For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him (1 Peter 3:18-22).

Elizabeth George says: Hold on to your seats!  You’re entering a heavy theology zone!  😉

The “mysteries of God” here refer to the question of Jesus, how He “preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient.”  And, in spite of the title of today’s lesson, we gain no real understanding of this mystery in Lesson 17 – and theologians cannot agree on its meaning either.

A popular interpretation of this verse is that, after His death and before His Resurrection, Jesus visited Hades where He spoke to the evil people from Noah’s time.  Remember, they are the reason God destroyed the Earth?

Other variations on this theory exist, but the true knowledge of this passage, or the ability to explain it to others, is pretty confusing.

Watch today’s video and see me talk a bit more about it.  The bottom line to me is that many of these mysteries are likely to remain just that, until Jesus returns.  With God, we are all on a need to know basis.  If we really needed to know, He would tell us!

Thanks!  Have a super duper day! BTW, not putting all the annotations in the video seemed to work well for us last time.  So I skipped them today.  Let me know if you need them in the movie next time!