Bible Question: I understand that Jesus was giving the information to try to get sinners to repent, but that is not my question. My question is, "What was the Jesus' purpose in going to the center of the earth for 3 days?" It doesn't seem He could have been preaching repentance, because those in the center of the earth were no longer living and each person must choose to believe or not believe before he dies. Can anyone answer my question? Chusarcik |
Bible Answer: Chusarcik: Reference 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Colossians 2:14,15. ..... A brief exegesis of these verses is as follows: Between Christ's death and resurrection His living spirit went to the demon spirits bound in the abyss and proclaimed that, in spite of His death, He had triumped over them. The "spirts in prison" refers to fallen angels (demons) who were permanently bound because of heinous wickedness. The phrase "disobedient...in the days of Noah" (1 Peter 3:20) refers to demon inhabitants of the abyss who have been there since the days of Noah, and who were sent there because they severely overstepped the bounds of God's tolerance with their wickedness, filling the world with their vile, anti-God venom so that even 120 years of Noah's preaching while the ark was being built could not convince any of the human race beyond the 8 people in Noah's family to believe in God. (See Gen. 6:1-8, 2 Peter 2:4,5, and Jude 6,7). Paul uses the phrase in Colossians 2:15, "having disarmed principalities and powers" -- this is another element of Christ's work on the cross, spelling the ultimate doom of Satan and his evil host of fallen angels. While His body was dead, His divine, living spirit actually went to the abode of demons and announced His triumph over sin, Satan, death, and hell. The description "made a public spectacle...triumphing over them" paints a picture like that of a victorious Roman general parading his enemies through the streets of Rome (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14). Christ won the victory of the demon forces on the cross. He did not fight it out with Satan in hell after His death, as some teach..... Some of the exegeses contained in this post have been extracted from the MacArthur Study Bible, to which credit is hereby gratefully acknowledged. --Hank |