- Discussion:
"Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23:43-46, emphasis added)
So, it is abundantly clear from Scripture that Christ did not descend into hell. He went not into judgement but paradise. His soul entered into the Father's presence during the three days that His physical body was buried in the tomb.
Furthermore, the notion that Jesus Christ needed to be punished in hell to somehow complete His atonement sacrifice is logically absurd. He already paid the full debt full for our sins when He was crucified on the cross. He Himself testified plainly to this when He said of His work, "It is finished" (John 19:30). His suffering ended when He died.
His soul entered the blessed side of Sheol or Hades (the two terms are used synonymously). Christ was there for three days, until the moment of His bodily resurrection from the grave and glorified ascension.
1 comment:
Only the wacky Word of Faith, as far as I know, subscribe to the idea that Christ went to hell. They get this from the Apostles' Creed which says, "He descended into hell." The problem exists because of the use of the word "hell" here. It means "the grave." It's from the Greek "Hades," which, like the Hebrew "Sheol" simply means "the grave." To point of the creed was that Christ truly died and was buried in a grave (tomb); it was a confession that he truly died and therefore it was miraculous that He rose again from "Hell."
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