Ever wondered what happened between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday? Where did Jesus go?

http://peterpilt.org/2012/04/07/ever-wondered-happened-between-good-friday-and-resurrection-sunday-where-did-jesus-go-and-what-did-he-accomplish/ ^ | 04/07/2012 | Peter Pilt

[SeekAndFind]

So I am writing this on Easter Saturday. We celebrated the death of Jesus yesterday at our Good Friday services and on Sunday we will celebrate his resurrection . So what happened between Friday and Sunday? Ever Wondered.

Well here is what I see in scripture happened. First a little context.

Recently I was preaching on types of Christ and I came across this scripture and it troubled me

Matt 12:40

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

So Jesus said that Jonah was a type of Jesus.

Most people know the story of Jonah. He was a Minor Prophet in the Old Testament that was told by God to go and preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. Jonah doesn’t want to and so he goes in the opposite direction on a boat. Ultimately he is in a major storm and gets thrown overboard by the crew and is swallowed by a whale.

Some commentators believe that Jonah actually died in the whale. Check out this verse

Jonah 2:6

To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you brought my life up from the pit,

O LORD my God.

So after three days he got vomited up on the shore and he goes and preaches to Nineveh and Nineveh repents.

Go forward about 6 or 700 years, Jesus says “As Jonah was in the belly of the whale, so must I be in the belly of the whale 3 days and 3 nights.”

What happened when Jesus died?

He went to the belly of the earth, but what did he do?

He died on the cross, disappeared for three days and then he comes back.

Where did He go and what did He do?

The bible doesn’t say a real lot about what He did do. But it gives us some clues that we can draw conclusions from.

Acts 2:31

³¹he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.

Peter is preaching and he talks about Jesus and he said that when Jesus died his soul wasn’t left in Hades. But he was resurrected. So we know, that when Jesus died on the cross, he went to a place called Hades.

Ephesians 4:7 & 8

⁷But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore He says:
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”^[a]

⁹(Now this, “He ascended”–what does it mean but that He also first^[b] descended into the lower parts of the earth?

So we know

No 1- He went into Hades

No 2 -He descended into the lower parts of the Earth.

1 Peter 3:18-19

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us^[a] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

• We know Jesus was born at Christmas. (I know this is not technically correct but go with it.)
• We know He died at Easter.
• We know that He died on the cross and went down to a place called “Hades”
• We know according to Ephesians that it was down, in the lower parts of the earth.
• We know that He preached to the spirits that are in prison.

But I don’t believe that you can have a second chance once you die. Thus a problem with the idea that Jesus went down there and preached to the spirits in prison.

I have done some research and want to bring some thoughts to you and bring some clarity to this scripture.

In the English language, there is one word for hell and that is, hell.

In the bible there is 3 words for hell. And only one of them is hell as we understand the term.

The first one is Sheol.Which is used only in the Old Testament.

The second one is Hades.Which is used only in the New Testament.

They are the same place. Just a different language.

Sheol and Hades is a temporary place where people go once they have departed this life. This was pre resurrection of Jesus.

Ps 139:8

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the sheol, you are there

Job 7:9

As a cloud vanishes and is gone,

so he who goes down to sheol does not return.

Hades is defined in the Strong’s Greek Dictionary, as the place of departed souls.

Matt 16:18

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.

The 3^rd hell is a place called Gehenna. It is the ultimate hell. It is the place in Revelations 20 and 21 how at the end of time, when all the judgement has happened, it actually says death and Hades will be cast into Gehenna. Into the lake of fire. Remember that – Hades is thrown into Gehanna.

Our concept of hell, fire and brimstone etc, that is Gehenna.

At the moment Gehenna is empty.Because the judgement of the end of time hasn’t happened yet. It is Hades that we actually deal with right now.

The bible refers to Hades as always being down. In Isaiah it says that therefore the grave enlarges its appetite. It means that Hades can expand to fit more people.

Rev 5:3

But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.

Hades had 2 compartments. It had a compartment where those with no faith in God would go to after they died. And there would be a tormenting. The other compartment is a place they used to call Paradise. Where people were kept in comfort, awaiting the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here is a scripture that supports this idea.

Luke 16:19-24

¹⁹“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell^[a] from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²²So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴“Then he cried and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Jesus is on the cross and there is a thief who says, “remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus says “This day, you will be with me in Paradise.”

Luke 23:39-43

³⁹ Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said to Jesus, “Lord,remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

He was going to the Paradise side of Hades. For a particular purpose.

What happened when He went there?

He went and collected all the righteous souls and took them to heaven. When Noah and Abraham died, they went to Paradise. But when you and I die, the bible says Absent from the body, but present with the Lord. When we go from this life to the next, we go straight to Heaven. We live post resurrection.

The system changed once the resurrection of Jesus happened.

Matt 27:51-53

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.

They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Notice that all the saints, the people who died with a faith in God, rose from their grave, POST JESUS’ RESURRECTION.

Now, if you find yourself in Hades, you are in all sorts of trouble. It means you have died without a faith in Jesus Christ. Those people are awaiting the judgement that Revelation talks about.

So what about the scripture that says that Jesus went down and preached to the spirits in prison?

1 Peter 3:18-19

¹⁸For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us^[a] to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

Preached = to make a declaration – according to the Greek definition of the word that is used here.

In 1 Peter 3:18, I believe that Jesus was down there declaring stuff to the devil.

Jesus went down there, emptied the paradise section of Hades, took those guys up to heaven post resurrection and He started to declare some things to the devil.

• He started to declare that He held the keys to death and hell.
• To declare that the devil was defeated.
• To declare that the Holy Ghost was coming.
• That the church would rise up and the gates of Hades could not prevail against it. It was the announcement of the beginning of the Church age – which I believe ends pre tribulation in Revelation 4 – but that is another blog topic for another day. There was a declaration in the Spirit Realm.
• When Jesus had finished making declarations, then He said, come on Holy Spirit, raise me from the dead.

There is a scripture in Ecclesiastes that says that “Wisdom is found in the house of mourning.” What wisdom?

1. Death is inevitable. Everyone is going to die. People think that if they don’t talk or think about death, somehow they will escape it. You cannot escape death. It is there. You will die.

2. Jesus has provided a way of escape. Every single one of us is going to die. He died so that you and I would be prepared for the inevitable.

3. Death can come as a surprise.I wonder how many people go, “Wow. I’m dead!”

Jesus is our escape plan. He was sent here to earth for us to escape Hades and Gehenna so we would got to an eternity with God. We have got to think through our salvation plan. We’ve got to think that death is inevitable.

Enjoy life, enjoy the ride, but be prepared for any surprises that may come your way.

To me, my eternal salvation is too big a deal to risk waiting until I’m older.

Jesus is our escape plan. He is our Noah’s Ark. Our substitutionary lamb.

[huldah1776]

I heard by a teacher that in Jesus’ culture the word “day” did not mean 24 hours, it could be used to mean any amount of time, just as we say yesterday but it was in the afternoon of yesterday. I work at a place that has online updating and we cannot say that the file will be updated in 3 days, we have to say 72 hours because the system counts minutes. The customer would assume that the “day” started at 12:01 am when the third day for him could in fact be 4:00 pm if the starting point was 4:00 pm.

Also, this reminds me of the parable of the workman’s wages where those hired in the morning had agreed to work for a wage, then others hired in the afternoon also agreed to work for the same wage. Without watches to know the exact time, the day concept was probably easier to “work” with.

Here is a link for that explanation:
https://bible.org/question/were-three-days-and-three-nights-jesus-was-grave-full-72-hours

Ironically I was listening to a pastor on TV who was going to explain the 3 night controversy but I had to leave for church (Palm Sunday) before I could hear that explanation...So I searched online for the explanation. Here is one that I will accept although I do not accept the beginning of the author’s reasoning (it was some weird wording). He does tell us what Jesus said and I will take the word of Jesus.

Jesus’s suffering started on Thursday night (In the Bible the day begins at sunset, fasting starts at sunset) in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweated blood. He specifically stated to Judas and the Pharisees [Luke 22] “While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours.” [NASV] So the first night was Thursday night that Jesus’ time of darkness started with persecution from the Pharisees because the Father was willing for Him to suffer and to Jesus, that was going through Gehenna. Thursday night our time was spent with the Pharisees, Friday night and Saturday night as stated in the study posted above.

The links to article...
http://www.amazingfacts.org/media-library/media/e/1170/t/explain-how-jesus-was-in-the-tomb-3-days-—3-nights..aspx

Makes sense to me. Funny thing here is that literature critiques are done by academia in view of historical context ONLY, except with the Bible and our constitution. We need to keep that in mind when we read our Bible and discuss terms and ideas that we find confusing. The moral principles will never change. Who God is does not change. Our cultural views are what is different especially in language. I am studying psychology and there is a school of psychology that studies languages. really interesting. Some cultures have 10 words for love. Also, the way psychologists study people to find out who they are, is the same way a believer gets to know God. Makes sense since we are created in His image. Thanks for listening. I love to ramble.

P.S. I personally think Jesus spent some time in Gehenna, because He had to bear the wrath of God in place of me and you so we wouldn’t have to go there. One day is like a thousand years (or eternity).

[Kackikat]

Jesus would have died sometime shortly before sundown on Wednesday afternoon, then Joseph of Aremetha would have placed him In the tomb...maybe Thursday in tomb, as sundown is change of the Jewish day, not actually Thursday yet when he died.

[Former Fetus]

I also read something like that. I think the idea is that the Passover Lamb was sacrificed on Nissan 14 and the Passover meal was eaten at sundown, just as Nissan 15 began. If Nissan 14 was a Thursday, then Jesus was crucified that day and He sure spent 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb. It gets confusing because we know that the bodies had to be removed from the crosses before the Sabbath, but the first day of Passover was considered a Sabbath (Lev. 23). So, there were 2 Sabbaths, back to back (Friday and Saturday), and on Sunday the women went to the tomb. Some people translate Matt. 28:1 as " early Sunday morning “after the Sabbaths”

Very interesting, John 18:28 says that Jesus' accusers would not enter Pilate’s courtyard because they would be defiled and would not be able to eat the Passover that evening. That would make it Nissan 14.

The Talmud also tells “They hung Yeshua the Nazarene on Erev Pesach”–which means on the “eve of Passover” (b. Sanhedrin 67a and 43a).

My question is, since I don't have any doubt the Last Supper was a Passover meal, was it considered acceptable to eat it the day before it was supposed? Oh, well, when I think I have the days and nights straight, now I worry about the date for the Passover meal... Any comments, anybody?

[gettinolder]

A great study,

thanks for sharing!

He is Risen!

[Kackikat]

http://www.judaismvschristianity.com/Passover_dates.htm

The Nissan 14 was a WED, and Thursday would have been the High Sabbath, so that would mean Christ was crucified on Wed...Thursday would have began after sundown...

Thurs Night
Thurs Day
Fri night
Fri day
Sat night
Sat day
and resurrected after sundown on Sat which is actually Sun, first day of week....women find tomb empty Sun AM.

What is confusing to me is the night of that day is before the actual daytime, when it begins at sundown. Does that make sense?

[Kackikat]

This Scripture important as it names Preperation Day before High Sabbath as the day of Crucifixcion:

by Steve Sawyer

Let us re-examine a critical verse: John 19:31

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” (NKJ

[Former Fetus]

What is confusing to me is the night of that day is before the actual daytime, when it begins at sundown.

That's the Jewish way of counting days, based on Gen 1 (there was an evening, there was a morning).

By your calculations, Jesus would have spent 4 nights in the tomb (Wed to Thu, Thu to Fri, Fri to Sat, and Sat to Sun) instead of 3!

I think the problem is setting the year in which Jesus was crucified. By your link, if you select A.D. 34, you get Nissan 14 on a Thursday and...

Thursday Day 1
Thursday to Friday Night 1
Friday Day 2 High Sabbath
Friday to Saturday Night 2
Saturday Day 3 regular Sabath
Saturday to Sunday Night 3

It doesn't really matter, it does not affect our salvation. But it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

[Kackikat]

OK then my year is wrong, because I wanted the high day on Thursday to make it come out right, so you say it’s 34 AD if I understand correctly?

[huldah1776]

Makes a lot of sense depending on the year. Thank you!

[cva66snipe]

Jesus went and released the dead immediately upon His death. Matthew ch 28 starting at verse 50 describes graves opening and the dead now alive and walking about. We often forget once death comes we are gone from this world into the next. Jesus's Spirit was gone before he was laid in the tomb.

What you posted makes more sense when Jesus after He arose from the grave at first said Do Not Touch Me. Obviously He had and still has the power to be in Heaven or with His followers at an instant but at that point had not yet went into heaven thus touching Him would have defiled Him. At some point before appearing to the Disciples in the room He went into Heaven and thus the sacrifice accepted.

[Former Fetus]

I say 34 AD is the only year that makes sense. Keep in mind that the High Sabbath could NOT have been on a Thursday or else the women would have gone to the tomb on Friday... which they didn’t. They had to wait until both the High Sabbath (Friday) and the ordinary Sabbath (Saturday) were over before they went.

[Kackikat]

I was using 31 AD with Nisan 14 on Wednesday.

[Former Fetus]

I know, and it gives you an extra night in the tomb plus a day for the women to visit the tomb before Sunday. That’s why I don’t think 31 AD is the year.

[Kackikat]

If the High Sabbath is on Friday and Christ had to be crucified on Preparation Day according to Scripture, then Thursday is Preparation Day in 34 AD? So you say The Last Supper was Thursday Night and then Thursday DAY he was crucified? So three days and three nights are

Thurs Day...Jesus would have had to be crucified early in AM to get a full day. Is that right?
Fri Night
Fri Day
Sat Night
Sat Day
Sun Night which begins at sundown on Saturday?
The women find Jesus gone from tomb on Sunday Day early.

This is what you are saying? I’m not disagreeing, just working out the 3 days and 3 nights with you per ‘As it was with Jonah’....scripture.

[Kackikat]

I agree that it does not matter for sake of argument, as we have our salvation.
However there are several things that had to be fulfilled Biblically and here is one explanation that says it can only be 31 AD.

http://www.4angelspublications.com/Books/GCC/Chapter%205.pdf

[Former Fetus]

Yes.

[Former Fetus]

On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. (Lev. 23:5-7)

It sounds to me like the High Sabbath is the day AFTER Passover, which agrees with the suggestion that Jesus was crucified on Thursday, 2 Sabbaths passed, then the women went to the tomb. However, that link suggest that "Seventh-day Adventists are the only ones who believe and teach that Jesus Christ was crucified in A.D. 31". WOW! Now you've scared me! I'll come back to it later, but right now I'm too startled to think coherently.

[angryoldfatman]

Does not add up to me why He who created iron and wood and Man would allow the creature to Nail the creator to a Cross.

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Besides providing a path for our otherwise unattainable reconciliation, it was to answer the inevitable excuse of mankind when faced with God.

“You’re an omnipotent, omniscient being! You don’t know what it’s like being here and experiencing all of the trials and tribulations we human beings go through!”

He did, and He does.

What doesn’t make sense is our not being able to accept a gift so freely given.

[Kackikat]

Ok I am not 7th Day Adventist....lol I just read the account and applied it to what I had read elsewhere and my chart that I posted the link to....I am not saying it is right.

We are both Christians so I am not going to be upset if its a different year. We are just trying to figure out for our own satisfaction, it isn’t like we are going on the road with this...okay, still FR friends?

[Secret Agent Man]

It doesn’t say He was in the tomb for three nights.

It’s always three days. When Jesus talks abobut the temple being torn down and the masive bricks will not have one left on top of another, I will rebuild it in three days. Not three days and three nights.