Easter 2026 | The Jailbreak of Sheol

Introduction

If you’ve ever travelled to a foreign country you know how disorienting an experience it can be to get around. The signs mean nothing to you. The currency looks funny. You’re aware that your probably an easy target for pickpockets. You probably feel quite anxious. But if you have a friend  who is a local, and who knows his way around that city, your fears all melt away.

The Text

Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Ephesians 4:8-10

Descended into Hades

We confess that Jesus descended into Hades/Hell, and so we should make sure we know what we mean when we say that, so that we do not fall into mere vain repetitions. When we consider this doctrine we find that this is a doctrinal area that has suffered from two afflictions. It is either too often overlooked, or looked at with a creepy stare. We do not want to ignore it, nor do we want to fixate upon it. There are several texts which undergird the line in the Apostles Creed that we are considering. This statement by Paul serves as one of the clearest.

Paul, remarking on the ascension of Christ as foretold by the Psalmist (Cf. Ps. 68:18), notes that Christ’s ascension necessitates a descent. Some interpret this descent to the lower parts of the earth as either the incarnation or Pentecost. But if we look closely, Paul is relying heavily on language from the Psalms to support his argument about the ascension being the means whereby Christ has blessed the church with the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. But Paul borrows more language from the Psalms to describe the descent of Christ. There are two passages in particular where Paul draws his language of descent from:

But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth (Ps. 63:9).

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there (Ps. 139:8). The LXX: if I descend to Hades.

These texts, along with a few other relevant passages (Cf. Num. 16:30-33, Isa. 14:15), clearly refer to a descent into the the “realms of the dead.” It would be a stretch to apply them to anything else. Paul is saying that since the church has been furnished with the various gifts for the edifying of the body, this must mean that Christ has ascended on high leading captivity captive, and this could only be the case if He had first died and descended into the realms of the dead.

Some Cosmic Furniture

This doctrine challenges the materialistic view of the cosmos. But Scripture thoroughly teaches that there is the natural realm and the supernatural realm. How they interact with one another is a great mystery. Think of the various visions of the supernatural realm in Scripture as if a handyman comes in to do some remodeling in your house, and when he removes the drywall you can see all the wiring, plumbing, ventilation, and insulation that operated unseen by you. The prophets describe marvelous things using metaphor: it was like a wheel within a wheel covered with eyes and it had wings. So then, it is important for us to think biblically first of all, and then learn to make sense of the world in light of the teaching of Scripture. So, let’s consider some of the cosmic furniture.

1. The Heavens
   1. First Heaven – What we would call the atmosphere. Think of the passages where it says that God has shut up or opened the heavens, referring to rain/snow or what we call “the weather.
   2. Second Heaven – What we call, quite blandly, outer space. This is where the sun, moon, and stars dance in their well-ordered steps, with their voice going out into all the earth declaring the glory of God (Cf. Ps. 19).
   3. Third Heaven – Where God dwells.
2. The Earth
3. Under the Earth
   1. The Grave – Where the body went.
   2. Sheol/Hades: Chambers in the earth where the souls of the dead, and fallen angels were held.
      1. Paradise/Abraham’s Bosom – The abode of the souls of departed righteous, who had been “gathered to their fathers.”
      2. Hades, Hell – Where the souls of unbelievers go when they die. The Old Norse word Hel was simply the best word in English for referring to this chamber of the realm of the dead.
      3. Tartarus – Where the imprisoned fallen angels dwell.
      4. Lake of Fire (Gehenna) – The place of final judgement; death and Hades will be cast into it at the final judgement.

A Robust Creed

With all this in mind, the Apostles’ Creed is a robust explanation of our Christian faith, and we run the risk of removing ancient landmarks by minimizing or redefining any of its clauses. Within the Reformed tradition, following Calvin nonetheless, there has been a tendency to define this clause we are considering as only being a description of Christ’s sufferings upon the cross. There are two forceful arguments which have been made against this view. 

First, it would introduce redundancy within the creed. Second, it interrupts the chronology of the creed. When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” the sacrifice for our sin really was completed. Nothing more was to be done. He gave up His life, dying in our stead, so that the wages of our sin might be fully paid. But we must not forget that He had taught that the only sign He would give the evil and adulterous generation He had come to was the sign of Jonah (Cf. Mt. 12:39, 16:4, Lk. 11:29-30). Descending into Sheol (Jon. 2), and arising alive again was the sign that the New Creation had come, like a seed dying in order to sprout forth with new life (Jn. 12:24).

Jesus truly died. His body lay stiff and cold in a tomb hewn out of stone. Meanwhile, His human soul went down into the lower parts of the earth, into Paradise. He promised the believing thief on the cross that he would join Him there (Lk. 23:43). While there, Jesus proclaimed, across the chasm, His victory to the damned souls and fallen angels there in Tartarus (1 Pt. 3:19). Jesus went all the way down into death. On Easter morning His human soul was reunited with His human body, and the first fruit of God’s resurrecting power emerged triumphant from the grave. He brought all the righteous souls with Him, leading these captives out of the captivity of Sheol (Mt. 27:51-53). Paradise has been transferred into the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2).

Following Our Exalted Head

Now what does all this mean? First, it means that the whole cosmos has been rearranged by the new creation which Christ’s death, burial, descent, and resurrection brought about. As the hymn says, “the keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n.” But while Easter is glorious for this cosmic rearrangement, it is also gloriously personal.

Jesus told us that He could lay down His life, but He could also take it up again. He did this for you. You must face death, but you need not fear to drink that bitter cup. You must one day travel that unknown path of death. But the resurrection of Jesus testifies to you that death is not the final chapter. Your death need not be your final state. How can this be? Because Jesus went into death ahead of you, you need not be afraid of that journey. This truly is a great gift of deliverance from the sorrows of the grave. By faith you too might be assured that to die is to be absent from the body (for now) but to be present with the Lord (Phi 1:23, 2 Co 5:8).

I sing my Savior’s wondrous death,
He conquered when he fell:
“‘Tis finished!” said his dying breath,
And shook the gates of hell.
“‘Tis finished!” our Immanuel cries,
The dreadful work is done;
Hence shall his sovereign throne arise,
His kingdom is begun.
His cross a sure foundation laid
For glory and renown,
When through the regions of the dead
He passed to reach the crown.

Charge and Benediction

Easter is the beginning of the new creation. In that new creation, death itself is swallowed up in the victory of Christ. Though you will one day taste death, you won’t taste it alone. For Christ has gone before you and taken away all its bitterness so that nothing is left to you but the sweetness of His everlasting and abundant life.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
2 Corinthians 13:14