Did Jesus Go To Hell For 3 Days Or Heaven?
Do you know what happened to Jesus when he died? where did Jesus go when he died? You know, those three days after his death and before his resurrection. Some people say he went to God the father. Other people say no, Jesus went to hell. Some say he went to hell to be tortured there even further so that we might be saved for three long days. So today, I want to make it clear by looking at the bible to see what really happened. Did Jesus go to hell for 3 days or Heaven?
First, no, Jesus did not spend 3 days in hell to be tortured. Do you remember what he said to the thief next to him on the cross?
Luke 23:39- One of the hanged criminals railed at him, saying are you not the Christ save yourself and us? The other rebuked him, saying, do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong, and he said Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom and he said to him truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise.
Today you will be with me in paradise. So that shows that they went directly to God the Father in paradise. He didn’t say you’ll be with me in paradise after three days. He said today, so these people who say no, Jesus went to hell to further suffer for our sins. They say that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough. That’s a lie.

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Jesus said in John 19:30- when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said it was finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
That was Jesus’s word in greek Tetelestai, meaning it is finished meaning he didn’t have to go and suffer three days more in hell for our sins. No, it is done. He completed his mission here on earth to be slaughtered like a lamb, the last lamb that would be slaughtered for our sins, and that is why we can say that we are children of God because Jesus’s blood saves us.
One john 1:7-8, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Romans 5:9, Since his blood has now justified us, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
The bible is clear we are justified because of the blood of Jesus Christ that flowed on the cross for our sins in our place. Some people say he didn’t spend the 3 days in hell. Did Jesus go to hell for 3 days, 1 day, 2 days? But he did go to hell before he went to god the father. Is that true?
Many people are confused about this because I don’t know the difference between Hell Sheol Hades. The apostles’ creed says this I believe in God the Father almighty, the creator of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord who was conceived of the holy spirit, born of the virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried, he descended into hell.
Jesus descended into hell. I used to say this when I grew up in the church. When we came together, we had to stand up, and then we had to say these words of the apostles’ creed. We said it, but this part always troubled me. I didn’t feel peace in my heart, and that’s because it’s not true this peace Jesus descended into hell is not found anywhere in the bible, only in the apostles’ creed. If you examine the bible, you will see that Jesus did not suffer in hell. Jesus did not go to hell.
Quick Facts About The Apostles Creed
- Unlike the Nicene creed, the apostles’ creed was not written or approved by any church council at any time.
- It slowly took shape between 200 and 750 after Christ.
- The expression that came down into heck was not discovered in any of the early variations of the creed.
Now it is important to know that the first time that this phrase was used he descended into hell, was used by puffiness. he was the only person that added it in the creed before 650 after Christ, but he added it to mean that Jesus went to the grave he didn’t say hell he said hades there’s a difference between the two words. Hades can mean just grave. It’s not Gehenna which means hell, the place of punishment.
Now Luke 23:46- Then Jesus called out with a loud voice, said, Father into your hands. I dedicate my spirit and, having claimed this. He took a breath out his last.
So Jesus knew that he would go to god the father directly, not to hell, and he knew he wouldn’t go to god the father after a day, two days, or three days no directly.
That’s also why he said to the thief next to him today you will be with me in paradise.
Now another verse might confuse us a little bit 1 peter 3:18- For Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.
So in the spirit, Jesus went to preach the gospel to the spirits in prison.
What spirits? Well, allows proceed Because they previously did not follow when god’s perseverance waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight persons were brought safely with the water.
You know who he’s talking about here, all of the people at the time of Noah who did not obey God who died in flood, meaning they’re not alive anymore. They are now spirits in prison, so now, a few thousand years later, Peter described them as such, not people who still live who are alive people in the flesh but as spirits in prison. So how could Jesus go and preach to them when they died thousands of years ago? Jesus preached to everyone through the prophets with the holy spirit in them.
Now let’s read this in context and go back to 1 Peter 1: 10- It says Concerning the salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
2 peter 1:21- Says that man will never produce any prophecy, but men spoke from God as the holy spirit carried them along.
So now it’s clear that Jesus, when he preached to these people about the spirits in prison, it was back when they were still alive when he preached through Noah, and Peter just called them spirits now in his timeline because they were dead and they were just now spirits in prison it doesn’t mean that Jesus went to hell to preach to them again to give them a second chance because no one gets second chances.
Hebrews 9:27 says just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Read the context of Peter’s letter. You’ll see that Peter was just motivating the people, the early Christians at that time to stay strong in Christ. The way Noah stayed strong even though all around him, everybody disobeyed God but him. Noah and his family, only eight people, stayed true to Christ. They obeyed him.
Now another bible verse that might confuse you about this is 1 peter 4:6- For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
Wait, what does this mean that the gospel has been preached to dead people? Did they get a second chance? No, we already covered this. They don’t get a second chance. Nobody gets a second chance.
It just means that they heard the gospel. The people who are now dead had their chance when they were still alive. They heard the truth it was preached to them while they were still alive.
The Story Of Lazarus And The Rich Man
Do you remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man? Luke 16:19- There was a rich man clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day. At his gateway was laid a poor man called Lazarus covered with sores, who preferred to be fed with what dropped from the rich man’s table.
Moreover, also the pets came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man additionally died as well as was hidden, and also in hades being in torment, he lifted his eyes and saw Abraham away and Lazarus at his side. He also called out, father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip completion of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I remain in suffering in this fire.
Yet Abraham stated kid keep in mind that you in your lifetime obtained your advantages and Lazarus in like manner negative things, but now he is comforted right here, and also you remain in anguish. And also, besides all this in between you and us, a wonderful chasm has been dealt with to ensure that those who would certainly pass from here to you may not be able, and none may go across from there to us.
And also he stated, ” Then I ask you, daddy, to send him to my papa’s house, for I have five brothers to ensure that he might alert them lest they enter this place of torment. Yet Abraham said they have Moses, and the prophets let them hear them.
And also he said no, papa Abraham, but if somebody goes to them from the dead, they will repent. He told him that if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should increase from the dead.
No, there are no second chances, not for you, not for me, not for everyone. So you have to use the time you have to make your choice but also share the gospel with your brothers and sisters to your family that are still alive before it is too late. Don’t be like the rich man because now he’s worried about his brothers that they don’t end up where he is. So we see in the story that there are no second chances. There’s something else that is very interesting: The Chasm.
The Chasm
The rich man could see Abraham and Lazarus over the chasm. He could see what was going on in paradise. So that means that some of the spirits in hades could have also seen Jesus when he arrived when he died and went to be with God the father. Just imagine all the angels and everyone celebrating in Heaven. So you see, we need to understand the realm of the dead better the Greek word hades is used in the new testament, and it is the same word as the Hebrew word Sheol in the old testament, and it simply means the grave or the place of the dead.
Now you need to understand this. Some people call this hell, but this is not a hell. This is a temporary place of torment for people waiting for the last judgment day. Then they will be thrown into the lake of fire forever. That’s a permanent place, and that is hell.
Revelation 20:11- Then I saw a great white throne and him who was sat on it. From his presence, earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which was the book of life.
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done. And the Sikh gave up the dead who were in its death and hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged each one of them according to what they had done.
Then death and hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death of the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Did Jesus Go To Hell For 3 Days KJV?
Now the confusion here between hell and hades comes from certain bible translations that translated certain verses wrongly. They used hell when they should have used hades or old testament Sheol.
For example, the King James version (KJV) says in Psalms 16:10- For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither will thou suffer Thine holy one to see corruption.
This is a wrong translation the word used here is Sheol. The new king James version got it right other bible translations as well, including the ESV, say, for you will not abandon your soul to Sheol or let your holy one see corruption.
FAQ About Did Jesus Go To Hell For 3 Days
Jesus Went To Hell For 3 Days Bible Verse
In his New York Times bestselling book, The Restitution of All Things, South African pastor Daniel Kolenda argues that Jesus didn’t just go to Hell.
The theory is both simple and relatively straightforward: Romans 15:3 states that Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem “under Pontius Pilate, when the leaders of the Jews handed him over to the Gentiles.”
What did Jesus do in Hell?