When we say that Jesus went to Hell after dying on the cross at Calvary, we base this on the statement in the key verse of this message and on other biblical texts that lead us to understand this. Since we are not conducting a detailed study here of what the Savior did during His descent into the realm of death, we will only study the fact that He went before the throne of the devil to completely strip him of his power. Remember: there are no errors in the Bible!

Jesus descended from Heaven to redeem us from Adam's fall, which had placed man in the clutches of Satan. With that, death reigned on Earth until Moses was raised up and delivered the precepts of the Law (Romans 5:12-14). Until then, it was more difficult to resist the temptations of the evil one, for the nature of the devil, death, dominated over all. However, there are always those who refuse to obey the instincts of the flesh and devote themselves to doing the divine will. These please God!

When the time came to change our fate—the fulfillment of the prophecies that would give man a sure return to the Kingdom of Heaven—the Father sent His Only Begotten Son to save the lost. Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judah, as foretold by the prophet Micah (Micah 5:2) and reported by the evangelist Matthew: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” (Matthew 2.6). He came!

Seven hundred years before Christ was born and died in our place, Isaiah said: Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53.4,5). How accurate! It was not by accident or chance that the Savior bore our wounds!

Paul speaks of the Lord's descent into the realm of death, where the demons rejoiced at His presence—after all, He is Life—thinking they could do whatever they wanted. However, Christ stripped them, taking away the power they had to make us suffer: Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2.15). Alone in the realm of death, Jesus did what was necessary!

Christ was separated from the Father when He took upon Himself the iniquities, diseases, and other sufferings that were meant for us. Today, as we preach the Gospel anywhere in the world, many people believe in the Word of God, and those who were possessed by various evils say that after believing in the preaching of the Truth, they had faith and were healed. Only with the presence of the Lord is this possible.

As the verse under study says, the Lord descended to the lowest parts of the Earth, but He also ascended to the Highest, where He sat at the right hand of the Father, having received all power in Heaven and on Earth (Mark 16:19). It is a pleasure to go to the most distant places in the world, where other languages are spoken, and see how the power of God works when the Good News is proclaimed. Believe and live!

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares