What happens when you die, do you float around like a ghost, do you go straight to heaven, or do you wait in the grave till Jesus returns?
Do followers of Christ go straight to heaven when they die?
When Jesus was on the cross, a thief on another cross nearby knew who Jesus was and asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered His kingdom in heaven. Jesus replied to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). The promise was that he would be with Christ right away, not some far off date in the future. Paul confirms this when he declared that he was prepared to die, because he knew that when he died he would be immediately be present with God. “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor 5:8) In Philippians 1:21-24 Paul writes, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
Paul knew that when he died (depart), he would be with Christ, but he also knew that the church’s needed him there to help minister to their communities. Thus he was willing to stay here on earth, but he was also looking forward to being with Christ in heaven. Thus, the short answer for it is, when a person dies they are immediately in the presence of God.
But what happens to our bodies?
At death our bodies go into the grave and will stay their till Jesus returns during the second coming of Christ (1 Thess. 4:16). Jesus will then raise and transform all Christians (1 John 3:2) and give then new bodies so their spirits will not be naked any more (2 Cor. 5). Each follower of Christ will receive a body suitable for heaven and each person who does not follow Christ will receive a body suitable for hell (Gr. Gehenna).
People who do not follow Christ do not go straight to hell; rather they go to a waiting place called Hades. Hades is an intermediate state of the dead (disembodied spirits) who are awaiting the Judgment. It is there that they will await their great throne judgment and receive their new bodies suitable for hell before being cast into the lake of fire.
Did Jesus go to Hell?
Jesus going to hell comes from the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, which dates from the fifth century A.D., and claims that Jesus descended into hell and retrieved all the Old Testament saints. The Apocrypha is a series of books not recognized by early Christians, but it was later recognized by the Roman Catholic Church during the reformation at the Council of Trent in 1546 AD. Generally speaking Christians outside the Roman Catholic Church, including me, do not generally recognize these books as part of the Bible.
Confusion has since been compounded when English translations of the 16th and 17th centuries, when translators did not understand the technical distinctions that exist between the pertinent Greek terms. Hades, a place for the dead to wait, and gehenna, the final place for the wicked, were translated into hell even though they were to different locations. This confusion carried over into the King James Version’s rendering of hades as “hell.”
Jesus did not go to hell for a couple of days. All the sin sat on his shoulders at the cross and for a moment in time he was sin and it was put to death on the cross. When he died, Jesus went to His Father in heaven where he later was reunited with the other thief on the cross who died after Him.
Where are you going to go when you die? Hades or Heaven?
Among many other scriptural problems with your answer.. here’s one I can jot down in 30 seconds.
If Jesus went straight to his Father, then why does he say this after the resurrection?
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
That is a great question that I think many people will have. You could have also mentioned 1 Pet. 3:18-20, Eph. 4:8-10 and Luke 16:19-31.
In all cases these verse suggested that Jesus made a stop before entering heaven. While it is not clear where He did go exactly, I believe it could have been Hades, we do know it was not hell. How do we know that? Because no one had been cast in to the lake of fire yet (the first is the anti-Christ and the false prophet).
These passages raise many questions and their is a lot of room for discussion on the mater. It is possible that Jesus went to Hades where people wait to be judged or perhaps He descended into Abraham’s bosom leading all those who were faithful into heaven (the belief here is that the previous generations could not enter heaven until after the atonement). What we are sure of is that Jesus did proclaim the Bible (Eph. 4:8-10).
When I wrote, “When he died, Jesus went to His Father in heaven,” I did not mean to imply that is all he did, rather I was trying to point out He did not go to hell.
Pastor Luna,
I’m curious where you reference this about Jesus being in Hades. In fact, I’m curious as to where you see Hades anywhere in the New Testament as a waiting place. Could you kindly indulge me with chapter and verse?
Thank you.
I think he went to the place of torment (in the earth 3 days) based on Jesus’s own words. But at least I say I ‘think’ not this ‘is’ what happened. Especially when there are over 80 interpretations on one subject, all supported by scripture.
It reminds me of Whitfield and John Wesley. Whitfield, totally opposed to Wesley’s interpretations had his followers ask. “Will we see Wesley in heaven?” He most asuuredly answered, “NO” They were amazed. But he ended the conversation like, “We will not see him, he will be to close to the throne to be seen!”