The Dragon Was Defeated: A Holy Week Devotional Day 4

Day 4: The Descent of the King — The Harrowing of Sheol and the Watchers Judged Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18–20; Ephesians 4:9–10; Isaiah 14; Psalm 68 Theme: Jesus descended into the abyss — not as victim, but as victor. Verses 1 Peter 3:18-19 (ESV): 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. Ephesians 4:9-10 (ESV): (In saying, 'He ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) Devotional The body lay still, wrapped in linen, and entombed. But the King was not idle.He descended. Into Sheol. Into the Abyss. Into the very vaults where the ancient rebels — the Watchers of Hermon — were bound in chains. These were the original insurgents, the ones whose defiance seeded the world with violence, sorcery, and chaos.And now, the glorified Son of Man — the One they saw unveiled on the mount — entered their prison. But He did not come to negotiate. He came to proclaim judgment.He declared to them, and to all the imprisoned powers, that their sentence was sealed. Their dominion had ended. The Seed of the Woman had crushed the serpent’s skull from within the tomb of death itself.He led captive a host of captives. The descent was the beginning of the divine conquest — a stripping of spiritual strongholds. A parade of shame for the defeated gods. Reflection Jesus has walked into the darkest realm and returned victorious. What dark places in your life do you need to invite Him into as King, not just comforter?