The Triumphal Procession - why Jesus did not "descend into hell"

I had someone ask me in Sunday school last week if I thought Jesus descended into hell and "proclaimed to the spirits in prison" (1 Peter 3:19) when he died. It was a good question - the Scriptural evidence, if not looked at carefully, can lead astray.

I told him that Hebrews 9:12 says that Christ "entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption." The holy place is heaven, in the presence of the Father, and his blood being the blood he had just moments before shed on the cross. I take this to mean that when Jesus died, he went into the presence of the Father, and being our mediator, secured our eternal redemption.

So what about Ephesians 4:9, where Paul says, "that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth"? Well, I believe this to refer to the Incarnation, where the Son in his pre-incarnate state was in heaven with the Father (see Isaiah 6:1-5 and John 12:38-41 - "Isaiah saw his glory..."). When the Son came down from heaven in the flesh to dwell among men (John 1:14), he "descended into the lower regions, the earth" - that is to say, he came down from heavenly glory to a sinful world. This should not be taken to say he descended into hell.

Furthermore, in verse 8, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18 to tell us what he did when he ascended again to heavenly glory - "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and gave gifts to men." The captives are not men who were condemned, but demonic powers over whom Christ proclaimed his victory (see Colossians 2:15, "he disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him"). The gifts he gives to men are the spoils of his victory, probably in the form of church leaders (see a few verses down in Ephesians 4:11-14). The scene is like a Roman triumphal procession after battle, where Christ the victor walks in front and the captives are in his train, displayed to all in open shame.

Finally, what about 1 Peter 3:19-20, where Peter says, "in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah..."? Many would say that Jesus went to preach to these prisoners, giving them a second chance at believing in his name. But this is not congruent with the rest of Scripture. Again, the spirits are the demonic powers that rebelled in the days of Noah, and the prison is where only the fallen angels are held until the appointed time (see 2 Peter 2:4, "For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment..."). So again, Christ proceeds in victory with these captive spirits, those ancient angels that sinned long ago, and proclaimed that he was Lord of all, even over death and sin. It is important to note that he does not go into hell as the Apostles' Creed states, but he simply went and proclaimed (like a king announcing a victory from the battlefield) to those treasonous angelic powers who are in captivity and leads them in the train of his triumphal procession as he ascends on high.

SDG