #20........
"Which were sometime (formely-past) disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water".

There are excelleant Bible commentators who differ on this verse and I am not in that catagory by the way. But to me the immediate mention of Noah would indicate to me IMO that these spirits be understood as the souls of those who heard and then rejected the preaching of Noah, since they were the largest group of mankind to ever experience the universal judgment of God at one time.
 
This is all quite interesting, thankyou sincerely Calvin and Major for taking the time to explain. This is getting a whole lot clearer now, being soooo many years a believer it has taken me time to understand all of this.

Im thinking though the bottom line is that once Christ is in us, we definitely needn't fear - our souls are safe with him for all eternity :)))

God Bless
Jake
 
This is all quite interesting, thankyou sincerely Calvin and Major for taking the time to explain. This is getting a whole lot clearer now, being soooo many years a believer it has taken me time to understand all of this.

Im thinking though the bottom line is that once Christ is in us, we definitely needn't fear - our souls are safe with him for all eternity :)))

God Bless
Jake

That is the bottom line my friend!

We see a lot of conversation on a lot of topics.....but that is all that matters.
 
This is all quite interesting, thankyou sincerely Calvin and Major for taking the time to explain. This is getting a whole lot clearer now, being soooo many years a believer it has taken me time to understand all of this.

Me too lol. I am surprised that both of us in all our years at church did not know this. Either we werent paying attention or it was never properly taught. :)
 
Me too lol. I am surprised that both of us in all our years at church did not know this. Either we werent paying attention or it was never properly taught. :)

It seems to me that over the years the great majority of believers do not want to hear about Hell.
It scares them and their children so most ministers have shied away from the Biblical teaching on Hell so as to keep the church members happy BUT not informed.

My advice is to always read the Scriptures and allow them to speak to you through the guidence of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 16 gives the proper teaching on Hades/Sheol and when prayerfully read. it makes perfect sence.

If our moderators will allow, I will give you the example of what I mean.

First of all......take it as it is written. There is no need to "assume" or to try and "explain" away the things we do not like.
Accept them as the Word of God.

Luke 16: 22
"So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried".

So we see right away that there is a place called Abraham's bosom and the beggar was taken there.

Luke 16:23
"And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."

Now we see that the rich man is in "torments". TORMENTS is TORMENTS. There is no reason to make it something that it is not. What kind of "torment". Again the Word of God gives the answer to us IF we are willing to accept it.

Luke 16:24
"Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame".

He is being torments by flames. Flame = fire. Again, it is the Word of God here that we read not an opinion or what is thought.

Luke 16:25
"But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented".

"YOU ARE BEING TORMENTED". "Tormented" tells us that the suffering is an ongoing thing as it is in the active plural.

Luke 16:26
"And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

Now we see that there is a "barrier" between the "Torments" side and the "Abraham Bossom/Paradise" side of Hades.

This is what the Scripture literally tell us and I hope the moderators will leave this up since this is the "Bible Study" section of the forum. YES, I do know that it can be a conflict, but the conflict should be over what is literally said and what is percieved.

Bless you all.
 
My advice is to always read the Scriptures and allow them to speak to you through the guidence of the Holy Spirit......


First of all......take it as it is written. There is no need to "assume" or to try and "explain" away the things we do not like.
to accept it.


Amen to that Major!! The only and the only true way of perceiving the real truth from the word of God.

Luke 16:26
"And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

Now we see that there is a "barrier" between the "Torments" side and the "Abraham Bossom/Paradise" side of Hades.

Bless you all.

Now again, not to argue or debate this but taking the word literally as to how it is. Im just trying to picture this whole scenario. If there is a barrier between the torments side and Paradise side, its amazing that Lazarus was able to see the good side and also converse with Abraham at the same time. This does give us the picture that "maybe" that barrier is a see through kinda thing.

Ill just leave it at that - "Maybe"

God Bless
Jake
 
Amen to that Major!! The only and the only true way of perceiving the real truth from the word of God.



Now again, not to argue or debate this but taking the word literally as to how it is. Im just trying to picture this whole scenario. If there is a barrier between the torments side and Paradise side, its amazing that Lazarus was able to see the good side and also converse with Abraham at the same time. This does give us the picture that "maybe" that barrier is a see through kinda thing.

Ill just leave it at that - "Maybe"

God Bless
Jake

No, aregument from me. It is definetly able to be seen through.
YES, that is true and IMO it is one of the"torments" of being in that side of Hades. It shows to those in torments where they could have been if they had made the right choice.
 
Hi, this is my first post here so please be patient with me especially as this is fairly difficult to explain. There are words called homographs that are spelt the same but have different meanings and here are a couple of examples I got off the Internet

She got the leading role in her school play.
Do you like to play tennis?

Will he run for president?
Please don't run across the street.
Don't wear these tights because there's a run in them.

It is the same with the word Hell and this is partly due to translation. Hell is called "Sheol" in the Old Testament and "Hades" in the New Testament and simply translated means death and the grave.

Jesus and the repentant thief both died a physical death and I know Jesus went into the grave (sepulchre) and I assume the repentant thief went to the grave as well. So seeing as the grave means Hell then the bodies of both Jesus and the repentant thief were in Hell - the grave. But we are not only body, we are body, soul and spirit and it is our incorporeal soul that lives on and I believe both the soul of Jesus and the soul of the thief lived on and for three days they were in Paradise. After three days Jesus rose again in the flesh while the thief will one day be resurrected to join his heavenly Father where hopefully we shall all meet in Glory. May God bless.
 
Hi, this is my first post here so please be patient with me especially as this is fairly difficult to explain. There are words called homographs that are spelt the same but have different meanings and here are a couple of examples I got off the Internet

She got the leading role in her school play.
Do you like to play tennis?

Will he run for president?
Please don't run across the street.
Don't wear these tights because there's a run in them.

It is the same with the word Hell and this is partly due to translation. Hell is called "Sheol" in the Old Testament and "Hades" in the New Testament and simply translated means death and the grave.

Jesus and the repentant thief both died a physical death and I know Jesus went into the grave (sepulchre) and I assume the repentant thief went to the grave as well. So seeing as the grave means Hell then the bodies of both Jesus and the repentant thief were in Hell - the grave. But we are not only body, we are body, soul and spirit and it is our incorporeal soul that lives on and I believe both the soul of Jesus and the soul of the thief lived on and for three days they were in Paradise. After three days Jesus rose again in the flesh while the thief will one day be resurrected to join his heavenly Father where hopefully we shall all meet in Glory. May God bless.

Absolutely correct my friend.
 
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Jesus and the repentant thief both died a physical death and I know Jesus went into the grave (sepulchre) and I assume the repentant thief went to the grave as well. So seeing as the grave means Hell then the bodies of both Jesus and the repentant thief were in Hell - the grave. But we are not only body, we are body, soul and spirit and it is our incorporeal soul that lives on and I believe both the soul of Jesus and the soul of the thief lived on and for three days they were in Paradise. After three days Jesus rose again in the flesh while the thief will one day be resurrected to join his heavenly Father where hopefully we shall all meet in Glory. May God bless.

G'day 1an, Not wanting to be controversial...just can't help myself:rolleyes: . You've incited me to think (an achievement in itself!) ;)

Joseph of Arimathaea negotiated with Pilate for the removal of Jesus' body from the cross because (as I recall), it was not kosha to leave a body unprocessed during the Passover. ie left on the cross. The other two people crucified are not mentioned as having been removed from the cross before Passover, and indeed they would have been left on public display as an example to passers by which was the custom of the Romans, especially without someone of Joseph's influence to intervene on their behalf.
That being the case, and given Jesus' declaration to the repentant fellow that he would be with him (Jesus) in Paradise that same day. Things are sometimes not as clear cut as they seem.
 
G'day 1an, Not wanting to be controversial...just can't help myself:rolleyes: . You've incited me to think (an achievement in itself!) ;)

Joseph of Arimathaea negotiated with Pilate for the removal of Jesus' body from the cross because (as I recall), it was not kosha to leave a body unprocessed during the Passover. ie left on the cross. The other two people crucified are not mentioned as having been removed from the cross before Passover, and indeed they would have been left on public display as an example to passers by which was the custom of the Romans, especially without someone of Joseph's influence to intervene on their behalf.
That being the case, and given Jesus' declaration to the repentant fellow that he would be with him (Jesus) in Paradise that same day. Things are sometimes not as clear cut as they seem.

Ah but!:p

I did say "I assume the repentant thief went to the grave" so ner-ner to you. :D

I also said "Hell is called "Sheol" in the Old Testament and "Hades" in the New Testament and simply translated means death and the grave" and you cannot deny the repentant thief died!

Neither did you understand the main thrust of my post which is that regardless of what happens to our bodies our soul lives on and neither did the words of Jesus enter your brain (shame on you) when He said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

Learning to read the Bible and rightly discerning the truth, is something all Calvinists need to do! :rolleyes:

God bless and I hope you don't mind me having a little fun with you, you did ask for it. :)
 
Jake,

Allow me to quote Dr. Luke who in fact is quoting the Lord Jesus as He taught on Hades/sheol.

Luke 16:20-28........................
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

From the words of Scripture we clearly see that the rich man is "tormented with fire" hence the name for this olace is then TORMENTS. It is divided by a FIXED GULF and the other side of the place we see is called PARADISE.

When Jesus told the man on the cros that "TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE" He was referring to this place. It is also callled Abrahams Bossom. So we see by the Scriptures that Hades/Sheol is a place where the souls of the lost wicked are held and also the saved souls of the believers.

We see that Jesus Himself said that "TODAY you will be with me in PARADISE". That can only mean one thing..........
Jesus actually did go into the PARADISE side of Hades/Sheol as Calvin said and that is found in Ephesians 4:8-10

"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things."

When Jesus ascended, He took with Him the souls of the saints who were in PARADISE with Him to heaven and now there is no one in the PARADISE side of Hades/Sheol. The TORMENTS side of that place is still occupied and grows every second.

Peter confirms all of this in 1 Peter 3:18-19
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the un-just, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quicked by the Spirit. By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prision".

Then Peter says in verse #20........
"Which were sometime (formely-past) disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water".

There are excelleant Bible commentators who differ on this verse and I am not in that catagory by the way. But to me the immediate mention of Noah would indicate to me IMO that these spirits be understood as the souls of those who heard and then rejected the preaching of Noah, since they were the largest group of mankind to ever experience the universal judgment of God at one time.

Before the time of the flood, people did not have a covenant with God - they had no way of salvation. Jesus in His righteousness offered to them what He offered to us - salvation. It is only right that those who had no chance of salvation got given the same opportunity. How great is our God.

Just to throw a spanner in the works. Who has authority over hell, hades, sheol, tartarus, whatever we want to call eternal punishment. The answer is Jesus. Jesus has complete authority over hell. For Jesus to have gone to hell after His death was not a form of judgement but to preach to those who died in the days of Noah. Jesus did not go to hell in the sense that He deserved it or to recieve punishment there. Contrary to popular belief Satan is not in charge of Hell, in fact He roams the earth. He is destined for Hell, him and his little demons as a final place of punishment - make no mistake he is not in charge - Jesus is.
 
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