
Christ’s descent into hell.
I don’t believe today was silent. Aside from the grieving and confusion of those that followed Christ. I believe whole heartedly that he was at work. I love the tradition of some to take today and celebrate by throwing flowers all over the sanctuary so that Sunday looks like a party happened on Saturday! If I am ever called to pastor, I will do this.
What does that mean? Well, I don’t know. I do know what I hope for though. Scripture tells us that he descended into hell (Eph 4:9, Acts 2:24, 1 Peter 3:19, Hosea 13:14, Zech 9:11, Colossians 2:15, Psalm 23:7, and Ecclesiasticus 24:45/part of the Sirach). There are artworks the depict this moment well. Christ knocked down the wall and freed those held captive by death. Hieronymus Bosch paints a wild version that you can look up. It’s full of the chaos of the moment and the rescuing Christ coming in from the left.
I have my own influences and biases for today. Balthasar is a huge one. He writes; “There will never be beings unloved by God, since God is absolute love” in his book ‘Dare we Hope’. I believe that Christ does have the keys of death and hell. Whatever hell is, you have to go pretty hard and long through the love of Jesus to get there. I believe that Christ’s descent into hell marks a change in expectations for humanity and creation. I dare to hope that this means something for everyone. Early church fathers were in line with this way of thinking. Origen, Eusebius, and Clement of Alexandria to name a few. It’s only fairly recently that we lost this hope.
Nevertheless, Christ did something. For all time, he did something. I’m not brave enough to try and solidify my position. But I am daring enough to say that I hope that Christ does become all in all. And with that hope, there is a hope for humanity that extends far wider than we even know.
“This much is certain, that we have no theological right to set any sort of limits to the loving-kindness of God which has appeared in Jesus Christ. Our theological duty is to see and understand it as being still greater than we had seen before.”- Karl Barth, ‘The Humanity of God"
Image: ‘The Harrowing of Hell’ (collage) by David Adams

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