'He descended to hell.'

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. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:18-22 ESV)

Lutherans are credal Christians. Every Sunday during worship we recite either the Apostles' Creed (to confess our common Christian faith) or the Nicene Creed (how we understand the relationship between the Three Persons of God, typically on a Communion Sunday), and once a year on Trinity Sunday (in May) we hear about (rather than recite because of length) the Athanasian Creed. 

But how much of our credal confession in church is rote? How many Lutherans (or other Christians) are really aware of all that's being confessed? 

Take, for example, the part of the Apostles' Creed that states And 
in
 Jesus
 Christ,
 His
 only 
Son, 
our 
Lord,
 who
 was 
conceived
 by 
the
 Holy
 Spirit,
 born
 of
 the
 virgin
 Mary,
 suffered
 under
 Pontius Pilate,
 was crucified,
 died
 and
 was
 buried.
 He
 descended 
into 
hell.
 What do those last four words mean, "He descended into hell."?

This is the topic of today's very nice devotion on the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) website: A Most Important Victory Parade

1 Peter 3:18-22 provides an explanation, but the analogy of a "victory lap" seems easier to grasp...

After all, we are Lutheran. Our standard definition of hell is separation from God, so if Jesus is God, how could He be separated from Himself? It's complicated, but it doesn't have to be. The Athanasian Creed reminds us: The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. And that works for me. Where my human reason fails...

...my faith takes over.  :)

P.S. I found the image above and the following words on a non-denominational church website: When Satan spoke over your life and said "Go to hell" Jesus said, "Over my dead body!" Because of Saturday, nobody has to go to hell.