Did Jesus go to hell? On Friday, hanging on the cross, Jesus said to the thief, today you will be with me in paradise. On Sunday morning, he said to Mary Magdalene, do not hold on to me, I have not yet ascended to the Father. Wait a minute. Friday he says, today you will be with me in paradise, and yet Sunday morning he says, I have not yet ascended to the Father. What was he doing? Where was he between Friday at his death and Sunday morning? Where was he? That's what we're going to talk about today. I think you're going to find this fascinating. I love teaching on this because so few people have ever heard this message. What in the world was going on on that weekend, and did Jesus go to hell? Hi, I'm Sam Hunter. I'm glad that you joined us. This is 721 Live, the video arm of 721 Ministries. Again, thank you for being with us. We're going to jump right into this. if you're a protestant you say the product of apostles creed and let's just take a look at the apostles creed i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth i believe in jesus christ's only son and our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit and born of the virgin mary he suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended to hell the third day he rose again from the dead he descended to hell What in the world does that mean? Have you ever thought about that? Or have you just, like so many people, do you just rotely repeat the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and all that when you're standing in church and have never given this any thought? And let's go back to, where was he? If on Friday, he tells the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise, Sunday morning, apparently he has not been to paradise. He certainly says that he has not been to heaven with the Father. So let's start with where we would start in scripture, and let's start there with 1 Peter and what he has to say about this, and then we'll just tease this out and I'll show you much more scripture that will explain to you exactly what happened without any question, without any confusion. 1 Peter. First off, when we see, what we're gonna talk about is Sheol and Hades, not hell. Sheol, which I'll explain in a moment, and Hades, not hell. Okay, so let's start with 1 Peter 3, and we'll go all the way through 4, 6. He was put to death, talking about Jesus, he was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit, Okay, so he died but his spirit was alive on Friday through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison Okay, wait a minute. Who are the spirits in prison? And what what was he preaching to them about? We're gonna explain this in a moment To those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built, we're going to understand who those people were, those who were disobedient long ago in 4-5. But they will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead, for this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead. Is this what Jesus was doing? So that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. Now, this'll be our home base, and we'll come back to this, and I'll tease it out so that it makes perfect sense to you. But let's start with that word sheol that we just mentioned. It's a Hebrew word. You find it throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the Greek word that replaces sheol, or is translated from sheol, is Hades. Sheol, Old Testament Hebrew. Hades, New Testament Greek. So let's go back and see that passage again as we start working through this. He was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison. Not in prison, in Sheol. Prison is a bad translation. The word is Sheol. And quite often, when you see this, you'll see a footnote in the bottom of your Bible, if you have a study Bible especially, that will say Sheol. Now, what has always fascinated me over the years when I read my Bible, my different Bibles, different translations, and I see them put these footnotes, and I wanna just say, well, why don't you just put it in there? That's the word. Hades or Sheol, not so. In the Old Testament, Sheol is often mistranslated grave or pit or prison. And by the way, and this is extremely important, the word hell is never used in the Old Testament. When you see hell, it is always Sheol. In the New Testament, the same word in the Greek is Hades. Hades does not, nor did it ever mean hell. Now, that may come as a shock to you. And I will tell you that as we go through this, I put a lot of information on slides because I want you to be able to come back and look at it. And maybe write some of this down, because this is fascinating. And I'm teaching you truth here that you probably haven't heard from anyone else. It's because most people don't understand this. Now, let me say that my father, years ago, gave me a booklet by Dr. Dahan. that was entitled, After Death What? And I doubt you could find it. My dad had a shoebox full of them, and I read all of his stuff, and he was such a great Bible teacher. But he explained this, and then, of course, I did my own research, and it all fit together perfectly. The Old Testament shield is often mistranslated grave or pit, and by the way, and I want to reinforce this, the word hell is never used in the Old Testament. When you see hell, it is always shield. In the New Testament, the same word in the Greek is Hades. Hades does not, nor did it ever mean hell. Okay, New Testament hell. When you see hell in your scripture, when Jesus is quoted saying hell, and you'll find that in Matthew 5, 22, and 29 through 30, and these various passages that I put up here, Mark, Luke, and even James, he's actually using the word Gehenna, which was a valley just outside Jerusalem that was used as a fiery waste dump. At one time, children were even sacrificed into this fire. In the New Testament time, Gehenna referred to the place of eternal punishment and damnation for the laws. So Jesus, when you see the translation hell, that's not the word he actually said. He said Gehenna. And that meant hell. That meant our idea of hell, eternal damnation, eternal punishment. I've just been giving you all of the details on this. So in the New Testament, Hades. We will see Hades in the New Testament. It never means hell. It's the Greek translation of Sheol. Matthew 11, 23, and you, Capernaum, this is Jesus talking, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to the depths. The word there is actually Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. Depths, it should have been translated Hades. Luke 10, 15. And you, Capernaum, same statement, just two different gospels. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to the depths. Depths, again, that's Hades. Let's see another passage on Hades. Matthew 16, 18. Jesus again. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. That's the proper translation there. The gates of Hades will not overcome it. Have you ever thought what Jesus was saying to Peter when he said the gates of Hades will not overcome it? Of course, you probably thought the word was just the same word as hell, but it's not. And we'll see exactly what he meant by that. Luke 16, 23. We'll see this in a few minutes about the rich man and Lazarus in the story that Jesus tells in Luke 16. In hell, no, it should have been in Hades. Your Bible may say in hell where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far, far away with Lazarus by his side. The actual translation should be Hades. Okay, we're building our case. So on the cross, Jesus said to the thief, today you will be with me in paradise. That is a Jewish idiom for Sheol slash Hades. That's just what the Jewish idiom was. Paradise, the bosom of Abraham, these are all Jewish idioms for Sheol or Hades. Now let's keep going with what Peter said in Acts 2. And again, we'll see another translation. This is actually a quotation from the Older Testament. And let's just read this. Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. Verse 31 seeing what was to come he spoke this be David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead the actual Translation and if your Bible look up look it up in your Bible. It'll probably give you a footnote shield nor did his body see decay talking about Jesus For David did not ascend to heaven. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa, whoa David did not ascend to heaven David did not ascend to heaven? Where was he? If he didn't ascend to heaven, surely you're not going to tell me David, King David, a man after God's own heart, the one who was promised that the Messiah would come through his lineage, the house of David, the city of David, surely you're not going to tell me that he went to hell. But we see David did not ascend to heaven, Well, this is going to be explained. He went to Sheol. Let's keep going, because we're going to lay this out for you. Hades in Revelation. Revelation 118. I am the living one, Jesus says. I was dead, and now look, I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. This is after his resurrection This is going to become more clear and I hold the keys of death and Hades Revelation 6 when the lamb opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say come I looked and there before me was a pale horse its rider was named death and Hades was following close behind him Let's keep going in Revelation. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. So we, apparently, at the second coming, we have a Hades with dead people living there, dead people there, I guess, spiritually dead. And each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of the fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. So let's try to explain this a little bit more now that we're starting to build a little base here. In the Older Testament worldview, at death the body goes to the grave and the soul goes to Sheol. The soul, both of the saved and the lost, goes to Sheol, where it is awake with memory and the ability to converse. We're going to see this in Luke 16 in the story that Jesus tells. But this is important to understand, and this is substantiated throughout the Older Testament. Sheol is where you went when you died. Now what we're going to see is there was a saved side to Sheol and there was a damned side to Sheol. David then, since he did not ascend to heaven, would have gone to the saved side. When we get to Luke 16 and Jesus tells the story, not a parable, Because in all the parables, no one is ever named in the parables. Lazarus is named in Luke 16, and all biblical scholars agree that this was a story that actually took place, I should say most biblical scholars. Lazarus, the rich man who was so unkind to Lazarus, they both die at the same time. The rich man who was so unkind and so sinful, he goes to the damned side. Lazarus goes to the saved side to be with Abraham in Abraham's bosom, in Abraham's side, however your Bible translates it. no one before jesus' death and resurrection went to heaven well jesus himself says in john three no one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven the son of man and again for david did not ascend to heaven jesus says that no one has ascended into heaven before his resurrection no one has ascended to heaven. Everyone went to Sheol. That's the Hebrew word. Hades is the Greek word. Now, let's just understand exactly what happened with Jesus. At His death, Jesus descended into Hades, Sheol, proclaimed the good news of the redemption to the saved, and brought them out. And on the day of His resurrection, He led them out of Hades and up to heaven. Again, we just saw this in 1 Peter. The lost remained in Hades, as do the lost who die today, awaiting the great white throne of judgment mentioned in Revelation 20. After which, here we go with verse 14, then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. You see, today, if someone who's not saved dies, they go to Hades. And they await the second coming, which is the final judgment, the great white throne of judgment. And when that is all settled out, we see it in Revelation that death and Hades, all of those who are in Hades, are thrown into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The first death, they die physically, and their soul goes to Hades, Geo. The second death is when the final judgment is made. So why did Jesus go to Hades? What was going on on Friday? He said to the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. Paradise is just a Jewish idiom for Hades, for Sheol, for the safe side. So why did he go? Well, we saw that in 1 Peter. Let's go back and try to understand this. He, Jesus, was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit. through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison, to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. but they will have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead for this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead see so we've got gospel preached even to those who are now dead so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body but live according to God according to God in regard to the spirit now let's just tease this out Where how when where what how in the spirit once freed from his body made alive? Jesus went down to Haiti when on Friday the day of his death today you will be with me in paradise Where to the spirits in prison shield? Why and to whom and this is where this word preach has been Not mistranslated, but not given the full translation for us to be able to easily understand what happened. In verse 319, the word for preach is kerosen, kerosen. This is a neutral word in the Greek, which typically means to make a public pronouncement or to proclaim something, typically involving good news. But kerosene, so the first time we see preach, which we see it twice, we get the word, same word preach, but the actual word, the Greek word is kerosene. In verse 4-6, the word for preach is evangelizio, evangelizo. In the New Testament, it means the saving good news of the gospel. So we've got a public proclamation here, which is neutral, and we've got good news in the second. But they were both translated in your Bible preach. But they are two different words with two different messages. to the lost 319 the spirits in prison shield who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah the Jews use this phrase in the days of Noah to reference the hopelessly lost so in 319 he preaches kerosene a statement a proclamation and we're going to see that he is telling them you're damned And you're not coming out. And then we see in 4.6, to the saved, to those who are now dead in the body, but live according to God in regard to the Spirit. So, Jesus had two statements. To the damned, he made a public proclamation, kereson, to the lost, and then announced the saving good news of the gospel. to the safe remember she'll haiti's had a lost side and a safe side so apparently it seems clear in scripture that jesus on friday when he died when he gave up his body his spirit with spirit went down to haiti's and to this damn side he made a pub public proclamation that you're down to the safe side he gave the even jellies of the good news that you say And then we're going to see that he led them out. Now, I hope this is starting to become clear to you. I'm going to keep going so I can give you more scripture. Jesus himself said this in John 5. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. He's talking about when he goes to Sheol. Matthew 7 27 the tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life They came out of their tombs and after Jesus's resurrection. They went into the city and appeared to many people Now Do you see I know you've read this in this in Matthew? I know you've heard of it. You've never understood what's happening here these folks that were seen that had died and Apparently, they got a hall pass. Not to be irreverent, but apparently some of them were allowed to walk back up on earth as Jesus was making the transition, bringing them up from the safe side of Hades to be with the Lord, to be in the presence of God Almighty. Because, see, no one could go to heaven before Jesus' resurrection because their sins had not been paid for. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. But he first had to pay for those sins, so anyone prior to Jesus, David, Abraham, Isaiah, we'll see that in a moment, they went down to Hades at their death. There's even a passage where Saul seeks out Samuel. You'll find that in 1 Samuel. And he's petrified, he's paralyzed with fear, he doesn't know what to do, and he goes into a medium, to a spiritualist, and asks her to bring Samuel up. And the story says that Samuel comes up from a shield. So everyone prior to Jesus' resurrection, if they were saved, they went to the safe side. If they were damned, they went to the damned side. Let's keep going. This is a really interesting passage and not a good translation. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor. You know, this is up on the Mount of Transfiguration, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, but that's really not the right translation. They spoke about his exodus, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Now think about that for a moment. Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration They're talking with oh gosh. I would have loved to have been in on that conversation They're talking with Jesus about the exodus that he's about to put in place in Jerusalem The exodus of taking God's people this time not out of Egypt this time out of Hades The word not departure. The word is exodus Okay What happened on the Sunday of Jesus's resurrection? Jesus ascended from Sheol, Hades, up to heaven. John 20. Notice that early that Sunday morning, Jesus would not allow Mary to touch him, saying, do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to my father. But later in the day, and yet later in that same day in Luke, he appeared to the disciples and said, touch me and see. A ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. So apparently, and I know this is all above our pay grade, but apparently early Sunday morning, Jesus had not yet ascended to heaven to be with the Father, but he did. He ascended, took the saved with him, and now when he came back and appeared before the disciples that evening or late that afternoon, they could now touch him. Let's keep going. What happens to the dead now? The saved goes straight to heaven. 2 Corinthians 5, 8, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Again, Matthew 16, 18, which we saw much earlier, on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. In essence, Hades no longer holds the saved upon their death. The lost still go to Sheol, Hades, and await the great white throne of judgment and the second death. That's what we saw in Revelation 20. Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it, the earth and the heavens, fled from its presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. Then death and Hades, again shield, were thrown into the lake of fire, the second death. Are you beginning to track with me now? Do you see that Sheol and Hades were real places, the same place, just Hebrew word Sheol, Greek word Hades, the same place where everyone who died prior to Jesus' resurrection went, the saved side or the damned side? At his resurrection, now that our sins had been paid for, he could make the exodus, he could take the saved with him up to heaven. Now, I want to conclude with the story that I've been alluding to, the rich man and Lazarus at Luke 16. Now, the reason I call it a story and not a parable, as I mentioned earlier, Jesus never names anybody in a parable. He names Lazarus in this story. So I believe, and many scholars believe, he's telling a story about something that actually happened. So let's read it and see this whole, all of these little idioms and Jewish idioms that we've seen and how this story plays out to support exactly what we've been saying. There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with swords, and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table, even the dogs came and licked his shoes. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. That would be paradise. That'd be the safe side of Hades. The rich man also died and was buried in hell. No, not in hell, in Hades, where he was in torment. He's on the damned side. He looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. Now, let's just pause. Do you see what the scripture's telling us? What Jesus is telling us. These two men died. One was the rich man who didn't care about his fellow man, was clearly a damned man. He died and went to the damned side of Hades in torment. The beggar who was saved, obviously, went to the saved side to be with Abraham. That's another Jewish idiom, to be in the bosom of Abraham, to be at Abraham's side. Verse 24, So he called to him the rich man, who is now in agony, Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire. But Abraham replied, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been set in place so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us. Now, what we have seen in this story just encapsulates everything I've been talking about. Before Jesus' resurrection, people went, everyone who died, went down to Hades. Saved side, damned side. At his resurrection, now that our sins have been paid, he went down, he got Abraham, he got Samuel, he got King David, he got this beggar, he got everyone who had been saved prior to Jesus' death and resurrection, and made an exodus up to be with the Lord. That happened on Sunday. As he bumped into Mary Magdalene, not bumped into her on purpose, he said, don't hold on to me, I've not yet ascended to the Father. But as he took everyone to be into the Father's presence, then later that day, and I don't understand the reasoning behind it, but he was able to come back and say, touch me. Give me something to eat. He now had the resurrection body. This is exactly what it means. When we see and say in the Apostles' Creed, on the third day, he died and went to hell, He did not die. I hope that your church now says he died and went to Hades. And if it gets that translation right, I wonder if they've explained what happened when he went to Hades. So here's the summary and we're done. Sheol is ever present in the Older Testament, just as Hades is in the New Testament. God spoke about each through his writers and prophets in the Older Testament, and Jesus spoke about and taught on each in the New Testament. If we understand and just accept this reality, then it opens the door for a clear explanation to the Apostles' Creed. I hope that this has been educational for you. I hope that this has cleared up some questions. If perhaps you've never even thought about it, now you know the answer. This is biblically supported. I've shown you nothing but scriptures that support this. And even though this is not going to get you into heaven or hell, it's really interesting and it's helpful and worthwhile to understand exactly what was happening. And now when you say the Apostles' Creed, you will know Then when it says, Jesus was dead and buried and went to Hades, went to hell, you will know exactly what happened. And I hope that this will enrich your life as you become more and more a deeper follower of Jesus, because there's more. You know it. Come on, follow Jesus.