There are certain passages in the Bible that make you go “HUH?!” One such passage is found in 1 Peter 3:18-22. Apparently, I am in good company. Even the great Martin Luther struggled with this passage of Scripture. He wrote, “This is a strange text and certainly a more obscure passage than any other passage in the New Testament. I still do not know for sure what the apostle meant.” The difficulty of a Scripture, however, does not excuse us from making an effort to understand it. So, with great humility I offer my meager observations.
1 Peter 3:18-22 reads: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, He went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.
I always took this literally, that following His crucifixion, Jesus actually went to Hell and rubbed it in the Devil’s face… There’s just something about Jesus taking a victory lap through Hell that I find both humorous and inspiring.
There are three theories as to what this all means. The first theory is found in the words of The Apostle’s Creed. It tells us, “He descended into Hell.” I always took this literally, that following His crucifixion, Jesus actually went to Hell and rubbed it in the Devil’s face. I confess, there is a part of me that likes this theory very much. There’s just something about Jesus taking a victory lap through Hell that I find both humorous and inspiring. Most scholars, however, believe that descending into Hell is just a fancy way of saying Jesus was dead and buried.
A second, much more intellectually arduous, theory, is that Jesus went and preached a gospel of repentance to people of the Old Testament. Much of this theory leans on details found concerning the story of Noah in the pseudepigraphal book of 1 Enoch (The pseudepigrapha is a book of writings with extremely questionable connection to significant biblical characters). This theory has several branches. One branch holds that the spirits to which Christ preached were Old Testament saints who were kept in a holding place until Christ came to collect them, revealing Himself to be the object of their faith all along. Another branch states that the spirits are evil spirits or fallen angels and, much like the first theory, Christ descended into the earth to let them know they had lost and that He had won. And, a third branch suggests that Christ went to Noah in the Spirit and preached a gospel of repentance through Noah to the wicked people who ultimately perished in the flood. (Like I said: intellectually arduous.)
A third and final theory is that Peter is equating Jesus to a first century Noah. According to this theory, the disobedient souls are all those who have or will hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ subsequent to His death, burial, and resurrection. Peter notes that Jesus was a much more effective Savior than Noah. Noah and His ark only saved 8 souls; Christ and His cross, grave, and resurrection would save countless souls. And now, Jesus sits on His throne as the eternal King with power over authorities, human, angelic, demonic, and otherwise.
Context is key. Peter is concluding a section about suffering wrong for doing right. It makes sense that Peter would remind followers of Christ, whom Peter continually refers to as elect and exiles, of the eternal and indomitable power and authority of Jesus. It also makes sense that he would remind them of the deep symbolism in their baptism, reminding them, and us, of the cleansing and resurrection life Christ has provided. Peter’s not so much concerned about Jesus rubbing His enemies’ faces in their defeat; He’s reminding Jesus’s followers of His victory.
At times, it will feel like we are losing the good fight in this wicked world. But, we can be sure that victory will be ours through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.
I don’t know which theory is correct. The Noah theory based on the book of 1 Enoch is the most interesting, but the Jesus/Noah comparison is most compelling. What I do know, however, is that times of difficulty and suffering will certainly come upon all of us. I know that by grace through faith we will overcome them all in one way or another. I know that even when we face unjust accusations based on misunderstandings or intentional ignorance and indifference to right action, it is King Jesus who holds the final judgement, and if our faith is in Him we will ultimately find absolution and eternal life.
At times, it will feel like we are losing the good fight in this wicked world. But, we can be sure that victory will be ours through the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. God provided Noah with a plan of salvation in the form of an unsinkable ark; He has provided us with the ultimate plan of salvation through the crucified, buried, and eternally risen Savior. Trouble will certainly come, but the risen Savior will overcome for, in, and through us.
