Weird Ideas: Descent to Hell, Then Raised From the DeadSample

At the front of everything Christians believe about Jesus is that he died and rose again. The Apostles’ Creed captures it like this: “He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.” Right before this it also states Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. But this next line about his descent into hell seals the idea that he was actually dead, and the next line about his resurrection is the shocking twist.

Hell and resurrection. There’s a lot of confusion on both. For some, it makes sense that Jesus died. But did he go to hell? Others have no problem believing that Jesus died, but say that’s it. Maybe Jesus’s soul went into heaven, but doesn’t common sense tell us dead people don’t come back to life? Christians say something different. Jesus died. But Jesus rose! Not just in some spiritual or metaphorical way. Jesus came back to life. Physically. Renewed.

This week’s plan will take you deeper into Jesus’s death into hell and resurrection from the dead. For today, just read what actually happened as recorded in the Gospel according to Matthew.