Meditation: 1 Peter 3:18-20 He Descended into Hell

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Meditation: 1 Peter 3:18-20 “He Descended into Hell”

Maundy Thursday

March 28, 2013

We don't know what happened inside when the stone was rolled in front of the tomb. Three days later the tomb was empty so something must have happened. The Apostles Creed says that (Jesus) “descended into hell.” This phrase was not in the original Old Roman Symbol of the first century church. We first see it in the creed in a fourth century commentary and it officially was added to the creed in the seventh century. Today it is controversial. Some churches change it and other omit it entirely. It is difficult to believe that Jesus actually went to hell.

The Apostle Peter had some thoughts on this.

1 Peter 3:18-19 ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison.

So according to Peter Jesus descended into hell for the purpose of offering salvation to those who had died before he came.

All of this is fine, but it seems that Jesus' suffering, death and burial were enough. Why did he also have to experience the tortures of hell too?

I think the best way to think about this is to believe that Jesus descent into hell was not the last awful event of his suffering, death and burial. Rather it is the beginning event of his resurrection. Jesus descended into hell in order to defeat death the devil and Sin so that he could then be raised victorious on that first Easter morning. So Jesus descending into hell it good news because Sin is defeated and no longer holds us in bondage. Amen.