Jesus Preaching In Hell
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring
us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom
also He went and preached to the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:18-19)
The verses above raise two questions:
1) Who are the spirits in prison?
2) What did Jesus preached to them?
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach
good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”
(Isaiah 61:1)
Jesus came to preach good news, proclaim liberty to the captives, and open the prison
of those who are bound.
Now those who died before Christ went to the cross went to Hades (Sometimes referred
to as hell). Those who put their faith in God went to one side, where they were
comforted. This side was known as Abraham's bosom (See Luke 16:25). Those who did
not put their faith in God went to the other side where there was torment (verses
24-25 ). The two sides were separated by a great gulf (verse 26).
Those who put their faith in God were in Hades but they weren’t going to stay there
forever. David had hope that God would lead him out of Hades when he said:
“You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
(Acts 2:27)
Jesus did not go to Hades to suffer, He paid for our sins completely on the cross
(John 19:30). He went to the faithful who were waiting for Him in Abraham’s
bosom. They were in prison in the sense that they could not enter heaven until their
sins were paid for. Although they had made sacrifices those sacrifices could never
take away sin. They were a foreshadowing of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. That brings
us to the message Jesus preached.
WHAT WAS PREACHED
The word “preached” in 1 Peter 3 is the Greek word kerusso which means to proclaim
or herald. So Jesus was not preaching or evangelizing, He was making a proclamation
or an announcement.
The announcement was probably similar to Hebrews 10:11-14:
“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins.
But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the
right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Putting this all together, Jesus told the faithful spirits in Hades He had paid
for their sins once and for all, and was there to lead those who were once captive
into heaven