Luke 23: 46, “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last.”
A very misleading teaching that many Christian Churches adhere to nowadays, namely those of the “Word of Faith” movement is what happened to Jesus after His death. Many believe that the Messiah descended into Hell where He was tortured by Satan until His resurrection.
Many Pastors and Apostles teach that in becoming sin Jesus had to experience every bit of suffering that is due to man because of the sin nature all are born into, with torture at the hands of Satan being included . While this seems like a somewhat relevant teaching it is very untrue. Christ himself said in Luke 23:46, Father into your hands,”I commit my Spirit.” If the Lord said this then His Soul/Spirit ended up in Hell would directly defy the scriptures, and the integrity of Jesus Christ making Him out to be a liar. Let’s not also forget what the Messiah said to one of the two thieves who were also crucified with Him in Luke 23: 43, “And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
The more correct interpretation of where the Lord’s Spirit was taken is Sheol, “the place of the dead, ” or Hades as it is referred to in the New Testament which means the same thing, “the place of the dead.” Sheol is a temporary holding place for those who have passed before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, a waiting realm for The Great White Throne Judgement, which will take place at the end of this Earth age. Sheol or Hades is a place divided into two regions as read in Luke 16:26, “And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” The side with those who died in Christ are located in a section called “Paradise” or “Abraham’s Bosom,” and the other is Hades the suffering side of Sheol.
Jesus went to “Paradise,” the side where the Souls of those who had passed from the Old Testament abided and preached the Good News of what He had done at the Cross, and took with Him them those who received the message when He was resurrected days later. Sheol is not Hell. Hell is a future realm that is to come which does not exist as you read this blog now, as stated in Revelations 20:14-15. The suffering on the Cross and physical death was enough to take away the sins of the world with no further punishment needed, only a sacrifice for the sin nature of man. If Jesus went to Hell then God would not have recognized His sacrifice on the Cross as being good, due to the fact Hell is a place where the Souls of the lost are bound due to their refusal of the Gospel of Christ and separated from Him, which Christ never was! 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Some misunderstanding of Hell in scripture comes from which translation the reader is using. The King James Version of the Bible is good, but the New King James Version is a better translation to read from, due to the fact over the years Christian Scholars have made more strides in understanding the Hebrew and Greek text and interpreted the scriptures clearer for a better understanding, and to rightly divide the Word of God. Shalom…
Divine Gospel Ministry 
Leave a Reply