The Journey After Calvary

Complete Notes

Did Jesus Really Descend into Hell

Teaching Outline

The Journey After Calvary (Teaching Outline)

The Journey After Calvary

After Calvary, many churches teach that Jesus descended into hell to preach and to deliver Old Testament saints. This tradition is often joined to the Good Friday to Sunday Easter story. Yet when we test these ideas by the Bible, they do not stand.

The Only Sign Jesus Gave

Religious leaders demanded a sign that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

Jesus in Matthew 12:40:
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

The common Friday to Sunday story gives only one day and two nights. It does not meet the clear three day and three night sign that Jesus Himself set. When people hold to a time line that contradicts His own words, they are following tradition, not Scripture.

Jesus’ Promise: Paradise, Not Hell

On the cross, the repentant thief looked to the future reign of Christ.

Luke in Luke 23:42:
“And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”

Jesus answered with a present promise.

Jesus in Luke 23:43:
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

Key points:

• Jesus did not say, You will be with me in hell;
• He said, To day, not at some distant future time;
• He said paradise, which speaks of life and fellowship with God, not a place of torment.

At death, Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb, but His soul and the soul of the thief were in paradise, exactly as He promised.

“My Soul In Hell” Rightly Understood

Peter quotes David to show that the resurrection of Christ was foretold.

Peter in Acts 2:27:
“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

At first this seems to clash with Luke 23:43. Did Jesus go to paradise or to hell? The Bible does not truly contradict itself. The difficulty lies in our understanding of the key words.

• The word behind “soul” in Psalm 16:10 is the Hebrew NEPHESH;
• NEPHESH can mean the inner person, or a living person, or even a dead body;
• In a burial and resurrection context, joined with the word corruption, NEPHESH points to Christ’s body in the tomb.

The word behind “hell” in Psalm 16:10 is the Hebrew SHEOL.

• In some passages SHEOL clearly means the grave where bodies rest;
• In others it is translated “hell”;
• In Psalm 16:10, joined with the body and corruption, it rightly speaks of the grave, not a place of fiery torment.

Peter explains this plainly.

Peter in Acts 2:31:
“He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”

The sense is that God did not leave Christ’s body in the grave, and His flesh did not rot.

The Simple Bible Picture

Putting the Scriptures together:

• Jesus gave the sign of three days and three nights in the heart of the earth;
• He promised the repentant thief that to day they would be together in paradise;
• His body was laid in the grave, but was not left there to see corruption;
• His soul was not in a place of torment, but in paradise, in full harmony with His own words.

Therefore, the idea that Jesus descended into hell to preach and to suffer is a human tradition, not Bible truth. Our calling is to leave such stories and to rest on the Word of God.

Jesus in John 17:17:
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”