Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Three days and three nights, let's set the record straight right here. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you cannot fit three days and three nights between Friday and Sunday morning, actually and Biblically, Christ was crucified Wednesday night and rose from the dead Saturday night. It should be obvious when you read scripture such as John 20 which states Mary Magdalene was at the tomb when it was yet dark on Sunday morning and Christ had already resurrected. So your so called "good Friday" and "easter Sunday" again, so called "holy days" are pagan at worst, Roman Catholic error at best, either choice would constitute error and that isn't a good place to be.
Back to the original topic, In Luke 23, nearing the end of the crucifixion passage, Jesus commended His spirit unto His Father....
Luke 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
Jesus Christ, the fulness of the Godhead bodily, God manifest in the flesh, fully God, fully man, commended His spirit to God the Father in heavenly places. All men are composed of three individual elements, the spirit, the soul, and the body,(1 Thessalonians 5:23) and the same was true with Jesus Christ. He has a spirit, a soul, and a body. Luke 23 declares His spirit went to God the Father, but what about His body and soul?...let's take a look.
In the same passage, Luke 23, the scriptures declare the body of the Lord Jesus Christ was placed in the tomb of one of His disciples named Joseph of Arimathaea for three days and three nights.
Luke 23:52 This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.
Luke 23:53 And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.
So far, We have determined Christ's body was in the tomb, His spirit was commended to God the Father in heavenly places, but what about His soul? This one can get folks all bent out of shape, so if you are one that is thin skinned or content with a sippy cup when it comes to Bible doctrine, this might be a good stopping place for you. I know your Pastor probably read from Luke 15 this past weekend and wants you to believe the passage about the "prodigal" son can be applied to your situation in some way. Instead of a literal exegeses, a spiritualization of passages is made in order to promote an agenda or engender some kind of response which does not in any way shape or form present a clear presentation of the Gospel that saves your never dying soul, rather, an emotional response to a fluffy feel good message taught to the preacher boy at seminary. Now if you want to continue to grow in knowledge and be edifyed, let's continue on.
In the book of the Psalms, we see a prophetic passage about Jesus in chapter 16 which declares the soul of Christ will not be left in Hell nor see corruption. Also in Acts, Peter spoke verifying and clarifying the Davidic prophecy concerning Christ's resurrection.
Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Acts 2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Are you okay with that? Jesus' body was in a tomb for three days and three nights, His spirit went to God the Father, His soul went to Hell. Honestly, I used to fight that position saying no way could Jesus have gone to Hell. Through study, not only did I discover that Christ indeed did enter Hell, but that Jesus was very busy during those three days and three nights. Wait a minute, I thought Jesus told one of the malfactors which was also crucified beside Him, "
Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
This is where the I went amiss in my exegeses thinking "paradise" automatically meant up to heaven, but in fact, there was a point in time when "paradise" was down, in the earth. This is confirmed in Luke 16 :20-26 wherein Hell and Paradise are seperated by a great gulf.
Luke 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luke 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
The beggar Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom, paradise, the rich man was in Hell. Both were in the earth, and yet seperated by a great gulf. The same place Christ showed up after the crucifixion. At this point, paradise and Hell are litteral places both in the earth, but things are about to change. The apostle Paul, the apostle to the gentiles and the apostle for this dispensation of the Grace of God gives an account of knowing a man being caught up into the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4.
2 Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
In Luke 16 we read paradise was down in the earth, in 2 Corinthians 12 we read paradise was up in the third heaven. Now it doesn't take alot of IQ points to know that is different, what we need to determine is why and when that happened. Let's look at the why, in the book written to the Hebrew people so cleverly named "Hebrews" chapter 9, we read the following....
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
The above passage tells of the absolute necessity for Christ to shed His blood, the very blood of God to redeem them under the first testament and establish the new testament. Christ redeemed them from their transgressions by means of His death. In Exodus, we see The LORD is merciful and forgiving, and yet He did not clear them of their guilt.
Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
So, what was Jesus doing in Hell? Jesus didn't sin, Jesus wasn't held captive. Jesus had some work to do. In 1st Peter, we see what Jesus was up to.
1 Peter 3:18 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:
1 Peter 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Jesus was not just laying in the tomb, nor was He just at the right hand of God the Father, but was busy preaching to those held captive in Abraham's bosom and also in Hell. Did not Jesus proclaim in Luke 4, recounting the prophetic passage about Himself from Isaiah 61, that He would preach deliverance to the "captives"?
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
I know, you probably heard your preacher make those captives as being you in some way, your lifestyle, your bad choices, your dead end career, whatever it was, it was wrong. We already saw who the prisoners were in 1st Peter 3, Hebrews 9, and Exodus 34. But when did paradise get moved from in the earth to the third heaven?
Ephesians 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Ephesians 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Ephesians 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
There it is, when Christ ascended up on high, the third heaven, He, Christ led captivity captive. Paradise had moved, no longer is it in the earth, Christ packed it up and moved it to the third heaven. I don't know about you, but that's a WOW moment for me. Jesus Christ, the head of the church which is His body, was not just laying around in a tomb for three days, yet was accomplishing many things. Not only was He setting the captives free, He was establishing the New Testament for the nation Israel. Not only that, by His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus Christ was establishing the means for everyone alive in this dispensation to be saved. By God's grace through faith in the finished work of Christ, we have the present pocession of salvation, a present pocession of the atonement.
It is so sad and is a disgrace to see and hear Pastors and Preachers turn the reality of what Christ accomplished those three days and three nights into watered down easter sermons which hide the truth of God. Rather than building up believers, they keep the people captive in not knowing, being ignorant to what God would have you understand. If your Pastor or Preacher is engaged in anything other than building up, edifying the people for the work of the ministry according to the revelation of the mystery, the Gospel of the Grace of God, you are in a signs and wonders ministry. I wonder why you would continue to attend and the only sign you should be seeking is the one in back of the building, it says EXIT on it.
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