************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 44 ************
Doctrine: The Apostles' Creed, "Christ ... descended to hell"
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on April 13, 2001
Q & A 44
Mark 15:33-37
"He Descended To Hell"
Introduction
According to the Apostles' Creed Jesus "suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell." These are all steps in our Lord's suffering that we remember on this Friday that we call "Good." It is fair to say that the amount of suffering increases with every step. Therefore, the worst part of the punishment that Jesus suffered on Good Friday was the descent to hell.
"He descended to hell." I need to tell you that this is the most controversial article of the Apostles' Creed. During my twenty-four years in the ministry I have been challenged more often about this than any other point of doctrine. The reason for the confusion is that the Apostles' Creed means one thing when it says Christ "descended into hell" and the Heidelberg Catechism means something quite different. The Creed's perspective is that Jesus went to hell. The Catechism's perspective is that hell came to Jesus.
"He descended to hell." In discussing this article, we will first be looking at its original meaning in the Creed. Then we will examine what the Catechism understands by this article.
I The Creed - Jesus Went to Hell
A Where did Christ go between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? That's the question we are facing as far as the Creed is concerned. In answering this question we must look at Christ's humanity – His body and soul – as well as His divinity.
There is no question concerning the whereabouts of Christ's body between Good Friday and Easter Sunday: it was in the tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea.
Nor is there much question concerning the whereabouts of Christ's divinity between Good Friday and Easter Sunday: as part of the divine, triune Godhead, Christ was present everywhere God was; as God He was and is infinite.
That leaves unanswered the question of the whereabouts of Christ's human soul or spirit between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
B Lutherans and Roman Catholics find the answer to this question in Peter's first letter who tells us that Jesus
(1Pet 3:19-20) ... went and preached to the spirits in prison (20) who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.
Based upon this text official Lutheran theology says that between Good Friday and Easter Sunday
The Lord Christ – His entire person, God and man, with body and soul undivided – had journeyed to hell, and had, in person, demolished hell and bound the Devil. (Luther's Easter sermon of 13 April 1533)
According to the Lutherans, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday Christ went to hell where He fought and defeated Satan.
Official Roman Catholic theology, also based on this text, says that the soul or spirit of Christ went to purgatory between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The purpose of this Descent was to show His power and glory even in the underworld and to comfort and deliver the souls of the just held captive there, i.e., take them to heaven.
According to both the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics when Jesus descended to hell He went to a place called hell. And, for both the Lutherans and the Roman Catholics, Christ's descent to hell is not part of His suffering and humiliation; rather, it is part of His exaltation and glorification.
C What does the Creed mean when it says Christ "descended to hell"? It is instructive to go back to the original languages. "He descended to hell." In the Hebrew language we say, "He descended to Sheol." In the Greek language we say, "He descended to Hades."
"Sheol" and "Hades" are general words for the grave or the shadowy domain where the souls of dead people go – without distinguishing between people who go to heaven and people who go to hell. If a loved one has died, she has gone to "Sheol." The saints of old who have died have gone to "Hades." Sheol and Hades do not say anything about bliss or punishment. They are merely other ways of saying "death," "the realm of the dead." Do you remember what Jacob said when he thought Joseph was dead? He said, "in mourning will I go down to the grave (Sheol in Hebrew) to my son" (Gen 37:35).
Old Testament believers thought of the souls of the dead as going to Sheol or Hades. New Testament believers have been given far greater insight than this. In His "Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus," Jesus teaches that the dead are found in two entirely different places: the redeemed of the Lord are carried to the bosom of Abraham whereas the damned are in the torments of hell. Jacob talked about going to Joseph in Hades. But Stephen, the disciple of Jesus, spoke of going to Jesus when he died: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). We in the New Testament period know that the spirits of departing believers are with God or with Christ the moment they die.
D This brings us again to the question we asked earlier: where was Christ's human soul or spirit between Good Friday and Easter Sunday?
According to the Reformed understanding of the Creed the descent into hell tells us that between Good Friday and Easter Sunday Christ's soul went to the abode of the dead – Sheol or Hades. "He descended to hell," that is, "He went to the abode of the dead." "He descended to hell," that is, He was in the state of the dead and under the power of death. "He descended to hell," that is, "He descended to Sheol or Hades."
E "He descended to hell," that is, "He descended to Sheol or Hades." Christ Jesus descended into the shadowy domain where the souls of the dead go. This article, so understood, holds out lasting comfort to the people of God.
We know that someday, unless Jesus returns with a bang, we too will enter the domain of the dead. None of us has ever looked behind the dark curtain that has taken countless loved ones beyond our touch and view. So we have no real idea of what we will see or experience on the other side of the wall. Also, death is the final enemy of God's people (I Cor 15:26). So, entering its shadowy domain is frightening for most people.
When fear of death attacks us, Jesus does to us what He once did to the Apostle John on Patmos: He places His right hand on us and says,
(Rev 1:17-18) "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. (18) I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."
"You must not worry about going into that place," He is saying. "I was there, and I came back. And I have the key. That place is in my power; that's why I have the key. I am alive, and you are mine. And I won't let you out of my sight, not even in Hades."
II The Catechism - Hell Came to Jesus
A "He descended to hell." According to the Creed this means that after His death Jesus went to the place or realm of the dead known as Sheol or Hades.
"He descended to hell." How does the Catechism understand this article? As I already said, the Catechism views the descent to hell as the worst part of the punishment that Jesus suffered on Good Friday. Furthermore, the Catechism sees the descent to hell as happening before rather than after Christ's death.
In His sixth word upon the cross Jesus said, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30). This word signified the end of Christ's life, the end of His work of redemption on earth, and the completion or fulfillment of Scripture's promises about the Messiah. "It is finished" means that the descent to hell could not have taken place after Christ's death. It necessarily points to events before His death.
This further means that the order of the articles of the Apostles' Creed ought to be changed. We say:
I believe ... in Jesus Christ ... who ...
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
But what we actually mean is:
I believe ... in Jesus Christ ... who ...
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified;
he descended to hell;
he died and was buried.
B "He descended to hell." According to the Catechism, Christ descended to hell "by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, especially on the cross but also earlier."
"Unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul." The Catechism wants us to think of "Gehenna" here. In the Bible Gehenna is the place of the eternal punishment of the wicked. That place receives its name from a dump near Jerusalem – a place of constantly burning fires, of maggots and worms, a place for lepers and the deformed, a place of suffering and pain. On the cross but also earlier Christ suffered the unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul that is experienced by the damned in Gehenna.
C What, specifically, is in mind here? Which sufferings of Christ is the Catechism thinking of?
In mind here is the increasing hatred, anger, and bitterness of Jesus' own people against Him. Jesus wept when He thought of the hardness of their hearts (Lk 19:41ff). What anguish this caused Him.
In mind here is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He "began to be deeply distressed and troubled" (Mk 6:33). "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," He said (Mk 14:34). Luke tells us that "being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Lk 22:44).
In mind is His betrayal by Judas (Mk 14:43ff) and His denial by Peter (Mk 14:66ff). It cut Jesus to the heart that a close friend, someone He trusted, someone who shared His bread, would betray Him. And it hurt even more when a close friend, someone He trusted, someone who shared His bread, would deny knowing Him.
In mind is His treatment in front of the Sanhedrin: the lies and false witnesses, the spitting, the blindfold, being struck with fists (Mk 14:64ff).
In mind are the jeers and shouts of the crowds. One week before they were waving palm branches and yelling,
(Mk 11:9-10) "Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" (10) "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
But on Good Friday they were yelling, "Crucify him!" "Crucify him!" "Crucify him!" (Mk 15:13ff).
In mind is the cruelty and torture by the Roman soldiers: the purple robe, the crown of thorns, the mockery, the spitting, the hitting (Mk 15:15ff).
In mind is the crucifixion.
D Especially in mind, though, are those three awful hours of darkness while Jesus hung alone upon the cross. Jesus, experiencing hell's deep agony, cried out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" – "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:33).
Imagine the scene for a moment. Jesus was forsaken by the crowds that had greeted Him so jubilantly a few days before. His disciples were scattered like sheep without a shepherd (Mt 26:31). He assigned His own mother to the care of another (Jn 19:26-27). His clothes were stolen, and one soldier got His undergarment with a lucky throw of the dice (Jn 19:23,24). He lost His friends, His family, His dignity.
Then the sunlight was taken from Him – "At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour" (Mk 15:33) – and He lost even His heavenly Father: "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" – "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:33). At that point Jesus experienced the full terror of hell.
Jesus Himself had said that the Father stands at the road looking and waiting for when the lost son comes home (Lk 15:20). He had said that the good Father always answers when His children ask for bread or an egg or the Spirit (Lk 11:9-13). But on the cross Jesus sought and could not find; He called, and He received no answer. It was dark, and God was distant. All ties between Jesus and God were removed; God totally separated Himself from Christ. This is hell. "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" – "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:33). For three awful hours Jesus experienced the curse of God. For three awful hours the eternal union between the Father and the Son was broken. For three awful hours the holy Creator of the universe visited upon His one and only Son all of His anger against the sin of the human race.
It was upon the cross, during those three awful hours of darkness, when God had forsaken Him, that Jesus especially experienced hell. Notice, though, that Jesus did not go to a place called hell. Rather, hell came to Jesus. On the cross – especially on the cross during those three hours of darkness – but also earlier, hell came to Jesus.
E The Catechism finds comfort in this teaching that hell came to Jesus. There is comfort for God's people in Christ's descent into hell. To see this comfort we need to realize something, my brothers and sisters. We need to realize that you and I should be going to hell. You and I should be experiencing the curse of God. You and I should be experiencing the anger of the holy God against the sin we are born with as well as the sin we actually commit.
You and I should descend to hell. Instead, hell came to Jesus. There is comfort for us in this greatest act of humiliation and degradation suffered by Christ. There is comfort for us because Christ suffered in this way. You see, Christ suffered this in our place. Therefore Christ's "has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell." Christ has delivered me from the anguish and torment of hell because he suffered the anguish and torment of hell in my place.
F Perhaps someone here is worrying about the fires of hell because of a losing battle with some sin. Perhaps someone else is worrying about the fires of hell because of some dreadful sin of his or her youth. Perhaps you worry about hell because you think your faith is not real and your commitment is not heart-felt. Perhaps you are so preoccupied with your sin and misery that you think you feel the fires of hell on the soles of your feet. In such times of personal crisis and temptation you have the assurance, if you believe, that you will not go to hell because hell has gone to Jesus.
Conclusion
I believe ... in Jesus Christ ... who ...
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
These are all steps in our Lord's humiliation. He deserved none of them. We deserve all of them.