May 10, 2026

John 14:15-21

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Fill in the blank….

Happy Mother’s Day!

To be or not to be, that is the question.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Take me out to the ballgame, buy me some peanuts and crackerjack.

It ain’t over… til it’s over.

I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth.

He was crucified, died, and was buried, He descended into hell.

You got it. He descended into hell. If you come to church, you say it every Sunday. Some of you have recited it hundreds even, thousands of times! We confess the Nicene Creed. The Apostle’s Creed, that Creed has been accepted by every church in every age, despite divisions between the East and the West, between Catholic and Protestant, the words of the Apostles Creed have bound the church on earth together in one faith.

Today, we could say, as Peter says, that Mom’s “suffer for doing good” and they go through all kinds of hell. Today we credit them and their faith and we give thanks for Mothers and Grandmothers and God mothers and Mothers- in- law and step- Mothers and for all that you go through. God bless you!

You know the words well. You confess Jesus descended into hell, you just proved to me you know those words. But I wonder how often you ask yourself what those words actually mean. Now perhaps we should begin with the basic question, you may have asked yourself, did Christ really descend into hell? Some say I don’t see it in scripture. Frankly, this is one part of the Creed that does not have a ton of biblical support. Peter told us we should always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us. We should always be able to speak what we believe to people who would ask. But I am guessing, if people asked you to give a defense of why we do say this in the Creed you might have a hard time. Doesn’t seem to be a major feature, it’s not mentioned in any of the four gospels, we go from Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday to His resurrection on Easter morning, Nothing in the gospels of the descent into hell. But the epistle for today is the surest text that we have and explains what was happening there and Jesus did descend into hell. Let’s take a look at it one more time. Read 1 Peter 3:18-20, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh (that’s the crucifixion) but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison (that’s the descent into hell) How do we know it’s hell? we keep reading… because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.” So Jesus, descends into the region of the dammed In Genesis 6 Noah and his family were the only believers on earth, God brought a global flood to sweep away all the unbelievers and start fresh. The ones who perished in that flood are now with Satan in hell for their lack of faith. There are a few other passages that allude to the descent into hell but this one flat out describes it. So we can answer our question did Christ descend into hell? The answer is yes! 1 Peter 3 and the Church has confessed it now for two millenia.

But now comes the next part, if we can agree that Jesus has descended into hell, we have to ask ourselves next, what was He doing there? Just as some in the church have debated if He even went there, others have debated what was He doing there, while He was there? Some Christians teach that Christ went there to suffer the same punishment we would’ve suffered for our own sins. If He’s the perfect substitute, they reason, then He had to pay the full price. And that means not only bearing our sins on the cross, suffering the death we deserved, but also suffering the punishment in hell that we deserved. One famous theologian, John Calvin, who also denied that Jesus descended into hell, said simply Jesus descended into hell when He suffered on the cross. Many in this camp, see Jesus going to hell as part of His suffering in some way. Hell is a scary place, no one wants to go there. So it sounds like Jesus going there would be no good thing. But lets look a little harder. Now it surprises people, when we teach of Jesus humiliation and exaltation. The descent into hell is actually the first step of Jesus’ exaltation. It’s considered part of the upward movement of our Lord. The humiliation in the words of the creed means that Jesus emptied Himself and became like us, one of His Creation. He was conceived, born, being a human, He underwent suffering and was crucified, He died, His body was buried in the ground. The lowest of the low. The creator of the earth, laid to death in the heart of the earth. So is the descent His last step down as some would say? But we say the descent is the first step up. Why is that? Well, Peter tells us what Jesus was doing down there. He said He was alive in the spirit, that’s better than being dead and then what did He do there? He proclaimed there. Kairuso. To announce or herald. What was He doing? He was heralding His victory He won on the cross. He said it is finished. The work of suffering was done there on the cross. The descent is not part of His further suffering but the first work of celebration. The first step in His exaltation. Our Lord marched down to Satan’s lair and proclaims to the residents of hell, “It is over! I won! I crushed Satan! I took away the sins of the world, just like the Father said I would.”

The reformers discussed the descent and weren’t always clear on what it meant. Luther said all you have to do is look around at church art and it will tell the story. And he pointed out once in a sermon that “the customary way of depicting how Christ descended into hell on church walls; …with a cape and with banners in His hand as He makes His descent and stalks and assaults the devil, as He storms and rescues His own people.” The early church understood the message of the descent was clear, what was He doing there? He was swooping down and proclaiming the victory of His salvation.

Ok, interesting, seems more like a bible study, WDTM for me? Good question and I’m glad you asked, I’m going to tell you. I’m going to use the last book of the bible, Rev. 1 :18-19 Jesus is speaking and here is what He says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Death and hell.

From time to time, we talk about the Office of the keys, keys God gives to the church to open and to unlock the gates of heaven to those who repent of their sins and believe. Jesus holds the key to overcoming death and the grave. But here He also tells us He has the keys to hell. WDTM? It means that hell is no more Satan’s domain. Now when you buy a new car, how do you know it’s yours? Well, you go into a room and you negotiate with the finance guy and it’s yours when you are handed the keys and you can go drive it home. And how do you know when you buy a house it’s really yours? You can drive by while negotiate with the realtors, but you have to sign the papers and they hand over the keys and you can go home and you can control who comes in and who comes out of that house as long as you own it. I like to picture Jesus descent into hell like this, Satan holds the keys to the house and Jesus walks in, and He comes up to Satan and says, “I’ll take those now, you won’t be needing them anymore.” WDTM for you? It means that Jesus has locked the gates of hell for you who believe. And it’s not a place you need to be afraid of anymore.

Dear people, we live in a world where many people, even Christians, deny the existence of hell. Oh everybody believes in heaven but many ignore hell or they pretend that Jesus wouldn’t allow people to go to such a place and suffer for eternity. They say this with no basis in scripture whatsoever. But we know hell is real place and we know that’s true because we confess our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has been there.  And we confess the descent into hell in the creed, not just because it happened but more importantly, we confess this because it’s the one place in our creed where we confess and show that Jesus is victorious over God’s main opponent.  When you say those words, you proclaim that Jesus is victorious not only over sin, not just over death and the grave, but that He has won the victory over Satan himself.

Now may the peace of God which surpasses all our understanding keep and guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the victor over Satan.  Amen.