Did Jesus Descend into Hell and Preach to Dead Spirits?

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. 19 After being made alive,[d] he went and made proclamation
to the imprisoned spirits— 20 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, 21 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.[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with
angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
There are two main ideas to look at from this passage. First, where did
Jesus’ spirit go in the interim between his death and his physical
resurrection and ascension at the right hand of God? Second, did Jesus
in this alleged interim descend into hell in spirit and preach to the
disobedient people in hell who were from the pre-flood generation?
The short answer to the first question is that after his death on the
cross he ascended straight to God the Father. The short answer to the
second question is no – he did not go and preach to them based on the
first answer. What then did Peter mean? This is what we will explore in
this short paper based on the original Greek text.
When Jesus was dying on the cross he told the thief beside him that on
that particular day the thief would be with him in Paradise. Hell is not
Paradise. Paradise has a reference to heaven and not hell. The story of
the rich man and Abraham demonstrated how at death, people were
transported by angels to their respective spheres, heaven or hell,
immediately following their demise. There were no temporary
stopovers. Jesus also committed his spirit into the hands of God and
was received by God following his death. God would not send his Son to
hell because the price for sin had been paid.
Jesus’ cross was an altar. He was the sacrifice and once the life was
given as a substitute, the sacrifice was received by God and sin had
been paid for. This was indicated in the gospels how the curtain in the
temple was rent in two and access to God was now open through the
death of Christ. Jesus had entered the holy of holies in heaven with his
blood as an offering to God by the eternal Spirit. The blood was offered
on the altar of the cross. The life of his Son was offered on the altar of
the cross and this sacrifice ascended into heaven. It is the body of Jesus
that remained in the grave, in Sheol, until the resurrection of his body
to demonstrate that death had been completely vanquished.
What does Peter’s text mean then?
On the surface it would seem to be a logical chain of events: crucifixion,
death, spiritually being made alive and then descent into hell in spirit
and proclamation to the dead. Then he was physically raised from the
dead. The text does not mention the fate of those imprisoned spirits or
whether any believed and were saved if we follow the interpretation
that Jesus did indeed descend into hell to preach to the pre-flood
generation.
It is helpful if we look at the original Greek text translated in the original
word order:
“having been put to death on the one hand in flesh – having been made
alive on the other hand in spirit – in which also to the in prison spirits,
having gone he preached, having disobeyed formerly when was waiting
the of God longsuffering in the days of Noah.”
From the text we learn that the mode of Christ’s preaching was “in
spirit” rather than “after being made alive” in the English text.
Therefore, the time of that preaching to the disobedient was before the
Flood who have had ended up in prison rather than after Jesus’
crucifixion. All three verbs – having gone, preached and having
disobeyed all share the same tense indicating that they all occurred
simultaneously. They disobeyed the preaching of Christ and now
languish in prison having previously had the opportunity of Christ’s
ministry through Noah.
We know that the Spirit of Christ moved prophets to predict Christ and
his suffering, so this mode of expression is not unique about Christ in
the spirit operative in the Old Testament saints. Therefore, the Spirit of
Christ preached to the pre-flood generation through Noah. However,
Peter’s employment of this event brilliantly portrays the gospel in very
concrete terms and then Peter transitions to the Christian rite of
baptism.
The wooden ark was like the gospel. The message was simple. Enter the
ark and be saved. But people did not listen. They did not obey. Jesus
said they continued feasting and marrying ignoring Noah and perished
in the flood. Peter excels in this very concrete analogy with the gospel.
The flood as a rite of washing – not the Jewish external washing of dirt
– but the washing away of the guilt of sin uses the analogy of the flood
represented in baptismal waters. The ark is Christ and in him is salvation
to avoid the final flood not of water but fire that will envelope and
destroy the Earth. Those not in Christ, who do not heed the preaching
of Christ through the gospel through the church will perish.
Peter links the pre-flood disobedient with the current unbelievers, the
ark with Christ as the haven of salvation and the flood waters as a
means of washing away the wicked generation, but for Christians
washing away the guilt of sin, and escaping the final flood of fire that
will melt the elements away.
There are no second chances for it is appointed unto people to die once
and then judgment. It must be remembered that God’s judgment will
excel any human judgment regarding the disobedient or sentiments on
this subject we may have reservations about. God is a just and merciful
judge, and we entrust in him the final sentence to each individual who
will stand before his throne.