Where did Jesus go after He died?

Where did Jesus go after He died? Some teach that He descended to Hades. Then, there’s 1 Peter 3, where it says He went to preach to the “disobedient spirits now in prison” after His death. What does that mean, and do we know where He really went?

There are a few Bible verses that some take to argue for the position that Jesus descended to hell after He died. Let’s look at each of them here within their context, as we will see that they actually prove otherwise.

Considering the theory

1. Acts 2:27 — ‘For You will not abandon my soul to Hades.’ When looked at in context, we understand that Peter’s emphasis is on the body of Jesus Christ not being subject to decay in the tomb. Therefore, ‘Hades’, in this passage, refers to the place of burial, not hell. Moreover, the word used to describe hell in the New Testament is ‘Gehenna’.

The word used to describe hell in the New Testament is ‘Gehenna’

2. Romans 10:6-7 — Some think that the word ‘abyss’ in verse 7 would refer to hell, as its counterpart in verse 6 is ‘heaven’, since Christ came down from heaven. But this passage cannot be a reference to Jesus being in hell for the following reasons:

• ‘Abyss’ has been clarified to be the place where the dead, irrespective of their status as righteous or unrighteous, are present. 
• In the larger context, this passage is a clarification on the righteousness of faith being near to the one who seeks to be saved and reconciled to God. One needn’t think that Christ is inaccessible because He’s in heaven or think that Christ is bound by death that engulfs the entire human race. He is near to the hearts of anyone who will believe.
• Romans 10:6-7 is also an allusion to Deuteronomy 30:11-14, where Moses gives God’s commandments to Israel. We need not seek for the book of the Law high up in heaven or across the sea. It is right near us so that we can obey it.

3. Ephesians 4:9 — In this verse, the phrase ‘lower parts of the earth’ is better understood as earth itself being the lower parts/regions that Paul was referring to. This is the translation favoured by modern versions like the ESV and NIV. After quoting Psalm 68:18 regarding Jesus’ ascension, Paul tells us where Jesus ascended from. He compares the place to where Jesus ascended (heaven) to the place Jesus ascended from (earth).

The believer’s triumph

1 Peter 3:19 mentions that Jesus went to preach to the disobedient spirits. Who are they? When we take a closer look at its context from 3:8-17, we find a few things. 

Peter tells us that believers are to avoid retaliating even when they are reviled for doing good. Suffering for doing good will result in blessedness. Go through this suffering with an aim to honour Christ as holy in our hearts and with the readiness to give an answer to those (of the unbelievers) who ask us the reason for our hope. This answer must be given in gentleness and respect as part of the believer’s good conscience. Those who revile a Christian’s good behaviour will be put to shame. The Christian will have the ultimate triumph over his adversaries when he is vindicated by Christ. 

The Christian will have the ultimate triumph over his adversaries when he is vindicated by Christ

This is parallel to what Christ did in the spiritual realm. Christ, who died, was made alive in the Spirit. He went and made a triumphant proclamation to those who disobeyed in the days of Noah when God waited patiently. These people were the disobedient spirits in prison.

Notice that 1 Peter 3 doesn’t say this happened immediately after Jesus’ death. It is mentioned as a fact that happened, without specifically giving us the timeframe for when it happened. The Bible doesn’t specify the time but we can be sure that it wasn’t immediately after the crucifixion. It was sometime after the resurrection. Remember that Jesus who is God isn’t limited to geographic limitations and His presence is everywhere, even in places where His sovereignty isn’t accepted.

This was an emphatic victory statement over the people who were hostile to Noah. Just like Noah suffered ridicule and hostility as he preached righteousness and then was vindicated when Christ Himself went to those disobedient people and proclaimed that Noah was right in being God — honouring and seeking to do good — so it is with all believers who suffer for doing good because they have identified with Christ through baptism, which is an appeal for a good conscience. Christ will vindicate everyone who suffers for doing good.

On that day

Having understood that Jesus didn’t go to hell after His death from these passages, we find that the answer to the first question is pretty straightforward. Just like Jesus said to the thief on the cross, His human soul and spirit was with the dying thief’s soul and spirit in God’s presence (Paradise) on the day He was crucified (Luke 23:43). 

Three days later, His soul and spirit would be reunited with His body that was buried. The resurrection followed. Jesus went to God’s presence right after His death and was resurrected when His soul and spirit reunited with His body. This is what will happen to us too. When we die, we depart to be with Christ in our spirit, waiting for the final resurrection, when our spirit will be united with our bodies that have been laid to rest.