Did Jesus Go To Hell?

Hello, I just wrote an article. And it’s very important to me that it be biblically accurate so I wanted everyone to take a look at it and let me know if I made a mistake in anything I said. I realize any discussion has multiple angles you could go from but in this case, all I want to know is if I said something that was not supported with scripture.

Below are a few things I found to be helpful when offering correction

1. Please steer clear of personal remarks. Saying things like, “You’re deceived.” Or, “You’re a false teacher.” Won’t accomplish anything. There are various forms of these comments, but they’re easily spotted because they’re always addressed toward the person, rather than the subject at hand.

2. Please be specific. “You interpreted that wrong.” Or “You have a flawed reasoning here.” Are examples of vague generalities. If you say things like this, but don’t give an example, there is no way for me to tell what you’re referring to-thus how will I correct it? The best way I have seen to do is this is to quote what I said and then show how I was wrong.

3. I’m interested in being able to read it in my own Bible. I understand people can say, “What it means here is . . .” Or “What is being implied by the context is . . .” But these explanations requires me to put faith in what you say about it rather than what it says by itself. So instead, I prefer to read it straight from the Bible.

4. PLEASE BE HONEST- If you don’t know, just say, “I don’t know.” If all you have is an opinion on it, just say “I could only give you my opinion, but I don’t have any scripture that actually say this . . .” That way I at least know where you’re coming from. And I won’t be left wondering if you had a real point to make, or if you were just giving your opinion.


Let me thank everyone for their participation ahead of time. I really do appreciate it.

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In Acts 2:31 we get a distinct picture of where Jesus’ Soul was . . .

25: For David speaks concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
26: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:
27: Because you will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
28: You have made known to me the ways of life; you shall make me full of joy with your countenance.
29: Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
30: Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31: He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

Now, in this passage, Peter is speaking concerning the resurrection of Christ, but makes a striking statement about where Jesus’ Soul was until He had been risen from the dead. It was in hell. Consequently, as Peter points out, it was not left there, but we will talk more about this aspect later on. What I want you to see is where Jesus was for those 3 days and 3 nights.


Now I want to be specific about where Jesus went. Some translations will say Hades instead of Hell. Which is fine. But if we can find an actual biblical description of Hell, or Hades, we can better understand where it was that Jesus went. We find this description from the lips of Jesus Himself.

19: There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21: And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22: 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;
23: And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24: 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.
(Lk 16)

Here we have a description of Hell. Verse 23 shows us that the rich man went to hell. He was tormented by flames. The word, Hell that is used in this story is the same Greek word that is used in Acts 2:31 in reference to where Christ went. This means that our Lord went to the place of torment and flames.

 

Paul of Eugene:

The greek word for the realm of the dead, both good and bad, was hades.

RA:
What do you mean both good and bad? Where does the Bible talk about Hades as a good place?

Paul:
We cannot therefore conclude that Jesus' soul went to a place of torment! Instead, the comunication is that He truly died and He went into the true state of being dead.

RA:
Well, like I say in the article, Jesus described Hades as a place of torment and flames in Luke 16


Paul
All we can conclude from Jesus words about the rich man in the realm of the dead is that he was judged and found worthy of punishment.

RA:
Well, I don't want to conclude anything that the Bible doesn't say. But one thing we know the Bible does say is that the rich man went to Hades, and the Bible says in Hades, he was tormented by flames. Then this same word is used in Acts 2 in reference to where Jesus went. So according to Jesus' own Word, He went to a place where there was torment and flames.

Paul:
The realm in which dead people are is larger than that, it also contains people who are blessed forever.

RA:
I can only tell you what the Bible says about it. And that's what I posted above.


Paul
We cannot pin down the word "hades" and say, conclusively, it does not include "heaven" . . . .

RA:
You're right. Like I said above, I can only say what the Bible says about it. It's a place of torment and flames (Luke 16).

 

Bob:
In Acts 2 the word is Hades "The place of the dead". It references ALL the dead including King David as we see in Acts 2!

RA:

I would not argue this . . . But Jesus still describes it as a place of flames and torment (Luke 16).


Bob:
In Matt 10 we see a different term - this is "fiery Ghenna". And there is where "Both Body AND SOUL are DESTROYED".

We know that Christ's body was NOT destroyed. So we know that His soul was not destroyed!

RA:
I would not argue this either.

Bob:
He did not go to hell that is -- "fiery ghenna".

RA:
We can say this for sure-He went to Hades, and He himself described it as a place of torment and flames.

 

Bob:
But I have to give you your point from Luke 16 - there HADES is the place of torment for the lost and NOT the saved of the OT.

RA:
Where does the Bible say this?

BOB:
So either David was lost or this is a parable!


RA:
Where does Acts 2 say that David went to Hades?

BOB:
BTW - in Luke 16 all the saints go to sit in Abraham's lap and he is in charge of the saints. He alone is sovereign - there is no appeal to a higher power in Luke 16's parable.

The Luke 16 parable is the ONLY place in all of scripture for arguing HADES as the place of torment for the wicked.

RA:
Hmmm. What stops me from concluding for sure that it was a parable is the fact that Jesus didn't say it was. So I would be assuming if I were to conclude that.

 

Mman:
A more accurate statement would be "Here we have a discription of Hades". From the story in Luke, we can see that the place was divided, one was filled with comfort and the other with torment.

RA:
The thing is, I've heard of what you're saying, but Luke 16 does not say hell or hades we divided. People assume it because the rich man could see Lazarus from where he was . . . But I can also see inside my neighbors house from standing out on the street . . . That doesn't mean I'm in their house with them. It just means that from where I am, I can see where they are.

Mman:
Did Jesus go to Hades? Absolutely. Which side? The side with comfort or the side with torment?

RA:
Well, again this is based on the assumption that it was split up.

Mman
Jesus answers this question when talking to the thief on the cross, "And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” - Luke 23:43

Therefore, there is no question that when Jesus went into the Hadean realm, He was in paradise, not torment. If Jesus had gone into torment, that would violate what He said in Luke 23:43.

I do like the way you think and your approach to scripture

RA:
Well thank you for the compliment. Luke 23 would not violate Jesus going into the place of torment because God can be in two places at once. Sorta like how Jesus was praying to His Father while He was on earth.

 

Well . . . . Like I said originally . . . Jesus described hell in Luke. This is the same word used in Acts 2 . . .

I know people can say all sorts of things about it . . . But if you're staying with what it says . . . The Bible says Jesus went to a place where Jesus himself described as flames and torment