Jesus Christ Descended Into Hell
By way of introduction, I’ll begin with a couple of quotes from DiAnna Paulk:
Where was Jesus and what was He doing during the three days and nights that His body was in the tomb? The Apostles' Creed answers, "He descended into Hell." The first known use of this phrase didn't occur until AD 360. It doesn't appear in any of the earlier creeds or baptismal confessions. It wasn't included in the Apostles' Creed until AD 570. The newer versions of the Creed say "He descended to the dead." Some churches omit it entirely. Why was it ever included? What was the scriptural basis for such a thought? (DiAnna Paulk)
One of the primary scriptures supporting the belief that Christ descended into hell is Acts 2:27. The King James translation of this verse reads, "Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Also in this chapter of Acts verse 31 is translated "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption." (DiAnna Paulk)
Since the Scriptures state that Jesus’ soul was not left in hell, we know it had to be in hell at some point. But we need to study the Scriptures to determine if this is true, and if it is, the exact details concerning His journey into hell.
Jesus Descended into Hell so That the Dead Would Hear His Voice and Live
Why would Jesus need to go into hell? He Himself said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (Joh 5:25).
Therefore, He descended into hell so that the dead would hear His voice and live.
Jesus Made Proclamation to Spirits Now in Prison
The Holy Spirit affirmed this through the apostle Peter when he wrote:
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, 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, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.” (1Pe 3:18-20)
He said, “having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit,” which means that although Jesus’ body was dead, He was alive in the Spirit. This expression “in the Spirit” refers to the fact that in the Holy Spirit, His Spirit was alive while His body lay in the grave. And Peter said it was “the Spirit; in which also He went.” Put differently, Jesus died physically, but His Spirit, which was alive in the Spirit, went someplace to preach. Peter calls that place a prison.
Their bodies were drowned in the Great Flood of Noah’s day, and their spirits cast into prison. The spirits of disobedient sinners, as soon as they are out of their bodies, are committed to the prison of hell, from where there is no redemption. Since Peter said, “Jesus made proclamation to the spirits of those now in prison,” this means that at the time when Peter wrote this, those spirits were still in prison. First there was the deluge, then Jesus preached to them, and then Peter wrote that those spirits were still in prison. How can we be sure this prison is hell?
The Prison Peter Refers to is in Hell, Where There are Pits of Darkness
In Peters second epistle he wrote:
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,” (2Pe 2:4-9)
God cast the angels into hell when they sinned, and also the ungodly people of the ancient world of Noah’s day, as well as the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot’s day. Peter says the unrighteous are in hell being punished and kept there until judgment day.
By putting this information from his first and second epistles together, it is very clear that the prison Peter refers to is in hell, where there are pits of darkness. Jesus went down to the pit of darkness, and made proclamation to the spirits in hell. Why did He do this after His death and not before?
Jesus descended into hell after he finished paying the full price for sin. It was not expiatory
The apostle John wrote:
“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (Joh 19:30)
From this passage we learn that Jesus could not make His proclamation to the dead in hell until He had finished paying the full price for sin. So we know it had to be after He died on the cross, which is exactly what Peter taught.
As Jesus died, He committed His spirit into the Father’s hands, not Satan’s hands
Luke wrote:
“And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” (Luk 23:46)
This means that the Spirit of Jesus was in the hands of the Father as soon as He died. So if Jesus went to hell, He was safe in the Father’s hands as He went. It would still be good if we could find this written somewhere else in the Bible.
Jesus Descended into the Lower Parts of the Earth
The apostle Paul also wrote:
“Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’ (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)” (Eph 4:8-10)
All Christians believe that Jesus ascended far above the heavens and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens. But in the same passage where Paul taught on Jesus’ ascension, he also taught on His descent into the lower parts of the earth. He said the same thing as the apostle Peter. For in the same passage where Peter said that Jesus “went” down into the prison of hell to preach, He also said Jesus “is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.” (1Pe 3:22). He said it a little differently than Paul, but they both said the same thing.
In the gospel of Matthew, we read:
But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Mat 12:39-40)
Jesus drew a parallel between the experience of Jonah in the belly of the sea monster, and His own experience in the heart of the earth. Did you ever realize just how many similarities there are between Jesus and Jonah? Jonah was alive in the Spirit during those three days, while his physical body may have been clinically dead. I believe his body had no heartbeat and was not breathing, since there would be no air in that place. The Bible seems to indicate that before the creature swallowed him, he had already experienced death.
He cried for help "from the depth of Sheol,” not just from the sea creature's belly (Jon 2:2).
Jonah explicitly said that he died before the creature swallowed him:
"Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head. I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, And my prayer came to You, Into Your holy temple." (Jon 2:5-7)
It's seems clear from Scripture that Jonah drowned. The great deep engulfed him, and he descended below sea level, where the mountains have their roots. Just before he drowned in that stormy sea, while he was losing consciousness and fainting away, he prayed. Then the fish swallowed him after he died, and God preserved his body inside its belly for three days. During that time, Jonah was in Sheol, and the Lord brought up his soul from the pit.
Since the body of Jesus lay silent and dead in the grave for three days, and Jesus drew a parallel between Himself and Jonah, we could conclude that Jonah’s body was dead, too. But in the Spirit, he was alive. Likewise, Jesus was alive in the Spirit during the three days while His body was dead. And Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth during that period, not just in the tomb. (For more on this topic, see The Amazing Sign of Jonah).
Significance of Earthquake When He Died and Descended into Hell
The gospel of Matthew states that on the cross, as Jesus yielded His Spirit to the Father, there was an earthquake:
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’” (Mat 27:50-54)
We know that when Jesus yielded up His spirit, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was the veil dividing the holy place from the most holy place. By tearing this veil in two, God signified that the way had been opened for all His children to enter by the blood of the Lamb into the most holy place – the throne room of God.
As the apostle states:
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22)
Likewise, just as the tearing of the temple veil was significant, there was also significance in the tearing of the earth in front of the cross. God did this for a reason. Since we know that Jesus descended into “hell,” down into the “lower earthly regions,” into the “heart of the earth,” into “the pit,” it seems obvious that the earthquake was related to this. When the earth split open, it was making way for the King of Glory to come in, and God was signifying that His Son was going into the heart of the earth to do some very important business there.
Similar to the earthquake when the angel of God descended to remove the stone from his tomb
In case you are not sure there was any significance between the earthquake and Jesus’ descent into the heart of the earth, don’t forget what happened when He rose from the dead.
“And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.” (Mat 28:2)
This was not a small one, but a severe earthquake. It happened in connection with an angel of the Lord coming to roll the stone away from Jesus’ grave upon His resurrection. So an earthquake marked the moment His spirit went down into the earth, and an earthquake marked the moment His spirit came up out of the earth. And the Scripture says this was because of the angelic activity at that moment.
After triumphing over the kingdom of darkness at the cross, he made a public display of them in hell
It’s important to understand what Jesus did while He was in hell. The apostle Paul wrote:
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. (Col 2:15)
The apostle John described his experience seeing the resurrected Jesus:
"When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.'" (Rev 1:17-18)
Following his Descent into Hell, He Appeared Before Ascending to Heaven
So what happened after this great triumph in hell?
“Jesus said to her, ‘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.'” (Joh 20:17)
Just as Peter and Paul taught, after His descent into hell, He appeared on earth alive, and then He ascended bodily into heaven victoriously.
Jesus Ascended to Heaven Leading a Very Large Group of Captives
But Jesus did not ascend alone into heaven.
“Therefore it says, ‘When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.’" (Eph 4:8)
When Jesus came up from the grave and ascended into heaven, He led a host of captives. Where had they been captive? They had been captive by the grave, and now they were set free. Which captives were these? They were not the ungodly wicked captives, but the saints who had died before the cross. While He was down in the heart of the earth, he set them free from the captivity of the grave. And some of them appeared in Jerusalem after His resurrection. Scripture says, “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” It was these saints, who ascended in his train as He ascended into heaven immediately after His resurrection.
After that ascension, He continued to appear to His disciples in a glorified body for forty days, until He ascended into heaven in front of them all.
“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Act 1:9)
“So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mar 16:19)
“While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven.” (Luk 24:51)
Jesus was Raised from the Abode of the Dead
There are many other Scriptures that give us further proof where Jesus was during those three days.
The apostle John wrote about the third appearance of Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection: “This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.” (Joh 21:14)
As John said, He was raised from the dead. When it says, “the dead,” that refers to a place, or realm, or dimension, not just a state of being, as in “not physically alive.”
"But God raised Him from the dead;” (Act 13:30)
“Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.” (Rom 6:9)
“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” (Rom 10:9)
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1Co 15:20)
The fifth article of the Apostles’ Creed states this
“He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again.
Catholic Catechism Regarding the Fifth Article of the Apostles’ Creed
While I do not agree with the Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, I do agree with their view on the descent of Christ into hell, since it is Scriptural. According to Catholic Catechism:
“The Apostles' Creed confesses in the same article Christ's descent into hell and his Resurrection from the dead on the third day, because in his Passover it was precisely out of the depths of death that he made life spring forth.”
"The frequent New Testament affirmations that Jesus was 'raised from the dead' presuppose that the crucified one sojourned in the realm of the dead prior to his resurrection. This was the first meaning given in the apostolic preaching to Christ's descent into hell: that Jesus, like all men, experienced death and in his soul joined the others in the realm of the dead. But he descended there as Savior, proclaiming the Good News to the spirits imprisoned there."
"Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, 'hell' - Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek...It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Savior in Abraham's bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell. Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him."
"The gospel was preached even to the dead (1 Peter 4:6). The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment. This is the last phase of Jesus' messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ's redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption."
"Christ went down into the depths of death so that 'the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.' Jesus, 'the Author of life', by dying destroyed 'him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage.' Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."
"In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the just who had gone before him."
Jesus Suffered the Torment of a Damned Soul
In his book called Angels on Assignment, Roland Buck writes: “The second death which faces mankind brings fear, dread and torment to him all of his lifetime. This was the death Jesus took for us. When he hung there on the cross, it wasn't the anguish of the physical torment, although he felt everything that we could possibly feel; and it wasn't the separation from people whom he held dear, although he felt it just as keenly as anyone; but Jesus suffered pains that even the ungodly, those totally separated from God, had never felt, for the ungodly have never felt the pangs that come when the last little flicker of hope is extinguished and they hear the words, ‘Depart into eternal damnation.’"
Roland Buck continues, “While living on this earth, they have never felt the weight, the hopelessness and the horror of feeling the cold side of God as he turned his back on them. Jesus suffered the torment of a damned soul! From his heart he cried out, ‘Oh, God, why have you forsaken me?’ and the cold pangs of eternal damnation, those icy fingers gripped his life, and Jesus suffered the judgment of God. He was totally separated from God at that moment!”
“His death was Jesus actually being struck by God's hand with the judgment for sin for the entire world! At this point, Jesus entered into a total separation from God, and God turned his back upon him because of sin!”
I would like to clarify that Jesus did not suffer torment in hell. He suffered on the cross, and that was enough. He said, “It is finished,” and nothing further needed to be added to that sacrifice. I’m sure being in hell was not a pleasant experience, so you could call it suffering, but not a torment or torture of any kind. He was in complete command while He was down there.
Hell Prior to the Cross
I also need to clarify that before the cross of Christ, there were both righteous dead and wicked dead in the the realm of the dead. In the Old Testament, it was called Sheol, or the grave. Although both the righteous and wicked were there, they were kept completely separate. Jesus taught this in His account of the true story of Lazarus and the rich man, which was not a parable:
"Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. "And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. "In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. 'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' But Abraham *said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'" (Luk 16:19-31)
The unnamed rich man was in Hades, which is hell or the grave. This was an actual place of torment, as the rich man called it, where there were flames and only agony and thirst, but no water. He could see and speak to righteous Abraham, who was together with Lazarus. The place of the dead where Abraham and Lazarus were located is sometimes called, “Abraham’s bosom.” However, Jesus may have simply meant that upon the death of Lazarus, the beggar was literally carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham, the father of the faithful, where he was welcomed with a loving embrace. There was no agony or flames where Abraham and Lazarus were resting. Yet Lazarus could not possibly cross over from where he was to where the rich man was, because there was a great chasm or corridor fixed between them. It was completely impossible for there to be any passage of the dead from one side of the chasm to the other.
Upon His death Jesus preached to all the dead in both of these realms of the grave, but only the righteous dead in the so-called “Bosom of Abraham” were released, and not the wicked in the section where there were flames. As Peter said, those ungodly sinners are still suffering in prison today. But the righteous dead, including the ones that were in “Abraham’s Bosom” before the cross, are up in glory with Jesus in heaven forever. Abraham welcomes saints into heaven now when they die.
Someone Rising from the Dead
I want to say one final thing about people rising from the dead. In hell, the rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to warn the rich man’s brothers, so that they would not end up in that place of torment with him. He knew that they were living carelessly comfortable lives on earth, in disobedience to God’s Word, and they would end up there, too.
“And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' But Abraham *said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' But he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!' But he said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Abraham told Lazarus that if people living on earth do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead. And we see proof of this in Scripture. After Jesus rose from the dead, the Pharisees and others who crucified the Lord, were still not persuaded. Instead, they fabricated lies to cover up the resurrection (see Mt 28:11-15). The same thing happened when Jesus had raised the other Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead. That miracle was attracting so many people to Jesus, and the religious leaders were so jealous, that they plotted to kill Lazarus (see Joh 12:9-11).
However, we are living in the very last days. Jesus is about to return for His Bride and take her to heaven. The day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Meanwhile, most people are wicked, just as in the days of Noah. In fact, most of the people in the Church, who claim to be Christians, are not even living a righteous life in obedience to God’s Word. They are going straight from the pew into hell. God in His mercy does not want anyone to perish, but all to repent and have everlasting life (see 2Pe 3:9-12).
Therefore, God the Father has taken extraordinary measures to give a final warning to the world. He has determined that a number of people would be raised from the dead, who have experienced heaven and hell, in order to warn mankind before it is too late. You can find testimonies of these experiences at the Eternal Destinations Home Page. Apparently God, in His infinite wisdom, has decided to answer the prayer of the rich man in hell. He has sent numerous people to the place of the dead, and brought them back, in order to testify of what they experienced, so that those who do not listen to Moses and the Prophets might possibly be persuaded and repent.
Why should anyone consider it incredible that God raises people from the dead? He did this with Jonah and Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. And just as Jesus went in the Spirit down to hell, then returned, He is allowing people on earth today to go there and return to tell about it. Likewise, just as He ascended into heaven, and took the apostles Paul and John to visit heaven (see 1 Co 12:1-4; Rev 4:1), He is allowing people on earth today to go there and return to tell about it. Do not doubt, but believe, and correctly discern the things of the Spirit!
Putting it All Together
When Jesus died, He committed His spirit into the Father’s hands, not satan’s hands. Jesus descended into the lower parts of the earth, into hell, into the pit, into the heart of the earth.
There is a direct relationship between the earthquake when he died & his decent into hell. By the expression "He descended into hell", the Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus did really die and through his death for us conquered death and the devil "who has the power of death" (Heb 2:14).
Jesus had to descend into hell, so that the dead saints would hear His voice and live. Jesus made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. Even those spirits of the ungodly people that died before the cross of Calvary got to hear the gospel, but they remained in prison even in Peter’s day, and are still there today.
Peter referred to the prison in hell, where there are pits of darkness. In his human soul united to his divine person, the dead Christ went down to the realm of the dead. He opened heaven's gates for the righteous who had gone before him.
First of all, Christ descended into each of the hells, but in different manner. He went down into the hell of the lost to put them to shame for their unbelief and wickedness: but to those who were in that part of hell where the righteous were detained, He gave hope of attaining to eternal glory.
After triumphing over the kingdom of darkness at the cross, He made a public display of them in hell. Jesus descended into hell only after paying the full price for sin, since it was not expiatory. In other words, He did not continue to suffer for sin there. Jesus’ soul was not left in hell. Rather, He was raised from the abode of the dead on the third day.
Following his descent into hell, and His return to the surface of the earth, where the living dwell, he appeared to his disciples before ascending to heaven. Jesus ascended to heaven leading a very large group of captives.
My friend, hell is real. You don’t want to go there. It’s a place of flames, torment, and agony, where there is no water. The wicked go there when they die to await the final day of judgment. But the angels carry those who live righteous lives in Christ Jesus, when they die, into glory, where they are welcomed into heaven by Abraham’s bosom. There they live with God the Father, Jesus, the angels and the saints forever and ever. You don’t have to go to hell.
As brother Roland Buck once said, “Your sin has already been judged; the separating barriers between God and man are down; you are free, liberated by his power; and you can be restored to a place of total innocence, to man's original position of closeness and fellowship with God.” –Angels on Assignment, chapter 7.
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. "The Question" and "Keys of Hell" paintings © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, I also recommend He Went Down to the Dead and Rose Again from the Dead.You are invited to read or listen to the many, amazing testimonies of the supernatural on the Home page of this blog, a few of which are listed below. I also recommend The Amazing Sign of Jonah, Christ's Two Ascensions and Discerning the Things of the Spirit. You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."