Did Jesus go to hell?
Introduction. Matthew 16:18 records Jesus as saying the "gates of hell" (Kings James Version) would not prevail against Him establishing His church. After His death and resurrection, Peter addresses an assembly of Jews on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. After quoting Psalms 16:8-11, Peter in verse 31 says "He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption" (KJV). Jesus describes hell in numerous passages as a place of torment for sinners in the afterlife (e.g., Matt. 10:28; Mark 9:42-48). Some people become concerned and confused by the thought of the sinless Son of God spending time in a place of torment.
An unfortunate translation. Two different Greek words with different meanings were translated by the King James translators into the same English word "hell" (more recent translations will typically distinguish between the two). One Greek word is hades, the unseen realm or region of departed spirits, while the other is gehenna or geenna, the place of torment after the final judgment. According to the Greek word used in Matt. 16:18 and Acts 2:27, 31, Jesus’ spirit went to hades (specifically the portion called "paradise" Luke 23:43 or "Abraham’s bosom" Luke 16:22-23).
What Jesus did there. The Bible does not say what Jesus did while in hades. Some people claim Jesus released the spirits of the saved from hades and allowed them to enter heaven, but there is no scripture evidence for that. Other people say He preached to the lost according to 1 Peter 3:18-20:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (KJV)
1 Peter 3 explained. There appear to be two main interpretations offered for this passage. The first is Jesus preached in hades to those who had died in the great flood. The second is Noah, influenced by God, preached while building the ark to people who remained disobedient, drowned in the flood, and went to hades (the portion involving torment per Luke 16:23). The second view is more consistent with the context as well as other scriptures that teach no "second chance" after death. As one commentary says:
"The apostle passes from the example of Christ to that of the old world, and sets before the Jews, to whom he wrote, the different event of those who believed and obeyed Christ preaching by Noah, from those that continued disobedient and unbelieving, intimating to the Jews that they were under a like sentence. God would not wait much longer upon them. They had now an offer of mercy; those that accepted of it should be saved, but those who rejected Christ and the gospel should be as certainly destroyed as ever the disobedient in the times of Noah were. … From the whole we learn that, (1.) God takes exact notice of all the means and advantages that people in all ages have had for the salvation of their souls; it is put to the account of the old world that Christ offered them his help, sent his Spirit, gave them fair warning by Noah, and waited a long time for their amendment. (2.) Though the patience of God waits long upon sinners, yet it will expire at last; it is beneath the majesty of the great God always to wait upon man in vain. (3.) The spirits of disobedient sinners, as soon as they are out of their bodies, are committed to the prison of hell [hades], whence there is no redemption. (4.) The way of the most is neither the best, the wisest, nor the safest way to follow: better to follow the eight in the ark than the millions drowned by the flood and damned to hell."
Obedience needed now -- no second chance. The main thrust of the context of 1 Peter 3:18-20 is that we must obtain salvation through Christ's atoning death by our actions in this current life: belief (v15), immersion in water (v21), and keeping a good conscience through our obedience in the face of suffering and adversity (v13-17). There is no "second chance" after we die (Luke 16:19-31; Luke 12:48; and Heb. 9:27).
An unfortunate translation. Two different Greek words with different meanings were translated by the King James translators into the same English word "hell" (more recent translations will typically distinguish between the two). One Greek word is hades, the unseen realm or region of departed spirits, while the other is gehenna or geenna, the place of torment after the final judgment. According to the Greek word used in Matt. 16:18 and Acts 2:27, 31, Jesus’ spirit went to hades (specifically the portion called "paradise" Luke 23:43 or "Abraham’s bosom" Luke 16:22-23).
What Jesus did there. The Bible does not say what Jesus did while in hades. Some people claim Jesus released the spirits of the saved from hades and allowed them to enter heaven, but there is no scripture evidence for that. Other people say He preached to the lost according to 1 Peter 3:18-20:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (KJV)
1 Peter 3 explained. There appear to be two main interpretations offered for this passage. The first is Jesus preached in hades to those who had died in the great flood. The second is Noah, influenced by God, preached while building the ark to people who remained disobedient, drowned in the flood, and went to hades (the portion involving torment per Luke 16:23). The second view is more consistent with the context as well as other scriptures that teach no "second chance" after death. As one commentary says:
"The apostle passes from the example of Christ to that of the old world, and sets before the Jews, to whom he wrote, the different event of those who believed and obeyed Christ preaching by Noah, from those that continued disobedient and unbelieving, intimating to the Jews that they were under a like sentence. God would not wait much longer upon them. They had now an offer of mercy; those that accepted of it should be saved, but those who rejected Christ and the gospel should be as certainly destroyed as ever the disobedient in the times of Noah were. … From the whole we learn that, (1.) God takes exact notice of all the means and advantages that people in all ages have had for the salvation of their souls; it is put to the account of the old world that Christ offered them his help, sent his Spirit, gave them fair warning by Noah, and waited a long time for their amendment. (2.) Though the patience of God waits long upon sinners, yet it will expire at last; it is beneath the majesty of the great God always to wait upon man in vain. (3.) The spirits of disobedient sinners, as soon as they are out of their bodies, are committed to the prison of hell [hades], whence there is no redemption. (4.) The way of the most is neither the best, the wisest, nor the safest way to follow: better to follow the eight in the ark than the millions drowned by the flood and damned to hell."
Obedience needed now -- no second chance. The main thrust of the context of 1 Peter 3:18-20 is that we must obtain salvation through Christ's atoning death by our actions in this current life: belief (v15), immersion in water (v21), and keeping a good conscience through our obedience in the face of suffering and adversity (v13-17). There is no "second chance" after we die (Luke 16:19-31; Luke 12:48; and Heb. 9:27).