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Glory · Jesus Christ
The Apostles' Creed says Jesus 'descended into hell,' but the word behind it is Hades, the realm of the dead, not the final lake of fire. Scripture's emphasis is that Christ really died, really entered the place of the dead, and was not abandoned there: He rose victorious. The line confesses the completeness of His death and the depth of His victory.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/what-does-the-creed-mean-by-he-descended-into-hell · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Acts 2:22-36
As you read: Peter quotes David: God would not leave His Holy One in Hades, and he says this was fulfilled when God raised Jesus up.
22“Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in your midst, even as you yourselves know,
23him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;
24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
25For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before my face, For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
26Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
27because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
28You made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
31he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
32This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.
33Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.
34For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’
36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Ephesians 4:7-10
As you read: Paul ties the giving of gifts to a descent and an ascent. What does the descent mean, and where did it reach?
7But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
9Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
1 Peter 3:18-22
As you read: The most debated lines on this subject: what did Christ do between His death and resurrection?
18Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
19in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
Luke 23:32-46
As you read: Watch the final hours: 'today you will be with me in Paradise' and 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.'
32There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death.
33When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
34Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots.
35The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
36The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar,
37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
38An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
39One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!”
40But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
45The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
46Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
The creed's 'descended into hell' translates the earlier 'descended into Hades,' the realm of the dead, what the Old Testament calls Sheol. Paul says that the Christ who ascended 'first descended into the lower parts of the earth,' and Jesus compared His own death to Jonah's three days and nights 'in the heart of the earth.' The confession testifies that His death was real: He did not merely appear to die; He went where the dead go.
“Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first 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.”Ephesians 4:9-10
“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”Matthew 12:40
Peter's Pentecost sermon quotes David: 'You will not leave my soul in Hades,' and he applies it to Christ. Like Sheol, Hades in the New Testament is the place of the dead, sometimes pictured with the ungodly in torment and the righteous in comfort; it is not the lake of fire at the final judgment. Jesus Himself told the dying thief, 'Today you will be with me in Paradise,' and in the same hour committed His spirit into His Father's hands. Death was not heaven for Him then; it was the doorway through which He trusted His Father.
“because you will not leave my soul in Hades, neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.”Acts 2:27
“For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.”Psalm 16:10
“Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.””Luke 23:43
“Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.”Luke 23:46
Peter says God raised Him up, 'having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.' Death did its worst and could not contain Him. The risen Christ announces, 'I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more... I have the keys of Death and of Hades.' The descent is not a defeat; it is the moment in the heart of the earth before the grave gave way.
“whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.”Acts 2:24
“he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.”Acts 2:31
“and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.”Revelation 1:18
First Peter says the Spirit-anointed Christ 'went and preached to the spirits in prison,' the disobedient of the days of Noah, and 1 Peter 4 adds that the gospel 'was preached even to the dead.' Interpreters differ: some hear a proclamation of victory to fallen spirits, others an offer of grace to the dead, and the church has never made one reading a test of faith. What is certain from the whole passage is that after His death Christ was active, triumphant, and 'at the right hand of God… angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.'
“Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.”1 Peter 3:18-22
“For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.”1 Peter 4:6
Hebrews says He shared our flesh and blood 'that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.' Paul pictures the cross itself as the triumph: Christ 'stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.' The descent into Hades tells us how low love went to save us, and the resurrection tells us how complete the victory is. That is why the creed does not end in the tomb; it moves from 'descended into hell' straight to the third day and the resurrection.
“Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”Hebrews 2:14-15
“having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”Colossians 2:15
“But the righteousness which is of faith says this, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.)””Romans 10:6-7