Jesus’s Three Days in Hell
Jesus was beyond the physical pain of the cross now, but His spirit longed for the fellowship of God the Father and the Holy Spirit. They could not accompany Him into the sin of Hell. This was a different type of battle that He had to face completely alone. Here He fought against the sin of Satan’s imprisonment of those who had never heard Jesus before or the life changing message that He brought. Here, His glory pierced through the darkness of the region and attracted those who had seen no light since their death. Now, they wondered who this was that spoke of salvation and life eternal and emitted a strange peace in the midst of their suffering. They ceased their wailing of torment and strained to hear His message of hope for they had no hope in this place of darkness and fear.
Jesus still had a desire to save souls. He felt that He had failed in His earthly mission for Israel had, for the most part, forsaken Him. They had rejected His miracles and message of peace and love and had instead called for His death. The priests had feared this man who called Himself God for they could have been stoned for leading the people away from His truths. Jesus wondered if these who had tasted the darkness of sin would now accept and believe in His message and presence in this horrible place? Or, would they stubbornly also reject Him in unbelief and remain in a state of Godless torment forever? This was Christ’s final battle before returning briefly to earth and then on to Heaven and reunion with the Godhead. He would rise to life eternal under His own power to escape this prison and hopefully bring many with Him.
Mat 12:40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so the Son of Man shall be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed
Act 2:31 seeing this beforehand, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor would His flesh see corruption,
Eph 4:8 Therefore He says, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.”
Eph 4:9 (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He who descended is the same also as He who ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)
1Pe 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
1Pe 3:19 in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20 to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared (in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water);
The above shows that, after Jesus was crucified, he spent 3 days preaching to those captive in Hell. The passage in Luke indicated that Jesus was sent to tell His message to those held captive by sin on the earth and could also include those held captive in Hell.
Why did he go there? God is completely just to give all people a choice to know, accept and follow His son into salvation. It would be unfair to judge a person guilty of sin without the opportunity to know the truth of Christ and His sacrifice for their sins. God is fair and just.
Who was there? Pretty much everyone. Christ said that it was impossible to obey all of the Law given to Moses. Breaking any commandment was the same as breaking all of them. God would only accept perfection in heaven where there would be no sin. All sin could only be covered and forgiven through the blood sacrifice of Christ, the unblemished sinless lamb of God.
Rom 3:10 as it is written: “There is none righteous, no not one
Rom 3:20 because by the works of the Law none of all flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,
What did Jesus preach while in Hell? The same message that he did while on earth. The parts that likely got the most enthusiastic responses would have been:
Luk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed,
Luk 4:19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live.
Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father has given Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go away from here.
Rom 4:7 saying, “Blessed are those whose lawlessness’s are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
Rev 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, Do not fear, I am the First and the Last,
Rev 1:18 and the Living One, and I became dead, and behold, I am alive for ever and ever, Amen. And I have the keys of hell and of death.
1Pe 4:6 For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
What was the result? Equal opportunity for those who had died before Christ came to earth to accept Him as their savior. A single chance was given to accept Christ’s salvation and leave Hell. A chance to escape their judgement for sin. This would be the only reason for Jesus to preach to them. God would never tell about salvation and not offer it to those in attendance. Those who accepted Jesus as lord would become His most ardent followers. They had many sins to be forgiven and had seen the penalty for sin. They had much to be thankful for.
Of course, some of them who were too proud or stubborn might never believe and accept Jesus, like many alive today. They would never admit their mistakes. They would still have remained dead in their sins, captive and damned to hell and the coming Lake of Fire. How sad!
After assuming all sin on the cross, dying and going to Hell Jesus raised himself from the dead. God the Father had given Him this ability since the Father could not be in the presence of sin, whether on the Christ’s cross or in Hell.
Joh 5:26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son to have life within Himself,
Joh 10:17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I might take it again.
Joh 10:18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down from Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. I have received this commandment from My Father.