Last
week, I studied Luke 23:26-56, which is on Jesus' crucifixion. I have read this
passage many times, but there is always something new to learn. The one verse
that caught my attention this time was verse 43, where it says, "Jesus
answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'"
After I read this verse, I just had one question. Did Jesus go to heaven or did
he go to hell? I was confused.
The Apostles' Creed says, "He descended into hell." So which one was
it? Did he go to hell or heaven? When I asked some others, mostly younger
people, they could not really help me or give me a satisfying answer, so I
asked two of the most knowledgeable missionaries from our church. One of them
explained that Jesus soul went to heaven and his body was in hell/in the grave.
That answer was not enough for me, and I was still a little confused. I really
wanted to know if Jesus really went to hell or not. The other missionary I
asked has a PhD in theology, so I thought he could give me a more detailed an elaborate
answer. And he did. This is why we need more mature Christians around us, as
Paul mentioned in Ephesians 4. We cannot grow on our own.
Anyway, this is the answer M.Ezra gave me to my question.
The word 'today' seems to be significant in the book of Luke as he uses it
frequently. However, Luke is referring to the present when he uses the word
'today'. He is not using it to mark a specific day or time but rather a timeframe.
When Jesus said that the robber would be with him in paradise today, he was
saying that it would be in the present. You might wonder why that matters, I
think it is important because it means that Jesus must have gone to paradise
with him in the present and not three days later. M.Ezra, who was patiently
explaining everything and answering my questions, continued by showing me 1
Peter 3:18-20a. There it says, "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous
for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but
made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to
the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in
the days of Noah while the ark was being built." So
I learned several things from these verses. First, Jesus died. There is no
doubt that Jesus died. The soldiers even pierced his side and because his blood
had stopped circulating, only plasma and blood cells came out separated. He was
also put in a grave and wrapped in cloths. Second, his spirit was made alive.
Jesus' body was dead, but he abandoned his body in the grave for the three days
that he was dead. Third, Jesus did not go to hell. Now, this was the tricky
part. M. Ezra explained that Jesus did not go to hell and that the words in the Apostles' Creed are
controversial. Jesus did not go to hell, but he went into a darkness. Jude 1:6
says, "And the angels who did not keep
their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has
kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." The
imprisoned spirits Peter talks about were in a darkness. They were not in hell
and not in heaven. They were in a place in between. They are waiting for
judgment day, so it is like they are in some kind of prison. This is the place
Jesus went to after he died. We do not really know what he did there. 1 Peter
3:19 mentions that Jesus "made proclamation" to the angels, but we
don't know what happened in that place. The angels or imprisoned spirits were
the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6:4, "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and
also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and
had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of
renown." The angels or sons of God had mated with the daughters of
men and created the giants (Nephelim). They had disobeyed and abandoned God, so
they were put into this darkness. There is only one question left: Why did
Jesus go to this darkness? I don’t think I will be able get an answer to this
question except from Jesus.
Anyway, I think Jesus was not necessarily referring to
himself when he was talking to the robber. He said, "You will be with me
in paradise." Who is Jesus really? He is the Son of God or also God the
Son. God became man to show the world his love for them/us. When the thief died,
he went to heaven/paradise to be with God. Jesus was promising the thief that
he would be in paradise, which is God's heavenly kingdom, so God was there with him.
