After being
made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those
who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah
while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were
saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you
also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience
toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has
gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers
in submission to him. 1 Peter 3:19-22
Peter made a claim in this book that
appears no where else in the Bible. It says
Jesus died and went to hell, then lectured the people in hell, especially those
from the days of Noah, who rejected the ark and drowned in their sins. Did that happen?
If so, Peter would know because he
saw Jesus after this happened, right before the resurrection.
If it didn’t happen literally, it
definitely happened figuratively. Jesus’
death on the cross offered salvation to those drowning in sin. People can choose to accept this life raft or
refuse it, just as those in Noah’s day literally did. Jesus’ death made a proclamation to those in
hell that they had a chance to be saved, but refused it. God reached out to those all the way back in
Noah’s time to save them, however, only eight accepted the invitation.
The rain waters of Noah’s day washed
the earth of its sinfulness, just as baptism symbolically acknowledges our
purification from sin through Jesus’ death.