Jesus Conquered Hell

“Behold, the hour comes, yea, has now come, that you will be scattered, each man to his own things, and you will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” (John 16:32)

These are the words Jesus spoke to His disciples. After He washed the disciples’ feet and Judas departed, Jesus began to teach the disciples various things. It begins in chapter 13:36 and continues to the end of chapter 16. Our Scripture is the ending of His teaching.

Jesus warns His disciples about three things that were about to happen, you will be scattered, you will leave Me alone and I am not alone. Nothing is recorded about the disciples’ reaction to His statement. John writes the prayer Jesus prayed immediately after His statement and then that He led them to the garden. Later, on the Mount of Olives and after singing a hymn, Jesus tells them that they will be offended that night because of Him. “Then Jesus said to them, All of you will be offended because of Me this night. For it is written, "I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” (Matthew 26:31) The Greek word that was translated offended actually means to be tripped, to stumble or enticed to sin. The disciples protest His statement. But Peter out does all of them.  And when Jesus reveals to him that he will deny Him, Peter protests even more. “Peter said to Him, though I should die with You, yet I will not deny You. All the disciples also said the same.” (Matthew 26:35)

After the crucifixion of Jesus, the disciples did scatter. Disillusioned, they returned to their former work, their former lives. They hadn’t internalized what Jesus had been telling them. People are that way. We only hear what we want to hear. Our hearing is biased. When two people are speaking, there are really more people listening. The person speaking, who he thinks he’s speaking to and the real person listening, the person listening whom she thinks is listening to and the real speaker. So, we don’t get it right most times. Even though Jesus told them several times about what was to happen, they were scattered. They were offended and left Jesus alone.

Jesus also tells them that in reality, He will not be alone because the Father is with Him. The Father was always with Jesus. They are one, the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. They are in constant communion, in total agreement and one. Jesus only does and says what the Father tells Him. “Then Jesus answered and said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. For whatever things He does, these also the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all the things that He Himself does. And He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and makes alive, even so the Son of Man makes alive whomever He wills.” (John 5:19-21)

But the time comes when Jesus is crucified that He takes upon Him all the sin of the world, past, present and future of all people who have lived and will live. “The next day John sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) He becomes sin. “For He has made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Corinthians 5:21) The Father is holy and there is no sin and no darkness in Him. When Jesus becomes sin, the Father departs from Him. “And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:35)

We who have been born again of God and have come to know and recognize His peace, love and joy in our spirit would feel what Jesus felt at that time in His crucifixion should we separate ourselves from the Lord because of continual sin and rejection of the Lord. If we can remember the feeling of abandonment and lack of peace, love and joy in our lives, it might be close to what Jesus felt on the cross, complete separation from the Father, from goodness, from peace, from light and from love. That means turmoil, misery and darkness in spirit, soul (mind, will, emotions) and body. I can imagine the demons tormenting Him also.

The Good News is that the Father didn’t leave Him eternally in hell. There is a big controversy about whether Jesus went to hell. My reasoning is that if He were to complete the punishment for sin, He would have to go to hell. I believe He went to hell, but not to suffer in hell as sinners do, but having suffered on the cross, He went there to preach the Good News, that their sins were forgiven and to give all people dead and alive the opportunity to hear about redemption through Jesus the Lord. “For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared (in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water); which figure now also saves us, baptism; not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; who is at the right hand of God, having gone into Heaven, where the angels and authorities and powers are being subjected to Him.” (1Peter 3:18-22) Peter clearly states the mission of Jesus in hell.  And Paul also states that Jesus Who went to heaven rose up from beneath the earth and led those who were captive free. “Therefore, He says, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men." (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same also as He who ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10)

To return to our Scripture of study, although Jesus suffered the separation from the Father and all He’d ever known as the Son of God, the Father was not far in fulfilling His promise to Jesus that He would not leave Him in death, which is hell, sin and complete separation from Himself. Jesus arose from among the dead which means not only those whose body is dead, but whose spirit is separated from God. This has that double meaning.

 In essence, this is the love of our God, and we can only be grateful and say, “Thank You, Lord.” Jesus knew what He was getting into and went ahead with God’s plan of redemption. We can understand the suffering in the garden. It was not a question of whether He would go through with it. Jesus always obeyed the Father. It was the torment of knowing what it was going to be like. Jesus was forsaken by all and even separated from the Father because of our sin. He took our suffering for sin and our death for sin so that we could be righteous before the Father. “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray, but now you are turned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1Peter 2:24-25)