Jesus Led A Train Of Vanquished Foes

Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. Ephesians 4:8

When exactly did Jesus ascend back to Heaven? Was it when He gave up the Ghost on the Cross or was it when He was risen from Hades after three days? John 20:17 tells us that Jesus had not yet risen to Heaven when He appeared to Marry on the third day at His grave site. For three days Jesus was in Hades preaching to the souls who were there.

In which He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 1Peter 3:19.

When Jesus ascended back to Heaven, we are told that He led a train of vanquished foes. The question is where did He lead these vanquished foes? Did He lead them back to Hades or to Heaven with Him? The Truth is that Jesus went down to Hades and saved those people from the penalty of death. They were held captive by what they had done on this earth and Jesus went and set them free by what He did. Jesus did not go down to Hades just to show the lost what they could have had. He went down there and He set the captives free and led them right up to Heaven to be with Him. Jesus gave them a gift and the gift was freedom from Hades. They did not earn it, it was free gift, just as it is a free gift to us, it’s called Grace. And our Father’s Grace is not limited to us just when we have flesh. Our Father’s Grace is for us wether we have flesh or we don’t have flesh. Our Father is not a respecter of persons, so if He did it for these souls, He has to do it for all souls.

Now the cool thing is that there are people in Hades right now. They will be raised again at the end of the Millennial Reign of our Lord, Revelation 20:13. So they will be given the same opportunity to be forgiven by our Lord. They may not be the Bride of Christ as we are, but that does not mean that they are going to be thrown into the Lake of Fire either. They are going to be our guests, just as Matthew 22:11 teaches us. All who have not committed Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit will be forgiven and they will be forgiven and saved from the Lake of Fire.