What does Jesus say about your spirit going to heaven?

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Are you asking if, in general, Jesus taught that there is life after death? Or are you looking for specific discussion of the word or concept of "spirit"?

If the former: Matthew 22:23,29-32 "The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him ... Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. ... But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”" [NKJV]

Jesus clearly said that there is life after death. He also indicated that those who have died are experiencing that eternal life now, not that they will experience it at some point in the future. Of course Abraham and Isaac had physically died many centuries before Jesus said this, so their bodies were dead. So the "them" that is still alive must be some sort of spirit or soul or a new body.

That said, I cannot find anyplace in the Gospels where Jesus talks about a human "spirit" in that sense. Jesus often talks about the Holy Spirit, and about evil spirits. He has a few places where he talks about a person's spirit in the sense of their personality, like Mark 14:38, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak", or John 4:23, "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth".

But Jesus seems to reject the idea that after death a person becomes a non-corporeal spirit. After his resurrection, when he appears to the discipiles, he says, Luke 24:39, "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

Well, I suppose you could say that Jesus' resurrected body might not be the same as the bodies that people have after death, I don't know any place where Jesus specifically says that they are. But Paul says that our resurrection will be like Christ's, for example 1 Cor 15:20 "But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (It might not be clear from that one verse; read the whole context.) If you're asking specifically what JESUS said rather than what the BIBLE says, then I don't know of any place that Jesus specifically describes the resurrection body other than describing his own.

I conclude that Jesus uses the word "spirit" in a more specific sense then we use the word today. I don't think Jesus used "spirit" as a synonym for "soul". He appears to use it to refer to a specific category of being -- the Holy Spirit, angels and demons.

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I am unaware of any locations in the Bible that support the claim that our spirit goes to heaven upon our death, however, I'm sure Jesus was have believe the portion of the Bible that was already written at that time which stated that upon death ones spirit goes out, but a person goes in to the ground and has no thoughts (Ps 146:4; Eccl 9:5-6).

1 Co 15:52 speaks of those that go to heaven being changed to spirit beings (like angels) after their death. It makes a point of saying that on the last trumpet such ones wouldn't remain in death, but be changed instantly. However, they still died in the flesh as the concept of 'baptism into death' and other texts at Ro 6:3-4 indicate.

It should be noted that spirit in this verse and in many other locations in the scriptures refers to an animating force, or breath (as in breath of life, Ge 2:7; Compare Job 33:4), not to a being with a body like the angels.

If it weren't for the teachings of a resurrection found throughout the Bible a dead person would remain such, that is to say without thought, feeling, or capability.

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Excellent question. You're right, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot on the topic in Scripture, so I'm going to give this the best try I can.

Jesus seems to imply that his spirit will be with God the Father when he died.

Luke 23:46:

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

This seems to me to be an assumption that at least his spirit will be with God the Father. We could then conclude from other passages in scripture, including those that indicate that Christ is the firstborn of all creation, and those in Romans 5 comparing and contrasting Christ to Adam, that our spirits will also be in heaven with Christ if we're found in Him.

The only other area I could find directly from Jesus mouth is when he's talking to Nicodemus in John 3, and this is probably where the greatest evidence for spirits in heaven exists.

John 3:5-6:

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."

It seems like these two verses can be taken together to say that the Holy Spirit is the spiritual analogue to a human mother, and nobody can enter into the kingdom of God unless they are born of the Spirit, that is, unless they have a spirit. Essentially, he seems to be saying that flesh doesn't enter into the Kingdom of God, but spirit does.

Of course, accepting this interpretation depends on your view of the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.

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