The Suffering and Death of Jesus ChristThe Apostles’ Creed (5/13)

This article was first published in French at TPSG. 

In the fourth line of the Apostles’ Creed, we arrive at the central event of redemption, the suffering and death of our Lord. The line may be short, but it is pregnant with meaning. Let’s consider each of its phrases in light of their context:

He Suffered Under Pontius Pilate

In the creed, three human beings are cited by name. The most prominent, of course, is Jesus Christ. The other two are Mary and Pilate. And what a contrast indeed exists between these two. Marie is associated with the birth of Christ. Pilate with his death. Marie is associated with his reception, Pilate with his rejection. Marie is associated with his flourishing, Pilate with his suffering. 

 

Having just contemplated Mary’s role in the incarnation in the previous line of the Creed, her song of praise, the Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55), is still echoing joyfully in our hearts. Then, Pilate enters the scene, “Like a dirty dog walking into a nice room,” (as Karl Barth once put it). 

Why Mention Pilate?

Pontius Pilate’s presence in this confession of faith serves several purposes:

1.    It stresses the historicity of the incarnation, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life and death took place in space and time. It was not a myth.

 

2.    It establishes the innocence of Christ. The Apostolic preaching consistently affirms the role Pilate played in Christ’s condemnation despite his innocence:

 

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. (Ac 3:13). 

 

3.    It became a credal expression. We see this in 1 Timothy 6:13, where Paul declares, 

 

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession…

 

This expression appears throughout the New Testament and became a common phrase concerning Christ following his ascension.

 

4.    It emphasises the humanity of Christ. In the Epistle to the Trallians, Ignatius wrote, “The Son of Mary, who was truly born, who ate and who drank, who was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, who was truly crucified, and died…” In stating it this way, the author shows that Jesus’ suffering was in the flesh, as part of his human nature, and not a mere illusion.

He was Crucified

In this sentence we come to an idea very remote from our reality in the 21st century. In his commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Robert H. Gundry put it this way:

 

The problem is that we moderns do not appreciate the shame and disgrace of the cross in antiquity. To us it has become a religious symbol; it has taken on a positive and sacred meaning. In the Roman Empire the cross was reserved for slaves and criminals of the lower classes. Crucifixion was a cruel, painful and usually long-drawn-out death. The paradox that early Christians faced was proclaiming a crucified Jew as God’s Son, Israel’s anointed king, and the world’s saviour. To the Greco-Roman world such a concept would be ridiculous. Conquerors, emperors and mighty men were the saviours of the first-century Mediterranean world, not defeated and executed would-be kings. 

 

This mindset is equally prevalent in the Islamic world, where it’s unthinkable that Allah would allow his prophet to die in such a shameful manner. It’s for this reason that our Muslim friends believe that Jesus did not die in the cross, but rather that at the last minute, a substitution took place. Jesus, they believe, ascended bodily to heaven without dying. It’s also for this reason that denigrating Mohammed in any way provokes great indignation. For in a culture of honour and shame, the dignity of their prophet must be protected at any cost. We, in contrast, have a Saviour who endured the shame of the cross willingly for us. Praise God!

Why the Death of the Cross?

The cross is the anchor of our faith, since it’s at the cross that the wrath of God was satisfied in the death of his Son. But the question may arise as to why Jesus had to die specifically on a cross. A few reasons exist:

 

1.    Because it fulfilled prophecy, as seen in Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 22:14-18, and Deuteronomy 21:22-23.

2.    Because Jesus himself predicted his death by crucifixion multiple times, most notably in John 3:14-15, where he likened it Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

3.    Because no other mode of execution common in his day could serve as a living image of the gravity of the sinful human condition. At the cross, he took our place as the only sacrifice for sins.

4. Because the horrors of the cross demonstrated Christ’s solidarity with us in our deepest pain and shame (He. 12:2).

He Died

This phrase reminds us that Jesus was 100% man. That just like the two robbers who hung next to him in Golgotha, he too succumbed to this horrible means of execution. And in case he was not yet dead, the soldiers who lowered the bodies of the three men made sure of it. In the case of the thieves, they broke their legs. In the case of Jesus, they pierced his heart with a spear, and blood and water flowed out.

He was Buried

This detail may seem superfluous, but the burial of Christ proves that he really died. Because in recent history, secular, Muslim and Hindu skeptics have proposed the “swoon theory," suggesting that Jesus did not die on the cross, but that he was simply wounded. That’s how they explain his post-resurrection appearances. 

 

The four gospel accounts, as well as reliable sources of the time, attest that Jesus did indeed die. A handful of female disciples (along with Mary, Jesus' mother, and John) witnessed his death. John tells us that Joseph of Arimathea obtained permission from Pilate to take the body of Jesus down from the cross. He then embalmed it with 30 kilos of spices and wrapped it in linen. He did this because he knew for certain that Jesus was dead. In an age when people died young and so easily, most people were much more familiar with death than most of us do today, where hospitals and mortuaries keep death at bay for us. If Jesus had still been alive, Pilate would have been the first to call Joseph to account. But the soldiers also testified to his death even as they took him down from the cross.

He Descended into Hell

For anyone who memorized the Apostles’ Creed as a child, you may recall that the following phrase in this fourth line of the Creed speaks of his descent into hell. This is a complicated question that goes beyond the scope of this article. What is important to mention is the roots of the term translated as "hell". In the original languages, the Scriptures speak of Sheol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. While both terms are sometimes translated as hell, they often refer to the grave or the abode of the dead, whether they are righteous or wicked.

 

The key passage (although not the only one) that supports the belief of Christ’s ascent into hell is found in 1 Peter 3:18-20:

 

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.

 

This particular passage has been the subject of much debate. In short, the most compelling interpretation is that Peter is referring to Noah's preaching to his contemporaries by the Spirit of Christ. Especially given the context of the book, for in 1 Peter 1:11 it is written that all the OT prophets prophesied by the Spirit of Christ. For further study of the question, I highly recommend the articles posted by our friends at Le Bon Combat and Evangile21.

Practical Implications

1.             At the cross we witness both the justice and the mercy of God. Justice in that the punishment for sin was inflicted on the Son, but mercy in that it resulted in our salvation. And yet, when we are wronged, are we not inclined to demand justice rather than act with mercy? In a climate of "cancel culture," we easily condemn anyone who disagrees with us or offends us, instead of showing grace. Unfortunately, our battles among believers of different traditions over secondary issues (especially on social media) are sometimes so vitriolic and lacking in brotherly love. May we resist this temptation and instead be peacemakers.

2.             Christ’s suffering teaches us that we too will suffer. 2 Corinthians 1:5 tells us that the sufferings of Christ abound for us. 1 Peter 4:13 says that we share in Christ's sufferings. And Philippians 3:10 speaks of the fellowship of his sufferings. Suffering is the norm for us as humans. But suffering is not necessarily the same for everyone. It can take on many forms, be they physical, emotional, or spiritual. And when the Scripture mentions suffering, there is always the consolation that goes with it. Suffering is not the end game; rather it is the context of our journey here on earth. Our destiny is the one we share with Christ – eternal comfort with God and eternal glory in his presence.

3.             Jesus said: If anyone wants to be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me(Mt. 16:24). Here we have a concrete example of how we can walk in the footsteps of our Lord. At the cross, Jesus could have snapped his fingers and put an end to his suffering. But he denied himself in order to serve, even if it meant suffering. As "little Christs,” we are called to this same renunciation.  If we want to be followers of Jesus, to deny ourselves, to carry our cross, then we must follow him to the grave. Our whole life must be dedicated to him. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Ga. 2:20). But the promise of the Gospel is that the grave is not the end, the resurrection is our hope, and the best is yet to come!