The fifth article of faith in the Apostle's Creed says that Jesus Christ "descended into Hell, the third day He rose again from the dead." As we approach Holy Week to walk once again with Christ the final steps of His earthly life it will be a fruitful spiritual exercise to visit this article of faith, our Lord's "decent into Hell." This fifth article of faith explains what Christ did after His death and before His Resurrection, when He came back to human life three days after He was crucified.
Let's talk briefly about the term "hell." The Bible referres to the place of the dead as "hell" or "Sheol" in Hebrew or "Hades" in Greek. Here was all the dead, whether they had lived an evil life or one that was generally righteous. Here they awaited in hope the Redeemer.
In the parable of the poor begger Lazarus in Luke 16:20 we learn that in death there is a difference between the evil and the just. Jesus descended into hell to deliever the holy souls, that is those who died in hope awaiting their redeemer's justice. Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before Him.
What happened after our Lord died? When Jesus died, His body and soul were separated. This is what will happen when each of us die. Death is the separation of the physical body and the immortal soul. His body was placed in a grave which was a new burial tomb.
Our Lord's body was laid in a tomb, but His soul "descended into hell." The word "hell" here in the Creed means the place of the dead, where they are resting. Much later in Christian history was it used also to mean the place of punishment for the damned. This descent means that after His death, His soul visited the souls of the just who died, from Adam and Eve to that time of the Crucifixion who died in hope in God's justice. In the Father's eternal plan this justice is the Lord's death on the Cross by which all creation is redeemed.
We find this in 1 Peter 3:18-19:
St. Paul proclaims:
Our Lord Jesus Christ has authority over the living and the dead!
Let's talk briefly about the term "hell." The Bible referres to the place of the dead as "hell" or "Sheol" in Hebrew or "Hades" in Greek. Here was all the dead, whether they had lived an evil life or one that was generally righteous. Here they awaited in hope the Redeemer.
In the parable of the poor begger Lazarus in Luke 16:20 we learn that in death there is a difference between the evil and the just. Jesus descended into hell to deliever the holy souls, that is those who died in hope awaiting their redeemer's justice. Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before Him.
What happened after our Lord died? When Jesus died, His body and soul were separated. This is what will happen when each of us die. Death is the separation of the physical body and the immortal soul. His body was placed in a grave which was a new burial tomb.
Our Lord's body was laid in a tomb, but His soul "descended into hell." The word "hell" here in the Creed means the place of the dead, where they are resting. Much later in Christian history was it used also to mean the place of punishment for the damned. This descent means that after His death, His soul visited the souls of the just who died, from Adam and Eve to that time of the Crucifixion who died in hope in God's justice. In the Father's eternal plan this justice is the Lord's death on the Cross by which all creation is redeemed.
We find this in 1 Peter 3:18-19:
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit; in which He went and preached to the spirits in prison, (1Pe 3:18-19 RSV)Christ descended into Hell, into the place of the dead, to manifest His power and authority over all Creation, which included the plaace of the dead.
St. Paul proclaims:
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (Phi 2:9-10 RSV)
Our Lord Jesus Christ has authority over the living and the dead!
