This week a friend asked a perennial question related to the Easter account. “Where,” he inquired “was Jesus between his death and resurrection.”

Some speculate that Jesus was doing some unfinished business in hell after his death. They quote from a late version of the Apostle’s Creed, which includes the phrase, “descended into hell.” This notion faces two problems: (1) the phrase was added generations after the apostles had died and (2) the Apostles Creed is not from the apostles, but much later. It’s actually a revision of an earlier document referred to as the “Old Roman Creed”.

I examined this issue and some related texts from a technical standpoint in a former blog. Click here to go to that post.

Here are a few other thoughts to consider. In Luke 23:43 Jesus told the dying thief, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Jesus could not keep his promise that both of them would be together in the presence of the Father if he were attending to matters in hell. We also note that instead of Jesus going to the dead, the dead come alive. Matthew 27:52 states, “The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.” Here the righteous dead apparently speak to the living of the emancipation they have because of the finished work of Christ.

If I were pressed for a timeline, I would suspect that Jesus’ spirit ascended to the Father on that moment when the work of redemption was accomplished on the cross. Matthew 27:51 records that while Jesus’ body was on the cross just after he gave up his spirit, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. This was a symbolic way of affirming the fact that his sacrifice of substitutionary atonement was acceptable and that immediate access to God was now available for those who by faith accepted him as savior.

It is critical that Christ-followers avoid perpetuating speculation built on a cursory reading of verses out of context. Such ideas may make for good drama, but they do not reflect the understanding God wants us to gain from the biblical texts.