During the period of His death, our Lord made a proclamation to the demonic spirits imprisoned in the Abyss, released the spirits of believers from the grave, and officially presented Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for sin.
Introduction:
Body
| I. | He Made Proclamation To The Spirits (1 Peter 3:18-20). |
| II. | He Released All Believers In Sheol And Took Them To Paradise (Ephesians 4:8-10). |
| III. | He Presented Himself In The Heavenly Temple As The Ultimate Sacrifice For Sin (Hebrews 9:11-12, 21-24). |
Conclusion
Introduction
On Easter Sunday, we usually look at the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was put on the cross midmorning on Friday, gave up His spirit about six hours later and was buried before sunset. He rose alive from among the dead early Sunday. Reckoning by ancient Jewish timekeeping, where any part of the day is counted as a whole, He was dead for three days. Friday, Sat and Sunday. Modern timekeeping would put that about 35-plus hours or so.
What took place in the time between the death of our Lord on the cross Friday afternoon and His resurrection on Sunday morning? This is a part of our Lord’s life, or His death in this case, not well known. Most people, I suspect, just know He died on Friday and rose again on Sunday without giving much thought to what was taking place with our Lord in the intervening hours. I've heard it said our Lord spent that time in hell still suffering the punishment of sin on our behalf, that is, "He suffered hell for us." That story is not based on anything in the Scriptures and is actually quite in error. But what do the Scriptures tell us?
While They do not say much, they do tell us some things to be sure. But before we look at what happened after He died, we must be clear about what was taking place while He was on the cross. The first and foremost item we must understand is that our Lord’s payment for our sin took place while He hung upon the cross.
What was our Lord's relationship, in His humanity, with God the Father while He was on the cross? He was spiritually dead! He was our sin-bearer. Just as Simon of Cyrene carried the physical weight of the cross for our Lord because he was physically unable to do so, He carried the spiritual weight of our sin because we are unable to do so. He was spiritually dead, although He was alive and suffering physically. He suffered spiritual death in that He was separated spiritually from God the Father. Mark 15: 34 states,
At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”
You see, God had forsaken Him. The sin He now carried for us separated Him from God. This is the spiritual death all experience and deserve. We are born spiritually dead, and that state of death continues for the unbelieving person throughout their life and forever after death. Our Lord was alive spiritually from His birth throughout his life up to the cross. He had never known what it was to be separated spiritually from God, His father, because he had no sin. But at a point in time, he took upon himself the guilt of all our sins and this separated Him from God. He experienced spiritual death for us. We do not know at what point our Lord took upon Himself our sin, the point at which the Father turned His back, figuratively speaking, upon His son, the Messiah. Was it when He was arrested by the Roman soldiers in the garden? It seems to be after Peter removed an ear from one of the slaves of the high priest because our Lord says to Peter in Matthew 26,
52. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
53. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
If He could still appeal to God, it seems unlikely at this point He was spiritually dead. So was it after this? Or was it when He was brought before the High Priest? Was it when He was handed over to the soldiers following the pronouncement of the death sentence by Pilate? Was it when the first nail was driven through His hand into the wood? We do not know when it began, but we do know that while He hung on the cross between heaven and earth, He was the sacrificial lamb for all of us bearing the weight of our sin, rejected by man and His heavenly Father.
We do not know when it began, but we do know when it concluded. The bearing of our sin, the payment for our transgression, was concluded when He committed His spirit to His Father and died. Although our Lord was now dead physically, He was made alive spiritually. For although our Lord’s dead body hung upon the cross and later lay in the tomb, He was not there for 1 Peter 3:18 tells us this:
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
Peter tells us that although He was put to death in the flesh, that is, physically, He was made alive in the spirit, that is, spiritually. Remember that He suffered spiritual death when He hung on the cross for us. He was separated from God the Father. This spiritual death ended at His physical death because He was made alive spiritually at this point. We also know this from two other Scriptures. Luke 23:46 states:
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Our Lord could not commit His spirit to His Father if, when He died, He still was suffering the punishment of divine justice for us. God, the Father, would not have received His spirit. The fact that our Lord did this—and we have no reason to believe that it was not received—indicates the relationship with God the Father was now restored. Before He stated this, however, our Lord made another statement. John 19:30:
Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
As you may know, this phrase in Greek (Τετέλεσται), when used for debt, means "Paid in Full." The debt of our sin had been fully and completely paid off; nothing more is owed. Having paid the debt, our Lord now committed His spirit to His Father, died physically but was made alive spiritually. Although His dead body lay in the tomb, His spirit was not there. During this period of time between His physical death on Friday afternoon until His physical resurrection Sunday morning, where did He, in the spirit, go, and what did He do? The Word of God tells us at least three things.
Body:
I. He Made Proclamation To The Spirits (1 Peter 3:18-20).
Again 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 18-20:
18. For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
19. in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
20. who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
There is a wide variety of interpretations of these verses, with many excellent and respected scholars taking one or another of the many views that now prevail. It seems best to me to take the view held by the early church, which also fits the language and grammar of the early Greek manuscripts.
When He cried out, "It is finished!" and yielded up His spirit to His Father, the debt had been completely paid. His human spirit was then restored to fellowship with God; that is, He was made alive in spirit. It was in the spirit, not His physically resurrected body, it should be noted, in which He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison. Who are the spirits to whom our Lord made proclamation? Where are or were they imprisoned? How were they disobedient, and what did our Lord proclaim to them?
Peter gives us a hint about where to look for the answer when he tells us they were disobedient during the days of Noah prior to the great flood. Genesis 6:1-8 records for us what those days were like:
1. Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
2. that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
3. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
4. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7. LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Jude also makes reference to these spirits in his epistle, Jude 1:6:
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
These are angels who were disobedient during the days of Noah. They did not keep their first domain but abandoned it and chose to come to earth. The writer of Genesis, Moses, identifies them as the sons of God, a designation sometimes used for an angelic being. These angelic beings, fallen angels or demons as we now call them, had relations with human women either by taking on the form of human beings or, more likely, by possessing a human host. Their offspring were almost superhuman as Genesis states:
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
This, by the way, although it has been corrupted, is the source for the old myths and legends, the Greek stories of Hercules and such, although the gods of Olympus were nothing less than demonic beings.
When God judged the world, He destroyed sinful humanity and the Nephilim and, according to Jude, reserved these demonic beings in eternal bonds under darkness for judgment on that great Day of Judgment. The place where they are imprisoned is the Abyss. These spirits to whom our Lord made proclamation are these demonic beings imprisoned in the Abyss.
When it states our Lord made proclamation, it is not a reference to preaching the gospel, as some believe. The word used here is a different Greek word (κηρύσσω) meaning to herald or make a proclamation or to preach. He did not preach the gospel (εὐαγγελίζω). He proclaimed or heralded the victory over the spirits, that is, the demonic beings that in Noah's day sought to corrupt and defile the human race. When Adam fell, Satan and his host took control of our world. When Christ atoned for our sin, He wrested this control back from Satan. A man, the Messiah, now rules and will judge these offending spirits. Our Lord proclaimed His victory to these beings.
One thing our Lord did during the time of His physical death was to declare His victory over them, announcing victory for mankind and sealing their doom.
II. He Released All Believers In Sheol And Took Them To Paradise (Ephesians 4:8-10).
Ephesians 4:8-10 also tells us something else our Lord did in this period of time.
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 had 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 tells us that our Lord also descended into the lower parts of the earth. This is a reference to Hades or the grave (ᾅδης). In the Old Testament, this is designated as Sheol and refers to the place where the spirits and/or souls of all those who died, both righteous and unrighteous, went following death. At least, this was so before our Lord's resurrection. Whether it was literally located within the depths of the earth or this is simply a means of describing an extra-dimensional universe to people who had no such concepts, we cannot be sure. That our Lord's spirit went here is seen from the passage in Ephesians and supported by Acts 2:29-31, where Peter speaking to a crowd, states:
29.“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
30. And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE,
31. he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.”
This place is also described for us in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Both were in Sheol or Hades. It was divided, unrighteous in one part, the righteous in another. Our Lord went to Hades, not hell. Hell is a different place. It does exist today, although no one is there yet. In going here, He released all those who were of faith, taking these with Him back to heaven or paradise and leaving behind all those destined for judgment. This is what is being described by the statement that He led captivity captive. Those who were held captive by death in Hades were delivered from that place. Remember that our Lord told the believing thief who was crucified with Him that he would be with Him in Paradise that day.
When a believer dies today, his or her spirit does not end up in the grave, in Abraham’s bosom or Hades. Where does the spirit of a believer go upon death? To be with our Lord. Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:6-8:
6. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—;
7. for we walk by faith, not by sight—;
8. we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
We are also told in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14:
13. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
During that period of time after He died and before His resurrection, our Lord not only heralded His victory over Satan to those demonic beings imprisoned in the days of Noah, but He also released those who had died in faith prior to this time from Hades and brought them to heaven to await there the resurrection.
III. He Presented Himself In The Heavenly Temple As The Ultimate Sacrifice For Sin (Hebrews 9:11-12, 21-24).
There is a third thing that our Lord did during this period of time between His death and Resurrection. Hebrews 9:11-12 and 21-24 tell us this:
11. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;
12. and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
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21. And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.
22. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
There is a throne room in heaven. Isaiah had a glimpse of it, as did Ezekiel. So did the apostle John, as he recorded it in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul also probably had such a vision of this throne room, although he does not tell us much about it. But it is a literal place. Where it might be, we do not know. Is it part of this material universe, or is it located somewhere outside of the dimensions of this physical universe? That seems more likely to me, but we really do not know. But it is real; it exists. And in this throne room, there is the heavenly temple. The tabernacle and the other temples in Jerusalem all followed the pattern of this greater temple.
Into this temple, in spirit, our Lord entered into the presence of God the Creator. And in this heavenly temple, He performed the duties of the High Priest, for a high priest He was, being declared one by God, not after the Aaronic priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek. And this act, while being symbolic, to be sure, marked the official point where our forgiveness was secured. The legal requirements had been met. Signed, sealed and delivered!
Conclusion
It seems very likely that at least these three events, in some order, took place during the time Jesus was in the Spirit prior to His resurrection:
| 1. | Our Lord in Spirit entered the heavenly throne room and presented Himself to God as the sacrifice for sin, securing our eternal redemption. |
| 2. | In Spirit, He proclaimed victory over all the demonic forces imprisoned in the abyss. |
| 3. | In spirit, He descended to the grave and freed those who had died in faith who now belonged to Him and led them from there to paradise. |
We often think everything was at a standstill during this period of time, that the creation was holding its breath to see if our Lord was victorious or not. Some believe our Lord was suffering the fires of hell during this time, but such was not the case! With His cry, "It is finished!" and His yielding His spirit up to His Father, it was done. The victory was secured! The work was done. The enemy had been defeated! It only remained for Him to present the sacrifice to the Father, to declare the victory over those spirits imprisoned who would not have known it otherwise, and to free those He had redeemed from the grave.
Was the creation simply holding its breath during the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of our Lord's death, waiting to see if its deliverance had been secured? Not at all! Victory had been achieved, but some very important details remained to be taken care of. Because of What He did when He was dead, you and I now go to be with the Lord when we leave this physical body. The sacrifice He made was officially presented in the heavenly temple, and those who would have defiled and polluted the human race have been officially judged. Praise the Lord for His death and resurrection, and praise Him for all He did when He was dead!