·         nib—what the epistle here affirms is that the saving act of Christ’s suffering, death, resurrection and ascension is laid hold of by believers in their baptism.  His saving act and their baptism together bring the faithful to God.  (3:18).[1]

·         three interpretive options—the material in this passage is one of the most difficult in the Christian Scriptures; here are three possible interpretations for Christ preaching to spirits in prison.

1.       Before incarnation, Jesus preached to disobedient people of Noah’s time, perhaps through Noah himself;

2.       Between death and resurrection, Jesus descended to the place of the dead and preached to the spirits of the evil people of Noah’s time;

3.       Between Death and Resurrection, Jesus ascended to the realm of the wicked angels (sons of God) who are mentioned in Genesis 6:2, 4 as forerunners of Noah and the wickedness of Noah’s time.  There Jesus announced God’s victory over all principalities and powers.

 

 

·         Cluster a series of one word descriptions that come to mind when you think of water . . . Lent . . . water.

·         Describe your baptism in relationship to the water baptism that we read in 1 Peter 1:18-22.

·         Think of similarities between the water mentioned in today’s three lessons:  Genesis 9:8-17, 1 Peter 3:18-22, and Mark 1:9-15.

 

 

 

·         block #1—Reflect on the difficulty of the passage—the mysterious spirits in prison and then suggest how we might interpret them;

·         block #2—Describe how Jesus has accomplished all of redemption through his salvific act that extends in reverse through time as well as through the present and into the future.

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible XII  (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), page 293.