Soul of Jesus - ASK PASTOR GREGORY!

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Where was the soul of Jesus between the time He was crucified, and the time He was resurrected?
This has been a confusing subject for quite some time. There are those who believe that the soul of Jesus Christ went to Hell for torment during the three days his body was in the tomb. Others believe that He went to Hell for those days, but not to suffer, but to preach to those who were damned giving them a second chance now that He had conquered death. Still others believe He went to Hell to preach concerning His victory, not to offer a second chance, but to merely proclaim judgment on them once for all. These interpretations stem from a passage in 1 Peter 3:18-20 which reads: "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water."

However, my understanding of this passage indicates not where Christ was subsequent to his death, but His activity prior to the incarnation as His Spirit filled Noah who preached to those souls who were alive during Noah's day when Christ preached through Noah, but who are now in prison awaiting the final judgment.

Here are the reasons I believe convince us that Jesus did not go to Hell to preach after His death:

1) His own statement to the thief on the cross provides us the destination of His soul - "Today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43)

2) The Spirit referred to in 1 Peter 3 is the Holy Spirit the same One who guarantees our deliverance.

3) Christ Himself told His disciples not to cast "pearls before swine" - a reference to the fact that the Gospel ought not be thrown around carelessly. Surely, to preach the glories of the resurrection to people who had already been judged and were eternally condemned would be an inapproriate gesture.

I trust this helps.