Top Bible Questions: Where was Jesus between his death and resurrection?

For this question, there is not much in Scripture to give us a clear picture and perhaps that is done on purpose. Much speculation can be made about ‘where’ Jesus was but Scripture has little to say on the matter, probably because it does not beg importance and urgency for our faith. Nonetheless, we are going to look at a few passages that have been used to try and answer this question. 

Luke 23:43 has been used to describe the place where Jesus went, where we go when we die, or some sort of holding place. Jesus tells the criminal on the cross next to him that he will “be with [him] in paradise”. Wherever Jesus was going, the criminal was going to the same place. The word for paradise is the Greek word ‘paradeisos’ and it means a shaded, watered garden. We should have Eden imagery in our minds when we think of this place. In Revelation 2:7, this is the same word used to describe the home of the tree of life that the overcomers of the church will eat from. Likewise, in the Septuagint, this word always refers to a garden place. So what can we gather from this? Whenever Jesus went, he went to a paradise that is described similar to the garden in Eden, where God and man once dwelled together, a place probably associated with heaven- a place where God dwells. 

1 Peter 3:18-20 has also tried to be used to figure out where Jesus went. There are three amin possible interpretations for this passage: 

• Christ spoke through Noah through the Spirit
• Christ proclaimed victory over the evil ‘spirits’ 
• Christ went to hades to speak the gospel to sinners

Whatever interpretation you think best, it does not describe the ‘where’ aspect of our question. It would not be consistent with Scripture to think Jesus went and gave dead humans a second chance at salvation. The context of the passage suggests that it was Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into heaven that ‘spoke’ to the fallen angels and not that Jesus went somewhere between his death and resurrection. 

In conclusion, we do not know for certain where Jesus went after he died. The most we know is what he told the criminal, he went to be in a paradise, a garden-like Eden, waiting to resurrect in his natural body.