"I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell."
Familiar words from the Apostles' Creed, but words that not every church recites. "He descended into hell" was not in the earliest versions of the creed. In fact, we do not run into the statement at all until about 400 years after Christ. The other ancient statement of faith, the Nicene Creed, makes no mention of any descent into hell. Why not? Perhaps two reasons: 1) "Hell" is really a mistranslation of the original statement which only affirmed that Christ descended to the dead — the early church made a distinction between the place where dead people went before judgment ... hades in Greek, sheol in Hebrew ... and this place of eternal punishment. 2) A statement such as this could be seen as simply a redundancy since we already have a word saying he was "crucified, dead, and buried." Either way, at some point, some theologian in some church council, somewhere, called for a vote, and the result is what we have now.
Again, we ask why. The answer goes back to our text from 1 Peter where we read, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago ..." (vv. 18-20).
What those who want to use this as biblical warrant for "He descended into hell" in the creed would have us believe is that between the time of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb, he was busy. He went to this place of the dead ... hades, sheol ... proclaimed the gospel and led these "prisoners" to paradise. A third-century Syrian Creed speaks of Jesus, "who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and departed in peace, in order to preach to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the saints concerning the end of the world and the resurrection of the dead." There are any number of artistic representations of the story. One of the more famous is a painting by Baldovinetti that hangs in the Museum of San Marcos in Florence showing Christ standing on the gate of hell that has been knocked off its hinges. Under the gate lies the struggling devil as crowds of people happily escape. In the Middle Ages, this became known as the "Harrowing of Hell."
Is that what happened? Really? To be painfully honest, we have no idea. The attempts at interpretation of this passage are all over the lot and if we deal with them it would be better in a teaching rather than preaching setting. So saying, listen to the wise, old William Barclay:
Many in repeating the creed have found the phrase "He descended into hell" either meaningless or bewildering, and have tacitly agreed to set it on one side and forget it. It may well be that we ought to think of this as a picture painted in terms of poetry rather than a doctrine stated in terms of theology. But it contains these three great truths — that Jesus Christ not only tasted death but drained the cup of death, that the triumph of Christ is universal, and that there is no corner of the universe into which the grace of God has not reached.[1]
That last statement is where I find my batteries charged when I hear the words, "He descended into hell." I understand the woman who said that this was the most meaningful affirmation in the entire creed for her, because this statement told her, "He has been where I live every day."
I will give you a descent into hell. It was a late spring night, June 7, 1998 in East Texas. James Byrd Jr. had been to a party. He had had a bit too much to drink and he was making his way home ... on foot ... staggering a bit.
A pickup truck pulled alongside. In it were three white men, roommates, out for some fun after an evening of drinking at home. They slow for conversation: "Hey, buddy, wha's happenin'? Need a lift? Climb in the back."
"Yeah. Hey, thanks."
James climbed in. The speed picked up. "Hey, wait, this isn't the way home — this is the woods east of town. Hey!"
Only the participants know exactly what happened next, but the evidence indicates Byrd was severely beaten, bound, then finally chained by his ankles to the back bumper and dragged along the rough asphalt logging road. Three miles at high speed until his body was literally torn apart. A pathologist testified that Byrd had been alive and probably conscious during the horrible torture. Marks on his body indicated that he had tried to use his elbows to keep his head above the pavement as he was dragged along. That ended abruptly when he bounced into a roadside concrete culvert pipe that ripped his head and shoulders from his torso. Neighbors found the main part of Byrd's body dumped in front of a black church cemetery.
That sure sounds like hell to me.
Why? We remember the news reports. Young John William King, in a perverted effort to show that he had the right stuff to lead a racist gang, wanted a trophy. What kind of trophy did not matter, as long as it was black. Whether or not King and Byrd had ever seen each other on the streets of Jasper, Texas, no one knows. It made no difference.
Hard to imagine, isn't it? In years past, yes — between 1882 and 1968, we know of 4,752 people who were lynched. Most of them were black and most were killed in the South. It was a vile chapter in American history.[2] For John William King, no doubt it was bitterly ironic that the foreman of the jury that convicted him was a black man, the only African American on the panel with eleven whites. The jury finally decided that this world did not need the likes of Mr. King, and sentenced him to death.
Some comfort for James Byrd's family, no doubt ... but only some. They say they would rather remember his life than his death. They hark back to a two-year-old home video showing James playing a piano as he sings a favorite gospel song, "I Walk With God."
Really? Then where was God on that horrible night in Texas? Our faith — James Byrd's faith — says, "Right there on that road!" As the psalmist insists, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ... yea, though I am dragged behind a pickup, chained to the bumper, through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me!" And it is precisely here that we begin to understand this affirmation from the creed, "He descended into hell."
For some, the life that is a "living hell" is obvious to all. Innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of war. Starving children in Africa who are denied food and medicine simply because of the tribe into which they were born. Masses of oppressed people all around the globe whose lives are stripped of dignity, who are denied freedom, and who are living in constant fear. And on one June night, James Byrd Jr. lived in hell. His sister, Mary, told reporters, "He always said, ‘When I leave this Earth, the Earth will know James Byrd Jr. has been here.' " We know. And because of him, we know a bit more about hell.
You may be in your own hell right now. Perhaps it is an addiction ... alcohol or drugs. Hell — perhaps it is a relationship, one that started with the promise of springtime now struggling to survive the bleakness of winter. Hell — perhaps it is physical infirmity — the sore that will not heal which carries a message you are afraid to hear; perhaps it is the pain that persists and pervades and allows no relief. Hell — perhaps it is an emotional state — the landscape of life is utterly bleak, and nothing you or anyone does can brighten it. Hell....
Is there a hint there of what we have in Jesus? "He descended into hell," we say. Even yours. As the psalmist said, in the phrasing of the venerable King James Version of scripture, "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there" (Psalm 139:8). And perhaps there he can remind you that neither his story nor yours ends here. You see, the creed continues: "I believe ... he descended into hell. The third day he arose...." Hallelujah!
1. William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series, CD-ROM edition (Liguori, Missouri: Liguori Faithware, 1996). Used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press.
2. Greensboro News & Record, "Southern justice: Brutality gets the reward it deserves," 2/26/99, p. A8.