So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)

This was how John the apostle described the death of Jesus. It is important for us to know that Jesus really died and that in His death, He experienced hell for His people.

He Really Died.

To underline the fact that Jesus really died, the Creed used two words: dead, buried. Hence, we can know that the early disciples really believed that Jesus died on the Cross.

Imagine the situation that Thursday night and Friday morning. By the time He was arrested, it must be close to midnight. From midnight till 6 am the next morning, He was subjected to all sorts of verbal and physical abuse. For example, Mark 14:65 says this: Then some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him, and to say to Him, “Prophesy!” And the officers struck Him with the palms of their hands. That night, He did not sleep. Instead, He was put on trial repeatedly, and He was beaten physically.

Then we read of these words in Mark 15:15 ~ So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. Before He was crucified, He was scourged. And finally, He was nailed to the Cross and then he remained, from (about) 9 am to 3 pm. Could a man survive after all these physical tortures? 

Moreover, we read in John 19:32-34 that the Roman soldiers did not break the feet of Jesus because they were convinced that Jesus was dead. Pilate had to make very sure that Jesus was dead before he granted the dead body to Joseph of Arimathea. 

He died. He did not just faint. If He just fainted and was revived due to the cool air of the tomb, how could He have walked such a long distance from Jerusalem to Emmaus 2 days later? No, He really died!

The wages of sin is death, says Romans 6:23. Standing in the place of sinners, He must die else sinners cannot be saved. He died, says the Creed and we must affirm this. 

But His death is not just physical. It has spiritual dimensions too, as seen below.

He Descended Into Hell

What does this mean? We must not understand this to mean that after Jesus has died, His soul went to hell. No, for did He not say to the believing thief, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise”? After death, His soul went to be with God.

Remember that while on the Cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” Why? Because on the Cross, He was taking the place of sinners – sinners who deserver to be forsaken by God because of their sins, sinners who should die and experience the full, unmitigated wrath of the Holy God!  Therefore, when Jesus was nailed to the Cross, He experienced hell (being forsaken by God and experiencing the full, unmitigated wrath of God) for His people! This is how we are to understand this phrase in the Apostle’s Creed.

Christians, how we need to appreciate more of what Jesus has done for us! What we deservedly deserve, He took it for us!! If only we have/can see this more clearly, how much more will we love Him, how much more eagerly will we want to obey Him and please Him? 

Alas! And did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head, for such a worm as I? But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe: Here, Lord, I give my self away, ’tis all that I can do.

WEI En Yi