1 Corinthians 15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
In Paul’s summation of the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15 he mentions what is of first importance, including that Jesus was buried. As this is not something which I have ever heard anyone speak about, I want to explore the significance of Jesus being buried.
Burial seems to be concomitant (connected) to death. Over and over there are statements in Genesis and Kings, and elsewhere in the Old Testament that people died and were buried (e.g. Gen 35:19; Judges 12:12; 2 Kings 10:35). The place of burial seems to be important for the patriarchs. Israel did not want to be buried in Egypt when he died (Gen 47:29). This desire to be buried in the land (of Israel) suggests an anticipation of the future in the land, possibly pointing towards the resurrection – although there is no mention of resurrection this early in the Bible. There are places where burial is connected to judgement (Num 11:34; 33:4). Again though, burial is what follows the judgement of death.
Burial is required for dignity. No body is to be left hanging on a tree overnight, but must be buried that day (Deut 21:23). Jezebel is eaten by dogs and not given the dignity of burial, because of her extreme sin (2 Kings 9:10). Those who worshipped the stars and sun and moon will be refused burial (Jer 8:2). This happened as part of the judgement on Jerusalem which brought about the exile (Jer 14:16; 16:4). Being unable to bury the dead is a cause for lament (Ps 79:3; Wisdom of Solomon 18:12). Ezekiel prophesies that people will be employed to cleanse the land by burying dead bodies (Ezek 39:14). This same desire for the dignity of death is demonstrated by the disciples of John the Baptist, who come and bury him after Herod has John beheaded (Matt 14:12).
Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus after his death (Mark 15:43-46). This was prophesied in Isaiah 53:9 “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” There is evidence that Roman officials could release corpses for burial after crucifixion. Sometimes, however, bodies were sometimes left on crosses and denied burial. These bodies were likely eaten by wild animals.[1]
It is significant that that Jesus does not suffer from being refused a burial. He was not subjected to being eaten by wild animals like Jezebel. This suggests that Jesus was buried because burial gives dignity to the dead. Having borne the sins of the world, his punishment requires no more indignity. The indignity of having no burial and being eaten by wild animals is reserved for the vilest of sinners. Yet, although Jesus became sin on the cross, in his burial he is not considered as a vile sinner. Burial in the land of Israel points toward the future inheritance of the people of God, which is ultimately the resurrection of the dead.
Being buried seems to have been necessary as Jesus had to wait for the resurrection. It did not immediately follow from his death, but there was an intervening time. What, then, happened to Jesus in the grave?
The Old Testament has much to say about Sheol, the grave, the place of the dead. Being swallowed alive into Sheol was a judgement (Num 16:30-33). It is the LORD who brings down to the grave and who raises up (1 Sam 2:6). The grave is paralleled to death (2 Sam 22:6). The grave does not give up the dead (Job 7:9). Those who go down to the grave are hidden there in darkness (Job 17:13; 40:13). No one praises God from the grave (Ps 6:5), and those in the grave cannot hope for God’s faithfulness (Isa 38:18). Sinners are swallowed up by the grave (Job 24:19) and lie silent in shame there (Ps 31:17). Sinners are destined for the grave, where death will feed on them, and bodies will decay (Psa 49:14). In the grave, the dead are cut off from the care of the LORD (Ps 88:5). There the love of God is not declared (Ps 88:11). No one can save themselves from the power of the grave (Ps 89:48). There is no future in the grave, no planning or wisdom (Ecc 9:10). But Jonah (2:2) declares, “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
There is very little that a person can do in the grave. At best it is a time of waiting while a person waits for the salvation of God. There is no way of escape from the grave without the intervention of God. I must presume that Jesus had to wait in the grave for rescue from God for as a dead man he did not have the power to rescue himself. But Jesus must have been aware of the promise of God regarding the Messiah in Psalm 16:8-11 which is quoted in Acts 2:24-31
NIV Acts 2:24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him: “‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave [Hades], nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ 29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
According to this passage, Jesus was aware that he would not be abandoned to the grave forever. He trusted that he would again experience fullness of joy in the presence of the Father. He knew that his body would not be left to decay in the grave, but that he would be raised from the dead. Nonetheless, Jesus is said to be raised by the Father, who freed him from the agony of death. It is the Father who is here said to be the one who does not allow the body of Jesus to become decayed or to remain in the grave. Since the resurrection is an action of the Father, Jesus’ actions in the grave could involve only rejoicing in hope as per verse 26, “Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.” This trust in the promised resurrection is the basis for our own trust in the promised resurrection. Jesus is the author and finisher of faith, so his faith in the resurrection underpins our own inadequate faith.
Although some have preached that Jesus went to hell, that is, a place of torment, for the time when he was in the grave, there is reason to think otherwise. In Luke 23:43 Jesus told the thief on the cross, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” This statement appears only in Luke.
The word for paradise used in Luke 23:43 appears several times in the LXX [Greek translation of the OT], where it is translated as garden, in the main. In the New Testament it is used in two other places. In 2 Cor 12:4 Paul describes a man who was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things. In Rev 2:7 the church is promised that they will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. These two New Testament references make clear that paradise in New Testament is something wonderful. When Jesus said ‘today’ he cannot mean other than that particular 24 hour day. So Jesus went to paradise when he died. It seems, therefore, that Jesus did not descend into hell, that is, into a place of torment.
Jesus spoke of his time in the grave in Matt 12:39-40:
Matthew 12:39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
That Jesus compared his death and resurrection to that of the prophet Jonah implies that the experience of Jonah can shed some light on the experience of Jesus in the grave.
Jonah 1:17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. 2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 3 You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. 4 I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ 5 The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. 6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. 7 “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 8 “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.” 10 And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
While Jonah was inside the belly of the fish, he prayed, and his prayer claims that he did so “from the depths of the grave”, that is, “from the belly of Hades” in LXX or “the belly of Sheol” in Hebrew. This may be metaphor, but Jonah’s experience sounds very much like being in the grave. He is far from God, barred in by the earth. But, while there, Jonah is able to pray and to hope that he will again go to the temple. He actively vowed in the belly of the fish to make a sacrifice in the temple when deliverance had come. If the experience of Jesus in the grave parallels that of Jonah in the grave, we would expect that Jesus actively hoped for deliverance from death. He was able to pray and anticipate his return to life, offering songs of thanksgiving to his Father in trust.
One more passage may help make sense of what happened to Jesus in the grave [Hades]. Jesus told story[2] about what happens after death.
Luke 16:19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell [Hades], where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ 25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
The fact that the rich man was tormented in Hades and Lazarus was not might suggest that Hades is a bad place and Abraham is in a good place. But there is no such differentiation in the Old Testament. The good and the evil both go to the grave, Sheol (e.g. Ecc 9:3, 10). While the Old Testament says nothing about a Hades which is divided, we must take the word of Jesus that Hades already contained a differentiation between the righteous and the unrighteous. This presupposes some kind of pre-judgement of the dead in order that they would be either tormented like the rich man or in a place of waiting like Abraham.
This story offers some way of explaining how Jesus could be in Hades and at the same time be in paradise. As Luke wrote both the Gospel and the book of Acts, so his statements about Jesus being in paradise and in Hades [NIV the grave] must somehow match up. Let me suggest a way of joining these two statements, based on the passages above. Hades is the place of the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, yet the reality is that God has already made a distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous. Heaven seems closed to the dead in the Old Testament, but the righteous dead, although they be in Sheol like the unrighteous dead, are not tormented, but merely waiting. When Jesus died, he went to Sheol/Hades/the grave, where he waited for the resurrection. This was not a place of torment but a place of waiting with the righteous dead, that is, paradise. From that place he was able to proclaim his victory over sin.
Now, since the other mentions of paradise in the New Testament do not seem to refer to Hades, but to where God is, something must have happened to change this designation. In the book of Revelation the righteous dead are not in Hades, but rather worshipping before the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev 6:9-11). Since Jesus went to Hades according to Acts, and went to paradise according to Luke, I think that it is possible that the presence of Jesus in Hades has changed the nature of the world of the dead. The unrighteous dead are now awaiting the judgement in a place of torment, and the righteous dead are awaiting the dead in heaven. Rev 2:7 promises that church that if they overcome they will eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. The tree of life does not appear again in Revelation until the end (ch 22) when God has come to dwell with humanity in the New Earth. Therefore, the paradise of God is something not yet.
Jesus has transformed paradise by his time in the grave. Jesus did not die and go to the New Heaven and New Earth of Revelation 22, but rather went to what was paradise in Hades, the place of waiting for the righteous dead. This place no longer exists, because Jesus has gone to the Father. Now all of heaven and earth await the consummation of the work of Christ, which will culminate in humanity dwelling with God in the paradise of God, the New Heaven and the New Earth.
Some conclusions
The time in the grave, in paradise, but not yet resurrected, must parallel the intermediate state of the Christian. Not much is said in the New Testament about the intermediate state, but Christians must wait after death until the resurrection of the dead. Jesus in the grave had also to wait for the resurrection of the dead. He is surely our pattern in life and in awaiting the resurrection. As Jesus waited in utter trust, in the assurance that God the Father would not abandon him to the grave, so too Christians will wait trustingly for their own resurrection.
The fact that Paul mentions that Jesus was buried in his summation of the central aspects of the gospel says that the time Jesus spent in the grave is something of soteriological (salvation related) significance. Jesus went to the grave in solidarity with the dead, unable to bring himself out of the grave. Humanity was powerless over death, but Christ has overcome death in every aspect, including the time spent in the grave. Jesus has also transformed the place of the dead by his very presence in that place. Humanity in union with Christ is no longer subject to the futility of the grave, which swallows everyone and which was the end of all meaning and purpose (Ecc 9:10). Jesus has gone before us into death and burial, so we can await the resurrection in confidence.