Where Did Jesus Go After He Died? The Three Days Before His Resurrection

“Now You See Him, and Now You Don’t”

Within the pages of the New Testament, we read of Jesus Christ appearing and reappearing throughout His earthly life and ministry.

When He wasn’t preaching to and feeding large masses of people, chastising the religious leaders of the day, or comforting the sick, He was demonstrating His tremendous power over Nature (Matthew 8:26, 14:25). He also cured people of all manner of disease and infirmities (Mark 6:56, Luke 4:40). In addition, He brought 3 people back to life from the grips of death itself (Mark 5:41, Luke 7:14, John 11:43).

When we remember that “History does indeed repeat itself,” as there is “No new thing done under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9), we see this same Jesus throughout the Old Testament record. He appears and reappears unto mankind as the 2nd Person of the Trinity under such names as “Jehovah,” “I Am,” and the “Angel of the Lord.”

Jesus Christ in the Old Testament

It was this same Person, whom we now call Jesus, who before His God/Man Incarnation at Bethlehem walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3:8). He summoned Noah and his family into the Ark (Genesis 7:1), appeared to Abraham on numerous occasions (Genesis 12:1,7, 17:1, 18:1), and physically wrestled with Jacob at Peniel (Genesis 32:24). He also led Israel through the Wilderness (Acts 7:36,37) and talked with Moses “face to face” (Exodus 33:11).

Later, we read that He met with David on the threshing floor of Ornan (I Chronicles 21:28). He twice fed Elijah during his times of need (I Kings 19:5,7). He also saved Daniel’s 3 friends from their ordeal in Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace (Daniel 3:25).

Jesus’ identity as Jehovah, the 2nd Person of the Trinity active throughout the Old Testament, is examined extensively in The Examination of the Passover Lamb, including His appearances to Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua and others.

When we consider the actions of the 2nd Person of the Trinity within both Testaments, the idiom “Now you see Him, and now you don’t” certainly applies from man’s perspective. This is true whether He appears as Jehovah God in the Old Testament or as the God/Man Jesus in the New Testament.

It is Jesus the Son who constantly appears and reappears unto mankind throughout the Biblical narrative. It is not God the Father, as is often thought (John 1:18).

Where Was Jesus While His Body Lay for 3 Days in the Tomb?

One of the most misunderstood and disputed theological questions concerns Jesus’ 3 days of absence. What was Jesus doing between His death on the Cross and His physical resurrection here on earth?

While Scripture may not be entirely clear on this issue, I hope to be able to add some clarity on this topic.

Did Jesus Go to Hell After His Death?

The confusion concerning these three days stems largely from the teachings of the Scofield Bible. It taught that Jesus, after His death, went deep beneath the earth (Ephesians 4:9) to a place known as Sheol or Hell. There He supposedly preached to departed spirits awaiting release from captivity (Ephesians 4:8) in a compartment known as Abraham’s Bosom (Luke 16:19-31).

It was also taught that another compartment contained the souls of those awaiting eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire. It also supposedly contained many demonic spirits sent there for their actions during the days of Noah (I Peter 3:18-20).

Problems With the View That Jesus Descended Into Hell

There are numerous problems associated with this interpretation of Scripture, including:

1. Old Testament saints upon their departure from the earth were said to go to be with God in Heaven not in the “lower parts of the earth”, as in the case of Elijah (II Kings 2:11) and Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24). In Scripture, the “lower parts of the earth” does not refer to places deep underground, but can signify a cave, a tomb, or even the womb of a woman (Psalm 139:15). It is a phrase that simply indicates that “the earth is lower than heaven”.
2. As the prominent theologian Norman Geisler has stated, “No one who is in Heaven should be said to be held “captive” (Ephesians 4:8).
3. “Abraham’s Bosom” is never mentioned in the Old Testament record. It comes from a New Testament parable (Luke 16:19-31), which may indicate that it is not a literal place. It may instead be a literary tool used to show, among other things, that part of the hellishness of hell is witnessing the blessed existence of those residing in Heaven (Luke 16:23).
4. Upon His death, Jesus dismissed His Spirit onto His Father, who is in Heaven (Luke 23:46).
5. The idea that Jesus “descended into Hell” does not come from Scripture, but rather from the Apostle’s Creed. It was not in the original Creed. It was added by the Roman Catholic Church in the 4th Century, likely to enhance their paganistic doctrine of “purgatory.”
6. Jesus had said to the repentant thief on the cross, “Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Paradise in Scripture refers to the 3rd Heaven, the place where God resides (II Corinthians 12:2-4), and not to “Abraham’s Bosom”.
7. The theological view of Jesus going to hell during the days after His Crucifixion is largely based upon I Peter 3:18-20, which reads:

“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;

Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”

Another Interpretation of I Peter 3:18-20

Although this passage of Scripture is somewhat vague and abstract, a recent modern paraphrase presents a different interpretation. It differs from the view of “Jesus going to hell to preach during the 3 days after the Crucifixion.”

It reads as follows:

“Jesus was put to death in the flesh, but he was made alive in the Spirit (it was through this same Spirit that Jesus had long ago preached to those who are right now in prison—– those souls who disobeyed during the time of God’s great patience when Noah was building the ark).”

According to this interpretation of I Peter 3:18-20, Jesus, as the 2nd Person of the Trinity, preached via the Spirit through the Prophet Noah. He preached to the people of Noah’s day while the ark was being prepared. In much the same way, Jesus now speaks to the world through the Spirit and the Church.

Jesus as Our High Priest After the Resurrection

An unfortunate aspect of believing that Jesus went to hell during the three days after the Crucifixion is that it obscures another event. This concerns what occurred immediately after Jesus returned from Heaven to enter His newly resurrected “spiritual body,” which had been transformed from His earthly body.

In Jesus’ initial encounter after the resurrection, He appeared to Mary Magdalene. He told her, “Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father…” but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father; and to my God, and to your God” (John 20:17).

Here we see Jesus acting in His role as our High Priest.

The High Priest in the Old Testament was not to be touched by human hands before he brought the blood offering into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, lest he be defiled. In like manner, Jesus, acting as our High Priest, was not to be touched. He first had to “bodily” ascend to His Heavenly Father to presumably offer up His blood in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

This use of Old Testament requirements as types pointing toward Jesus can also be seen in the four-day examination of Christ as the Passover Lamb.

Why Could the Disciples Later Touch Jesus?

In a later encounter with His other disciples, Jesus told them to freely “handle” Him (Luke 24:39).

This signified that He had returned from the Heavenly Holy of Holies. It also indicated that His blood offering had been accepted by God the Father.

It should also be noted that Jesus referred to His new resurrection body not as “flesh and blood”, but rather as “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39).

Evidently, the new spiritual resurrection body no longer needs blood to sustain life (Leviticus 17:11).

One might also assume that the precious Blood of Jesus was to forever remain in the Heavenly Holy of Holies in remembrance of Jesus eternally securing our salvation.

The Second Coming—or the Fourth Coming?

Another interesting aspect of these events is that what we call the “Second Coming” might more accurately be called the “Fourth Coming.” According to this argument, the actual 2nd Coming occurred when Jesus returned to the earth after 3 days in Heaven to receive His resurrection body. His “Third Coming” then occurred when He returned from Heaven to be with His disciples after offering His Sacrificial Blood unto the Father in the Heavenly Holy of Holies.

The future return of Christ and His Millennial Kingdom is an important theme throughout the site’s Daniel Chapter 9 prophetic timeline.

In Summation: Forever in the Presence of Jesus

Perhaps the most important aspect of Jesus’ return concerns His Millennial Kingdom. During the Millennium, and then on into the Eternal State, we will no longer have to deal with “Jesus, now you see Him, now you don’t.”

For the Prophet Hosea taught that during the Millennium, believers will continually “live in His sight” (Hosea 6:2).

The relationship between Hosea’s prophetic language and the future Millennial Kingdom is also considered within the site’s broader studies of God’s prophetic timetable and the return of Christ.

Then later in the Eternal State, Jesus will still constantly be with us, for it was Jesus who taught:

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to

prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that

where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3

The Apostle Paul also taught that in the Millennial Kingdom and throughout Eternity believers would forever remain in the Presence of the Lord. In his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica, he wrote:

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the

archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to

meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:16,17

The assurance of remaining in God’s presence also complements the teaching in You Never Know, which reminds believers that although the future is hidden from man, the LORD promises to remain with His people throughout their journey.

n the Book of Revelation, John once again testifies that the Presence of Jesus will remain with us throughout eternity. He will be “forever lighting our way”:

“And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God

did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Revelation 21:22,23

No more, “Now you see Him, now you don’t !!!”

To God be the Glory !

Related Studies from Paradigms Tossed

Continue exploring Jesus Christ, biblical types, prophecy, and the relationship between the Old and New Testaments through these related studies:

Moses as a Type of Christ: Biblical Prophecy, the Rapture, and the Second Coming
This study examines Moses as a prophetic type of Christ and explores parallels between Mount Sinai, the return of Jesus, and end-times prophecy.

2030 A.D. Prophetic Timeline: Daniel’s 490 Years and the Restoration of Jerusalem
Explore Daniel’s prophetic timeline, the promised Seed of Abraham, and the future return and Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Hosea 6 Prophecy and the Year 2030: Prophetic Timeline 4
This study develops the “two days” and “third day” pattern in Hosea and connects it with restoration, Christ’s return, and the Millennial Kingdom.

2030 and Biblical Prophecy: Is It Really “Just a Coincidence”?
Consider recurring biblical patterns involving Christ’s absence, return, and the sovereign ordering of prophetic history.

2030 Prophetic Time Table 5 – The Examination of the Passover Lamb
This study examines Jesus as Jehovah in the Old Testament and as the perfect Passover Lamb in the New Testament.