Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/102712.cfm

Bent, bowed, but unbroken,
this tree lives and reaches for the sky. 

Therefore, it says: 
He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; 
he gave gifts to men. 
What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended
into the lower regions of the earth? 
The one who descended is also the one who ascended 
far above all the heavens, 
that he might fill all things. 

Recently a fellow in the Knights of Columbus asked me about a phrase in the Apostles Creed. He and his group have taken up the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI to study and pray with the Creeds. 

"What does "descended into hell" mean?" he asked. "Jesus didn't really go to hell, did he?" 
This was not the best moment for an extensive lecture on hermaneutics and the history of interpretation, but I assured him the phrase and the Creed are very ancient and deeply respected. I even whipped out my handy smart phone and Googled images of the "Harrowing of Hell." 

The tradition celebrates the impunity of Jesus who could stroll into Hell as if he is God of the Universe -- which he is -- and pick out those he claims as his own -- Adam, Eve, Abel, Methuselah, etc -- and deliver them into heaven. And Satan, who until this time has ruled over Hell and controlled much of the Universe, must suffer the humiliation. 

The medieval scholars also supposed that, until the Resurrection of Jesus, all the dead were in Hell, including even the greatest men and women: Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Deborah, Ruth, David and Judith. So Jesus had his work cut out for him on that Holy Saturday when he descended into hell. He had a lot of people to redeem. 

More recent scholars, as recent as Blessed John Duns Scotus of the 13th century, taught that there was a prevenient grace which fell upon God's chosen ones even before the Birth of Jesus. First among them was Mary, who was given the grace of the Immaculate Conception. She was redeemed from sin by the Sacrifice of Jesus although Jesus was not yet born -- preveniently. 

If I were called upon to explain the descent into hell, I would suggest that Jesus, by his horrible agony and death on the cross, descended to the very worse experience of human life. His suffering was physical, emotional and spiritual. He endured not only the shattering pain in his body, but also the betrayal of Judas, denial of Peter, desertion of his disciples, hatred of his coreligionists (the Jews), contempt of Roman soldiers and sneers of passers-by. There was no one to help. 

Lifted only by his nails and distended by earth's gravitation, he was welcomed by neither heaven or earth. It seemed he belonged nowhere. Not even God would help him when he cried out. (Jewish survivors of the Shoah describe a similar abandonment. The Allies suspected something terrible was happening but did not undertake the Second World War to liberate God's Chosen People.) 

He descended into hell is a mysterious phrase. Apparently its origin is here in Ephesians 4:9,

"What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended into the lower [regions] of the earth?"

I think this verse could bear either interpretation. It reassured the medieval church that God's mercy extends well beyond the limits of Jesus' life, both before and after; and it reassures the modern skeptic who wants to know if God knows what human beings suffer. He has indeed descended into hell -- for our sake.