Bible Study Where was Jesus between his death and resurrection?

[TonyChanYT]

When a person dies, he goes to Sheol/Hades, where time stands still. Sheol is not confined to the physical space-time framework. It is in the spiritual dimension.

Matthew 27:

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

Elisha's bones resurrected a dead man (2 Kings 13:21), and Jesus' physical death resurrected a group of men. These were righteous people who were given an extension of life on earth.

John 19:

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus' suffering was finished; he suffered no further in Hades. He did not go to the fiery hell, i.e., the lake of fire. That will not occur until the last day after the general resurrection.

What did Jesus do?

Jesus proclaimed the gospel to the dead in 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, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.

The unrighteous died without knowing Jesus. Some would receive and accept the gospel. Peter described a scene that is out of space-time ordering. On the last day, after the general resurrection, they will hear Jesus' proclamation and believe. Jesus had to physically die himself to qualify preaching to them in Hades.

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.

The dead spirits are not conscious presently. They will be judged after the resurrection on the last day.

Where was Jesus between his death and resurrection?

Ephesians 4:

8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

i.e., Hades, the dwelling place (storehouse) of the dead.

After Jesus died, his spirit descended to the spiritual realm of Hades, where time stands still. He preached the gospel to the dead, who would be resurrected on the last day, at the end of the physical time.