Does Jesus Really Hold The Keys To Hades?
“I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (Revelation 11:18)
This verse answers the question posed in my headline. The Bible clearly records that between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Jesus went to hell and back for us. Pastors and Sunday School teachers have taught us over the years that Satan and all the evil that goes with him were conquered by Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. They base this view in part on what the Apostle Paul said about it one of his letters to the Church at Ephesus:
“Therefore he says: ‘When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.’ Now this, ‘he ascended’—what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” (Ephesians 4:8-10)
First and foremost, I believe this to be true as I do with all Scripture. But it raises another question that happens to serve as one of the troubling spiritual questions of all time. If Jesus holds the keys to hades and death, why is Satan still the “prince of the power of the air?” (Ephesians 2:2) In other words, the Bible suggests that the victory has been won, but we don’t always see it here. It very much seems that demonic forces are still with us. Why does evil seem to enjoy favor over righteousness?
Bible critics use these verses and others to point out that the Bible contradicts itself. Jesus does hold the keys to hell, and Satan is the prince of the power of the air. What we must remember is we live in two dimensions as Christians – spiritual and physical. Jesus has conquered the spiritual world. The Bible clearly records that demons recognize him as Christ. Indeed, he went to hell and conquered all of them, and Paul’s point is we must grow in our faith and learn to believe that truth.
But Satan has not yet been conquered here in the physical world in which we live. Free will still reigns and evil is rampant. Scripture teaches us that as we march toward the end of time, it will get worse. Wrong will seem to be right and good will be seen as evil. That truth is already at play here in our world, and it will get worse, not better – at least not until Jesus returns.
The Bible also teaches that when Jesus returns, Satan will be conquered once and for all. “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)
Why does Satan still seem to rule here? Because Jesus has not yet returned to finish him off. Jesus’ last words on the cross were “it is finished,” and it is finished. But faith requires we see the world not only through our natural eyes, but also through our spiritual eyes, which were given to us at salvation. In other words, we have to trust God’s Word as truth for those things we have not yet seen. The battle may not be over, but the war has been won!
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What are the Key’s?
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Let us ponder, for a moment, if this speech about “keys” and “Hades” is not metaphorical in nature, or are these real “Keys”? If this is to be taken literally, these would have to be real “Keys” to the real realm known as “Hades”, the place of Greek mythology ruled over by the god Hades, brother of Zeus. We know that these greek “gods” do not exist, so why then would greek translators have used “Hades” as their understanding of “Sheol” when bringing the Torah into Koine Greek?
I would posit that Hades was the concept which best described that place beyond death, like Sheol, and is referred to by Jesus as “Paradise” to the man on the cross. And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” is what Luke 23:43 states, and yet in John 20:17 the resurrected Jesus tells Mary Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’”, therefor we know that the place Jesus took the thief was not Heaven, but indeed “Hades”, where Lazarus and the “Rich Man” are.
Jesus gave the keys to Peter in MT 16. It’s a popular myth that Jesus had to retrieve the keys from satan who took the keys from Adam in the garden. The gospel is the keys. We have the keys.