Apostles' Creed: Descended into Hades // Rev. Matt Kennedy // Jul 13 2025

This Sunday is the fourth week of our summer sermon series on the Apostles' Creed and we arrive at one of the more controversial phrases in the creed confessing that Jesus, "descended into Hades" (or sometimes it's rendered, "descended into hell"). These words provoke a lot of confusion and it's not unheard of for some churches to skip that line when they recite the creed!I can understand the temptation to skip it, but I think a closer look at this idea can actually be a great tool for shining light on a host of theological mysteries like, "what happens when we die?" or "what hope do people have who never hear the gospel in this life?" or even more elementary, "where was God on the Saturday between the crucifixion and the resurrection?"One of the gifts of ancient creeds and doctrines is that they help provide coherence to our varied Christian beliefs. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn't depend on having a perfect understanding of every theological mystery, but the longer we follow Jesus the more helpful we might find the work of theologians who have preceded us. Sometimes it takes accepting a few of the confusing things on faith, in order to arrive at understanding others.