When Jesus died, where did He go?

Many Christians do not know where Jesus went when He died. Can we know the answer? Yes. It is very simple. The Bible says that: 1.) He expired on the cross, ("gave up the ghost" means He expired, He gave up His breath, and it went back to God: "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit [breath]," (Luke 23:46, Ecclesiastes 12:7). 2.) His body was laid in the grave or tomb of a very wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathaea (Luke 23:50-53).

There are many who think He went to Paradise when He died (misusing Luke 23: 42, 43), but Christ did not, for His body was laid in the tomb and rested there until early on the first day of the week before sunrise (Luke 24:1-8). That very morning, the angel declared that Christ was living, risen, no longer dead, to the surprised ladies. The last time they knew, they had seen Christ laid in the tomb, and they were coming back to finish burying Him. We have the story of how the resurrection took place in Matthew 28:1-4. An angel came and rolled the stone from the tomb, and Christ, taking the graveclothes off, folded them up where He had been (John 20:5-7), and walked out as the Conqueror over all the forces of evil. He was clothed with a bright light even as the angel who announced His resurrection to the women. He did not come from Paradise, only from the tomb, when He raised from the dead. That is why it was said, He is RISEN. Scripture does not say, He DESCENDED.

Christ made known to Mary that He had not yet ascended to His Father in heaven (John 20:11-17). If He had been in heaven in His death, He would not have said that. Though He was going to go to His Father for a while on that very day, to know that His sacrifice had been accepted, He did not stay, He came back. His promise in John 14:1-3 was not yet fulfilled. When He ascended 40 days later, then did He go to prepare a place for us in His Father's house.

Many people believe that Christ's soul went to Hell when He died. The Bible does say that if you read the King James Version (Acts 2:22-36). However, the term "hell" as used here means the "grave." We know that Christ truly went to the grave, but did not stay more than three days. If His body had been dead for four days, it would have stunk or rotted (John 11). But it did not. Christ's body saw no corruption. He was raised on the third day.

Christ as our Saviour from all sin, experienced our death that He might give us His life. He was raised victorious over all evil, including the Devil, and that victory was won for us. All we need to do in the face of temptation, is claim that victory and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for His grace to overcome. Each time we do this when tempted to sin, Christ will come to our aid, for He will send all the angels of heaven if need be, just as He said He could have done for Himself but chose not to (Matthew 26:52-54).

The same Spirit that raised Christ, will also raise us from the dead at His second coming if we have lived victorious in Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord! It is not too late to surrender your life wholeheartedly to Christ, and be willing, even to be made willing, to be led by the Spirit of God into all the truth. Christ promises to give His people who believe the Holy Spirit to teach them the truth. People will come into our lives who will show us the truth regarding God's word, the Bible (John 16, 17).

God bless you!