Easter Saturday: The Harrowing of Hell
Easter Saturday is also known as the Harrowing of Hell. It charts the time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Hell comes from the German word for the Underworld. Other similar names are Hades or Sheol. They all mean the same place.
The Bible says that Sheol/Hades has several parts.
In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus talks about the ‘Great Chasm’, ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ and a ‘place of torment’. We learn more in Luke 8, where the demons beg not to be thrown into the ‘Abyss’, the bottomless pit.
Abraham’s Bosom, also known as Paradise, was where those who were faithful to God went when they died. It was separated from the other parts of Hell. This is where the Good Thief went after he died next to Jesus on the Cross.
Luke 23 v 43
Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
The Great Chasm separates Paradise and the ‘place of torment’, where there is ‘gnashing of teeth’ (Luke 13 v 28). It is thought the Great Chasm and the Abyss are one and the same.
So what did Jesus do when he harrowed Hell?
According to the 1 Peter, Jesus preached to the dead (the imprisoned spirits) and in the Book of Zechariah, we learn He freed them.
Zechariah 9 v 11
As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
Christian tradition extends this further. The Old English Biblical Texts from the 7th Century, has a section called Christ and Satan. I love how Jesus is alluded to as the ‘Terror of the Demons’.
Then terror came to them, and a crash before the Deemer,
when He bowed and broke the doors of hell. Bliss came to men
when they saw the head of the Savior.
Then was that folk terrified…
they were all frightened with terror,
widely throughout their windy hall… It is that one Himself, the Son of the Sovereign,
the Lord of Angels. He will lead these souls upwards from here…
Then He turned to hell, the Hero of Men, the Measurer (Creator) by His might.
He wished to lead forth a number of men, many thousands up to His homeland. Then came the voices of angels, a thundering at the crash of dawn. The Lord Himself had
conquered the enemy.
In the extra-biblical writings, the Gospel according to Nicodemus (written in the 4th Century) expands on Christ’s descent into Hell. This book is not canonical and shouldn’t be assumed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit. But it helps us to understand what early Christians we’re thinking at the time.
Near the end of the book is this beautiful line:
Then Jesus stretched forth His hand, and said, Come to me, all my saints, who were created in My image, who were condemned by the tree of forbidden fruit, and by the devil and death;
The Bible does not mention much about the Harrowing of Hell event, but it helps us to bring to mind the mighty works that Christ achieved on the Cross, freeing those faithful to God from the captivity of Hades.