Did Jesus Descend To Hell After His Death?

There is a traditional belief within the Christian faith that Jesus descended into hell during the three days between his death upon the cross and his resurrection. Todd takes us to several key biblical texts to measure this claim against the scriptural witness.

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Wretched TV and Radio are hosted by Todd Friel. On the show, you will see and hear live witnessing encounters, discussions of tough theological issues, and Christian commentary on current events. We might even make you laugh.

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[VictorBorbaMusic]

It was my understanding that Jesus went into Abraham’s bosom to bring up the saints from Old Testament to paradise. Not exactly him descending to “hell” as in the place of torment, but he’s rescuing the captives in the sense of saved souls waiting on Christ’s atonement

[byronwooten]

From the cross Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Not into Hell.

[hudsondonnell]

When he said, "It is finished". Atonement for sin was paid.

[bradmcdowell]

Jesus descended to Hades. You may remember in Luke 16 that Hades was split into two parts: Sheol (torment) and Abraham’s bosom (paradise). Up until that point though, no one had entered the true heaven, where God’s throne is. Jesus went to Hades, took the Old Testament saints to Heaven, and while he did it, proclaimed his victory over death to all in Sheol, including the demons in gloomy chains (1 Peter 3:19, 2 Peter 2:4). Old Testament saint could not enter the true Heaven until Jesus died because up until that point, their sins were only covered by animal sacrifice, not truly paid for by Christ yet.

[jacobcarpenter]

Another wonderul video as always, Mr. Friel! Keep up the good work!

[Vitamortis.]

I believe Jesus bore hell or more generally the wrath of God on the cross. Not after the cross.

[tannermcginn]

I was literally just talking to my wife about this very subject, then I opened YouTube and this video was at the top of my recommendations. Providence can be downright spooky sometimes.

[SpiritLife]

We have to differentiate between the three compartments of Sheol (the land of the dead). Was it Abraham's bosom (paradise for the Old Covenant righteous), or was it Hades (Hell)? The other compartment was Tartarus which is a prison for the demons. All three compartments were there and I believe Jesus visited Abraham's Bosom

[clispyleaf]

I'm so glad you talked about this! At the back of my study bible theres a bunch of creeds and confessions and I was REALLY bothered by the "he descended into hell" line and have been struggling to justify it or figure it out for ages

[dougdozier]

It would be helpful to make a distinction between Hell and Sheol. In the OT Sheol was the place of the dead. It had two compartments. Hades, where nonbelievers were, and paradise where Abraham's bosom was. So when Jesus says "today you will be with me in paradise" to the thief he was referring to Paradise in Sheol. When Jesus dies he did go into Hades not to continue his atoning work but to proclaim victory over the Spirits as in Noah's Day(Not human Spirits) but the demonic. When Jesus is resurrected he has defeated Sin, Death and Satan. He ascends to the Father where he is given a Kingdom by the Father and all those who trust in Him will be with Him in Paradise(Heaven). Hell refers to the Lake of Fire not Hades. Remember Hades is thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation.

[RPowell]

"I tell you, this day you will be with me in paradise"

That kinda says it all.

[joshuawaddell]

My understanding: The thief on the cross would be with Christ in Paradise, yes. That does not mean Christ was not capable of going elsewhere afterwards. "Today" does not mean that tomorrow Jesus was not capable of traveling. He was dead for 3 days, after all.
Also, my understanding was Jesus went to the place of torment to proclaim to fallen angels that death had been defeated, NOT to preach the gospel in terms of saving new converts. He absolutely did not go and be tortured, but I believe those verses mean he went to proclaim victory over those that rebelled against God.

[Daedal]

The story Jesus tells about Lazarus and the rich man clearly shows paradise and heaven are not the same place.

[nxesr]

I totally love watching you man, your style is out of this world, keep doing it please and thank you Jesus for you ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[sharonabbott]

Thank you, Todd. That clears things up for me. As you always say, "Let's let scripture interpret scripture". That's all we need for spiritual wisdom and discernment.

[haphuongle]

In my mother tongue of Vietnamese, the word "hell" in the Apostle's creed was translated as "âm phủ", the place for all dead people (an Oriential idea similar to the idea of Hades, where the dead go and in some specific conditions, can return to the land of the living as in a spirit form known as soul or ghosts. Vietnamese has other words for "a final place of judgement for those who did evil" (the severity and types of punishment depending of the weight of sins and rhe specific deeds). It was quite helpful to grow up with Oriental culture as it makes understanding the Jewish roots of Christianity easier, like the idea of obedience to those in authorities, disadvantages of women in a broken world and the importance of the first born son.

[aluminummovie]

Finished on the cross. This is a great conversation.

[fisherofmen]

The way I always took it was that Christ went into Sheol, not hell the lake of fire, to bring the Old Testament saints with Him, while proclaiming His victory to the spirits who rebelled with against Him.

[funnyNiel]

“You will be with me in paradise today”

[rocketsurgeon]

Non calvanist, non arminian here. I really appreciate that you have the comments section open. Many of the most influential calvanists (james white, macarthur, etc) have their comments section closed and it hard to aid in correction when they are wrong.