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"He Descended into Hell"



When it comes to the Apostles’ Creed, there are some of us who have been challenged by some of the statements made in the Creed. When we came to those statements and read the words printed on the page, it created such a misunderstanding that we either stumbled through verbally or simply “skipped that part.”

One, of course is the “I believe in…the holy catholic church.” Once we learn that it is not a direct reference to the Roman Catholic church, but that the word “catholic” (lowercase “c”) can be translated as the “Universal Church” (all Christians), we grow more accustomed to making the proclamation.

However, there is another statement that rings loudly that has caused some discomfort. As a former United Methodist, there was a time in the Denomination’s history that the words were actually omitted. What part are we talking about? The belief that states Jesus Christ “descended to the dead” or in some translations “he descended into Hell.”

The shortest way to summarize this is to say this: Jesus died a real death to secure a real victory. In other words, His death wasn’t simulated or somehow he died differently than the way humans die. Nothing about what Jesus experienced was fake or some unique “spiritual dimension” made just for him. He was crucified. He died. He was buried. He descended to the dead.

Here is where it might get a little foggy, but we’ll try to keep the understanding clear! When the creed mentions hell, it does not use the word gehenna. The New Testament word for the real, physical location for hell, the place of final retribution, is gehenna.

The Apostles’ Creed does not refer to physical gehenna, but to sheol (in Hebrew) or hades (in Greek). Sheol and hades are not always understood in the Bible in exactly the same way, however, we can summarize that these terms most often refer to the state of death rather than the location after death. 

In his written article “He Descended into Hell?”, author Rev. John Jones, said it this way: “What we need to hear in this phrase is that what happens to everyone who dies, really happened to Jesus, too. In His death, he entered the deepest humiliation of human existence by experiencing death to its fullest completion. He did not fake His death. It was not an apparition that died. There was not a stunt-double who died in His place. He was not in some unconscious, comatose state for three days. He was not death-like from exhaustion after hanging on the cross. Jesus died a real death, a real descent into the state of death.”

The statement is a bit confusing and has garnered enough debate throughout the centuries that a good deal of scholars believe that its misinterpretation is what led it be finally be incorporated into the Creed in the 5th-Century. Bottom line, again, is to remember we are talking a state of death rather than the location after death.

So….application. Even more bold, we dare to ask, “so what?” The good news of this statement in our Creed is to comfort us with a reality that:

1.     We do NOT have to fear our own death.
2.    Jesus experienced death just like we will
3.    His death prepared the way and sanctified the way for us.
4.    Just like his spirit went immediately into his Father’s presence, our spirit will go to Heaven immediately upon our death
5.    Jesus’ body was buried in an earthly grave and his spirit was reunited with his body (after 3 days); so our bodies buried on earth in its grave will eventually be reunited with our spirit (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Jesus experienced the full cycle of death, burial, and resurrection so that we can be assured of the same thing upon the earthly, physical death of our bodies. That means that our death no longer needs to be feared or seen as morbid, scary and “the end” of our existence.

Easter takes on a whole new meaning when we grasp the full extent of the statement when Jesus, “descended to the dead” or “descended into hell” for us. Jesus experienced death and resurrection. We, as his children, when we experience death, will also experience our own resurrection into eternal life. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 15:54-57, When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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NOTE: I realize that many Church Fathers and other Scholars believed that Jesus literally and physically went into the fires of Hell to liberate those who died before he had died for the sins of the world. This is still a possibility and may be what actually happened. I think that the Old Testament "equivalent" to foreshadow this is the story of Daniel, Chapter 3, of the "Fiery Furnace" when Jesus was seen as the fourth person walking in the fire with the three men. I offer this article for contemplation and not as hard fact. The issue at hand is still one of uncertainty.

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