"We Believe Jesus Descended into Hell" 1 Peter 3:18-20 Pastor Allan Wooters, D.Min.
The apostle Peter writes concerning some of the apostle Paul’s writings that they contain some things which are “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:16). Well, today Peter, the former fisherman, is in the same boat. To be sure, in our text, he speaks of death of which has been called, “The King of Terrors.” It is a crucial subject even though in our culture we do all we can to ignore this king, but of late it has not been easy. With the pandemic it seems we all feel stalked by death. It would make sense that this fear lies behind much of the mental distress folks have been experiencing due to the outbreak. Now, thankfully, only a tiny minority who contract Covid-19 die. But it has put the fear of death into many. Yet, God has a message for us about death. The King Eternal puts the king of terrors in its place. But in doing so we are introduced in our text and the creed to one of the most mystifying statements in Scripture: Jesus’ decent into hell. The Creed noted Jesus suffered, died and was buried, “He descended into hell.” What are we to make of this statement? Is it true? Does the Bible teach this? And if it does, so what? Well, let us start first by engaging the text itself.
Engage the Text
The passage begins with one of the most amazing and reassuring declarations of Scripture: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.” The verse is jam-packed with truth. There is the truth of Jesus’ sacrificial death. Our Lord “died for sins.” His death was a sacrifice because of our high crimes and misdemeanors against Almighty God. We couldn’t arrange a sacrifice for our sins, but God did through Jesus. Now we are free!
Also, Jesus’ death was a singular death. He “died for sins once for all.” He is not dying daily or in some ritual sacrament. In Revelation 1:17 the exalted Christ declares, “I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore….”
And lastly here, Jesus’ death was a saving death. Jesus died “that He might bring us to God.” Now there are two senses in which we can view this statement both which have biblical support. One is that Jesus died to bring us into a living relationship with the Father. By His death, Jesus in a very real sense took hold of our sin-stained hand with His nail-scarred hand and joined it to God’s gracious hand.
But the context of this verse makes a different understanding of Jesus bringing us to God more likely. The context is that of our death. In v.17, Peter is engaged in a discussion of suffering for the faith. In fact, the entire letter of 1 Peter is set against the backdrop of possible martyrdom. The apostle is seeking to strengthen his fellow believers to face such times with courage. To help with this need, Peter references Jesus’ death in v.18. Given that, it appears that the note of Jesus bringing us to God means that death has become for believers the stairway to heaven!
We talk of angels attending our death and there is biblical evidence for such a view (Luke 16:22). But what we have here is that Jesus Himself guides us through that valley of the shadow. The King of Glory comes for us to secure us against the king of terrors!
That is incredible! But it simply gets us ready for what follows. And what does follow? That is harder to understand. Even the usually dogmatic Martin Luther said of this passage, “This is a strange text and certainly a more obscure passage than any other passage in the New Testament. I still do not know for sure what the apostle meant.” [1] Dr. Al Mohler in his book on the Apostles’ Creed pretty much ignores it with only a passing comment. Yet, there are three major views on what Peter means. All three views seek to answer the question of where did Jesus go when He died?
One view is that Jesus’ descent into hell is a graphic way of referring to Jesus’ burial, or “descent” into the grave. This view is how the authors of the Westminster Larger Catechism understood it (Q&A 50). Taking this view explains why many modern versions of the creed omit the phrase entirely. For them Jesus’ descent is simply restating the fact that Jesus suffered, died, and was buried. Thus, there is no need to repeat it.
Let me add here that our text does not say, nor does any other Scripture say, that Jesus descended into hell. Peter says Jesus went to the “spirits now in prison.” That is not hell.
Another view is that this refers to the time before Jesus’ birth. The Bible teaches what is known as the “preexistence of Christ,” meaning that from all eternity, the second person of the Trinity has existed. This view says that the eternal Christ went and preached repentance through Noah to the sinful people of that generation. This view has a long history behind it. It was the view of Augustine and Aquinas. It was also popular in Reformation thinking.
The third view is that following His death, Jesus literally descended into the realm of hell where demonic spirits are imprisoned and proclaimed His victory over them at Calvary. Colossians 2:15 does state that in the cross, Jesus “disarmed rulers and authorities” – a reference to spiritual powers like demons – “He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them….” That Jesus defeated the demonic realm is a clear theme of the entire New Testament.
Now, do you see why it’s hard to be dogmatic about what our text means? The third view seems best, but the problem is this view runs up against a statement Jesus made on the cross. To one crucified with Him Jesus said, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.” Did Jesus make a quick run to the demonic prison and proclaim His victory over them then rush back to paradise to greet the thief? Maybe! Remember, Jesus died first then the other two men died later. It sounds extreme but who knows? Remember, God’s ways are not always our ways. What cannot be denied is that this entire passage declares beyond dispute the absolute victory Jesus has won for us over sin, death, and hell. With that let me turn to apply the obvious message of this mystifying passage. That application has to do with how we are to think about death and what dying itself is like for the Christian.
Applying the Text
What does this text have to tell us about death and dying? Thankfully, it tells us plenty.
First, it tells us that when we think of dying, Jesus has been there. He has “been there, done that,” though we have not. John Calvin viewed this passage as referring to the time Jesus was on the cross. It is true that on the cross Jesus experienced the reality of dying even to the point of taking on our punishment in hell. Recall that Jesus cried out feeling He was forsaken by the Father. To be forsaken by God is what hell is all about. Jesus took it. He met death and hell in the arena, absorbed it all in His spirit and transformed death for all who would put their trust in Him.
Second, Jesus had removed the sting of death. You know the old saying that only two things are sure in life: death and taxes. But not so! With a good accountant and some offshore finances, one can theoretically cheat the tax man. But not so death. As was rightly declared in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, “You can be a king or a street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the reaper.” Thomas Grey famously wrote, “The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, and all that beauty, all that wealth ever gave, await alike the inevitable hour, the paths of glory lead but to the grave.” (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard).
But Jesus has taken away death’s sting. The Bible says this explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15. There the apostle Paul virtually taunts death saying, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (vs.54 – 57). But there’s more and it is intriguing.
Jesus transforms the image of death. One of the images Jesus used for death is that of sleep. When His friend Lazarus died, Jesus said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep…” (John 11:11). From king of terrors to sleeping! What an image! It is not that we are unconscious when we die. Far from it! When the Bible speaks of death as sleep it is referring to the physical body, not the soul. We talk of someone asleep as “dead to the world.” That’s literally true! The biblical evidence is indisputable to die is not to cease to exist or go into some unconscious state. It is said in 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be “absent from the body” is to be “at home with the Lord.”
This sleep imagery shows that dying might not be the terror we so fear. Years ago, a popular minster named Peter Marshall put the matter powerfully. He asked us to picture a child playing in the evening among her toys. Gradually she grows tried and lays her head down to rest, lazily continuing to play with a toy. The next thing she experiences is waking up in her bed with the morning light streaming through her bedroom window. It is the room her father took her to when he scooped her up from the toybox and carried her to bed. Did she remember falling asleep? Do you? No! You lay down on your pillow and even if you toss for a while suddenly you wake up with no memory of falling asleep. That is death from the biblical perspective. In one moment, we are in this world and in the next moment we find our self fully awake in another. It is literally true for every believer that we do indeed “go gently into that good night.”
So it is that the king of terrors is a defeated foe. It is a paper tiger all thanks to Jesus’ death. What all else was involved in our Lord’s dying and experience prior to His resurrection is not clearly revealed to us. But what is here in this text is gold. Let us determine then, not to listen to the world’s view of death but to that of the Creator of the world. Jesus’ view is reality! It is comfort. It is encouraging. It is peace and it is hope!
For Further Reading
Life After Death: The Evidence, Dinesh D’Souza