Expert: Jim Miller - 6/22/2010

Question
Where were Jesus christ for the threedays between crusifixation and
Resurruction?

Answer
The Bible gives us only one direct piece of information.  In John 20:17 Jesus states that he has not yet gone to Heaven to see His Father.  If you belong to a church that recites the Creed, it states that Jesus descended into "hades", a term which could mean the realm of dead souls, or just the grave / tomb.  A classic Protestant belief, (held by Martin Luther and William Tyndale) is that death is a sleep, and while someone is dead they are inactive until resurrection.  This belief has Jesus as inactive in the tomb until His resurrection.  The Catholic, Orthodox, and popular Protestant belief is that Jesus visited the realm of the dead and set free all saved souls, from Adam and Eve to His present day.  The difference between these beliefs has to do with how you understand the Bible teaching on death.
I hope this is useful,
Jim Miller