For Christ also 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. 19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, 20 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. 21 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, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
At the end of his earthly life, Jesus Christ, an innocent and just man, died for sins once so that he might appear before God on our behalf to save us (Heb. 9:24-29) by offering himself as an expiation for the sins of all who believe in him (1 Cor. 15:3-5). The Creed tells us that Jesus died and went to the abode of the dead, the place where the souls of the just were detained (in prison). Jesus went there to announce the good news of salvation. When Christ rose from the dead, transformed into the risen, Glorified Christ, a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), sin was conquered. The “spirits in prison” does not refer to earthly beings but to those who were disobedient to God, whose origin was not given. Christ’s salvation extended even to them.
Just as in the days of Noah when Noah and his family received a kind of baptism when they were saved from the water by the ark but were also saved by the water that lifted the ark. Christians are saved by “passing through” the waters of baptism. This is a pledge for Christians to live as Christ taught them, and a pledge from God to remove the stain of original sin so that believers, through grace earned by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, can live in good conscience and keep God’s commandments. Christians are baptized into Christ’s death and are therefore raised with him (Col. 2:12). The God of our Lord Jesus Christ placed him at his right hand, “Far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come (Eph. 1:21).”
Almighty God, by our baptism, you grant us new life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Strengthen us in our daily lives to do your will so that like Christ, we may triumph over sin and death and be welcomed into your glorious kingdom. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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