Where Did Jesus Go After He Died?
What Scripture Reveals About Paradise, the Resurrection, and the Christian Hope Beyond Death
A Devotional Reflection on the Resurrection—Dr. John D. Schwandt
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
— Luke 23:43
Easter naturally lifts our thoughts heavenward. As Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we also can’t help but reflect on a deeper question: What happens after death?
Scripture does not reveal every detail about the life to come, but it gives enough clarity to anchor our hope. In fact, the events between Jesus’s death and resurrection provide one of the most important biblical windows into the Christian understanding of the afterlife.
When considered together, these passages raise an interesting question.
From the cross, Jesus told the repentant thief beside Him:
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Yet earlier, Jesus had taught:
“For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40).
Christians affirm that both statements are true. The question is how they fit together. What exactly happened between the cross and the ascension? And what does Jesus’s journey teach us about our own hope beyond death?
Paradise and the Intermediate State
Taken together, these passages suggest an important distinction.
Scripture teaches that when believers die, their spirits enter the presence of the Lord, while their bodies remain in the grave awaiting the future resurrection. Jesus promised this spiritual resting place, “paradise,” to the thief.
When Jesus and the thief died, their spirits departed from their bodies and immediately entered the spiritual assembly awaiting the resurrection and glorification of their bodies. Christianity has always insisted that salvation is not merely spiritual. The final hope of believers is the resurrection of the body, when spirit and body will be reunited in glory.
Next, Jesus’s body was placed in the tomb. In this sense, His body rested in “the heart of the earth,” fulfilling the words He had spoken in Matthew 12:40. The phrase most naturally refers to the grave itself, just as Jonah’s confinement within the cavernous fish was a form of burial-like imprisonment.
Some interpreters connect this passage with Ephesians 4:9–10 (“he also descended to the lower, earthly regions”) and conclude that Jesus descended into the underworld or into hell itself. Various historical interpretations—including some readings of the Apostles’ Creed—have further advanced this thought.
While the subject deserves careful study, several factors make that interpretation less persuasive:
It may imply that Jesus abandoned the thief’s spirit.
It often relies on speculation about what occurred in that lower region, rather than matching the author’s purpose for clarifying the meaning of “ascending.”
It tends to detract from the main themes of the passages discussing Christ’s ascension, which makes it less likely that the author intended such a reading.
A simpler reading keeps the focus where Scripture places it: Jesus’s body lay in the tomb, while His spirit was with the Father and the faithful in paradise. It is with this belief that we can sleep well, reflecting on Jesus’s rest at the close of Good Friday each year and eagerly await the celebration on Resurrection Sunday.
Waiting for the Resurrection
Unlike Jesus, the thief did not experience resurrection. Like all believers who have died, he now awaits the final resurrection when Christ returns.
Yet this waiting should not be imagined as separation from Christ. Scripture repeatedly emphasizes that death cannot sever the believer’s union with the Lord.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39).
This teaching—often called the intermediate state in Christian theology—holds together two precious truths for Christians. First, believers are immediately with Christ after death. Second, the fullness of redemption awaits a second wonderful gift, the resurrection and glorification of the body.
The hope of Christianity, therefore, is not escape from the physical world but its renewal.
The Resurrected Body
The next step in Jesus’s journey is the empty tomb.
On the third day, Jesus’s spirit was reunited with His body—now transformed into a glorified resurrected body. He then appeared to His disciples and many others before ascending to his seat of authority in heaven with the Father (John 20:17).
These resurrection appearances provide the proof of Jesus fulfillment of his promises and give us fascinating glimpses into the nature of glorified human life in the final resurrection.
At times, Jesus was immediately recognizable, even bearing the marks of His crucifixion. At other moments, he was not recognized at first. He could enter locked rooms without using a doorway, yet he could also eat with his disciples and be physically touched.
These scenes remind us that the resurrection body is neither merely spiritual nor the same as we know it today. It is a transformed, glorified body, fully liberated from the decay and many of the limitations of our bodies in this life.
Jesus’s resurrection serves as an expectation for our own. While His authority and glory remain unique, Scripture consistently presents Him as “the firstfruits” of the resurrection that will one day include all who belong to Him (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23).
The Ascension and the Throne
Forty days after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven and took His seat at the Father’s right hand, before all the heavenly host.
This moment is not simply a return to heaven. It is the enthronement of the risen King. The resurrected Christ now reigns over all creation—earth and heaven alike—with a glorified human body.
Because of Jesus’s ascension, the resurrection extends beyond reuniting spirits with glorified bodies. All creation will be restored from the curse introduced in Eden. We can look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, along with new bodies, all of which bring glory to the Lord.
On the day of Jesus’s return, the prayer Jesus taught His disciples will finally reach its complete fulfillment:
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
What This Means for Believers Today
Jesus’s journey after death is not merely a theological curiosity. It provides a roadmap for Christian hope.
Because Christ died and rose again, believers need not fear death or separation from him. When Christians say farewell to loved ones who have died in the Lord, we do not imagine them lost or distant. Scripture assures us that their spirits are with Christ in paradise.
At the same time, the Bible also hints that the heavenly realm is not entirely detached from what happens on earth. Jesus teaches that heaven rejoices when sinners repent, suggesting an awareness of God’s unfolding work in the world.
This does not mean believers should attempt to communicate with the dead. Scripture strongly warns against such practices and directs our prayers to God alone.
“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31).
Instead, the comfort we receive is simpler and deeper: those who are with the Lord now share perfectly in His love and joy, and they rejoice in the ways we take part in the growth of His kingdom.
As for us, Christ Himself intercedes for us and wants us to commune with him.
“Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God and who also is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34).
Because of Him, believers have direct access to God.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” (Hebrews 4:16).
Living in Resurrection Hope
Reflecting on these truths helps reorient our lives. The resurrection reminds us that history is moving toward renewal, not decline.
Good Friday invites us to contemplate the cost of our redemption and the depth of our Lord’s love. We feel the weight of Christ’s sacrifice and the comfort he provides for our souls because He entrusted His spirit to the Father and secured our salvation.
Resurrection Sunday celebrates Jesus’s triumph over death long ago and points us forward to the day when he will return, the dead will be raised, and creation itself will be made new.
For this reason, Christians throughout history have greeted one another with a simple but powerful confession:
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!
Those words are more than a statement about the past. They are a declaration about the future that awaits everyone who belongs to Him.
Every Sunday worship service echoes this hope. Each gathering of the church is a small preview of the great celebration to come—the day when resurrection life will be fully revealed and the people of God will rejoice together in the presence of the risen King.
I invite you to share your thoughts about the devotional and encouragement for others below.