One of the beauties of Reformed Christianity, is the acceptance and use of the creeds. We hold to the great creeds of the Reformation, like the Westminster Confession of Faith. (For those who don’t know what a creed is, it is simply a statement of faith about what we believe. The WCF is an extended faith of what we, as Protestant Christians believe is most important to know from Scripture.)
But we also hold to the ancient Apostle’s Creed, in which Christians have been professing the central faith for about 1,800 years. It is the essential statement of what Christians believe, and when we say it together in worship, we not only are stating what we believe, but joining hands with all those who have gone on before us, and will come after us, in this great confession.
Yet, with the Apostles Creed, there is that one statement that gives a lot of people pause:
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to hell.
Believers repeat the line: He descended into hell, after stating that Jesus suffered on the cross and died. For many, this is a troubling phrase and some refuse to say it. The thought of our Savior spending a moment in hell is repulsive. However, this comes about because of our confusion between the Hebrew word, Sheol, and the two Greek terms, Hades, and Gehenna. All three words are dealing with the afterlife.
On top of that, the Bible never says specifically states that Jesus descends into Sheol, Hades, or Gehenna. We have to imply it from what is said about the time after His death, and before the resurrection.
Therefore, to understand what we mean when we say, He descended into hell, we have to bring it all together theologically. And when we do, we will see the importance of understanding the difference between Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna. And there is a difference, especially between Sheol, Hades, and the last one, Gehenna.
First, let’s look at the fact, that Jesus does indeed, descend somewhere.
Paul writes that Jesus descends into the lower parts of the earth, in his letter to the church in Asia minor (The letter was titled to the Ephesians, but that inscription, in Ephesus, is actually added to the letter at a later date. The letter was to the church, to the saints. Not JUST to the church in Ephesus).
Ephesians 4:8-10
8 Therefore it says,
“When He ascended on high,
He led captive a host of captives,
And He gave gifts to men.”
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
Paul gives no indication as to what the lower parts of the earth are, so we have to put it together from other texts, which I hope to do. However, I do believe Paul has Sheol in mind given the context. When Paul refers to the lower parts of the earth, he isn’t just saying that Jesus came to earth. If this is what Paul meant, as some believe, then there would be no need to describe this descent as lower parts of the earth. Paul could have written: descended to earth. But he distinguishes the portion of earth where we live, to the lower parts, to, Sheol.
Sheol was the Old Testament version of Hades, both of which are places of the dead. These locations are to be distinguished from Gehenna, which was the place of eternal torment. Gehenna is the place that Jesus is referring to when He warns us against sin. He says as much in Matthew 5:22, where He tells us that those who call their brothers “fool” are guilty enough to be cast into fiery Gehenna. This is the place of the final judgment for the unrighteous.
But this is not what we are speaking of here. We are focusing on Sheol and Hades, which are the places of the dead. They did have portions of Sheol and Hades where the wicked were kept apart from the righteous, but all who die before Christ’s resurrection, go to Sheol.
This means that King David went into Sheol, as well as Goliath. Joseph, as well as Potiphar’s wife.
Sheol is where all go when they die, whether they are the righteous or the unrighteous. So all the Old Testament saints, who died waiting for the coming of the Messiah, were in Sheol. They were not in torment, but being held there awaiting the resurrection.
This is why Paul also tells us that when He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives… Jesus didn’t just descend into the depths of the earth for no reason. He did so to lead all the righteous out of Sheol and ascend with Him to paradise, where they are with Him now. (Remember He told the thief on the cross, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”)
The imagery of leading captive a host of captives is that of the triumph. A triumph was a type of parade given to a victorious general coming back from war. Those who were captured by the general’s army, were paraded in front of the general as he marched through the city streets. The captured enemies, the spoils of war, were paraded first, then followed by the army of the generals, then the general himself. All along, a slave would stand in the chariot of general… whispering in his ear: Memento Mori! or, Remember, you are mortal.
But in this case, Jesus flips the script. He is not mortal in His triumph. There is no slave whispering behind Him with any such words. He is victorious, not only over the principalities and powers of the air, but over death itself. Death has no sway upon Him, or… upon His spoils of war.
But again, Jesus reverses the script. He is not leading those who were captured in war, but those who are liberated in His victory. He is leading the entire host of Old Testament saints on to glory, the greater glory. For it is not just a glory for Jesus. In His graciousness, He shares that glory with those whom He leads. But there is more to this truth than that, even though this would be enough. He not only leads them into glory, into paradise, He also gives gifts to men, which is another reversal of the heavenly Triumph.
In the earthly triumph, all the gifts went to the general and his conquering army. Yet, in this Triumph, Jesus dispenses the gifts to others… to the church, those who still fight in the battle. Those gifts are apostles, prophets, pastor, teachers and evangelists (see the rest of Ephesians 4). These are the gifts the Triumphant King dispenses, as He leads captivity captive into glory, into paradise.
Those who ascended with Jesus, and were liberated from Sheol, are what we know as the great cloud of witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 11 – 12:1. The booty Jesus claimed from Satan are those who are witnesses to us. They are in paradise with Christ. They are part of the host that Christ led out of Sheol with Him, as a testimony to the evil spirits who were in Sheol.
Conclusion
Hopefully, in seeing this wonderful truth about why Jesus descended into hell, will give us comfort about reciting the line in the Apostles Creed. It is a glorious statement reminding us of Christ’s absolute victory over the principalities and powers of the air, those who remain in chains in Sheol. But more on that in the next post.
