“I Believe” Sermon Series on the Apostles Creed
“The Conquering Victory” (“He Descended into Hell”) I Peter 3:18-22 Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
A victory is an experience we don’t forget, whether it’s a military, sports or personal triumph. This morning we’re considering the victory won by the Captain of our salvation. His battle was waged against all the forces of sin, hell and death. He heralds His victory in a most striking way, as described by Peter, and mentioned in the Apostles Creed, which has troubled and puzzled many people: “He descended into Hell”. Some believers do not recite these words and I understand their reluctance. Some congregations change the words to “He descended to the grave.” How can we affirm something we suspect may not be in the Bible? Scripture says very little about what occurred between the cross and the empty tomb. Some people have offered imaginative speculation, like the Mormons who claim Jesus went to America and preached to Indian tribes.
Let’s think through Peter’s explanation. Peter viewed the empty tomb and the linen wrappings left behind. He describes the activity of Jesus during those few days before His spirit was reunited with His body.
First off, let’s say what did not happen. Some claim that, as part of His payment for our sins, Jesus suffered the torments of Hell in His descent. Most Biblical scholars maintain that the agony of Jesus was limited to what took place on the cross. God-the-Son bore our sins and suffered separation from God-the-Father. Before yielding to death, Jesus cried out, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” It seems unlikely that the Father would then add to His Son’s suffering. Jesus’ final words indicate an end to His pain.
The descent into Hell, as Peter reports, appears to be a preaching mission. At the heart of this passage is a central truth: the establishment of Christ’s dominion over angels, authorities, and powers, extending even to the strongholds of “disobedient spirits”. The future is assured because our God reigns. I wish we had a copy of our Lord’s sermon to these spirits. The very first Easter sermon was preached by Jesus! It was most likely a message announcing His triumph over evil and the binding up of the demonic powers.
Some have objected, pointing to Jesus’ promise to the repentant thief on the cross: “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” How could Jesus be in Paradise that very day if He descended into Hell? There is no punctuation in the Greek manuscripts, and I suggest that translators may have made an error in omitting a comma. Jesus’ words could easily be rendered, “I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” It’s less specific regarding the timing, but a promise nonetheless.
In verse 18 Peter uses the word “spirit” pneuma, to say that Jesus “was made alive in the spirit”. Jesus preached as a spirit to the spirits, just as in His earthly life He preached as a man to people of flesh and blood. Peter is setting up an analogy: “On the one hand, He was put to death in the flesh; on the other hand, He was made alive in spirit.” Jesus went without His body, in spirit form, and spoke to spirits. Now we need to determine:
a. Who are these “spirits”?
b. Where is the “prison”?
c. What was the message “proclaimed”?
a) The spirits have been understood to mean either those who have died without trusting God, fallen angels, or Noah’s sinful contemporaries (or all 3).
Though I believe the Genesis flood was an historical event, it is also serves as a metaphor of human disobedience and divine judgment. Because the flood was so often used to describe punishment for sin, many feel our Lord’s proclamation isn’t limited to the Genesis “flood victims,” but to all who have alienated themselves from God. Those who perished in flood are representative of all who have rebelled against God.
In a figurative sense, Jesus is our ark—He who demonstrated power over the waters brings us to safety from the flood tides of sin and spiritual death.
Peter uses another image, that of baptism, an outward sign of an inward reality. Through baptism we share in/identify with Jesus’ death; we are “buried with Him through baptism”. Note: faith leads to baptism; water alone does not have the power to save.
So what is the identity of these “spirits”? It is likely that Jesus was addressing both people who died without faith and fallen angels. The word “spirit” is often used in the NT to refer to demons. In Philippians 2 we read that, “at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (vs 10). Paul is likely referring to the evil spirits reluctantly bowing to Jesus at His proclamation of victory.
b) As to the place, this “prison”—We need to determine where this visit took place. In II Pet 2:4 we’re told that, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.” The Apocryphal book of Enoch tells of fallen angels being thrown into prison. And Paul’s brief letter to Jude states that, “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--those He has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (vs 6).
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings vol 3), the armies of Middle Earth approach the black gate of Mordor, the land of shadows. In the movie it looks like what we might envision as the gates of Hell. I can picture Jesus approaching a similar gate, with great confidence and triumph. Jesus’ victory penetrates even to the realm of the most disobedient dead.
c) This brings us to the Proclamation—what did Jesus say to these unclean spirits and fallen angels? He was not there to make an offer of salvation, a “second chance”.
The word translated “preached” in many translations is not the word evangelizomai, ”to tell the good news,” but rather the verb khruso, ”to proclaim a message.” Christ’s words were not good news to the disobedient spirits in prison. “Jesus has the last word on everything and everyone, from angels to armies” (Peterson, the Message).
Our Lord’s presence in spirit form was to announce His complete and final victory over the power of sin and death. His message underscored the final judgment for all who choose to reject God. Without His descent the resurrection is incomplete. Jesus, the former prisoner of Rome, comes in triumph. These evil spirits realized with certainty, as the author of Hebrews warns, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Our security comes from trusting in Jesus taking our punishment and purchasing our forgiveness. Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, tells of visiting a prison in Brazil. A prisoner escorted him to a solitary cell once used for torture. He explained that the cell housed only a single inmate. As he put the key in the lock, he asked, “Are you sure you want to go in?” Colson replied, “Of course, I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.” The guide slowly opened the massive door, and Colson saw the Prisoner in that punishment cell--a Crucifix, carved by the prison inmates. The guide turned to Colson and said, “He’s doing time for the rest of us.” Christ’s grief gains us immeasurable joy.
The prophet Isaiah says that God will “destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples…He will swallow up death forever.” Christ is the Example of victory over suffering. Peter concludes in 4:1, “Since Christ suffered physical pain, since He went through everything you’re going through and more, arm yourselves with His attitude, and be ready to suffer.” In view of Jesus’ triumph over suffering, we can overcome all hardships. We are assured that Jesus can deliver us from any trial. Where He has gone, what He has faced, we can face without anxiety. Through the cross we see the death of death. Because Jesus has visited these evil spirits, violated their turf, announced His victory, and brought them under submission, we have nothing to fear.
