Read with Me
1 Peter 3:18-22
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that He might bring you to God,
after being put to death in the fleshly realm
but made alive in the spiritual realm.
In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
Listen with Me
The Apostles’ Creed states that after His death and burial Jesus descended into hell before he rose from the dead, and this revelation to Peter is the basis for that statement. For many, the idea that Jesus wasn’t simply lying idle in the grave between Friday evening and Sunday morning but was busy doing the Father’s work in the realm of the dead might be startling. But it makes sense because, as Jesus indicated on several occasions, and as the writers of the epistles indicate, death is not an end or a blank. It is a transition into a new way of living. And, in Jesus’ case, a new way of working.
Jesus’ task was to take the gospel to those who had died before He came, who were being held in bonds in the afterlife. This included not just those recently dead, or the great saints who had died in expectation of His coming. It even included those who had died in sin and rebellion during the flood of Noah’s day.
There is no indication in the words of Scripture of what fruit came from Jesus’ preaching to those lost souls. But Peter’s mind went from the waters of the flood, purging the world of sinful people, to the washing of baptism, purging the soul of sinful stains and giving each person a fresh start.
Peter noted, however, that it was not the baptism itself that cleanses the soul. Physical water can wash physical dirt from the body, but it can’t cleanse the heart of what fouls it. Instead, baptism makes concrete what the resurrection of Jesus promised: a new resurrection life, to be lived out here and now, and on into eternity when this life is completed. It is faith in the resurrection of Jesus that empowers baptism to do its work and revitalize the soul.
Peter ends this section by reminding his readers that, even though Jesus was dead and did descend into the underworld, He is now alive again and has ascended into the highest heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, with all the power and authority in heaven and on earth at his disposal until the time comes for His return.
Pray with Me
Father, Jesus’ descent into hell to preach to lost souls has always seemed deeply mysterious to me. But because it is in Your word, likely revealed to Peter by Jesus Himself after the resurrection, I can confidently accept its reality. And Peter takes the whole event to a very hopeful place. If you cared enough to send Jesus to share the gospel with those who were so vile that they had to be destroyed in the flood, it makes perfect sense for me to be sent to those still living with that same good news, so that they can hear and believe, and be transformed by Jesus’ cleansing blood. Thank you, Lord, for Your love for all of us. Amen.