I sometimes wonder what the silence of Saturday after the crucifixion on Friday meant to those first followers of Jesus. All they knew was what they saw. The death of the one they believed was the Messiah. The sudden end of any hope of liberation from Rome was snatched away. On Friday, their symbol of hope; Jesus was raised on a cross. Jesus hung visibly in front of the world to remind every enemy of Rome that this was the promised end of every rebellion.
For those first disciples of Jesus, it seemed like Jesus joined a long list of promising liberators who all seemed to find a common end to their story – the cross. Then came the silence of Saturday.
Every minute of silence was a reminder that they were still hopeless. Or, were they?
The challenge of "Silent Saturday" is that we often view the silence from an earthly context, but that is never the full picture. The people of God longed for a human King who would liberate them. Not much different from their ancestors who looked to the nations around them and asked for a physical king to rule them like the nations that surrounded them (1 Sam 8). We truly are a people of patterns. But the pattern runs deeper than we could imagine.
There is always an earthly and cosmic reality to everything. It's a pattern as old as creation. In Eden, there was an earthly rebellion (Adam and Eve) and there was also a supernatural rebellion (the Serpent or Nachash). In 1 Sam 8 when the Israelites ask for a human king (earthly), they are rejecting their divine King (supernatural). So, hundreds of years later the pattern continued on that day between the crucifixion and resurrection. From an earthly perspective, there was silence, but from a supernatural perspective, the Gospel was being proclaimed…in the underworld by Jesus! (1 Peter 3:19)
Follow me with this.
The Hebrew Conception of Death/Sheol
First, death in its most simple form is separation from God. How this happens is the human soul is separated from the body. The body decays while the soul goes to what the Old Testament calls "Sheol." In the Old Testament Sheol is the place where all souls go, both righteous and the wicked. We find an example of this idea playing out with one of the Patriarchs of Israel, Jacob. Jacob believed his son Joseph to be dead and in deep mourning says, "…No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." Thus his father wept for him. (Genesis 37:35, ESV) Jacob believed his son was in Sheol and he wanted to join him there. In another scene, admittedly a bit odder; the witch/medium of Endor summons the spirit (Elohim) of Samuel up from Sheol (1 Sam 28:13-14).
If Sheol is where the righteous dead go, it also seems to be the place where the wicked end up. Look at Psalm 31:17 "O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol."
The New Testament is helpful in letting us know that the Hebrew conception of the underworld included two separate locations. The New Testament refers to the Hebrew "Sheol" in Greek as "Hades." For the sake of terminology, we can refer to the place of the wicked in Sheol as the "depths of Hades." The place of rest for the righteous dead of the Old Testament is referred to as "Abraham's bosom." We get this depiction clearly in Luke 16:19-31 which gives us a picture of these two places that are separated by a deep chasm. Further, the righteous dead anticipated a time when they would be rescued by the Messiah from Sheol
Psalm 49:13–15 (ESV): This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them, people approve of their boasts. Selah (14) Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. (15) But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah
Psalm 89:48 (ESV): What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
Sheol/Hades Vs. Gehenna/Hell
At this point, some may wonder, "But what about Hell?" You may have even heard that Jesus went to “hell” on Saturday. But this is imprecise language. The New Testament uses a different word for Hell, it's the word "Gehenna." In the Old Testament, this was the Valley of Hinnom. It was a physical location of divine wrath and judgment (Jer 7:32) due to child sacrifice that took place there to the god Molech by Kings Ahvaz and Manasseh (2 Kgs 116:3, 21:6). In the New Testament there are at least 12 references to Gehenna in reference to a future end time eschatological punishment for the rebellious (angels and humanity.)[1] What does all this mean?
The New Testament creates a distinction between "Sheol/Hades" and "Gehenna/Hell." Hades is a place of provisional judgment and a holding place (prison.) Gehenna/Hell is the final place of judgment.
In fact, Hades is thrown into Gehenna according to Revelation 20.
Revelation 20:13–15 (ESV): And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
How Jesus changes everything through the Cross.
Jesus changes everything when he goes to the Cross. I love what Paul says about the evil powers that sent Christ to the cross.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8, ESV)[2]
When Jesus tells the thief on the cross that he will be with him in "paradise" he is referring to being with the thief in "Abraham's bosom" because the thief has repented and is therefore rescued from the "depths of Hades". At this point in salvation history, the implications of the Old Testament would still be active. Therefore Jesus journeys to the underworld/Hades on an epic rescue mission.
The righteous dead, though they are not being tormented; are being contained by the power and restriction of Hades (Abraham's bosom) because of sin. So, Jesus first rescues the dead righteous from the grips of sin and death (Hades). Jesus is CONQUERING AND RESCUING THE RIGHTEOUS (IN THE OT) FROM THE GRIPS OF DEATH (Psalm 49:15; 86:13; 89:48).
In other words, Jesus is literally robbing the grave and setting its captives free.
While Jesus is doing all of this there are some rebellious angels (sons of God of Genesis 6) that are imprisoned in the Depths of Hades (2nd Peter 2:4) that witness all of this go down. In 1 Peter 3:19, we find a startling verse that says Jesus "preached or proclaimed" to the spirits in prison. What does this mean and who are these spirits? It's most likely that these spirits are the same beings held in prison and under Judgement due to their transgressions in Genesis 6. The Greek word kēryssō can mean to "proclaim the kingdom of God or the gospel" and it can also mean to "announce." What is Jesus announcing to these spirits? It seems clear that Jesus is proclaiming His victory and the inauguration of the Kingdom of God.[3]
These imprisoned fallen spiritual beings hear the Gospel and they watch the victory of Christ, the Son of God, unfolding throughout human history. The captives of death, the righteous dead of the Old Testament are paraded in front of these rebellious angels in a victory march led by Jesus!
What Jesus does on “Silent Saturday” is disarm the powers of death and rip off the gates of Hades and gather up the righteous dead to himself (Eph 4:7-10) and bring them up to the heavenly realm with Him (2 Cor 12:2-4). This brings to light and makes sense of Mt 27:51-53 where the saints who had fallen asleep rose and went into the city appearing to many.
So, what seemed like silence on Saturday in an earthly context, was anything but silent in a spiritual and cosmic context.
Jesus was proclaiming the GOSPEL.
Jesus was robbing the graveyard of death.
Jesus was setting the captives free.
Jesus is victorious.
[1] Description of angelic punishment can be found in Matthew 24:41, and Rev 20:10. Examples of human punishment can be found in Matt 5:22; Mark 9:43, and elsewhere in the Gospels.
[2] The phrase "rulers of this age" matches Paul's language of malevolent spiritual beings. This includes "powers, principalities, rulers, authorities, and dominions."
[3] There is no biblical basis for a "rehabilitation" of fallen angels. Walter Wink proposes this idea but Psalm 82 amongst other places discredits this possibility. While there is no evidence of the evangelizing of fallen angels there is plenty of evidence of a proclamation of victory over these angels and spiritual beings. See 2 Cor. 2:14; Col. 2:15; Rev. 12:7–11; cf. Eph. 6:11–12.
So today...when a believer's physical body dies, do they go to Abraham's bosom, waiting for Jesus's return, or directly to Jesus in Heaven? When Jesus overcame death did he empty shell and now everyone goes directly to Heaven?
My husband and I have been mulling over this... will the righteous continue to go to “Abraham’s bosom” when we die or will we go to heaven? If we don’t go to heaven when we die, when do we go to heaven if at all? Or do we go straight from this waiting place to the new earth?