Jesus' Descent Into Hell Another Easter Myth

Glenn A. Griffis -- Elijah's Axehead: Correcting Common Biblical Misconceptions

This recent Holy Week my Facebook news feed was filled with more Easter greetings than I have ever had. Many of them were edifying and enjoyable and lead to both repentance and praise, except for some of those that I saw on Easter Saturday, the day before Resurrection Day. I saw several posts that day, even from some who are supposedly theologically educated, who were asserting that on Easter Saturday we celebrate Jesus' descent into hell, a belief no where taught in scripture, nor held by the church at any time in its history. The idea of the descent into hell has gained popularity in recent years because it is often promoted in the Word of Faith movement and in popular Christian music.

One Christian artist has written a popular and beautiful song about Jesus last few days on earth that we often hear on our devices and, unfortunately, even in worship. In one verse she sings:

One final breath He gave As heaven looked away

The Son of God was laid in darkness 

A battle in the grave 

The war on death was waged 

The power of hell forever broken

Many churches today give greater deference to worship leaders and musicians than they do to those who "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15). When we use music in our worship because of it's cultural appeal or the celebrity of the recording artist without regard to the truth of the message we are practicing idolatry rather than worship, but that is for another post. Serious doctrinal error in our music may have worse consequence than doctrinal error in sermons or teaching.

When I pastored people seldom remembered my sermons from week-to-week, but they could almost always tell us what the choir had sung the week before, or what song the soloist, duet or ensemble had performed. Music engages the spirit. There is something powerful about music and church. Leaders charged with guarding the church would do well to pay as close attention to what is sung as they do what is said (Act 20: 28). The lyrics of the song above proclaim that "the power of hell [was] broken forever". That part she got right. The defeat occurred on the cross when Jesus died, not later in a battle that took place "in the grave."

Christ's atonement for sin and his defeat of "rulers and authorities" took place at his crucifixion:

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Eph 2:14-17 ESV)

 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,  by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Col 2:13-15 ESV,  cf. 1 Pt 2: 21-24)

As Adam's sin brought condemnation to all human beings, Jesus death made atonement for all.  (Rom 5:17-19; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 John 2: 1 & 2). Old Testament believers were saved by putting their faith in a the Messiah who was to come (Rom 4:13- 24; Gal 3: 7-9). On the cross He atoned for all sin. The theological term is that he is our "propitiation," satisfying completely the requirement of the atonement (1 Timothy 2:5-6;1 John 4:10).  While hanging on the cross Jesus spoke to the thief on the cross next to him, promising him that on that very day they would be together "in Paradise." As the time of his death neared Jesus spoke of the fulfillment of the prayer he had made in John 17:4 celebrating that his death would finish the work God had given him to do in fulfillment of more than three hundred Old Testament prophecies of the Anointed One (Gen 3:15; Isaiah 53: et. al). Just before he took his final breathe He said, "It is finished (John 19:30). 

At the moment of Jesus' death the penalty and power of sin was broken forever, the Old Testament saints received what they had been promised (Hebrew 11: 39 & 40). Some even arose at the moment of Jesus' death and appeared to many announcing that the curse of sin was complete (Matt 27: 51- 54). Those who argue that on Saturday after Jesus death He descended into Hell fail to understand the effect of Jesus' death. They diminish it's value. How has this false teaching become so prevalent?

Those who argue that on Saturday after Jesus death He descended into Hell fail to understand the effect of Jesus' death. They diminish it's value. How has this false teaching become so prevalent? 

Most Christians have heard the familiar phrase from the Apostles Creed "he descended into hell." The Apostles Creed was not written by the Apostles, and it is subservient to the teaching of Scripture. It is the early church's restatement of the commonly held beliefs of the Apostles. It was written to address false teaching that was being advocated at the time of it's writing. The phrase "he descended into Hell" is absent from earliest versions of the creed  prior to the middle of the fourth century. It was added later. The Creed was translated into English in the 17th Century. The word translated "hell" in English was from the Latin the word for "hades," which is a general term for the place of the dead. Sometimes the term merely refers to the grave. The Creed never used the word "Gehenna," which was the term Jesus used for the place where lost souls go after death. To argue that the Apostle's Creed establishes that early church believed Jesus descended into Hell is a specious argument at best. 

Christian musicians as well as some of those in the Word of Faith movement who assert that there was a great cosmic battle that took place between the death and resurrection of Christ misuse two passages of scripture to make that assertion -- Ephesians 4: 8- 10 and 1 Peter 3: 18- 22. There are some other texts that allude to the period when Christ was in the grave, but there understanding is dependent on these two texts. Let's examine each of these passages:

 Therefore it says,
 "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men."
( In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) (Eph 4:8-10 ESV)

In this passage Paul explains that grace enable us to to live worthy of the truth and minister in love. To explain how grace empowers our lives Paul quotes Psalm 68: 18. A New Testament author quotes Old Testament scripture to support the message he is writing. Rather than giving the reference a  meaning foreign to its context, he uses the original intent of the Old Testament writer to support his own teaching.  To understand how the quote supported what Paul was teaching we need to understand the meaning of the quoted passage to those to whom he wrote. So what point does Paul make when he quotes Psalm 68:18:

David wrote Psalm 68 to praise Jehovah for a marvelous victory over Israel's enemy. He compares his victory to the great victory God gave to Moses as he lead the the Jewish people, fleeing Pharaoh, across the Red Sea, drowning their enemies. David says that Jehovah "ascended" after leading the people through the Red Sea. He goes on to explain that for Jehovah to have ascended he previously had to have descended "into the lower parts of the earth." The "lower parts of the earth" to which God descended in the exodus was the surface of the planet, and is said to be where Christ descended. The Father never descended into Hell and neither did Jesus. The Hebrew word David uses for "lower parts of the earth" is the same word uses in Psalm 139: 13- 15 with which his readers would have been familiar. 

The term "lower parts of the earth" in Psalm 138:13-15 is a reference to the formation of child in the mother's womb, which takes place on earth. The verse that Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18 describes an ascent that follows an event that took place on earth, not in the grave or below it. Paul's point

The verse that Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18 describes an ascent that follows an event that took place on earth, not in the grave or below it.

seems to be that Jesus descent to human form on the earth enabled him to gain a great victory over death then to ascend to his Father. The victory is prefigured in Jehovah's descent to lead Moses into the wilderness to deliver his people from slavery and to establish a nation that would lead all nations into his presence. 

Christ descended to earth, becoming flesh, to complete his atoning  work on the cross then arose and was exalted to the right hand of God, making believers worthy to live in relationship to him and to equip them for ministry. As Christ ascended he would give the Holy Spirit by grace to enable people to instruct others and lead them into a life of victory and power. To claim this passage teaches that Christ descended into hell would require Paul to use Psalm 68:18 in a manner differently than what his readers would have understood. He used Psalm 68:18 to teach that Christ's incarnation and atoning sacrifice culminates his victorious work. There is another passage that is often confused:

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.  Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,  who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Pe 3:18-22 ESV)

Peter is talking about the redemptive wok of  Christ that pays for sins for the righteous and the unrighteous and brings all things in subjection to him, and about what happened to  Christ after he died. Who were the spirits who had formerly obeyed to whom Christ proclaimed victory? God showed a special patience for those who lived in Noah's time while he built the ark, so it clearly is a reference to specific people rather than all Old Testament saints.  So does God who shows no partiality give a special dispensation, to those who lived in the time of Noah?  Did God judge those in the flood, then give them a chance to receive the gospel after Christ died? Did Christ to go to those who died at the time of  flood, or other any other Old Testament saint and announce his death giving them a second chance to repent after their death? Did he have a battle with Satan after he died to redeem those who had gone before? Some in the Word of Faith movement teach exactly that. The song quoted above seems to say that after Christ died he entered into a great battle with Satan to acquire the souls of the saints who lived before the days of Noah? A close look at the passage shows this teaching to be a serious error

Who are those to whom Christ made "a proclamation?" They are called "spirits in prison," There is only one place in the New Testament (Heb 12:23) where the plural noun "spirit" is used of disembodied human beings, and they are spoken of as those who have been perfected rather than awaiting some unfinished event. When used in the plural in every other time the word "spirits" refers to angelic beings. These particular beings are said  to be in  "prison," which can be translated as "a place of refuge." 2 Peter 2:4 speaks of angelic beings cast into darkness at the time of Noah. These are fallen angelic beings who rebelled against heaven rather than disembodied humans. Christ made a proclamation to them  ''in his spirit." Throughout the  New Testament the Holy Spirit is credited with empowering the Son's resurrection. While in His physical body Jesus often spoken of  being in the Spirit. 

Here is what we know from this text. Christ made a proclamation in the power of the Spirit through, Noah who preached the gospel to the people of his day. In the same way following his death Christ

Christ made a proclamation in the power of the Spirit through, Noah who preached the gospel to the people of his day. 

proclaimed His victory to the fallen angels who had lead men into sin during that period. He proclaimed the victory he had achieved through the cross. Peter goes on to explain that Noah's faith that enabled him to be delivered through the flood corresponded to the faith that delivered those who had shown trust in Christ through the waters of baptism. There was no spiritual battle to fight for the souls of Old Testament saints on the Saturday after his resurrection.

On Friday when Christ died it was finished; Satan was defeated. Jesus  proclaimed that victory to the demonic world while in the grave, then arose on Sunday to begin the process of building and extending his kingdom. Rather than descending into Hell Jesus has eternally defeated it. Those who teach that either the Apostle's Creed or scripture teaches that Jesus went to Hell on the Saturday after death to loose Old Testament saints trapped there lack a full of understanding of the sacrifice Christ made. 

Those who would claim Jesus descended into Hell are hardly heretics, but they do show themselves to be imprudent students of Scripture. A failure to understand that Christ death on the cross completed all the requirements of the atonement, may not threaten a person's soul, but it does at the least diminish their understanding of the victory of Jesus Christ. When we fail to understand the extent of his accomplishment we fail to understand the extent of his power in our lives, and fail to be all God wants us to be. Jesus could not have descended into hell on Saturday. When Jesus died on Friday he paid it all. In his words, "it [was] finished."