Jesus' descension into Hades

"... In which also He [Jesus] went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison ..." - 1 Peter 3:19 (NAS)

This is a very intriguing verse. It tells us that when Jesus died and resurrected his spirit went to proclaim God's victory over Satan to the spirits in either Hades (what we often refer to as Hell) or Tartarus. The "spirits" could refer to dead human beings or to fallen angels who were disobedient. This has been long debated.

Ephesians 4:9 tells us that Jesus "descended into the lower parts of the earth" referring to Hades.

So from these two verses we know that Jesus definitely went to Hades and possibly Tartarus, a place where the fallen angels are kept (2 Peter 2:4-5, Jude 6).

In Luke 16:19-31 we are told of a story of a certain rich man and a begger named Lazarus. In this story Hades is described as having a gulf that divides the underworld into two sections. One section is described as place where the saved saints reside and the other a section of torment.

In all of these references we find that Jesus can travel from one realm to another and back and forth again. In the Gospels we are told that the disciples see him resurrected and walking the earth again. And we even find that he ascends to heaven after 40 days (this was possibly alluded to when Neo ascended into the sky at the ending of the first Matrix movie). It is interesting that in the Matrix films Neo also has the ability to travel from one world or realm to another. At one point he even finds himself stuck in the train station (in between worlds).

"God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you." - 1 Peter 1:20 (NLT)