Today's text is a passage filled with tantalizing tidbits and high controversy. And, I'll be honest, it may be "beyond me". But, I'm going to study it and do the best I can. If you disagree, feel free to say so in the comments section of the blog, although I will not engage or argue with you.
On the surface this passage is a thumb-nail sketch of Jesus Christ's incarnation and work among men. But, within that, we see some references to the days of Noah and other peculiar stuff. Let's take a look.
17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 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, 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. 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.
(NIV)
Yesterday's post focused on the Christian's appropriate response to opposition. Peter then goes on to, once again, put forward the Savior as the example for us believers by describing His suffering. But, after briefly touching on that topic, he sort of goes off on a tangent.
Verse 18: Jesus Christ's sacrifice was done once, yet is sufficient for all sin, for all time. He was and is the Righteous One, the only fully human person who has ever lived a sinless life; yet, to bring us (reconcile us) to God, He suffered a horrendous physical death. Now, Jesus actually died. He did not "swoon" on the cross, as the Muslims like to claim. (That is a whole 'nuther blog post...) He died. Then, at the moment of His physical death, He went to "the realm of dead spirits", shall we say.
I'm not going to go into an exposition of the different names for "the realm of the dead" here. Again, that's another topic for another time. ("We don't have all day", as my mother likes to remind me about my blog posts.) What we can learn from this passage is that, during the time Jesus' body was in the tomb, His living Spirit journeyed to the realm of the dead.
Verse 19-20: Now, what did He do, once He was there? He preached to "the imprisoned spirits".
Some theologians interpret this to mean that He preached to the spirits of dead humans. We'll get to that interpretation in tomorrow's post. However, if you look strictly at this verse and the next, they say He preached to spirits who were disobedient in the days of Noah.
To what does this refer? What happened in the days of Noah? According to Jesus, in Matthew 24:37-40, there was extreme hedonism and debauchery on the earth in those days, the worst EVER. According to Genesis 6, inconceivably, (if you'll pardon the pun), fallen angels, servants of Satan, had sexual intercourse with human women who then produced offspring that were half human/half-angel - - - "demi-gods", if you will. This was the "disobedience", the leaving of "their first estate" (Jude 1:6-7) which caused these angels to be imprisoned by God in a section of Hell, especially reserved for them. (The Message version calls this section a "black hole", interestingly...)
6And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
(NASB)
Many theologians believe that this angelic disobedience was a deliberate attempt by Satan to corrupt the Messianic bloodline so that the Messiah could not be born from a purely human line. If that could not take place, then the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 could not take place and mankind could not, then, be redeemed/restored to fellowship with God. While Satan's plan came close to succeeding, God the Almighty Father put an end to it by destroying all but 8 human lives via the world-wide Flood. Noah's genetic line was chosen because he was a righteous man who walked blameless before God and the people of his day (Gen. 6:9). And, we read later (in Luke 3:36) that Jesus' bloodline continued through Noah.
So, why would Jesus preach to these imprisoned, fallen angels? What did He proclaim to them? We don't know. But, we do read in Revelation 1:17-18 that Jesus, when He appeared and spoke to John on the Isle of Patmos, said this:
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Perhaps Jesus proclaimed this truth to the fallen. Perhaps He took from Satan "the keys of death and Hades" at that time. We don't know. But, I do know this. Something cataclysmic and transactional took place because of Jesus' work on our behalf. When Jesus died, He descended to Hades; and then, later, He went to present Himself before the Father's throne (see Revelation 5). Somehow, mysteriously, supernaturally, His finished work has accomplished our salvation.
And now? Verse 22 (1 Peter 3) tells us that He is now seated at the Father's right hand and that all angelic beings are "under His feet", "in submission to Him". Hallelujah!
Tomorrow, I will pull in some related verses to expand upon this passage. But, as mother would say, "This is enough for now."
Dear Lord, You know that this is difficult teaching. Please forgive me if I have mishandled Your word in any way. You have Your reasons for not making it more plain to us, and I honor You for Your wisdom. There are just things about which we do not need to "know it all". Maybe we will understand it better when we are fully in Your presence. In the meantime, I thank You that my Savior's "once for all", finished work is sufficient to atone for my many sins, that He holds the keys of death and Hades, and that all angelic beings are in submission to Him. In Jesus' name, amen.
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