He Descended to the Dead

September 29, 2025

Psalm 139:7–8 

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

1 Peter 3:18–19  

“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.”

The line “He descended to the dead” is one of the most                    profound and often overlooked parts of the Apostles’ Creed. This line is sandwiched between Jesus Crucifixion, death and burial and his resurrection. So let's not rush past this statement today.

 When the Creed declares, “He descended to the dead” (or as in older versions, “to hell”), I believe it is affirming something astonishing. This line of the Creed is saying that Jesus went all the way to the "bottom." Jesus didn’t just skim the surface of death; He entered its depths. 

Why does this matter, you might ask? Because it means there is no place beyond the reach of Christ. In His death, Jesus went where every human being must go. He experienced the grave, the silence, the darkness of death itself. The eternal Son of God took on not only our sin but our mortality, so that even in death we are not alone.

Theologians have long wrestled with this phrase, but at its heart it emphasizes that Christ fully entered the human condition. He was not spared the finality of the grave. And in going there, He transformed it. As an early church father, John Chrysostom, proclaimed on Easter: “Hell took a body, and met God face to face… It took earth, and encountered Heaven.”

To say “He descended to the dead” is to say that there is no pit so deep, no darkness so thick, that Jesus has not been there first. I wonder, do you hear the full impact of this truth? For the grieving, this is comfort. For the dying, this is hope. For the one struggling with sin, this is redemption. Death no longer holds the last word, because Christ has entered death and broken its grip.

That is what Jesus did when He “descended to the dead.” He entered the place we could not escape, not to be trapped with us, but to lead us out. He went into death not as a victim, but as a conqueror, to announce that even here, in the darkest place, God reigns.

I believe, this line of the Creed reshapes how we see both death and life:

For those grieving: Christ has gone ahead into death. Your loved ones who died in Him are not abandoned; He has been there too.

For those fearful: Death is no longer uncharted territory. Jesus has walked the path and turned it into the doorway to resurrection.

For daily living: If Jesus descended even to the depths, then no place in your life is beyond His reach, not your darkest memory, not your deepest sin, not your loneliest night.

If you ask me, this is a powerful truth today, that is worth slowing down to hear. Thanks be to God!!

Let's Pray

Jesus,  

You are the One who faced death and hell for us, entering the grave completely so we would never face death alone. We praise You for conquering death, bringing light into darkness, and making even the shadowy valleys a place filled with Your presence.  

Grant us courage in fear, comfort in grief, and hope as we await the resurrection. Help us trust that no place is ever beyond Your reach.  

In Your powerful and saving name we pray, Amen.  

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