One question that I have been asked by many people, many times is, “Where in the Bible does talk about Jesus descending to hell to preach to the people and what exactly does it mean?” The first problem many have is that they have heard about the verses but no one seems to know where to find it. The incident is lightly mentioned in Ephesians 4:8-10. But the meat of the issue is found in 1 Peter 3:18-22. Let’s first look at Ephesians 4:8-10.
Now let’s turn to 1 Peter 3 and look at verses 18-22.
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
Okay, now we’ve found the passage and upon reading it, it appears to be as others have told us, Jesus went to hell and preached to the spirits there. Did He really go there, why did He go there (if He indeed did go), and what does it all mean?
The passage gives us a glimpse into what Jesus Christ was doing while he was dead, that is, between His crucifixion and resurrection. Two things are spoken about here:
1. The death of Christ (v. 18)
2. The triumph of Christ (vv. 18-22)
First, there is the death of Christ. Verse 18 clearly tells us why Christ died and what the death of Christ does for man. It leaves us without excuse if we fail to understand why Christ died.
1. Christ died for sins. It was for the sins of man that He died.
2. Christ died vicariously. He was the just One dying for the unjust. This means that whatever Jesus Christ did could stand for and cover all men. It means that His righteousness could stand as the ideal and perfect righteousness. It means that His death could stand as the ideal and perfect death. And it means that Jesus Christ could become the ideal and perfect sin offering for man.
Christ died to bring us to God.
AND NOW THE QUESTION THAT IS ON EVERYONE’S MIND. Did Jesus go down to hell and preach to the spirits? This passage is found in verses 19-20.
It clearly states in verse 19 that Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison. When we read the entire passage (verses 18-22) we see the triumph of Jesus Christ. We see it in four facts that are given.
1. Jesus Christ was made alive. He was raised from the dead. Right after Jesus died in the flesh, His spirit passed into a new life, a life that could not be tempted to sin nor undergo trials and suffering. Jesus Christ was transferred into heaven, into the spiritual and perfect world or dimension where He lives, in the glory and majesty of God forever. This is where our hope of the resurrection comes from.
2. Jesus Christ victoriously proclaimed His triumph. In verses 19-20 He proclaimed the victory of His death and resurrection to the spirits in prison and to the disobedient of Noah’s day. What does this mean exactly? It means that right after Christ died, between the cross and His resurrection He went before the spirits in prison and proclaimed that God’s promise of salvation was fulfilled in Him, the Savior of the world. But who are the spirits to whom He preached?
Scripture says that they were the disobedient who were living upon the earth while Noah was preparing the ark. They were the disobedient toward whom God was long-suffering. They were the disobedient who were not saved during the flood.
The passage definitely says that Christ preached to the spirits of the unbelievers who had lived in Noah’s day and were in prison, that is, the prison of hell. Does this mean that Christ gave them a second chance to be saved? (And really, that’s the real reason everyone is so interested in this passage, isn’t it? We want to know that if we wait too long while we are here on earth, will Christ come to hell and give us a second chance.)
The answer to that question is NO! This passage means that Jesus Christ went before them and proclaimed His triumph. He went to vindicate the way of faith—to proclaim that the faith of Noah was victorious. Noah’s life and his proclamation of faith in God were never vindicated in his day. So, Christ Himself went before the spirits of unbelievers and personally proclaimed the victory.
Does this mean that Christ proclaimed His triumph only to the disobedient spirits of Noah’s day? Not likely, because none of the Old Testament believers had ever had their faith vindicated and proven. They had only confessed that they believed in God and His promise to send the Messiah and Savior to the world. They never really knew who He would be, how God would send Him, how God would use Him to save the world, or when God would send Him.
They knew little about the Savior, but they believed and trusted in Him before a mocking and unbelieving world. So, it’s likely that Christ preached and vindicated the gospel before all the spirits who had disobeyed against God.
I am sure there are many other questions that arise about this passage like, “Why did Peter focus only upon the disobedient spirits of Noah’s day instead of mentioning all the spirits of the disobedient?” Verse 21 answers that question. It tells us that Peter’s very purpose is to stress how the triumph of Christ saves the believer, and he wants to stress the part that Baptism (that is, the cleansing of the conscience, not the physical act of being baptized) has in salvation. Peter simply uses the example of Noah as an illustration of his point.
Whatever the case, the point is this: Christ went before the spirits of the disobedient in the prison of hell and He proclaimed that God’s salvation had been completed. He Himself was the Savior and the Messiah of the world, the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation.
3. Jesus Christ saves the believer through baptism: not the baptism of water, but the baptism of a good conscience—wrought by the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ saves the believer from all angels, authorities, and powers (v.22). All beings of all dimensions and worlds are submissive to Him. He has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God. He rules and reigns over all, submitting all to His sovereign will and power.
So, to hopefully answer this age-old question, here is my conclusion after extensive study of this passage:
Jesus did, in fact, descend to hell during His death—the point in time between the crucifixion and His resurrection. He didn’t go there because He was bad. We all know that Jesus was sinless. He went there to vindicate, that is, to prove correct or to justify the beliefs of the Old Testament. (God’s promise that a Messiah would come.)
Jesus DID NOT descend to hell to give the disobedient a second chance. Nowhere is that implied in any of this passage. In other words, this doesn’t answer the question about purgatory. (Purgatory is nowhere mentioned in the Bible).
So, if anyone is trying to use this passage to ease their or someone else’s mind by saying that we will be given a second chance when we die, please don’t read something into this passage. It’s not there.
The only other chance that we will be given, that the Bible mentions, is in the Book of Revelation. The Bible says that during the opening of the seven seals, the Tribulation (Revelation 9:20-21), there will still be those who deny Christ as the Savior. But who wants to go through the Tribulation to get that second chance. Why not accept Christ now so that you won’t have to go through that literal hell-on-earth?
