Before the funeral service of a saint, his relative asked me a question. “What happened to Christ during the time between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection?”
In the church this is call the “Harrowing of Hell.” In the ancient creed of the church – The Apostles’ Creed – there is a phrase that answers this question.
The second part of the creed has the statement, “Was crucified, dead and was buried; he descended to the dead (hell). On the third day He rose again!” Many Christian churches recite this creed each Sunday.
But some leave out the words, “descended to hell.”
The argument is whether this is scriptural or not. There is the story of a guest minister who arrived at church and was looking over the worship bulletin. He noticed the church recited the Apostles’ Creed in the service and asked the leader innocently, “Do y’all descent into the hell on Sundays?”
Presbyterians will laugh at that one.
In 1 Peter 4:6, the Bible says, “For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does.”
Around the Fourth Century, there was a letter (not scripture) written entitled, “The Gospel of Nicodemus.” A section of it describes the Harrowing of Hell.
After the Crucifixion, Satan thinks he has won and asked Hell to prepare a place for Christ. Hell is not so sure about this, because Christ took Lazarus away from him. At this time, angels are heard announcing the King of Glory has arrived and Hell double bolts the gates with the strongest locks he has, but to no avail. The King of Glory has defeated Satan and Hell and they can only stand by helplessly. When Christ walks in, Isaiah shouts, King David sings a Psalm of praise and Christ make the sign of the cross over Adam and all the righteous that waited for this day.
As the faithful rejoice, a robber showed up at the gates with the sign of the cross on his shoulders. “Who are you?” The robber shares the story of how he was a sinner who was crucified next to Christ.
He believed in Christ and requested he be remembered when Christ comes into his Kingdom. Jesus replied to me, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” The saints rejoiced as another soul had been snatch from Hell.
The story of the Harrowing of Hell was very popular in the medieval passion plays. One, at Oberammergau, continues to this day.
Christianity struggles to understand the events that happened between the time the sky grew dark, the earth trembled and our Savior said, “Father, unto your hands I commit my Spirit.”
Then, the first glorious Easter morn, when the Angel at the empty tomb said, “He is not here, he has risen as he said he would!”
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is the pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church.