Jesus died and was Resurrected

 I see a question asked many times and it sparked my interest because I was myself unclear of what the right answer is. I felt I needed to explore this and find all the information I could. I am very much unconvinced that Jesus died and went to hell for 3 days. But I have seen arguments that lean in this direction as an answer to the question. 

What did Jesus do for 3 days between his death and resurrection?

Jesus Christ is God, he allowed himself to be crucified, he died and then rose again as was his plan to gain salvation for all of mankind through his acceptance of man's sin onto him as the spotless lamb. In order to understand this more I had to capture all of the verses that may help explain the answer to the question. 

Luke 23:42-43 - "42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” 43  And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.""

1 Peter 3:18-20 - "18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water."

Ephesians 4:8-10 - "Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?"

These three verses give some reference to Jesus dying and ascending to heaven. There can be applied some theistic interpretive assessment to attempt to determine the meaning of these verses and there have already been some scholarly interpretations that have put forth their assessment for each. 

Luke 23:42-43 is about the clearest of all of the verses as to the event, and timing directly from Jesus himself. Jesus saying that he would see the thief, who professed his belief in Jesus, that day in paradise. I believe that this is a very clear and believable position that indicates that Jesus was going to Heaven (His kingdom) and he would see the thief there as well. 

1 Peter 3:18-20 explains that Jesus died and was made alive in the Spirit and it seems to indicate that he went and preached to the "spirits" in prison. It would seem that this may indicate that Jesus went somewhere other than Heaven, and it is described as "prison". Some would say that this could be a word used in a similar manner to Sheol (Ancient Hebrew word for Hell), or Hades (Ancient Greek word for Hell). However there is an additional piece to this which may add some context to the entire verse which says "when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared..." Which seems to give pose that the preaching of Noah about the salvation of the ark and the preaching of Jesus about the salvation He offered from the cross. While it may not be clearly stated that Jesus went to Hell to preach to spirits that existed there it does seem to compare the preaching Jesus did to a similar situation that Noah experienced in which very few souls were saved. 

Ephesians 4:8-10 says that prior to ascending Jesus descended into the lower parts of the Earth. While this has been viewed by other scholars to mean that the lower parts of Earth might be considered Hell. This coincides with an Ancient Greek belief that Hell was  either at the edges of the limits of the oceans, or that it existed under the Earth. Given the times that the Bible was written and the original languages of Hebrew and Greek as the primary authorship medium then it is logical to consider that perhaps "lower parts of the Earth" may be interpreted as Hades. 

There is another element that is important to consider and that is the Catholic Apostles Creed. This creed  

The creed was as indicated by the history of the Catholic Church was written around 341AD. It was found in a letter that Marcellus of Ancyra wrote in Greek to Julius, the bishop of Rome. The wording of which indicates that "Jesus descended into Hell, and then rose from the dead and then ascended into Heaven. 

“The Apostles’ Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles’ faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is ‘the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith'” (CCC 194)"

The verses cited, the Apostles' Creed, and the interpretations all lend to give credibility to many different potential answers to the question posed, however in my opinion I believe that it comes down to two potential happenings. 

• Jesus either went to Heaven and the was resurrected
• Jesus went to Hell and then Heaven and then was resurrected 

The ultimate answer resides within the knowledge of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. To seek a personal understanding of this question, I find it essential to engage in prayer, hoping for enlightenment in my interpretation.

Considering all the research, my familiarity with the Bible, and the information presented, my response draws significantly from the Bible's teachings and the words of Jesus Christ. In my view, Jesus Christ ascended to Heaven as promised, remaining there to fulfill both his own prophesied death and the scriptural prophecies, only to rise again three days later. I regard the other verses as having a comparative and symbolic nature.

It is inconceivable to me that Jesus would be in Hell, for it contradicts his nature and serves no meaningful purpose, as it would not attract followers nor align with God's overarching goal of strengthening humanity's faith and devotion to Him.