Where Was Jesus' Spirit When His Body Was in the Tomb?

By: Charles T. Buntin , M.S., M.A.R. (Bio)

We who are evangelical Christians take some pride that our doctrine is completely Bible-based. In our minds, we are the children of the Reformation, and Sola Scriptura is both our heritage and one of the basic doctrines of our Faith.

We like to think that we do not have extra-Biblical traditions, in distinction from the liturgical, traditional churches.

Yet, there are evangelists on television and even in the pulpit who claim that Jesus spent his time in hell while his body lay in the tomb. Others say that Jesus' spirit died with his physical body. There is absolutely no Biblical evidence to support either of these widely-held theories.

So where was His Spirit While His Body was in the Tomb?

Well, let's let Jesus Himself tell us . . .

He was in Paradise

In Luke 23:43, Jesus turns to the thief on the cross, who has defended him: "And Jesus said to him, 'Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'"

Now there are some people who will try to say that "paradise" is something other than the Heaven where God is. However, only two references are made to "paradise" in the Bible, and they obviously apply to Heaven:

In Second Corinthians Paul speaks of how he he was caught up into paradise, and "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter."

In Rev 2:7 Jesus says: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God".

Jesus' Spirit was with the Father

In Luke 23:46 his cries further support that. "And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last."

Was the Father in hell? I don't think so!

Furthermore, when his death on the Cross was finished, the sacrifice was finished, and there was no more suffering to be done

In Jn 19:30 Jesus,just before he died said .."It is finished!" So, there was no necessity for Jesus' spirit to descend into hell for one last battle with the devil in either spirit or in his physical body. He had conquered the devil and sin when he took the sins of the world with him upon the cross. His death and resurrection gave him ultimate control to forgive(which literally means "to forget)the sins of mankind and thus the devil's weapon, which leads to eternal death. Those who would take up his cross and follow him no longer would have to answer for their sins. He now had taken them from man and paid the price of eternal death for man with the sacrifice of his body. With his blood, he gave us back eternal life.

Bottom Line -- Believe the Bible, not myths (Isa. 8:19-20)

(1 Tim 1:4): "... nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith."

(1 Tim 4:7) "But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness."

(2 Tim 4:4)"...and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

(Titus 1:14)"... not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth."

(2 Pet 1:16)"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty."

The only thing the Devil had in the three days the Body of Christ was in the tomb was a headache--because he knew Christ’s Soul and Spirit were in the presence of the Father, and they were not in HELL!

And the Devil, unlike the TV preachers, had heard Jesus say, "It is finished!"
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1 Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. II, Wm. B. Eerdman’s reprint, 1976, p. 532, note 3.

2 D. R. McConnell, A Different Gospel, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, 1988, p. 116-133.

3 Ibid., p. 120.

4 Hank Hannegraaff, Christianity in Crisis, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 1993, p.163-174.
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