Did Jesus descend into hell when he died, or did he ascend into heaven? Provide biblical proof.?

Answer 1

Jesus descended into "Paradise" Remember the thief on the cross whom Jesus told "Today you will be with Me in Paradise?" He wasn't speaking of Heaven. There was a real place called Paradise it was in the earth, across from Hell, or Hades. The thing that divided Hades and Paradise was the "Great Gulf" Jesus descended into Paradise because that's where all the righteous souls were sent before Jesus died on the cross. It was also called "Abraham's Bosom." There, He preached to the souls, and then, took all the righteous souls up with Him to Heaven. So, now when someone dies(a believer), their soul goes straight to Heaven. An unbeliever's souls still goes to hell, or Hades. This is the place where they are kept until the White Throne Judgement.
Luke 16:19-31 Rev.1:18 Eph.4:8-10

"Paradise" is not Heaven! And no one goes there anymore.

Answer 2

Our Lord yielded His spirit to the Father, died, and at some time between death and resurrection, visited the realm of the dead where He delivered a message to spirit beings (probably fallen angels; see Jude 6) who were somehow related to the period before the flood in Noah's time. Verse 20 makes this clear. Peter did not tell us what He proclaimed to these imprisoned spirits, but it could not be a message of redemption since angels cannot be saved (Hebrews 2:16). It was probably a declaration of victory over Satan and his hosts (1 Peter 3:22; Colossians 2:15). Ephesians 4:8-10 also seems to indicate that Christ went to “paradise” (Luke 16:20; 23:43) and took to heaven all those who had believed in Him prior to His death. The passage doesn’t give a great amount of detail about what occurred, but most Bible scholars agree that this is what is meant by “led captivity captive.”

So, all that to say, the Bible isn’t entirely clear what exactly Christ did for the three days between His death and resurrection. It does seem, though, that He was preaching victory over the fallen angels and/or unbelievers. What we can know for sure is that Jesus was not giving people a second chance for salvation. The Bible tells us that we face judgment after death (Hebrews 9:27), not a second chance. There isn't really any definitively clear answer for what Jesus was doing for the time between His death and resurrection. Perhaps this is one of the mysteries we will understand once we reach glory.

Recommended Resource: Why Believe in Jesus?: Who He Is, What He Did, and His Message for You Today by Tim LaHaye.

Answer 3

Interesting question. The apostolic creed that we used to repeat just before taking communion at church when I was a kid, said "He was crucified, died, and descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again." - and there is a general consensus amongst the Anglicans I know that Jesus went into Hell for three days.

This raises a number of interesting points:

1) Aren't we told that Heaven/Hell are eternal and timeless? How can you have three days there?

2) So if I die, with just my sins, and I haven't repented, I go to Hell forever, right? But Jesus dies, supposedly with everyone's sins, both past and future, and only spends three days there? That's nepotism for you...

3) When Jesus said to the guy being crucified next to him "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" - that was a lie, then....?

Religion. Start to poke around under the surface and it all starts to crumble.

Answer 4

1-Jesus told Mary that He had not yet ascended to The Father.

"Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to The Father" John 20:17

2-The punctuation of the Bible is not inspired, but was added by men. The comma in Luke 23:43 should be placed after the words "to day" rather than before, so the passage should read,
"Verily I say unto thee today, shalt thou be with me in paradise" When it seems that I myself am being crucified as a criminal- I give you the assurance today that you will be with me in paradise.
Christ's Kingdom is set up at His second coming(Matthew 25:31) and the saved will enter His Kingdom at that time(1thess4:15-17) not at death

3-Doesn't the Bible say that Christ went and preached to lost souls in hell between His crucifixion and resurrection? NO
-1Peter 3:18-20 The preaching was done by the spirit in Noah's day. The spirits in prison refers to people whose lives were in bondage to Satan.See Psalm 142:7; Luke 4:18)

Answer 5

Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)



Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

Answer 6

Jesus spent 3 days in the grave/hell.

Jesus told the thief that hung beside him, "Verily I say unto thee, TO DAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE". Paul gives an account of someone caught UP into this same PARADISE in 2nd Corinthians 12:4, "How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter". I believe this one, Paul spoke of, was himself when he had been stoned and left for dead. Within this account Paul repeats, "whether IN THE BODY, or OUT OF THE BODY, I cannot tell: God knoweth". Verse 2 says, "...such an one caught up to the third HEAVEN", and verse 4 says, "....he was caught up into PARADISE". Paul, through revelation of Jesus Christ, knew that Paradise and Heaven were the same, so I won't agrue.

Jesus' body spent 3 days in Hell, the grave, but His Spirit could never die, because it is God the Spirit; John 4:24. The thief's body died, but his spirit went to paradise the moment he died.

1Peter 3:18-19, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God, being put to death IN THE FLESH, but quickened BY THE SPIRIT:::: BY WHICH also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison". "By which" is by the same Spirit that raised him from the dead. God's Spirit was in Noah, and it was through this Spirit that Noah preached to those people.

Answer 7

He went to the place where those who would have gone to Heaven but couldn't were.
Jesus' death opened the gates of Heaven, so he brought them there.
The Hell for the damned was not what they mean. Those people already gave up God.

Answer 8

Jesus went to the common grave for 3 days then God resurrected him.This proves that the trinity is a devils lie.
Jesus was sent down here and also was tempted by the devil. This proves that Satan rules this wicked world.It also proves that Jesus is not God. Even satan knows who God is why? Because Satan is a son of God.Satan choose to get involved with humans from day one.

Answer 9

hell is actually the comon grave. which is the ground. everyone goes to hell because hell is actually the dirt.. underground.

Job, who suffered much. Wishing to escape his plight, he pleaded: "Who will grant me this, that thou mayest protect me in hell [Sheol], and hide me till thy wrath pass?"# (Job 14:13, Douay Version) How unreasonable to think that Job desired to go to a fiery-hot place for protection! To Job, "hell" was simply the grave, where his suffering would end.

Neither was [Jesus] forsaken in Hades [hell, King James Version] nor did his flesh see corruption."* (Acts 2:31)

The Hebrew word Sheol occurs 65 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and is rendered "hell," "grave," and "pit" in the King James Version



jesus of course did go to heaven.

The apostle Paul wrote: "I handed on to you . . . that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, yes, that he has been raised up the third day according to the Scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4)

Answer 10

Both.

"He (Jesus) was put to death in the flesh, but he was raised to life in the Spirit, in which also he went and preached to the disobedient spirits who were in prison in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while the ark was being built...For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead so that, although they have already been judged in the flesh like men, they might have life in the Spirit like God." (1 Peter 3:18-20; 4:6)

The first thing to note in this passage is that the Greek word "Hades"---translated "hell" in the Apostles' Creed---is the underworld of Greek mythology, not necessarily the place of permanent punishment of those utterly lost forever. It could be "sheol" (the grave) - it could be the "paradise" from the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus...it could be "purgatory".

But it is clear that before the Resurrection and the Ascension, Jesus went somewhere to "preach to the souls in prison..."