He Led Captivity Captive
Eph 4:8-10
8-5-07 

After Jesus died on the cross and was buried, he spent three nights and three days in the lower parts of the earth.  While he was there, he spent time in hell and in Abraham’s Bosom where the Old Testament saints were.  After three nights and three days, he ascended up to heaven and took the souls that were in Abraham’s Bosom with him.  This is when he “led captivity captive.”  Then he returned to the earth until his ascension in Acts 1, and now is seated in heavenly places next to the throne of God awaiting the rapture and ultimately his Second Coming.

During his ministry, Jesus told the Pharisees that he would spend three nights and three days in the heart of the earth, Matt 12:40.  He was not referring to Joseph of Arimathea’s grave, which was a tomb hewn out of a rock over which a stone was rolled at the door, Matt 27:60.  He was referring literally to the heart of the earth, a place in its interior.

Acts 4:25-32 and Ps 16:10 show us that Jesus was, in fact, in hell.  From there, he would have been able to see the souls of the Old Testament saints in Abraham’s Bosom, Lk 16:22-26.  Actually, he didn’t only see them, he visited them and preached to them, 1 Pet 3:18-19; 1 Pet 4:6.  Therefore, when Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise,” (Lk 23:43), he was referring to the thief being with him in Abraham’s Bosom, where paradise was until the resurrection.

On the day that Jesus arose from the dead, he ascended in to heaven for the first time after his resurrection.  Notice that in Jn 20:17, Jesus told Mary not to touch him because he had not yet ascended to his Father.  Yet on the same day, he allowed the Mary’s of Matt 28 to hold him by the feet, Matt 28:9.  Therefore, he ascended up in that short period of time and returned.

Why did he go up and come back so quickly?

The reason for this initial ascension was so that he could, among other things, carry the souls of the Old Testament saints in Abraham’s Bosom up to heaven.  Notice that God gave us evidence that the souls were up in that many of the bodies of the saints which slept arose that night, Matt 27:52-53.  Now, as a result, paradise is in the third heaven instead of in Abraham’s Bosom, 2 Cor 12:1-4.

After Jesus returned to the earth that day, he spent 40 days with his disciples (Acts 1:3).   Then he ascended up to heaven the second time (Acts 1:9; Lk 24:50-51), where he is currently seated next to the throne of God (Heb 1:3).  At the appointed time, he will return to take the church out of the earth at the rapture (1 Thes 4:16-17) and then he will come again after the tribulation to rule the world for 1,000 years (Rev 20:6; 5:10).

In the interim, between the ascension of Jesus and the rapture, Jesus has provided ministers who handle the work of the ministry in Jesus’ absence.  This is what we will study next week.

 

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