After last week’s message, someone asked me about a certain passage of scripture that is often interpreted as Jesus’ “trip to hell.” The passage, 1 Peter 3:18-20 says,  For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited paitently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built . . . “   The Apostle’s Creed, the most popular creed used in worship by Western Christians (developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries), seems to agree that Jesus caught the down elevator from the tomb: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven . . .

By the way, that phrase “he descended into hell,”  is the most controversial one in the entire Creed. Some denominations consider it optional and others leave it out all together.  So what does it mean?  It depends on who you ask.  Historically, some believed it meant everything from Jesus taking our sins to hell (On Sunday I said they stayed buried in the tomb–you were listening, weren’t you?) to Him taking the Good News to Old Testament saints in the place of the dead (Old Testament, sheol). 

 If you ask me,  I think a better option flows directly from the text (imagine that?).  He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed . . .   I believe it refers to Jesus proclaiming his victory over death, the grave, Satan and hell.  Peter doesn’t use his normal word for “preach the gospel,” euangelizein; instead he uses the more general word for making a proclamation, kerussein.  Besides, nothing in scripture indicates that any person hears preaching after death (I know you’re saying “Thank God!”).  So Jesus is not on an evangelistic tour down under–He’s proclaiming His victory to . . . spirits in prison.  Nowhere in the New Testament are human beings ever called “spirits.” The closest reference is in Hebrews 12:23 where it talks about the spirits of righteous people made perfect–and this reference is qualified–they are spirits “of people.”  So in 1 Peter 3:19, these are not the spirits of dead people or Old Testament people.  They are simply spirits.  When this term is used in an unqualified way in the New Testament it refers to demonic spirits (Matthew 8:16, Luke 10:20)–and qualified as “unclean” or “evil” spirits (Matthew 10:1; Mark 1:27; 3:11; 5:13; 6:7; Luke 4:36; 6:18; Acts 5:16; Matthew 12:45; Luke 7:21; 8:2; Acts 19:12-13). 

So I believe this passage should be understood as describing Jesus’ proclamation of triumph over death to the demons imprisoned, most likely since the fall of Satan. These are perhaps referenced in the New Testament book of Jude, verse 6, And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.  So with His descent, even the demons in “darkest hell” now know that Jesus has become the sacrifice for our sins and the savior of our lives.  They learned that He was dead,  and buried and that He was on the way up–to rise from the dead.   Or as many preachers have proclaimed, It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

See you on Easter Sunday morning–7:30, 9:00 or 10:30.  Come and worship; and invite someone to come hear the Good News!

 blessings,   

pastor greg