He went to proclaim...

Saturday April 3, 2021

He went to proclaim...

"It was then also that he went to make a proclamation to the spirits in prison." 1 Peter 3:19

Are you curious about what Jesus did, between His death on the Cross and His resurrection, curious to find out where He went in that time ? The Bible only gives us shreds of answers. What we know for sure is that Jesus did not go to hell, that He was not a prisoner of death, nor a toy in the hands of Satan. No, Jesus was master of His life and His death. He who had remained silent under the insults and blows, who had not asked for the support of the angels, Peter tells us that He went to make a proclamation "to the spirits in prison". What “proclamation” (some Bibles incorrectly translate “that He went to preach the good news”) ? The Greek word for proclaiming is different from the word to preach, the root of which is “to evangelize”. It makes more sense to think that Jesus went to "proclaim" His victory over Satan to the spirits of "those who once refused to obey, when the patience of God waited - in the days when Noah was building the ark..." (1 Peter 3:20). As if His cry of victory was already resounding through the “underground” world before leading to the victory of His resurrection, of His return to our world. Consider the story of Lazarus in Abraham's bosom (Luke 16, 19-31). Jesus lifts a part of the veil that forbids us access to the hereafter : Lazarus, when he dies, will find comfort in the presence of Abraham, while the rich man who has not shown 'no compassion towards Lazarus during his lifetime, finds himself in a place of torment, separated from Abraham and all those who, by faith, had accepted the divine promise that one day salvation would come. The death of Jesus marks a turning point in history. Before, men and women of faith could not yet enter into the divine presence because the sacrifice of Christ had not yet been fulfilled. It seems that Jesus then allowed them to reach Heaven and enter the presence of God, a privilege which now belongs to us (Ephesians 4: 8-10). Are you not grateful that Jesus did this during this time between His death and His resurrection in the world of the living ?

Source (His Word for Today)