The King Unshackles the Imprisoned
February 14, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
Beloved: Christ suffered for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God. Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the Spirit. In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
1 Peter 3:18-22
This is one of the most difficult passages in the New Testament to understand. There are a variety of interpretations of when Jesus went to preach to the spirits in prison, who exactly they were, and where this took place.
Today, we begin the grace filled season of Lent, and this passage from 1 Peter, challenging as parts of it can be, calls to mind how the season ends: in glorious triumph! The God-man Jesus – the unconquerable One – crashes through the gates of hell and liberates those persons awaiting His defeat of Sin, Death and those angels who rebelled against God out of envy and pride. For those who pray with “The Liturgy of the Hours” (the iBreviary app is a great resource to consider for Lent and beyond) there is an excerpt from an ancient homily that is routinely named by many as a favorite passage from the early Church fathers. It’s found on Holy Saturday, and it’s only a portion of a very, very long Easter homily given by St. Epiphanius. The entire homily takes close to 45 minutes to preach, but I imagine no one moved when this was first proclaimed. The excerpt in the Liturgy of the Hours is very good, to be sure, but there are other parts that are, well, you have to read to understand. So, given the reading from 1 Peter this Sunday, and given how increasingly important it is to understand that Jesus is LORD, has no rival, and is not nervous or anxious right now, here is a further excerpt from Epiphanius’ Easter homily. It’s somewhat long, but it’s so worth it, and there’s much more I could have included. Perhaps we will revisit this when we enter Holy Week. As we begin this Lenten journey together, may these words help us remember who it is we worship, why we can trust Him, and why we can be calm and at peace, no matter what the circumstances are.
“Now when the luminous presence of the Master’s divine retinue had arrived at the walled-off, sunless, pitch black habitations of Hades, with its dens and dungeons, caves and caverns, Gabriel the chief-commander went before all — it being his custom to bring glad tidings of joy unto men — and as befits an archangel and general, issued to the hostile powers a mighty, resounding, and lion-like command, saying: ‘Lift up your gates, O ye princes!’ After him cried Michael, ‘And be ye lift up, ye everlasting gates!’ Thereafter the Virtues said, ‘Stand back, ye lawless porters!’ Then the Powers said with power, ‘Be broken, ye unbreakable bonds!’ And another, ‘Be abashed, ye inimical foes!’ Yet another, ‘Be affrighted, ye lawless tyrants!’ And just as before the battle array of some terrible and invulnerable, all-powerful, royal, trophy-bearing army, a certain terror and trembling, panic and painful fear seize the enemies of an unconquerable king, just so did it befall those in Hades at Christ’s unexpected coming to the netherworld, which occurred like a sudden lightning-flash from above, blinding the eyes of the hostile powers of Hell, as they heard certain thunderous voices bellowing, and angelic hosts commanding, and saying:
‘Lift up your gates, O ye princes! Lift up your gates! Do not simply open them, but lift them up from the foundations, root them out and remove them, that they may never more be shut. Lift up your gates, O ye princes! Not as though the Master here present is unable, even with the doors shut, to enter in at his own bidding, but because as fugitive slaves, he relegates to you the task of raising, removing, and shattering the everlasting gates; on which account he commands not the common lot among you, but those reckoned by you to be princes, saying, Lift up your gates, O ye princes! ‘Princes,’ and not any other sort among you; for if indeed until now ye have wickedly exercised princedom over those sleeping from the ages, yet henceforth ye shall be their princes no longer, neither of any others, but of yourselves only — yet not even of yourselves. Lift up your gates! For Christ the heavenly Door is at hand. Make way for him that rideth into the dusky regions of Hell — Lord is his name; and to the Lord belong the ways out from the gates of death. Ye indeed made the entryways of death, but he is come to make the ways leading out therefrom; wherefore: Lift up your gates, O ye princes! Lift them up, and do not delay! Lift them up, and make haste! Lift them up, and do not wait! For if ye think to tarry, we shall command the same gates to be lifted up without hands of themselves, saying, Be ye lift up, ye everlasting gates!’
No sooner had the hosts of heaven cried out, than at once the gates were lifted up, at once the chains and bars were broken, at once the bolts fell away, at once the foundations of the prison were shaken, at once the hostile forces took flight — one running into another, another tripping over the other, one shouting at the other to flee. They were terrified, shaken, astonished, dismayed, bewildered, stunned and stupefied, confused and quivering. One stood with mouth agape, another hid his head between his knees, another was sprawled out face to the ground, another stood stiff as a corpse, another was seized with terror, another lay petrified and pale-faced, while another fled further inside. There did Christ cleave with frenzy the heads of the mighty, there were they shaken by him, there did they gape open their mouths, and say:
“Who is this King of glory? Who is this Great One, who with such great numbers, performs here such great wonders? Who is this King of glory, who works now in Hell things never before done in Hell? Who is this that brings out hence the prisoners of all the ages? Who is this that undoes our imperishable power and pride?”
Then the Master’s forces shouted to them in reply, saying:
“Would ye learn who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty, and powerful, and invincible in battle. This is he who thrust you out and banished you from the vaults of heaven, O ye miserable, criminal tyrants! This is he who brake the heads of your dragons in the waters of Jordan. This is he who by the Cross openly put you to scorn, triumphed over you, and mortally wounded you. This is he who bound you in chains, and cast you into the dark abyss. This is he who shall expel and destroy you in the eternal fire of Gehenna. So do not dally, do not tarry, but hurry, and send forth those whom until now you have cruelly swallowed up; for your dominion is now abolished, your tyranny is now ceased, your insolence is miserably quashed, your arrogance is brought to an end, your strength is trampled on and destroyed.”
When the Master’s forces had said these things to the hostile forces, they pressed onwards. Some of them dug up the foundations of the prison, others pursued the hostile powers that fled from the outer chambers further in. Others went about and searched through the crevices, cells, and caverns, while still others carried prisoners to the Master from various places. Some shackled the tyrant, while others unshackled the prisoners of the ages. Some gave orders, while others swiftly carried them out. Some ran before the Master as he went further in, while others stood beside him as their God and victorious King.
While these things, and even more besides, were taking place in Hades and being noised abroad, and as everything was in an uproar and great commotion, since the Master’s presence was about to reach the very nethermost of the nether regions; then Adam, the first-created and first-imprisoned of all men, held fast in chains with great security deeper down than all the rest, heard the Master’s footsteps coming toward the prisoners, and recognized their sound as he walked about the prison, and turned to all the prisoners with him from former ages, and said:
“I hear the sound of someone’s footsteps coming toward us; and if he has truly deigned to come unto this place, we are free of our chains: if we should truly see him here with us, we are delivered from Hell.”
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
February 2024
For God’s protection upon Fr. John, our team and our families.
For the ordained and lay leaders who will be joining us for a Leadership Immersive on our campus.
For missions in Indiana and Florida State University.
For all those running The Rescue Project in parishes and homes across the world.
For the grace to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.