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From Intern Quentin . . .

Grace and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ, 

I think a rock band that gets a bad rap in Christian circles tends to be AC/DC because of its overt use of satanic imagery and symbols in their writing. Even though the band’s name comes from a sister’s AC adapter on her sewing machine, Christian groups have suggested that the band’s name was an acronym supporting the devil. But, when we take the band and one their most popular songs out of the limelight of rock’n’roll, we get a different kind of origin and meaning. For this last newsletter, I thought we could look over one of their most famous songs, “Highway to Hell” and see if we can’t find some new meaning for us rooted in our faith today. 

While “Highway to Hell” sports lyrics that uplift hell as some kind of party or celebration, the song’s origins come more from the band’s Australian roots and writing about their home. According to singer/song-writer Brian Johnson, the song is largely about “being on a bus on the road” because “when the sun’s setting in the west and you’re driving across it, it is like a fireball.” Additionally, while touring through Australia, a common highway the band would travel on was the Canning Highway, nicknamed the ‘Highway to Hell’ because of frequent accidents outside of a local pub on the highway.1 But, bringing the song back into its symbolic context – a song about actually driving straight to hell – is there a way for us to see Christian themes in a song about driving to Hell? Well, for me I turn to the second article of the Apostles’ Creed where we confess that Jesus “descended to hell.” The question for us is could Jesus have taken a ‘highway’ on his descent? 

While that sounds silly to ask, the question of ‘how Jesus descends’ to Hell was a concern throughout the Reformation. The Reformers discussed ways to fully know ‘how’ the Church understand Christ’s actions on Holy Saturday with all of the information that we do have. But turning to Book of Concord, Martin Luther argues that focusing on the ‘how’ misses the point of what we ‘know’ to have happened. Instead of focusing on the ‘how,’ Luther encourages us to embrace the mystery of what we do not know or might never fully understand in ‘how’ Christ descends to hell for the world. In embracing that mystery, Luther points us to what we do know in his explanation of the Apostles’ Creed. That when we confess that Christ has ‘descended to hell,’ we confess that Christ has “redeemed and released [us] from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all misfortune.”  Several centuries later, theologian Gustaf Aulen dubs this as ‘christus victor’ or ‘Christ the Victor,’ which confesses that Christ has rescued and liberated the world from the chains and sickness of sin and the devil. It is through Christ’s victory that nothing can separate us from God’s love and from what Christ has done for us and the world. 

And when we listen to “Highway to Hell,” from Christ’s perspective, then I think we can make connections to this victory as we hear the song depict Christ willingly going to the Cross, descending to Hell, and defeating sin, death, and the devil. Starting with the second verse, we hear the lyrics “no stop signs, speed limits, nobody’s gonna slow me down,” which mirrors Jesus’ time in Jerusalem in the sense that no one will stop him from teaching, healing, or arguing with the current leadership. Whether its in the Temple flipping tables or being handed over in the Garden of Gethsemane, even Peter can’t ‘slow’ Jesus down in freely going to the cross (or Hell). 

In the next lines, we hear that ‘satan’ has been “payin’… dues” and “playin’ in a rockin’ band” in joyful celebration entirely unaware of his impending defeat by Christ. Remembering what Luther says about the Apostles’ Creed – that Christ descends to Hell so that he can rescue us – these lines imagine the descent to Hell as a party satan is throwing, i.e., “playin’ in a rockin’ band.”  In this imagining of what Hell might look like after Christ’s death, we see satan unaware of his impending defeat as he celebrates the arrival of Jesus. In the closing line of the second verse, we see this defeat confirmed because we hear that Jesus is now on his “way to the promised land.” From Christ’s perspective, Hell was never his final destination along the ‘highway’ but actually just a stop between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. At the end of the song, we can see how the second verse brings us through the grief of Holy Saturday as Christ redeems and rescues us and the world through the cross, descent into hell, and the tomb. 

While we reflect on this amazing victory that Christ has won for us with the help of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell,” I think a question for us today is ‘how’ that victory moves us to act in the world today. Brian Johnson’s lyrics and Martin Luther’s teachings are clear that while we don’t fully know the ‘how’ we can trust the ‘why’ Christ would take this descent willingly. Christ descends willingly because in the eyes of the Trinity, we and entire world are worthy of this never ceasing and overwhelming love. A love that is willing to go to hell and back and beyond for us and the world. Thanks be to God for that kind of love and may we share that love with each other today. 

Peace and Blessings, Fraternally Quentin Surace