Where was Jesus for the three days between his death and resurrection?

[evyaniy]

Psalm 88 is one of His prayers while dead. He says He is in darkness and alone.

Psalm 88
A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. For the Chief Musician.
To the tune of “The Suffering of Affliction.”
A contemplation by Heman, the Ezrahite.
(Son to Father during His death and suffering for our sins)
88:1 YHVH, the 'Elohiym of My Salvation (Yĕshuw`ah),
I have cried day and night before You.
88:2 Let My prayer enter into Your presence.
Turn Your ear to My cry.
88:3 For My soul is full of troubles.
My life draws near to Sheol.
88:4 I am counted among those who go down into the pit.
I am like a Man Who has no Help,
88:5 set apart among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom You remember no more.
they are cut off from Your hand.
88:6 You have laid Me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
88:7 Your wrath lies heavily on Me.
You have afflicted Me with all Your waves.
Selah.
88:8 You have taken My friends from Me.
You have made Me an Abomination to them.
I am confined, and I can’t escape.
88:9 My eyes are dim from grief.
I have called on You daily, YHVH.
I have spread out My hands to You.
88:10 Do You show wonders to the Dead?
Do the Dead rise up and praise You?
Selah.
88:11 Is Your mercy declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in destruction?
88:12 Are Your wonders made known in the dark?
Or Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
88:13 But to You, YHVH, I have cried.
In the morning, My prayer comes before You.
88:14 YHVH, why do You reject My soul?
Why do You hide Your face from Me?
88:15 I am afflicted and ready to die from My youth up.
While I suffer Your terrors, I am distraught.
88:16 Your fierce wrath has gone over Me.
Your terrors have cut Me off.
88:17 they came around Me like water all day long.
they completely engulfed Me.
88:18 You have put lover and friend far from Me,
and My familiar friends are darkness.

 

[evyaniy]

Interestingly, Heman means faithful and Ezra means help. That describes His condition in death. He was Faithful in offering His life to save us and in need of Help while dead. His prayer was answered when He was raised.

He asked in verse 10

88:10 Do You show wonders to the Dead?
Do the Dead rise up and praise You?

What an amazing question. He was about to find out.

 

[TheLearner]

Does anything in the text indicate His preaching to the spirits in prison was before He was raised? Once He was raised He would have His message to those He preached to.

1 Peter 4
Easy-to-Read Version
Changed Lives
4 Christ suffered while he was in his body. So you should strengthen yourselves with the same kind of thinking Christ had. The one who accepts suffering in this life has clearly decided to stop sinning. 2 Strengthen yourselves so that you will live your lives here on earth doing what God wants, not the evil things that people want to do. 3 In the past you wasted too much time doing what those who don’t know God like to do. You were living immoral lives, doing the evil things you wanted to do. You were always getting drunk, having wild drinking parties, and doing shameful things in your worship of idols.

4 Now those “friends” think it is strange that you no longer join them in all the wild and wasteful things they do. And so they say bad things about you. 5 But they will have to face God to explain what they have done. He is the one who will soon judge everyone—those who are still living and those who have died. 6 Some were told the Good News before they died. They were criticized by others in their life here on earth. But it was God’s plan that they hear the Good News so that they could have a new life through the Spirit.[a]

Be Good Managers of God’s Gifts
7 The time is near when all things will end. So keep your minds clear, and control yourselves. This will help you in your prayers. 8 Most important of all, love each other deeply, because love makes you willing to forgive many sins. 9 Open your homes to each other and share your food without complaining. 10 God has shown you his grace in many different ways. So be good servants and use whatever gift he has given you in a way that will best serve each other. 11 If your gift is speaking, your words should be like words from God. If your gift is serving, you should serve with the strength that God gives. Then it is God who will be praised in everything through Jesus Christ. Power and glory belong to him forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Follower of Christ
12 My friends, don’t be surprised at the painful things that you are now suffering, which are testing your faith. Don’t think that something strange is happening to you. 13 But you should be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings. You will be happy and full of joy when Christ shows his glory. 14 When people say bad things to you because you follow Christ, consider it a blessing. When that happens, it shows that God’s Spirit, the Spirit of glory, is with you. 15 You may suffer, but don’t let it be because you murder, steal, make trouble, or try to control other people’s lives. 16 But if you suffer because you are a “Christ-follower,” don’t be ashamed. You should praise God for that name. 17 It is time for judging to begin. That judging will begin with God’s family. If it begins with us, then what will happen to those who don’t accept the Good News of God?

18 “If it is hard for even a good person to be saved,
what will happen to the one who is against God and full of sin?”

19 So if God wants you to suffer, you should trust your lives to him. He is the one who made you, and you can trust him. So continue to do good.

Footnotes
1 Peter 4:6 through the Spirit Or “in the spirit,” meaning in the spiritual or heavenly realm.

 

[TheLearner]

1 Peter 3
Easy-to-Read Version
Wives and Husbands
3 In the same way, you wives should be willing to serve your husbands. Then, even those who have refused to accept God’s teaching will be persuaded to believe because of the way you live. You will not need to say anything. 2 Your husbands will see the pure lives that you live with respect for God. 3 It is not fancy hair, gold jewelry, or fine clothes that should make you beautiful. 4 No, your beauty should come from inside you—the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. That beauty will never disappear. It is worth very much to God.

5 It was the same with the holy women who lived long ago and followed God. They made themselves beautiful in that same way. They were willing to serve their husbands. 6 I am talking about women like Sarah. She obeyed Abraham, her husband, and called him her master. And you women are true children of Sarah if you always do what is right and are not afraid.

7 In the same way, you husbands should live with your wives in an understanding way, since they are weaker than you. You should show them respect, because God gives them the same blessing he gives you—the grace of true life. Do this so that nothing will stop your prayers from being heard.

Suffering for Doing Right
8 So all of you should live together in peace. Try to understand each other. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Be kind and humble. 9 Don’t do wrong to anyone to pay them back for doing wrong to you. Or don’t insult anyone to pay them back for insulting you. But ask God to bless them. Do this because you yourselves were chosen to receive a blessing. 10 The Scriptures say,

“If you want to enjoy true life
and have only good days,
then avoid saying anything hurtful,
and never let a lie come out of your mouth.
11 Stop doing what is wrong, and do good.
Look for peace, and do all you can to help people live peacefully.
12 The Lord watches over those who do what is right,
and he listens to their prayers.
But he is against those who do evil.”

13 If you are always trying to do good, no one can really harm you. 14 But you may suffer for doing right. If that happens, you have God’s blessing. “Don’t be afraid of the people who make you suffer; don’t be worried.”[a] 15 But keep the Lord Christ holy in your hearts. Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have. 16 But answer them in a gentle way with respect. Keep your conscience clear. Then people will see the good way you live as followers of Christ, and those who say bad things about you will be ashamed of what they said.

17 It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Yes, it is better if that is what God wants.

18 Christ himself suffered when he died for you,
and with that one death he paid for your sins.
He was not guilty,
but he died for people who are guilty.
He did this to bring all of you to God.
In his physical form he was killed,
but he was made alive by the Spirit.

19 And by the Spirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison. 20 Those were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for people while Noah was building the big boat. And only a few—eight in all—were saved in the boat through the floodwater. 21 And that water is like baptism, which now saves you. Baptism is not the washing of dirt from the body. It is asking God for a clean conscience. It saves you because Jesus Christ was raised from death. 22 Now he has gone into heaven. He is at God’s right side and rules over angels, authorities, and powers.

Footnotes
1 Peter 3:14 Quote from Isa. 8:12.
1 Peter 3:18 by the Spirit Or “in the spirit.” Also in verse 19.

 

[TheLearner]

clearly these texts were written after the fact of the resurrection of our lord.

 

[TheLearner]

The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matt. 27:52–53)

Those were the people Jesus preached to.,

 

[oyster67]

I’m assuming he was saving the captives. The righteous who had died before him that were in Abraham’s bosom. Also I read a verse that says he may have gone to Hades to proclaim to the spirits that rejected his name in the days of Noah. Anyone have any insight on this?

Sharing the Good News with all those who had lived and died in Faith... The requirements for Salvation had been fulfilled and accomplished and He had won the Victory for us all.

 

[Simona1988]

I’m assuming he was saving the captives. The righteous who had died before him that were in Abraham’s bosom. Also I read a verse that says he may have gone to Hades to proclaim to the spirits that rejected his name in the days of Noah. Anyone have any insight on this?

Hymns of Holy Saturday

When he took down Your immaculate Body from the Cross, the honorable Joseph wrapped it in a clean linen shroud with spices and laid it for burial in a new tomb.

When You descended unto death, O Lord who yourself are immortal Life, then did You mortify Hades by the lightning flash of Your Divinity. Also when You raised the dead from the netherworld, all the Powers of the heavens were crying out: O Giver of life, Christ our God, glory be to You.

The Angel standing at the sepulcher cried out and said to the ointment-bearing
women: The ointments are appropriate for mortal men, but Christ has been shown to be a stranger to decay.

 

[Simona1988]

The icon above is called The descent to Hades. Jesus Christ takes Adam and Eve by their wrists and pulls them out of their graves. Below, two angels are binding death (which is personified).

There is John the Baptist on the right side of the icon, He has long hair and has a papyrus in his hand, this is the gospel of the kingdom of God; he prepared those in Hades to receive the Word of God - Jesus Christ.

On the left side of the icon we can see king David (blond, short, curly hair, with beard) and next to him we see king Solomon (brown hair).

 

[evyaniy]

Ephesians 4

7 But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Messiah. 8 Therefore He says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts to people.”
9 Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He Who descended is the One Who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.