18-20: It is with verses like these we are reminded that the writers of the New Testament do not have modern sensibilities. And thank the Lord they do not! We live in an age where the spiritual realm is either mocked as ridiculous and laughable, or feared as taboo and wicked. If modern science cannot test it, it cannot exist, says the first camp. Only witches and workers of dark magic have anything to do with the spiritual realm, says the other. These two camps are both wrong and fail to understand a world in which Christ has risen from the dead. Instead of causing fear and anxiety about "weirdness," these verses should be a reason to rejoice, for they proclaim most majestically the triumph of the empty tomb.
First, Peter succinctly states the Gospel. Jesus suffered and died once. He being righteous had no need to be judged. There was no sin in Him that needed to be paid for with blood. He did not suffer for His own sake. He, being the Son of Man, identified with us in our weakness, and became our representative. As Adam was our head and fell at the first tree, so Christ has become our head and mounted that tree so that we might be reconciled to God. Our first head drove us out of the Garden, whereas our second Head brought us back. In Him, in the righteous One, we, the unrighteous, find our home. In Him we see God.
This righteous One was put to death in our stead. This was His plan all along. He, being both Son of Man and Son of God would die for us, once and for all. As Man, He represents all mankind; as God, He brings the Divine presence to His people, tearing the temple curtain in two. Peter next says that while Jesus was dead in the flesh, yet alive in spirit, He proclaimed His victory to Satan and his host of demons. Jesus had told His disciples that He had come and bound the strongman and was going to plunder his house. The spirits in prison are these bound demons. Their power has been taken away. All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Jesus, and the fallen spirits, demons, were the first to hear about it. This passage tells us two things. One, that the spirit world is real. It is not something to be laughed at, nor is it to be feared. It simply is, like apples. The spirit world is a created 'substance' though admittedly vastly different from our own sensed experience. But it is created nonetheless, and as such has always been under the sovereign rule of God. Before the time of Christ, angles played a different and more substantial role in the politics of this world. The Archangel Michael, the prince of Israel, is said to have contended with the prince of Persia, another archangel, presumably fallen. Though fallen, this archangel of Persia held some office that was recognized as legitimate in the scheme of the Old Covenant world. With the advent of Christ, all was about to change. Demons, or fallen angels, were being cast out left and right, and the head demon, Satan himself, was rejected and defeated in the wilderness. In the crucifixion, Jesus put the final nail in the coffin of the demonic hosts' very real authority over the sons of men. Their wicked rebellion, dating back to the days before Noah, was finally, and completely put to an end. This is what Jesus went and told them. At the risk sounding inappropriate, I imagine Jesus giving them a full on raspberry. In effect, He tells them, "Your days are done. I win. You lose." Any authority they had has now been given to the Conquerer of death. This is the second thing this verse tells us: Jesus is now King, and no one can contest His rule.
Far from being a troublesome text, these are words of solid hope and joy. We will suffer as Jesus suffered. We are counted as righteous in the economy of God, and so will suffer as the righteous do in a fallen world. But we do not suffer alone. Nor are we left to the whims of devils. Our Lord sits on His throne, high and lifted up, the train of His robe filling the temple. He has triumphed over death and his minions. Therefore, do not fear. The spirit world is real to be sure, but we serve the God, who as both Spirit and Man, reigns over all things from on high. This is our God. In Him we find peace.
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