Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 3rd Sunday during Lent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The fifth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “Jesus Christ descended into Hell, and rose from the dead on the third day.” There are five (5) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 636.
Again in the fifth article, as in the fourth article of the Creed, we are confronted with the death of Jesus Christ. Before He could rise from the dead, He had to die. This He did on Good Friday. Jesus’ descent into Hell is unlike any other descent to Hell. If you or I go to Hell we are not leaving! Jesus went to ‘preach to those imprisoned’ and to free those who were held captive and awaited His coming to the place or abode of the dead (Hebrew: Sheol; Greek: Hades) to lead them to Heaven (cf. Ephesians 4:8; 1 Peter 3:19; 4:6; Revelation 21:12-15, 21, 25). The liberation of those who had died with sorrow for their sins is called the ‘Harrowing of Hell’ and has been depicted by iconographers for centuries by Christ standing atop doors which He knocked down crushing Satan under them (here imagery from the Wizard of Oz helps, change ruby slippers for demonic feet). The Lord reaches out His hands to Eve on His left and Adam on His right and these are surrounded by other holy personages from the Old Testament.
The effect of Jesus’ death and descent into Hell and His resurrection are several. Here, the Catechism draws our attention to two (2): death is vanquished; the devil is vanquished. We could add that salvation is realized, faith and hope are born of Christ’s charity…. While we still die bodily, with pulse and respiration ceased, we know by faith in this article of the Creed that death was not the last word for Christ, nor is it the last word for us and our beloved dead.
The devil has many monikers in Sacred Scripture (Father of Lies, Prince of this world, the Tempter, Evil One, Adversary, Beelzebub, Satan…) (cf. Job 1:6; Matthew 4:5; 12:39; 13:19; John 12:31; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:3,9). Because death entered the world through sin, and sin entered into the world through the temptations made ‘in the beginning’ we are able to read that the devil ‘has the power of death’ (cf. Romans 5:12-17; Hebrews 2:14). But Christ has destroyed the eternal death of Hell for those who are faithful to Him and who live according to His grace and holy will.
The Cross, the grave, sin and Satan, none of these could keep Christ down. In Him we too have power over these when we live holy lives by His grace. May we always be faithful to Christ our Lord. May our hope always be in Him who has risen from the dead. May our love for Christ and His bride Mother Church deepen daily.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr