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Heidelberg Catechism, Question 44

Question 44

Why is there added, “He descended into Hell?

That in my greatest temptations, I may be assured, and wholly comfort myself in this (John 16;33): that my Lord Jesus Christ, by his inexpressible anguish, pains, terrors, and hellish agonies (Ps. 86;13), in which he was plunged during all his sufferings, but especially on the cross (Mark 15;34), hath delivered me from the anguish and torments of hell (1 Cor. 15;55, 57).

Scripture references for paragraph 1

Berean Standard Bible. Public domain text and source credits.

John 16:33

33I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

John 14:1

1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well.

John 14:16

16And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—

Psalms 86:13

13For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.

Psalms 30:3

3O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.

Matthew 26:37

37He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

Matthew 26:38

38Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.”

Isaiah 53:3

3He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Mark 15:34

34At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Isaiah 53:10

10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

Luke 12:50

50But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!

1 Corinthians 15:55

55“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:57

57But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 53:4

4Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.

1 Thessalonians 1:10

10and to await His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.

Source and edition

Heidelberg Catechism. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879. RCA English, E. R. Good & Bro., Tiffin, 1879

Public Domain (historic text); CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikisource transcription). Source transcription.

Transcription licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0.

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