Saturday Vigil

​4-3-21
Today is Holy Saturday, which is also called Easter Vigil. It marks the time that Jesus' body spent in the tomb. While very little is known about Jesus at this time. 1 Peter 3:18-20 gives us a clue. "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."
 When Jesus was made alive in the Spirit, it is not saying that His Spirit died, and then it became alive again. "Made alive in the spirit" is contrasted with "put to death in the flesh," for he died a mortal death, as we all do. "Made alive in the Spirit" means that he began to live a spiritual resurrection life before his body was brought back to life on Sunday. 
The most commonly held view is that the time between being in the tomb and his resurrection is that in the spirit he went to Hades (the place of the dead) and proclaimed to those who were in spiritual prison. The word that is translated as "proclamation or proclaimed in the past tense" in Greek is kerusso. It is a different word than the Greek word, "euaggelizo" which means to preach the gospel.
Therefore, it is most probable that Jesus was not preaching the gospel to those in Hades/Spirit prison so they could be saved but was instead proclaiming the truth to them. I say this because Hebrews 9:27 states, "Since it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." There is no second chance for salvation after a person dies.
We wait as the disciples did for Sunday.  Friday, Jesus died. Saturday, his body lies in the tomb. Sunday, he is resurrected.  All of this for us.  Thanks be to God.