gehenna Archives - Redeeming God

To Love Your Enemies, Know You are Loved (Ephesians 3:18-21)

Question from a Reader

One of the members of my online discipleship group is taking my online course about hell, and had a question regarding Matthew 10:28. Here is what he wrote:

Jeremy, I loved this course and it helped me out immensely, but I’m trying to figure out Matthew 10:28 with this new understanding of hell. Would you be able to explain this passage?

Matthew 10:28 says this:

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

I have written about this text previously in connection with the parallel passage in Luke 12:5.

There are several translation issues about this verse which creates some deep divisions in Christianity regarding the meaning of what Jesus says here. The primary question about this text is in regards to whom Jesus is referring when He says “fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Who is the “him”? The NKJV version has the “him” capitalized, which shows that they think the pronoun is referring to God. However, there are many Christian leaders who think the pronoun is referring to Satan.

However, a third option might be that the “him” is referring to other human beings.

The Greek word used for hell in Matthew 10:28 is the word gehenna. This word does not refer to some horrible afterlife experience, but to an experience in this life where all that you hold dear and all that is valuable and important to you gets destroyed.

In my book “What is Hell?” and the online course that goes with it, I says this about gehenna:

When the various texts are considered (cf. Matt 5:22, 29, 30; 10:28; 18:8-9; 23:15, 33; Mark 9:43-47; Luke 12:5; Jas 3:6), Jesus speaks of gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom in a symbolic way … not to teach about what happens to some people in the afterlife, but rather to teach about what can happen to some people in this life. People who are sent to the Valley of Hinnom (usually because of crime or leprosy) lose their friends and family, and face a life filled with horror, decay, and destruction.

The warnings about gehenna are given by Jesus so that we do not destroy our health, life, family, friendships, and reputation in this life. Rather than live in the Valley of Death, God want us to enjoy everything He has given to us in this life.

In Matthew 10:28, Jesus says that being killed is not as big of a deal as having your life destroyed. If you die with your morals and values intact, and with your loved ones and friends thinking highly of you, the only thing you lose is your life. And since we know that life goes on for eternity, being killed for our beliefs is nothing more than a step from one life into an even better life.

What is much worse, however, is to have your life destroyed while you are still alive. That is, to lose your friends, your family, your health. To lose respect and honor from others. To lose your morals, values, beliefs, and convictions. To lose all that makes you you.

That is what we should seek to avoid at all costs.

It is far better to be killed for your beliefs than to abandon your beliefs and convictions.

Jesus is saying this: Don’t fear the one who can kill you, because death is not the end for us. But do fear those who can threaten and steal your values, morals, convictions, integrity, dreams, hopes, friends, family, job, health, and everything else of value in this life. That is who you should fear. That is who you should avoid.

This view of Matthew 10:28 and Luke 12:5 fits perfectly with my proposal in my book about hell that hell is not an afterlife experience of suffering and torture, but is rather an experience in this life of living contrary to everything that God wants and desires for us. In these verses, Jesus is warning us against those (including ourselves!) who can lead us into a hellish existence in this life.

You Cannot Love Your Enemies Until You Know You are Fully Loved (Ephesians 3:18-21)

Paul wants the church to lead the world into the way of peace. We are to be an example to the world of how to live in peace with our enemies. In Ephesians 2, Paul showed us how Jesus has done this. In Ephesians 3:1-13, Paul showed how he himself is doing this. And now, in Ephesians 3:14-21, Paul writes about how he prayers for his readers to do the impossible, namely, to love our enemies.

If it seems impossible to love our enemies, we need to know that in Jesus Christ, we can do what cannot be done. We can do the impossible. This is what we looked at last time when we studied Ephesians 3:14-17. Now, in Ephesians 3:18-21, Paul continues to write about what he prays for his readers, and he has two more impossible prayer requests, which are only possible through Jesus Christ.

Let me put these final two prayer requests in a bit of context for you.

Have you ever been told to get along with someone you can’t get along with? Was there ever someone at church whom you avoid Sunday after Sunday? If so, then you understand what the Ephesians were thinking here. Paul tells them in Ephesians 2 to live at peace with each other, and they are thinking, “But Paul, you don’t know what you are asking! I can’t get along with them. It’s … impossible! You don’t know what’s between us! You don’t know that he believes! You don’t know what she’s done! You don’t know what they said about me! I can’t live at peace with them! It’s impossible!”

So Paul prays for them here at the end of Ephesians 3. He says, “I know it’s impossible for you. So my first prayer request is that God will give you power to do what I’m asking you to do.” That’s the first prayer request. The request we saw previously in Ephesians 3:16-17. Prayer for power to do the impossible. Prayer for power to be at peace with those people you’d rather hate. A prayer request to do what you cannot do. That was the first prayer request. The second prayer request in Ephesians 3:18-19 is a prayer for knowledge.

C. Prayer for Knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19)

Ephesians 3:18-19. … [that you] may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;

This prayer of Paul is not a “ho-hum” prayer! In Ephesians 3:16-17, Paul prayed that we would do what we cannot do, in Ephesians 3:18-19 he prays that we will know what we cannot know! He prays that you will be able…to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge. In other words, to know what cannot be known. To know what is impossible to know!

Paul is praying that we would know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge – which cannot be known. He somewhat describes this love back in Ephesians 3:18. He says that you may be able to comprehend – that means know – what is the width – that’s how wide it is – the length – that’s how long it is – the depth – that’s how deep it goes – and the height – that’s how high it rises. By using these terms, Paul is saying that the love of Christ is eternal, it’s infinite. It’s without beginning or end. It cannot be measured or contained. When Paul says width, he means it is wider than the universe. When he says length, he means it is farther than the east is from the west. The depth of Christ’s love – it’s deeper than the ocean. The height of God’s love is higher than God’s Word is above man’s word.

The vastness of God’s love is so difficult to explain – I think that’s why Paul cuts off what he was saying and says in verse 19 that this love cannot be known. How are you supposed to know what is infinite? Yet Paul prays that we would know it anyway. Paul has now prayed for two impossible things. Power to do what we cannot do and knowledge to know what we cannot know. We’re seeing a pattern, and the third request upholds this pattern.

D. Prayer for Filling (Ephesians 3:19b)

Ephesians 3:19b. … that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

How big is God? If you know some theology, you know that God is omnipresent. If we break this word down into two words. No matter where you are in the universe, God is there. He is everywhere. In fact, even when you get to the edge of the universe – where time and matter cease to exist, God does not stop there. He keeps going. That’s how big God is.

How great is God? How powerful is He? Again, in theological terms, He is omnipotent. He has all power. With a mere thought, He could obliterate the universe. With another mere thought, He could recreate it. He can do whatever He wants, wherever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants. (Thank goodness he’s a loving and merciful God – this kind of power would be terrible in the hands of a tyrant).

So with God’s omnipresence and omnipotence in mind, think of what Paul is praying for here in v. 19! He prays that you, as a teeny, tiny speck of flesh and bones, with life that is but a breath, made from dust, dying, decaying, sinful, insignificant piece of the vast universe, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God! The word fullness is the word pleroma, and it means fullness! When used of God, it means all of His divine attributes and perfection. Every bit of Him.

It is the term used of Christ in Colossians 2:9. Christ was completely God, right? Colossians 2:9 says that in Christ dwelt the fullness of God in bodily form! Fullness means fullness. Paul prays here for us to be filled with all the fullness of God. Try taking something bigger than the universe, something so big it is infinite, something so big it cannot be measured, and stuffing it into a space five or six feet tall, eighteen inches wide, and about a foot deep. Some of us have slightly different dimensions, but that’s not the point. How is something infinite supposed to fit into us? It’s impossible!

Even if the structure were much larger, it is still impossible to hold God in it. When King Solomon built the first temple, he too prayed a prayer on the day the temple was dedicated (found in 1 Kings 8), and he prayed:

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below – you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. You have kept your promise to your servant David my father, with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it – as it is today – but will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!

Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived saw the truth that God could not be contained in any sort of building or structure. Yet somehow, God was. And that is what Paul prays here. That we may be filled with all the fullness of God. That is Paul’s third prayer request. An impossible request. We have seen three requests. All of them impossible. He prayed that we would do what we cannot do, that we would know what we cannot know, and that we would be filled with what we cannot be filled. Those are the three things Paul prays for.

Putting the Three Prayer Requests in Context

But these impossible prayer requests are the key to doing what Paul asks us to do … namely, love our enemies.

The truth of the matter is that we cannot begin to love our enemies … until we know that we are loved.

Have you ever realized that we were the enemies of God? When Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden by choosing to go their own way, they took all of humanity with them into rebellion against God, thereby joining up with Satan in a rebellion against God. We are the enemies of God.

Yet God never stopped loving us. And while we were yet sinners, that is, while we were still the enemies of God, Jesus Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). That was the entire point of Ephesians 2:1-4.

So the first step in doing what cannot be done … namely, loving our enemies … is to know what cannot be known, that is, that we are fully and truly loved by God.

Why can it not be known? Because the love of God is infinite. It is without depth, height, width, or length. But we can begin to know the love of God. We can begin to experience the love of God. And only after we begin to know that which cannot ever be fully known, namely, how much God’s love us, will we begin to have love for our enemies.

Sadly, the love of God is something most Christians think they know and understand, but really don’t. We all pay lip service to the idea that God loves us, but few of us really believe it.

Most Christians think God only loves us as long as we are faithful and obedience. As long as we keep from sin. As long as we regularly read our Bibles and pray. As long as we have pure thoughts and stay away from temptation, and do all the things that good Christians are supposed to do.

But when we stray, well, God turns His back on us. He stops loving us. He turns away from us in shame and disgust. … This is what most Christians seem to think about the love of God.

Which just goes to show that most Christian know nothing of God’s love.

The truth about God’s love is that He loves you no matter what. God forgives you no matter what. Honestly, you could become Hitler and God will still love and forgive you. I know that statement is a shock to many people, but it’s true. And the fact that it’s a shocking just goes to show that we don’t know anything about the love of God.

No matter what you do or don’t do, God will never stop loving you. He will never turn away from you. He will never hide His face from you in shame. He will always be with you, will always forgive you, will always embrace and accept you. Until you begin to understand this, you will never understand God and will also never be able to show love for your enemies.

You can only begin to love once you know you are fully loved.

Two books I highly recommend about the love of God are He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobson and The Misunderstood God by Darin Hufford. Both books will present the true, radical nature of God’s love to you, which is essential for you to start loving others.

And of course, even when we begin to know the love of God, love for our enemies still doesn’t come from ourselves. Love for our enemies is not within our power. This is why the third prayer request is so important, to be filled with all the fullness of God. When we love others, it is God loving them through us. When we love others, this love for others is the love of God working in and through us toward others.

This is the great secret and mystery of the church, that we are the hand, feet, and voice of Jesus. Jesus as Jesus is the incarnation of God, so also the church is the incarnation of Jesus. The love of Jesus is shown to a dying world through the church that if filled with the fullness of God’s love for the world (Cf. Ephesians 1:23).

So those are the three prayer requests of Paul…. He prays that we can do what cannot be done (love our enemies) by knowing what cannot be known (the love of God for us) and being filled with what we cannot be filled (the loving power and presence of God).

Does all of this sound impossible? If so, that is why Paul closes out Ephesians 3 with some final words of encouragement.

E. The Encouragement (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Ephesians 3:20-21. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Paul has prayed for three seemingly impossible things. To do what we cannot do. To know what we cannot know. To be filled with what we cannot be filled. But Paul remembered what Jesus told His disciples – with man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Matt 19:26).

So Paul says in Ephesians 3:20, “You think I’ve asked for impossible things? I haven’t even scratched the surface of what God is able to do.” He is – v. 20 – able to do exceedingly abundantly more. That phrase exceedingly abundantly comes from one Greek word, which is a double compound adverb. A double compound adverb is a very rare construction. This particular construction begins with a root word. The root word here is perissos. It means abundant, over and above, more than enough. In John 10:10, Jesus says that he came so that we might have life, and have it perissov – more abundantly. But then, Paul takes this word, perissos, which already means abundance, and adds not one,…but two words on top of it to make it a double compound adverb.

He has had three prayer requests for the impossible, and then says God can not only do it, he can double do it – He can triple do it. He can run circles around it. He can do it with his eyes closed, and one hand tied behind his back. He can do exceedingly abundantly above all. If that’s not enough, look at the rest of verse 20. He can do above all that we ask or think! Paul says, God can do this and more. He says, if I can ask it, God can do it. If I can think it – or imagine it – God can do that too. In fact, God can do things I can’t even imagine! God can do things I can’t even think about!

Ephesians 3:21. …to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

All of this is done by the church, through the church, and in the church so that God will get the glory to all generations.

This is a concluding remark for the point Paul began all the way back at the end of Ephesians 1. After telling us about all the riches of our inheritance in Jesus Christ, Paul called us to be the fullness of God in every way in this world (Ephesians 1:22-23), so that we might be a witness to the principalities and powers of this world (Ephesians 1:21) to show the world a better way to live.

And now, through Ephesians 2 and Ephesians 3, Paul has shown us exactly how to do this. We are to follow the example of Jesus in loving our enemies, and even dying for them if necessary. As we do this, we show the world a better way to peace. We show the world the way of God in loving our enemies. This is the glory of God. This is the glory of the church. And this is how the love of God is manifested to the world.

It’s a revolutionary call, but Paul is not done. He will go on in Ephesians 4-6 to show more specifically how this calling is carried out by the church. We will pick up next time with the first verses of Ephesians 4 to see how Paul continues to call us peace, unity, and love for one another, so that that the world can learn from us and live in peace and unity as well.

Is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) a warning about hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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My book, What is Hell? is now available on Amazon. I am doing a series of podcast studies that focus on some of the content from the book. The studies look at the eight key terms that are often equated with hell, and about a dozen key passages that are thought to teach about hell.

If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this article, we are considering the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. This is probably the premier passage in the Bible that convinces people about the reality of hell as a place of eternal suffering and torment. But is this really what Jesus is teaching in this text?

No. In fact, when people use Luke 16:19-31 to terrorize others about hell, they end up missing the entire point of the story.

Does Luke 16:19-31 teach about torment in hell?

Every discussion of fire (or hell) in Scripture must include an examination of the story of Lazarus and the rich man from Luke 16:19-31. With its detailed and lurid depiction of the suffering of a rich man in the flames of hell, this account appears to support all the horrifying ideas of hell as a place of eternal torture for the unredeemed.

Luke 16:19-31 contains the portrayal of a man being tormented in flames, who cries out for just a drop of water to cool his burning tongue (cf. Luke 16:23-24). When most people think of hell, this is the sort of image they have in mind.

One of the main verses in this passage which seems to teach about the reality of torment and suffering in the flames of hell is Luke 16:24. Here is what it says:

Luke 16:24. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’”

Yet not everyone is convinced that Jesus is describing a literal place with literal flames where literal people suffer and burn for all eternity.

Several factors reveal that Jesus intended some other sort of message with this story.

1. Do you really go to hell by neglecting the poor?

First, if this is a story about how to escape hell and go to heaven when you die, then the lesson of the story is that eternal life and entrance into heaven can be earned by being poor, or at least by being generous to the poor. If you don’t take care of the poor, then off to hell with you!

But is this what Scripture teaches anywhere else? No. Far from it.

Eternal life is the free gift of God to everyone and anyone who simply and only believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). While there are many blessings and benefits connected to taking care of the poor, escaping hell is not one of them.

2. Are believers and unbelievers all in the same giant “cavern” of hell?

Second, the presence of Abraham and Lazarus in the same vicinity as the suffering rich man does not fit any other portrayal of hell.

In other words, if Jesus is describing the place where the unredeemed dead spend eternity, then what is Abraham doing there, and why does Lazarus get sent there? Is there some sort of annex or suburb of hell where the redeemed can live in relative peace and safety while looking across the chasm at the sufferings of the poor sinners in the torture chamber of hell?

Though many scholars try to explain this away by speaking of “Abraham’s Bosom” as a temporary holding tank for the redeemed which was then emptied at the resurrection of Jesus, such an idea is tenuous at best and is not taught anywhere else in Scripture.

To the contrary, the image of “Abraham’s Bosom” comes from Babylonian intertestamental Jewish literature. The Babylonians believed that there was a single afterlife location for all the dead, and this dwelling place had two regions, one for the righteous and one for the wicked.

Some of the Jewish people living in Babylon picked up on this idea and began telling stories about something similar for Jews. A few of these accounts (which are now found in the Babylonian Talmud) speak of “Abraham’s Bosom” as the place that righteous Jews went after they died.

But no passage from Scripture teaches this concept.

The fact that Jesus refers to it in this story should not be read as an endorsement of the idea, but as a way of using a common image from that culture to make a theological point.

I’ve mentioned it before, but if I began to tell you about meeting Peter at the Pearly Gates, you would know I was using this common folktale image to tell a fictional (and possibly humorous) story, but you would not imagine that I was speaking of a literal place or that people who die actually appear before Peter at the Pearly Gates.

So also with Jesus referring to a common folk-tale about Abraham’s Bosom. He was using the imagery, not because it is correct, but because it helped make the ultimate point Jesus wanted to make. We’ll see what that point was in bit.

3. This story appears to be a parable

Third, despite the claims of some, this story of Jesus contains all the markings of a parable.

There are numerous and significant elements of this story that are parallel to the other parables in the preceding context.

For example, both this story and the Parable of the Unjust Steward begin with the words “There was a certain rich man” (Luke 16:1, 19). These two parables focus the reader’s attention on certain rich men of Luke 16:14 and how their treatment of the poor was an abomination to God (Luke 16:15). Some of the other contextual parallels are considered below.

The only real reason some people think this is not a parable is that Jesus specifically names two characters: Abraham and Lazarus. No other recorded parable of Jesus provides a proper name for any of the key human characters.

However, “Satan” is mentioned in Mark 4:14, “the son of man” as a title for Jesus in Matthew 13:37, and several personal titles in Luke 10:25-37. Many believe that the story of Job is a parable, in which case, it contains the names of several people.

Furthermore, outside of Scripture, many ancient parables often used the names of people in the telling of the stories. So the presence of two names in Luke 16 fails to prove the story is not a parable.

Some speculate that maybe Jesus used the name of a popular beggar who was well-known in the streets of Jerusalem. The other possibility (as mentioned previously) is that Jesus was referencing a popular Jewish folktale which His hearers would have immediately recognized as fiction.

Again, just because someone mentions Peter’s name when speaking of the Pearly Gates, this does not mean they are referring to a literal location or future event.

4. Jesus Speaks of Hadēs Instead of Gehenna

Fourth, everywhere else Jesus speaks about individual people in “hell,” He uses the word gehenna, which referred to the Valley of Hinnom outside the walls of Jerusalem. But here Jesus uses the word hadēs (Luke 16:23).

Elsewhere, Jesus uses this word only as a way of describing the destruction that will come upon certain cities (Matt 11:23; 16:18; Luke 10:15; 16:23).

Furthermore, the word hadēs was a Greek word for the abode of the dead, and was also the name of the Greek god of the netherworld. Once again, this provides evidence that Jesus is not speaking about hell (the way He understands it), for then He would have used the word gehenna.

Instead, Jesus uses a word that He typically uses to refer to the destruction of cities, combines in the Greek idea of the afterlife, mixes in some Babylonian imagery of two compartments in hell, and uses this all in connection with the Jewish history and Jewish folktales.

Why? Because this approach makes a memorable story.

Jesus is clearly mixing images from numerous sources so that He can tell a parable to His listeners that will connect with them on multiple levels. Jesus is making a point that He doesn’t want His audience to miss.

Ironically, due to the Christian preoccupation with sinners burning in the flames of hell, we have mostly missed the point of Jesus. But what was that point? The context makes it quite clear.

5. Contextual Keys Help us Understand Luke 16:19-31

This context is the fifth and final piece of evidence that helps us know that the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a parable rather than a description of a literal place.

Jesus has been making one single point in the preceding context, and this story hammers that point home.

The setting for the context is found in Luke 15:1-2. After Jesus welcomes and spends time with the sinners and tax-collectors, the Jewish religious leaders chide Him for eating and befriending such people. They believe it is better to remain separate and distant from such wicked people.

So Jesus sets out to correct this entire line of thinking. In doing so, Jesus tells five parables.

The first three parables explain why Jesus does what He does, and what will come of His actions. These are the Parables of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the Lost Coin (Luke 15:4-10), and the Lost Son, also called the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).

The third parable is transitionary. It not only shows how the younger son went into a far country to squander his inheritance, but also introduces the elder son, who stayed at home and worked the family farm. Yet as the story closes, it becomes obvious that the Prodigal Son, or the Lost Son, is not the one who went into a far country, but is rather the one who remained.

It is the elder son who is actually furthest away from the heart of his father, and wants to keep separate from his sinful, wayward, younger brother. The father invites the older son to the feasting and dancing, but the son refuses, preferring to stay instead in the darkness outside the party. Because he was angry, he would not go in (Luke 15:28).

It is also helpful to recognize that this third parable, the Parable of the Lost Son, not only serves as a transition to the stories that follow, but also serves as a parallel (but opposite) story to that of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

In other words, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is an inversion of the story of the Prodigal Son.

-Both the prodigal son and Lazarus find themselves in desperate situations. Both beg for scraps.

-Both are in the company of unclean animals (dogs, swine)

-Both stories have father figures: The rich man calls Abraham his “father.” Lazarus leans on Abraham like the prodigal son is held by his father.

-Both contain a theme of distance—there is a great distance between the rich man and Lazarus, and between the father as his wastrel son (in “a far country”). Unlike the father who sees his son from a long way off and runs to meet him, the rich man maintains his structural distance and indifference to the poor, so he sees Lazarus “far away” with Abraham.

-Both the prodigal son and the rich man live sumptuously, but then lose everything. But the prodigal son “comes to his senses” while the rich man does not change his way of thinking. He still treats Lazarus like an inferior wanting him to bring him water with “the tip of his finger,” and then to warn his brothers. He is still thinking of his own status and social group, not of the poor. (Bartlett, Seven Stories, 90-91.)

After these three parables about His own mission and ministry, with the third parable ending with a depiction of the religious rulers as the elder son, Jesus transitions to two other parables, both of which focus on the ministry of the religious rulers. Jesus is seeking to contrast His ministry with theirs by showing where their methods and goals come from and what their methods and goals accomplish.

The first parable that Jesus tells about the ministry of the religious leaders is the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13). Though many assume that Jesus is describing how His followers are supposed to function in this world, this is not the point of the parable. If it were, Jesus would be telling His followers to cheat their employers and live unscrupulous lives for the sake of gaining favor with others and wealth for themselves.

Does this sound like something Jesus would teach? No. Quite to the contrary, this sounds like the opposite of what Jesus would teach. And indeed, it is.

People get confused, though, because they think that Jesus applies the Parable of the Unjust Steward to His followers in Luke 16:9-12, where He seems to say that we should use riches and wealth for making friends with others.

But notice Jesus basically says, “And when your money fails, they will welcome you into their home for ever and ever” (Luke 16:9). We all know that this is not true. If Jesus was actually “applying” the parable here, then He is flat-out wrong.

Therefore, it is better to see that this so-called “application” in Luke 16:9 is not the application at all, but is a tongue-in-cheek sarcastic reference to how the people of this world will not treat you when your wealth is gone.

Jesus is saying, “If you use money to gain friends, don’t be surprised that when your money runs out, so will your friends. Though they may promise that you will always be welcome in their home, this promise only lasts as long as your money does.”

This is reality, and this is also exactly what Jesus just taught in Parable of the Lost Son. When the son’s money ran out, he had no home to go to, and was sent to live with the swine, and no one gave him anything (Luke 15:14-16).

So the Parable of the Unjust Steward is not about how the disciples of Jesus should act and behave, but is instead about how the world works, and how the religious leaders act and behave to gain friends and influence for themselves.

Many of the religious leaders had become very rich by making deals with merchants and political leaders. They were using mammon the way the world used it, to benefit and enrich themselves, and get more money and power for themselves.

Yet it is not just finances that they dealt with; they also trafficked in the forgiveness of sins.

Religious leaders have always sold the forgiveness of sins to others for money. Such a practice did not begin with the selling of indulgences by the Catholic Church in the days of Martin Luther.

The religious leaders were also engaging in this practice in the days of Jesus. Though the religious leaders were supposed to be stewards of the things of God, they were actually using their position to not only cheat others, but to also cheat their master, God.

Jesus, however, gave away forgiveness for free, which is the only way it can be given. But this free forgiveness to the sinners and tax-collectors did not make Him popular among the religious crowd, for it threatened both their teachings and their livelihood.

John the Baptist threatened the religious establishment as well, which is why they had him killed. This is why Jesus mentions John in Luke 16:14-18. John had challenged Herod about his marriage to Herodias (Matt 14:1-12), which eventually led to Herod beheading John.

This event in the life of John also explains why Jesus throws in the teaching about marriage and divorce in Luke 16:18. This is not a non-sequitur, but logically follows what Jesus has said about John. John’s condemnation of the divorce and remarriage of Herodias led to John’s death. This, Jesus says, is what true followers of God can expect from those who live according to the values and principles of this world.

Now the Pharisees knew that they were being derided by Jesus, and so they sought to deride Him (Luke 16:14). This proves once again, that the Parable of the Unjust Steward is not about how followers of Jesus are to behave in this world, but is instead about how some corrupt religious leaders behave.

The Pharisees knew Jesus was talking about them, and they were offended. But Jesus says that their behavior, though highly esteemed among men, is an abomination to God (Luke 16:15).

Their use of mammon and religion to garner favor with the rich and the powerful was a great sin before God. It was an abomination that would lead to their desolation.

Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

And indeed, this is exactly what Jesus goes on to describe in Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The “Rich Man” obviously represents the rich men who are discussed in the context, which is the Pharisees who were “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14). They were servants of mammon (Luke 16:13). Like the unjust steward, they used their money and position to make friends with the rich and to enrich themselves.

What were they supposed to do with their money and power instead?

They were to use it to take care of the poor and needy in their midst. Like who? Like Lazarus, who was covered in sores and laid at the gate, desiring just a few crumbs from the rich man’s table (Luke 16:20-21).

At what gate did Lazarus lay?

In the days of Jesus, there were Gentile converts to Judaism who were called “gate proselytes.” Since they were Gentiles, they were kept in the outer “Court of the Gentiles” and could not even pass through the gate into the Court of Women. Many of them wanted to draw nearer to the temple and to God, but were barred from access.

So they would hang out at the gate, peering through its opening, and longing to be closer to God. But the religious leaders kept these Gentile proselytes at a distance. They were sinners who could not draw near to God.

If Lazarus was a Gentile proselyte, that is, a “gate proselyte,” then not only was he overlooked and neglected for his sores and starvation, but also for his desire to serve and honor God.

But now, in this story, the entire situation is reversed.

Lazarus is with Abraham, the father of the Jewish faith, while the rich man is far off, thirsty, and separated. And the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers. But Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers can listen to Moses and the prophets.

Apparently, Moses and the prophets contain enough instruction and warning to keep a person from experiencing the fate of the rich man.

And what is the central and overriding theme of Moses and the prophets? It was that the people of God are to take care of the poor and needy in their midst. Though there are many sins which Moses and the prophets teach against, the overriding theme of the prophetic message is that God’s people must defend the orphans and the widow, provide for the foreigner and the stranger, and take care of the poor and needy.

They must do this themselves; not by demanding the government make laws which force others to do such things. This generous and loving activity was the clear sign that God was in their midst.

So what then is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus all about?

It is the concluding story of a series of five parables, and it summarizes them all by revealing the danger of living according to the way of this world.

This world worships mammon, and uses money to gain friends and power. But greedy living and lusting after money does not satisfy or quench one’s thirst for meaning or significance in this world. Money satisfies those who chase after it less than a drop of water on the tongue would satisfy a man who is burning in flames.

The quest for money does not quench one’s thirst. No matter how much you have, it leaves you desiring more.

The story of the Prodigal Son depicts a man who started out chasing after money, but discovered it was worthless (Luke 15:11-32).

The story of the Unjust Steward shows how this world uses and responds to money (Luke 16:1-13). The Pharisees didn’t like what Jesus was saying (because they were guilty of such actions), and so in an attempt to justify their own greed, complained about His teaching and derided His message (Luke 16:14).

So Jesus provides the example of John, who was a Just and Faithful Steward. John was not greedy and did not use money to make friends with the rich and powerful, but was instead beheaded by them (Luke 16:15-18).

And now all of these lessons about greed are wrapped up into the one story of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

Ultimately, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a warning against greed.

In Luke 16:15, Jesus identifies the love of money as an abomination to God. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus illustrates that greed does not accomplish the righteousness of God, or help one experience the kingdom of God.

Instead, it only invites flames into one’s life. Greed brings nothing but desolation and destruction. Greed, and the money which comes with it, does not help one experience the kingdom of God in this life or the next.

The flames in this story, then, are “no more literal than Abraham’s bosom. The flames represent the burning agony of his thirsty soul. The rich man is experiencing the agony of thirst and deprivation that Lazarus had known throughout life” (Jersak, Her Gates Will Never Be Shut, 102).

We see this by the two different words used to describe the experience of the rich man in this story.

He was in torment (Gk., basano)

First, Jesus says that the rich man was in “torment” (Gk., basano) in hadēs (Luke 16:23). The word literally refers to a touchstone, which was used in ancient times as a way to test the value and genuineness of the gold and silver found in coins and jewelry.

“While the rich man looks fancy on the outside, when placed under the ‘touchstone’ his veneer comes off. He is being revealed for who he really is … and the revelation is agony” ( Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 77).

He was tormented (Gk., odunōmai)

Second, the word used for “tormented” (Gk., odunōmai) in Luke 16:24-25 can also “be translated as ‘grief’ or ‘anguish’ and conveys a sense of emotional turmoil rather than physical pain” ( Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 76).

It is only used two other times in the New Testament, both by Luke.

In Luke 2:48, it refers to the “anxiousness” that Mary and Joseph felt as they searched for Jesus in Jerusalem for three days when He was twelve.

Then in Acts 20:38, it refers to the “sorrow” that the Ephesian elders experienced when they said goodbye to Paul, knowing that they would never see him again. In neither case does it refer to torture, but to intense emotional grief or anguish.

So the rich man is not being tortured.

Instead, he is having the truth revealed to him about himself, about Lazarus, and about what God values in the world. And for a man who has put all his hope in worldly riches and social status, the truth is more than he can bear.

The truth is a torment to him. Too late, he discovers that everything he worked for and sought after during his entire life is worthless in this life and the next. And since he cannot accept this truth, he remains in emotional torment and even seeks to continue the life he knew and loved.

We see this in the fact that, even in death, the rich man attempts to command and control Lazarus. He tells Lazarus to bring him a drop of water and to go warn his five brothers about the fate that awaits them. Even in his state of torment, he prefers to stay where he is and order Lazarus around than beg for forgiveness or ask for the opportunity to come over to where Lazarus reclines with Abraham.

Furthermore, in his continued haughty arrogance, the rich man never speaks to Lazarus but only to Abraham (Luke 16:24, 27, 30). Even though their roles are reversed, the rich man shows only disdain and derision for Lazarus (cf. Luke 16:14).

Notice that in response, however, “Abraham does not call [the rich man] ‘fool,’ ‘disappointment,’ or ‘idiot,’ but ‘son.’ This is an expression of fatherhood, of filial devotion, of care” ( Butler, The Skeletons in God’s Closet, 74). Abraham and Lazarus are on the side of love while the rich man continues in his self-centered mindset.

Ultimately, then, the great gulf that separates the rich man from Abraham and Lazarus is a divide of his own making (Luke 16:26).

It cannot be crossed, because the rich man will not cross it, for doing so would require him to admit that he is no better than Lazarus. This he cannot do, and so his riches, his racism, and his religious arrogance keep him separated from others.

Furthermore, though Lazarus and Abraham may want to cross the divide to the rich man, they cannot, for the division is not of their making.

The rich man is the one who creates the divide, so that those on Abraham’s side of the chasm who “might want to pass” (i.e., act out of compassion) in fact cannot. The text clearly implies that the rich and privileged, those with status, create the divide, not God. Thus the parable is not a picture of medieval hell but of humanly-created alienation and its suffering.

The chasm is a spiritual parallel in death to the social chasm fixed in life by the rich man’s caste. By making it impossible for the poor or the sinner to cross that great gulf into their pseudo-kingdoms and religious enclaves, the spiritually privileged were unwittingly defining their own distance from God’s kingdom.

In the end, Luke 16:19-31 is a condemnation of greed

Luke 16:19-31 is a picture of how life looks from God’s perspective when the rich create chasms between themselves and the poor and needy.

Though the rich could learn much and benefit greatly from the refreshing presence of the poor and needy among them, they separate themselves from those who are considered “beneath” them. And though the religious elites claim to follow the law and the prophets, their actions and behavior show that they know nothing of what Scripture teaches.

Those who rest and live in the way of Abraham, and now those who follow the teachings and example of Jesus, will live in solidarity with the sick, the poor, and the outcast, for it is among them that the kingdom of God most naturally lives and grows.

So what are the rich to do? They should use their wealth to serve, honor, protect, and provide for the poor in their midst. They must use their wealth to serve Jesus in the kingdom of God.

In this way, they avoid the torment of hell in their lives here and now, and experience the joy and fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven instead.

Do you have more questions about hell? Are you afraid of going to hell? Do want to know what the Bible teaches about hell? Take my course "What is Hell?" to learn the truth about hell and how to avoid hell. This course costs $297, but when you join the Discipleship group, you can to take the entire course for free.

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell when it refers to worms and fire?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, What is Hell?

The following study looks at Mark 9:42-50 to see whether are not this text teaches that hell is an everlasting place of suffering and torment for the unbelieving dead.

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell?

Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched… (Mark 9:48).

Mark 9:42-50 is very similar to Matthew 18:6-9, and can be understood in a nearly identical way. So it might be helpful to go back and read that article as well…

However, there is one primary difference between the two passages which is important to consider. The passage in Mark 9 contains the refrain that “their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

Though many take this passage as a clear reference to eternal suffering and torment in the flames of hell, there are several reasons to doubt such a view.

Are these literal worms?

The first reason is that the images of worms and the fire cannot both be taken literally. Indeed, those who see the reference to fire in Mark 9:42-48 as a reference to literal flames in hell do not typically understand the reference to worms in a literal way. Instead, they interpret the worms metaphorically, as a symbol of intense remorse or regret.

Why? Because the word used for worm is skōlex, which is the kind of worm that feeds on dead bodies. This worm would not feed on a living body in hell, and especially not if the body was being burned by flames.

In the literal Valley of Hinnom (Gehenna), which was a graveyard for the dead and dying, worms and maggots would eat the bodies that were not being consumed by flames. Proper hermeneutics requires that either both terms be either literal or symbolic.

But they cannot be literal, for worms cannot “feed” on living beings in hell that are being burned alive for eternity.

Therefore, both terms must be symbolic. But symbolic of what?

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24

In Mark 9:48 (and 9:44, 46 as well), Jesus is quoting from Isaiah 66:24, which is the final verse in the book of Isaiah. These final lines of Isaiah describe the eternal state of the new heavens and new earth, in which all flesh will worship Him forever and ever, “from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another” (Isaiah 66:22-23).

Part of this everlasting worship of God includes the ability to “go forth, and look upon the corpses of the men” who transgressed against God, “for their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched” (Isa 66:24).

Though some look forward to such an experience with anticipation, I find it impossible to think that as part of eternal bliss with God, people will want to take regular field trips to gaze upon a mass grave full of rotting, burning, maggot-filled corpses.

To the contrary, since we will have glorified bodies, and will be sinless as God is sinless, I doubt that any glorified person in eternity would ever desire such a thing.

So why does Isaiah end his book this way? What did Isaiah have in mind?

The key is to recognize that throughout the book of Isaiah, fire and worms are used as imagery for the destruction and corruption that come upon people and nations for rebelling against God (cf. fire: Isaiah 5:24; 9:18-19; 33:11-12; 47:14; worm: 14:11; 51:8).

And quite often, this destruction and corruption is self-inflicted. God set up the world with rules and guidelines for how to best live and function in this world, but when we live outside these boundaries and guidelines, negative consequences are the result. He does not send the consequences of sin, for they are inherent within sin itself.

God loves us, and does not want to see us hurt by sin, which is why He warns us against it. But when we ignore His warnings and practice sin anyway, the consequences of sin come upon us. This is why Isaiah speaks of “their worm” and “their corruption.” It is theirs and theirs alone. They brought it upon themselves, and they live with it.

But how does this help us understand Isaiah 66:24?

Isaiah is describing the new heavens and the new earth, in which all the peoples of all the nations of the earth dwell (Isaiah 66:18-20). And when he writes that the people of God will be able to gaze upon the corpses of the dead, he is not imagining that there is literally a field of corpses in eternity that we can stare at with dread fascination or morbid satisfaction.

Instead, Isaiah is answering an age-old question about eternity. He writes that in the new heaven and new earth, all flesh will come and worship God (Isaiah 66:22-23).

But the question that people have always asked is how this eternal existence of worshiping God will differ from that of Adam and Eve who were supposed to worship God for eternity as well. In other words, since they were perfect and sinless but still fell into sin, what will keep us from rebelling against God in the new heaven and new earth?

Isaiah 66:24 is the answer.

We will have what Adam and Eve did not, namely, the knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge is not something that God intended to withhold from humanity forever, but was instead something He wanted to teach to humanity over time within the reality of an ongoing relationship with Him.

But Adam and Eve “jumped the gun” and tried to take a shortcut before they were ready. In eternity, the thing that will separate us from Adam and Eve, and therefore, allow us to avoid their same mistake, is that we will have knowledge of evil and will understand its devastating and destructive consequences. We will be able to go out and look upon the corpses of men who have transgressed against God, and will be able to see how their words and actions led to nothing but the worms of corruption and the fires of destruction.

And who are these “corpses” we will look upon? There are all the people of human history, including ourselves. We will be able to view human history, and how we have all lived at various times in the kingdom of hell, which is the realm of death and darkness, the world of worm and fire.

Human history will serve as an everlasting reminder about where a life of rebellion leads. Human history is the everlasting object lesson that provides the knowledge of good and evil to the redeemed.

While some people think that heaven cannot be a blessed existence if we are able to remember or view the horrors of human history, the truth of the matter is the opposite: Eternity will not be much of a blessed existence if we cannot remember what God redeemed us from.

Besides, since all events in our lives are connected, God cannot wipe some of our memories without wiping them all. But as painful as human history will be to watch and remember, it will carry a much different meaning when viewed through the lens of God’s redeeming grace.

So the group of “corpses” that we will be able to view is the corpse of human history. The field of the dead in Isaiah 66:24 is the field of human history, including all of our mistakes and failures. It is our observation and remembrance of human tragedy and horror that will help us avoid similar mistakes in eternity.

We will have gained the knowledge of good and evil, and by remembering the fires and worms of our past, will be able to judge between right and wrong, good and evil, so that we can worship God in righteousness and holiness forever.

This will enable us to worship God in eternity by learning from our past mistakes and seeing how God has redeemed these mistakes to bring glory and honor to Himself for all eternity.

It is this understanding of Isaiah 66:24 that Jesus appears to have in mind.

We see this because of His reference to fire and salt in Mark 9:49-50.

Everyone experiences fire

Jesus says that “everyone will be seasoned with fire.”

If Jesus is thinking of the eternal fires of everlasting torment in hell, then He would be saying that everyone is going to hell. Clearly He is not saying this, and so therefore, some other meaning must be sought.

His reference to salt helps clarify the picture. In the ancient world, salt was not only used as seasoning, but also as a preservative for meat. Since there was no refrigeration, salt kept meat from decaying, and kept worms from eating the meat.

So Jesus is saying that purifying fire can be used to stop the fire of destruction, and preserving salt can be used to stop the worm of decay and corruption. Jesus talks about salt as a seasoning as well, but equates this seasoning to having “peace with another” (Mark 9:50).

Since the fires of destruction often come upon humans as destructive wars (that often involve fire), then being seasoned with salt for the sake of peace is one of the primary ways to avert human violence and the wars that come from it.

This imagery of fire and salt is also mentioned in the context of sacrifice.

This brings to mind not only the sacrifices of the Mosaic Law, but also the invitations in the New Testament for followers of Jesus to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God (cf. Rom 12:1-2). Jesus has done away with bloody sacrifices, and now calls us to follow Him through a life of self-sacrifice for others.

We put ourselves on the sacrificial altar by purifying our lives through the fire of discipline, and sanctifying our lives through the seasoning and preserving salt of peace.

If we do not fire and salt ourselves in this way, our life’s work will be burned away forever and will be eaten and destroyed by the corrupting worm.

William Lane presents the truth of Mark 9:43-49 this way:

The thought of the sacrifice of an offending member of the body (verses 43-47) is here carried a step further: every disciple is to be a sacrifice for God (cf. Rom 12:1). In the OT the Temple sacrifices had to be accompanied by salt (Lev 2:13; Ezek 43:24; cf. Exod 30:35). The salt-sacrifice metaphor is appropriate to a situation of suffering and trial in which the principle of sacrifice cultivated with respect to the individual members of the body is now severely tested. The disciples must be seasoned with salt, like the sacrifice. This will take place through fiery trials (cf. 1 Pet 1:7; 4:12) (Lane, NICNT: Mark, 349).

Conclusion

So the worm and fire of Mark 9:43-49 is not referring to the punishment or torture of the unregenerate dead in the afterlife, but to the self-sacrifice, loving discipline of God, and even fiery trials of persecution that come upon disciples of Jesus during this life as a way of purifying their lives and preparing them for future ministry and effectiveness in this life.

As with Matthew 18:8-9, Jesus is encouraging His disciples to take steps of self-sacrifice now, in this life, and to keep their life free from pollution, corruption, and moral decay.

This is not so that His disciples can escape hell and go to heaven when they die, but so that they can experience the rule and reign of God in their life here and now, while avoiding the devastation and destruction brought by sin in their life here and now.

Is the everlasting fire of Matthew 25:41 a warning about hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this study, we will consider the phrase “everlasting fire” as it is used in Matthew 25:41.

What is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

Let us begin by looking at the text.

Then he will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:’

This text is one of the more difficult passages to understand about the image of fire in the Bible. However, when studied in connection with what the Bible teaches about hell, this verse is not as difficult as it first appears.

Hell is a Kingdom

As discussed in a previous study, the Bible teaches that hell is a kingdom which is diametrically opposed to the kingdom of heaven. Everything that is true of the kingdom of heaven is also true of the kingdom of hell, but in opposite form.

This will help us understand the parallels in this passage between “the fire prepared for the devil and his angels” and “the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34).

The Context of Matthew 24-45

A proper understanding of this passage is further aided by taking careful note of the context in which it occurs.

The entire Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25) must be understood as Jesus’ answer to two questions from the disciples. They had just come from the temple where Jesus had said that the entire structure would be destroyed. By this, He wasn’t just referring to the building, but to everything it represented.

Jesus was not impressed with religious buildings or the religious establishment they represented. He wanted both to disappear so that people could personally connect with God in freedom and grace.

So Jesus told His disciples that it would all be destroyed, not just the temple, but what it represented as well (Matthew 24:1-2).

Two Questions

In response, the disciples ask two questions.

They want to know (1) when these events will take place, and (2) what will be the signs of His coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3).

At this point, the disciples do not realize that Jesus will die on the cross, rise again, and then ascend into heaven. So when they ask about the signs of His coming, they are not referring to His “second coming” the way we think of it today, but to their expectation of how He will be coming into His throne.

They expected the Messiah to overthrow Roman rule and come into His rightful place as the ruler of the entire world. These events would indicate the end of the age and the start of the new, Messianic age. They wanted to know when the war with Rome would begin, and what signs would show its beginnings.

All of the teachings and parables of Matthew 24–25 must be read in light of these two questions. Jesus not only seeks to answer their questions, but also to correct their thinking about His coming.

Jesus wants to show them that His coming from heaven to earth has already occurred in His incarnation, and that the works they have already seen Him perform are the only type of works that His kingdom produces. His kingdom will spread over the face of the earth as promised, but not with military might, political power, or religious regulations (cf. Luke 4:1-13). It will spread through peace and grace.

He first provides the signs of His coming at the end of the age (Matthew 24:4-51). As indicated everywhere else in Matthew, the “age” in which Jesus and His disciples lived ended with His death and resurrection.

The new age began with the birth of the church in Acts 2, but there was a transitionary period with the dying throes of the old age and the birth pains of the new. Some of these dying throes of the old age were evident in the destruction of Jerusalem, its temple, and the religion it represented.

Many seek to consign the events of Matthew 24–25 into some future time period, but Jesus states in Matthew 24:34 that all these things will take place within one generation. One must engage in several hermeneutical contortions to get this statement to refer to more than forty years.

But if we take it at face value, then we see that the words of Jesus did come true within one generation. Less than forty years after Jesus spoke these words, the Roman military laid siege to Jerusalem, and eventually razed it to the ground, burned the temple, and killed over one million Jewish people.

Some of those who heard Jesus say these words saw them come to pass, just as He promised.

Two Options for How to Live

At the end of this teaching section, Jesus presents the two possible options for living in this world as one of His followers (Matthew 24:45-51).

They can either (1) look for His coming which leads them to love and serve others, or (2) they can think that He is not coming and so live selfishly and violently toward others.

Again, when Jesus talks about His coming, He is not referring to His future “second coming” but to the coming of His kingdom in power and glory, which will spread over the face of the earth.

Jesus wants His followers to choose whether they will join Him and participate in spreading His kingdom over the earth, or if they will think that His coming is delayed (cf. 2 Peter 3:4), and so will live according to the values and principles (the kingdom) of this world.

Three Parables as Illustrations of the Two Options

Based on these two options, Jesus then presents three parables as illustrations.

These three parables of Matthew 25 compare and contrast the two kingdoms and how the followers of Jesus will affect and be affected by both.

And since Matthew 24:45-51 contrasted “believing and wise” servants with “unbelieving and foolish” servants, the three parables of Matthew 25 make a similar contrast.

The followers of Jesus are to live in a constant state of readiness for His return and also work to advance the kingdom while they wait. They live in a state of readiness by believing He will return soon, and they advance the kingdom by loving and serving others in His absence.

The three parables of Matthew 25 reveal what this new kingdom will be like (and not like) and how His followers can participate in its coming through their beliefs and behaviors.

These three parables not only show the two ways of living in this world as one of His followers, but they also correct the thinking of the disciples about what the kingdom of heaven will look like.

Jesus wants them to know that His rule and reign will not be like the Roman rule and reign. Jesus is not trying to simply replace Caesar. Though this is what most Jewish people wanted and expected, Jesus did not come to inaugurate a kingdom that looked and acted like the kingdom of Caesar.

The first and last parables, therefore, describe truths related to the kingdom of God, while the middle parable, the Parable of the Talents, describes truths related to the kingdom of Caesar.

The followers of Jesus must decide which kingdom they will serve.

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

Jesus first describes the kingdom of heaven with the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13). The point of this parable is to encourage His followers to live in a constant state of readiness for the coming of the kingdom.

This passage is not about who is going to heaven and who is not. This story is about participating in the wedding celebration when the bridegroom arrives and the kingdom party begins.

People can have eternal life and still miss out on most of the party. Whether we watch or sleep, we will live together with Him (1 Thess 5:10).

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

The next parable is the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

This parable has been widely misunderstood.

Most assume that it also is about the kingdom of heaven and how Jesus is the man who traveled to a far country and will return, at which point He blesses those who helped increase His wealth and punishes those who did not.

But Jesus does not say that He is describing the kingdom of heaven. While most Bible translations do include the words “the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 25:14, these words have been added by the translators and do not exist in the Greek.

Instead, having just invited his followers to look eagerly for the coming of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus now goes on to warn them what life would be like for them if they tried to live in the kingdom of this world.

Numerous lines of evidence support this view. Chief among them is the fact that the actions of this man who travels to a far country would have been understood as quite evil in the first century Mediterranean world. They not only closely follow the actions and behaviors of King Herod and how he went to Rome to become the king of Israel, but the values of this man also reveal the opposite of what Jesus taught and encouraged.

The first century Mediterranean world was guided by the cultural values of honor and shame. Modern western culture is guided by materialism.

Today, we value any activity which gets more money and gains more possessions.

But in an honor-shame culture, such activities were great sins. They believed that money and possessions were zero-sum commodities, which meant that the only way for one person to gain more money and possessions was by taking it away from someone else.

This was very shameful behavior. The first two servants, like their master, were exploiters. They gained more for themselves at the expense of their brethren.

So Jesus is saying that if one of his disciples does not look with anticipation for the coming of the kingdom of heaven, their only other option is to participate with the kingdom of this world, by imitating it in its greedy ways.

If a person does not follow the way of Jesus, they will either behave very shamefully in stealing from their brethren, or will receive harsh judgment and punishment from the rulers of this world for not participating in their greedy game.

The rulers of this world expect and demand their subjects to follow their twisted, thieving ways to enrich themselves at the expense of others. Those who refuse to follow these marching orders will be punished by the rulers, and will be banished to the darkness outside the party of this world.

But when followers of Jesus experience such treatment at the hands of the rulers of this world, they should not despair, for the punishment of worldly rulers is not the end of the matter.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus now goes on in the final parable of Matthew 25 to show His disciples that even though they might be rejected by the kingdoms of men, they will not be rejected or despised by the kingdom of God.

Since the values and behaviors of the two kingdoms are diametrically opposed to one another, the consequences for actions are different as well. While a lack of greed brought punishment from the kingdoms of the world, this same behavior brings praise and honor in the kingdom of heaven.

With the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), Jesus shows the distinctive characteristics that separate the two kingdoms, and calls His disciples to choose which kingdom they will serve.

In this final parable, Jesus reveals that He, as the Son of Man Shepherd King, will be the one who decides which of His servants worked for the kingdom of heaven and which worked for the kingdom of earth.

While the Parable of the Talents showed that the kingdom of earth praises those who steal from the poor and give it to the rich, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats reveals that the kingdom of heaven works the opposite way.

Jesus, the Lord of the kingdom of heaven, values the poor and needy, and gives praise and honor to those who tend to their needs.

So this final parable of Jesus ties the preceding two parables together.

Jesus told two parables showing two different ways of living in this world. One can either live in in the light of the kingdom of God or live with the values of the kingdom of this world. This final parable shows the consequences of living in the two opposing kingdoms.

Most studies on this parable go to great lengths trying to discern who Jesus has in view when He speaks of “the nations” (Matt 25:32) and the “the least of these, My brethren” (Matt 25:40). The “nations” can be identified with Gentile nations, unbelieving Jews, or unbelievers from all nations. The “least of these, My brethren” can be identified religiously as the group of people who follow Jesus and do His will (Matt 12:50; Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21), ethnically, so that Jesus’ brethren are the Jewish people, and therefore, all nations (Matt 25:32) that help Israel will be blessed (Gen 12:3), or eschatologically, so that the brethren of Jesus are believers who live during the future Tribulation period.

All such proposals, however, allow readers to ignore the overall lesson of the parable: A defining characteristic of the kingdom of God is that it will take care of the poor and needy of this world, wherever they are found, whatever religion or nationality they are of.

Those who use this parable as justification to limit their care of the poor and needy to those of only one particular group of people or for people during one particular time period (e.g., the future Tribulation), self-identify themselves as a goat.

Those servants of Jesus who believe that Jesus is returning soon, and live wisely as members of the kingdom of God, will work to feed, clothe, and serve all the poor and needy, regardless of religion or race.

The kingdom of God breaks down all such barriers, so that those who work for the kingdom see all people as their brothers and sisters.

So what is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

This finally brings us to the description of the everlasting fire near the end of the story.

Jesus says that those who do not take care of the poor and needy will go away into “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). He later describes this as “everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Since this later term helps guide and define the earlier image of fire, it is important to begin there.

The Greek word used for punishment is kolasis. The word “punishment” is likely not the best translation. Moulton-Milligan argue that “cut short” is the original sense of the word, with the idea of pruning in the background (cf. John 15:1-6).

The word itself is only used one other time in the New Testament, in 1 John 4:18, where it speaks of fear involving torment. The point of John is that as we come to understand the love of God, fear is cast out, because fear has to do with punishment.

In other words, fear, and the related concepts of torment and punishment, are the opposite of what we see through the love of God in Jesus Christ.

The word kolasis is also used several times in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (LXX). Ezekiel 14 contains this word three times (14:3, 4, 7) in reference to the idolatrous stumbling blocks that the leaders of Israel had set up in their hearts. God tells Ezekiel, as the son of man (Ezek 14:3), to inform the leaders of Israel that their idolatrous ways would lead to the devastation of Jerusalem and those who lived there (cf. Ezek 18:30; 43:11; 44:12).

Of further interest in the context of Ezekiel is that the people of Israel are equated with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ezek 16:44-59). And what was the sin of these two cities? According to God, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because although the people of these cities had lots of food and time, they did not help the poor and needy (Ezek 16:49).

This behavior was a shameful abomination (Ezek 16:50-52) which led to the destruction and desolation of not only Sodom and Gomorrah, but Israel as well (Ezek 14:15-16; 15:8; cf. Jer 7:30-34).

The abomination that leads to desolation, therefore, is the failure of God’s people to take care of the poor and needy in their midst, which then leads to the destruction and devastation of the nations in which they live (Jesus defines an abomination this way as well in Luke 15:14-15).

This is the repeated theme of the last half of Ezekiel, that all the nations which practice the abominable behavior of not taking care of the poor and needy in their midst (whoever they might be), will come under the judgment of God and become desolate wastelands destroyed by fire, famine, pestilence, and war.

In some places, this destruction is even called “everlasting desolation” (cf. Ezek 35:9).

All this is to say that when Jesus tells the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, where the nations are brought before Him so that He might determine which nations took care of the poor and needy in their midst, and which did not, Jesus has the prophetic message of Ezekiel in mind.

The everlasting punishment is not everlasting torture in hell, but is referring to the temporal destruction and desolation that comes upon nations when its people do not take care of the poor and needy in their midst.

Of course, even here, there is redemption for these nations, for God says in numerous places throughout Ezekiel that He will eventually restore the various nations to their former places (cf. Ezek 16:53-63). Their wicked, selfish, and greedy ways will be eternally destroyed, but the nations themselves, as geographic and political entities upon this earth, will be redeemed and restored so that they properly serve within God’s kingdom and purpose on earth.

So in light of all this, the word kolasis is best understood as a disciplinary pruning by God upon the people within the various nations who refuse to take care of the poor and needy among them. Though God gathers the nations, He separates the people within the nations one from the other for judgment.

God sends this kolasis upon them so that they might turn from their shameful and selfish behavior and start looking after the poor and needy in their midst. Once they learn this lesson, God will restore these nations to their place in this world.

But how does a nation learn to live as God wants?

Such behavior is not accomplished through laws or courts. You cannot legislate generosity.

Instead, such things are learned only through the active example of the righteous people within that nation. The sons of righteousness who reside within a nation must lead their nation into righteousness by showing them through word and action how to live in light of the kingdom of heaven.

If we fail in this, then it is we who have been unbelieving and foolish servants, and we who lead our nation into destruction.

All of this helps us understand the everlasting fire in Matthew 25:41. It is a refining fire that comes upon the nations so that they learn to practice the principles of the kingdom of heaven by taking care of the “least of these, my brethren” in their midst.

When nations live like Sodom and Gomorrah, or Israel and Samaria, by refusing to tend to the needs of the poor, they will come under the purifying discipline of God, which is described as “everlasting fire.”

It is everlasting in that it is a purifying fire that comes from God, who is Himself everlasting.

But doesn’t it say the fire is for the the devil and his angels?

But what are we to make of the fact that this everlasting fire is prepared “for the devil and his angels”? This does not mean that the fire is some sort of place or state of existence in which God punishes spiritual beings for their rebellion.

It is important to remember that devil is the god of this age, the spirit of the air that is at work in the sons of wickedness (2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2; 6:12). Since the word “devil” could also be translated as “accuser” or “slanderer,” this means that the world is guided or directed by a spirit of accusation and slander.

As seen in Genesis 3, the spirit of this age is a spirit of accusation and judgment in which we humans try to take the place of God in deciding between good and evil. Accusation and blame are the guiding forces of everything in this world. The angels of the accuser, therefore, are the principalities and powers that guide and direct the nations of this world (cf. Dan 10:13; 12:1).

This imagery fits perfectly with what Jesus is describing in Matthew 25:41. God created the nations of the world to function in a particular way. He gave them power and authority in this world, not to dominate and destroy others, but to protect and care for others, especially for the poor and needy.

But the accusatory spirit (the devil) that guides the spirits of the nations (his angels) leads these nations into war and violence, which accomplishes the opposite of what God desired or intended.

So the fire prepared for the devil and his angels is once again the fire of discipline, so that the spirits of the nations will be guided and taught to live as God wants.

Satan and his angels seek to set the world on fire through accusation and blame (Jas 3:5-6), but God fights fire with fire, by sending forth the kingdom of God through the followers of Jesus to show the world a better way to live.

The fire of the kingdom of God is the cleansing fire of grace, humility, patience, mercy, and forgiveness. As we live in such ways, we give instead of take, love instead of hate, bless instead of accuse, and believe instead of condemn.

The nations, as they see our good deeds, will glorify our Father in heaven by learning to live in similar ways themselves (Matt 5:15-16).

Since the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is the last part of the last spoken “sermon” (or teaching) by Jesus before His crucifixion, He goes on to tell His disciples how to show love to Him and carry on the Kingdom in His absence.

The Application of the Olivet Discourse

While Jesus has told His disciples in various ways that He is going away, He also wants them to know how to live while He is away. Jesus reveals to them that the ultimate truth of His absence is that He is not really absent at all.

Instead, He is dwelling with and among the “least of these, My brethren.” If His disciples want to spend time with Jesus, they can do so by spending time with the poor and needy.

If His disciples want to serve and love Jesus, they can do so by serving and loving the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned. In this way, His disciples will not only be loving and serving others as Jesus did (thereby expanding the presence of the kingdom), but will also be loving and serving Jesus Himself.

So the stories of Matthew 25 are not about some future judgment.

They are stories about what is occurring through the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is saying that the health and survival of a nation can be affected by whether or not the individual people within that nation take care of the poor and needy in their midst.

When people serve the “least of these” in this way, they are not only helping the poor, but are loving Jesus and serving their country as well.

True service to your country does not look like marching off to war to kill others, but instead looks like feeding the hungry and clothing the poor that are in our midst.

And we do this, not by asking our country to tax people more or to redistribute the wealth of the rich, but simply by being generous with our own money and possessions.

When this happens, we avoid bringing the fires of hellish war upon our country and instead invite the blessings of the kingdom of heaven upon our land and its people.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is the last parable that Jesus ever told.

It is, therefore, a summary parable, or a key to understanding all the others.

In it, Jesus describes the central truth to living and experiencing the kingdom of God which He inaugurated on earth. Jesus is saying,

If you want to find the kingdom of God and live within it, then you need to follow Me and live where I live. And where is that? It is with the poor and needy. Go serve and minster to them, and you will be serving and ministering to Me, and in this way, will be living within and serving the kingdom of heaven.

Many people wonder where God has been hiding for all of history.

In this parable, Jesus tells us where. It is the great surprise at the end of the story. It is the final “Here I Am” of the great divine game of Hide and Seek that humans have been playing with God since Adam and Eve first hid from Him in the Garden.

And since that time, though we are the ones who hid ourselves from God, it is we who think that God has been hiding His face from us. We wonder why He doesn’t show up in strength and power to fix the world and right all wrong.

We think God is distant and neglectful. We think God is shirking His duties. And when bad things happen (and continue to happen) we cry out to the silent sky, “God! Where are you?”

But now Jesus tells us where God has been hiding all along. He has been living and dwelling with “the least of these, My brethren.”

The people we neglected and rejected throughout life are the very people among whom God has lived and dwelt. God has lived among the poor, the sick, the weak, and the hungry.

And when we love and serve them, we love and serve Him, and paradoxically, He loves and serves them through us, so that they love and serve us in return, revealing the kingdom of God, and indeed, God Himself, to us.

Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the disciples have been saying, “Show us the Father. We want to see God. We want to understand God and know what He wants of us.” And now, finally, Jesus has given the answer. “You want to see God?” He asks. “Go serve the poor, for that is where He lives.”

When we live in this way, we will experience the kingdom of God in this life, which has been prepared for us since the foundation of the world, thereby fulfilling our God-given destiny and purpose.

Those who live this way will see righteousness rise like the morning sun and blessing will come upon them like the dew.

But when we refuse to follow Jesus in this way, we will live in and experience the kingdom of hell during this life, which is guided only by selfishness, greed, hatred, rebellion, and emptiness.

Those who live this way, though they live for themselves, will only see their life burn away into nothingness, losing all purpose and significance. Such people have chosen to dwell in a hell of their own making.

Is the everlasting fire of Matthew 18:8-9 a reference to everlasting torment in hell?

By Jeremy Myers

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If you want to learn the truth about hell and what the Bible actually teaches about hell, make sure you get a copy of my book, What is Hell?

Also, if you are part of my discipleship group, there will be an online course about hell as well.

In this study, we will consider Matthew 18:8-9 to see whether or not the reference to hell in this text refers to everlasting torment in fiery flames.

What is the meaning of “hell” in Matthew 18:8-9?

Let us begin by looking at the text of Matthew 18:8-9.

“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”

The teachings of Jesus in Matthew 18 are very similar to Matthew 5:22, 29. But we are discussing this text of Matthew 18:8-9 because it contains extra details which help us understand both passages.

Jesus speaks of hell and describes it as being a place of everlasting fire.

The word for hell is gehenna, which, as we learned in a previous study, was a literal place outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was also known as the Valley of Hinnom and was a horrifying place of worms, fire, decay, and death.

Gehenna was a garbage heap that had been set on fire to consume its contents and cover the stench of rotting refuse and corpses. The everlasting fire, therefore, refers to the fire of Gehenna that burned day and night, seemingly forever and ever.

The nature of city garbage dumps, however, is that they attract the poor and the sick.

In that day (as in our own day), those who were stricken by poverty or sickness would visit the garbage dump in an attempt to find something to eat or sell.

For example, in the days of Jesus, scavenging for food and clothing in the garbage dump was often the only way that lepers could survive. It is the lepers that often frequented Gehenna which led Jesus to teach what He does here in Matthew 18:8-9.

While leprosy itself does not cause someone to lose their eyes, ears, nose, or limbs, it was not uncommon for people with advanced cases of leprosy to lose body parts or appendages due to infection, amputation, or accident.

If someone has no feeling in their feet, it is possible for them to accidentally put their foot too close to the fire at night while sleeping, thereby causing it to burn. If they are burned bad enough, they might need to amputate their foot.

This is the situation Jesus has in mind. Some people, when they first saw a hint of leprosy on their hand or foot, would rather cut off their hand or foot and go through life maimed, than be officially diagnosed with leprosy and be sent to live in Gehenna, where the fire burned day and night.

Similarly, if someone’s eye is injured, and it begins to putrefy or rot, it is better to pluck it out than to leave it in and allow the corruption to spread to the rest of the body. If this were to happen, the person would eventually be sent to Gehenna. It is better to lose an eye than to spend your last days there.

So Jesus is NOT warning people about everlasting torture in hell…

When this cultural context is understood, we see that Jesus is not warning people that if they sin in this life, they will end up in a fiery torture chamber in the next.

Instead, Jesus is saying that sin leads to damaging and destructive consequences in this life.

If we want to avoid those consequences, some drastic steps are sometimes needed.

A person who finds themselves infected with the rot of addiction or the decay of bad influences should cut those places or people out of their life so that the disease does not spread and cause greater damage to themselves or to others whom they love.

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife

So Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife, but an instruction about preserving your life here and now.

The surrounding context gives several applications of exactly how to do this.

Jesus teaches that His disciples should cut pride out of their life if they want to experience the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:1-5).

He provides instructions for how to rescue a lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14) by going to them with one or two others.

But if they do not heed or listen, then they should be cut out of your life as well (Matthew 18:15-20).

Jesus also speaks about the importance of forgiving others as we have been forgiven (Matthew 18:21-35) so that we give up our need to be repaid for wrongs done against us.

The point of the entire context is that it is better to go through life (this life!) without pride, certain friends, and a defense of justice than to maintain such things but to lose yourself, your family, your friends, and your finances in the process. This is what Jesus is teaching.

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about everlasting punishment in hell, but is rather a warning about the experience of a hellish life here and now.Yes, Jesus mentions “everlasting fire” in the context. To understand this term, we will study Matthew 25:41 next week…

Question from a Reader

You Cannot Love Your Enemies Until You Know You are Fully Loved (Ephesians 3:18-21)

C. Prayer for Knowledge (Ephesians 3:18-19)

D. Prayer for Filling (Ephesians 3:19b)

Putting the Three Prayer Requests in Context

E. The Encouragement (Ephesians 3:20-21)

Does Luke 16:19-31 teach about torment in hell?

1. Do you really go to hell by neglecting the poor?

2. Are believers and unbelievers all in the same giant “cavern” of hell?

3. This story appears to be a parable

4. Jesus Speaks of Hadēs Instead of Gehenna

5. Contextual Keys Help us Understand Luke 16:19-31

Luke 16:19-31, the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

So what then is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus all about?

Ultimately, the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a warning against greed.

He was in torment (Gk., basano)

He was tormented (Gk., odunōmai)

In the end, Luke 16:19-31 is a condemnation of greed

Does Mark 9:42-50 teach about hell?

Are these literal worms?

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 66:24

Everyone experiences fire

Conclusion

What is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

Hell is a Kingdom

The Context of Matthew 24-45

Two Questions

Two Options for How to Live

Three Parables as Illustrations of the Two Options

The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13)

The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

So what is the Everlasting Fire of Matthew 25:41?

But doesn’t it say the fire is for the the devil and his angels?

The Application of the Olivet Discourse

What is the meaning of “hell” in Matthew 18:8-9?

So Jesus is NOT warning people about everlasting torture in hell…

Matthew 18:8-9 is not a warning about the afterlife

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