Dear Caldwell,
“He descended into hell ….”
On Sundays when we say the Apostles Creed, we repeat the line above.
“Why did Jesus have to go there?” people often ask.
The simplest explanation – and the most assuring – that I’ve heard is that it shows that in Christ there is no place our Lord has not gone, nothing that God in Christ did not experience. As I say when we do memorial services, “in Christ God knew every aspect of the human endeavor.”
Did Christ “have to” go there? Of course not. He went there to free the captives and rob death of its sting. He went there on his own volition to demonstrate God’s absolute sovereignty.
In these days, we’re hearing a lot of questions about where God is in this pandemic. Perhaps we might ask, is there any place where God hasn’t been, even how we may think about hell, for our sake?
It won’t be long now before we shout our Easter “alleluias,” but in the meantime let us give thanks for God’s boundless grace … even unto hell.
See you tomorrow for worship!
In Christ,
John