Notes on Hell: the Lake of Fire

It would seem that when most people talk about hell, what they are really talking about is the lake of fire. 

So, when we talk about the eternal destiny of people, we're referencing whether they spend forever with God or in the lake of fire. Interestingly, hell gets thrown into the lake of fire!

What is the lake of fire? What is the eternal destiny of those who get thrown into the lake of fire? Who goes into the lake of fire? What does this teach us about hell?

The phrase lake of fire shows up five times in the Bible, all in Revelation.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

Revelation 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:14-15 Then Death and Hades (hell) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

What can we surmise from these five references? The beast, the false prophet, and the devil are thrown alive into the lake of fire where they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Death and Hades are also thrown also into the lake of fire. It is called the second death. Anyone's name who is not found in the book of life, along with the cowardly and faithless, are also assigned to the lake that burns with fire.

It's not clear how the lake of fire is the destination of Death and the cowardly. The author says that the lake of fire is the second death - does this mean that lake of fire is a metaphor for a reality - Second Death? Is this death a different kind of death then Death and Hades death? It must be - but what kind of death is it? And what determines if someone is cowardly? Once? The end of their life? Always? Occasionally? There is no mention of faith in Jesus Christ or rejection of Jesus Christ in these references to the lake of fire. And clearly the lake of fire is the destination of hell, not hell itself.

So what happens to the people that had been in hell?

Revelation 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades (hell) gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

Throughout the Bible, sheol and hades, along with gehenna, have been referred to as hell. Gehenna never gets mentioned in Revelation, only hades. If hades gives up its dead, that implies that hell gives up its dead, which means that hell is not a place you go to forever. Whatever hell is, it is not a person's eternal destination. From our study, it seemed that hades was just another name for sheol - which means it was just another name for the grave. If we take into account Greek myths, hades is possibly a place where spirits have a shadowy existence.

Either way, it doesn't come across as a place of torture. Hell - if it is hades/sheol - is a temporary existence (either as a corpse in the ground or/also spirit in the netherworld). Hell is emptied through resurrection of the dead, and then hell/hades gets thrown into the lake of fire - it exists no more. [The description of Hades given by Jesus in Luke 16 does not carry enough weight to determine clearly that it is a place of torment. The parable's point is not a literal description of hades, but of how the rich ought to treat the poor.]

The people that do not have their name found in the book of life - and who are cowardly and faithless, etc. - they also get thrown into the lake of fire. One text said that the beast, false prophet, and devil will be tormented forever and ever - but the text does not say that for the people who are thrown in. Are we to assume they have the same experience as the devil? Or, does the lake of fire totally consume the people who are thrown in, and they cease to exist? The text doesn't make it clear. 

A reference in Revelation 14 says that the smoke of the torment goes up forever and ever - that of those who worshipped the beast. The smoke goes up, but does that imply the torture of the people is eternal, or just the smoke from their destroyed corpses? The text doesn't make clear.

So what is the lake of fire? Is it like lava from a volcano? Is it like the flaming Gulf of Mexico saturated with crude oil? Is it like a vast forest fire, the massive heat shimmering far into the distance? Is it like a shattered naval fleet, flotsam and jetsam burning across the littered sea? Is it like a gigantic fiery furnace?

It's interesting that in Gehenna/the Valley of Hinnom there are pools. The word for lake in Greek can also be translated pool. If the Valley of Hinnom was renamed the Valley of Slaughter, if the valley became a place of death and destruction, the pools would be filled with rotting blood and burning corpses. Is that part of the background to the image of the lake of fire? Does it imply a pool of fire? A place of judgment? Of destruction?

Here's another idea that may also give background to the idea of the lake of fire, it's found in Daniel 7:9-11

"As I looked, thrones were placed,and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.
"I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire."

Here you have judgment for rebellion, a stream or river of fire which is used to kill and destroy and burn. If this judgment and destruction occurred in the Valley of Hinnom, the streams of fire would run through the Valley of Slaughter, collecting in the pools, forming a lake of fire. Interesting possibility, but nothing definitive can be declared for certain.

The other question is: do the few mentions of eternal torment in Revelation outweigh the more numerous references of fire being destructive and all-consuming? (Like in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah - the imagery of which is obviously alluded to in the usage of lake of fire.) It is clear that the devil and his trio are tormented forever, but it is not specifically declared that it is eternal torment for those that worshipped the beast. Maybe it is implying that the state of destruction in the lake of fire is eternal. Second death implies similarity to first death - and if first death is rotting corpse in the ground with promise of resurrection, then second death is destruction of the body with no promise of resurrection.

Revelation is the primary source for most popular notions of hell. A lot depends on how you interpret the content of Revelation, and how you relate the context of Revelation to the rest of Scriptures. If you read what is in Revelation, in context with what else the Bible has to say about hell/hades/sheol/gehenna - you won't necessarily come up with the common versions of hell.

Jesus never talks about a lake of fire. He talks about being thrown into the fires of Gehenna - but that is something different. He talks about people going down to hades - though sometimes it is a reference to sheol. He talks about people being thrown into a fiery furnace. He says some will be thrown into an eternal fire along with the devil. There is only one verse where Jesus says someone will be with him in paradise. Does John change the image of fire from what Jesus referred to in the Gospels? We have no idea what he definitively means. Our imaginations want more clarity then the Bible provides on what happens after death.

It's interesting what Jesus has to say in the final chapters of Revelation.

22:12"Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." 

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 

16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

It's hard to determine what is chronological in all these visions. But following the visions of the New Heavens, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem, of God's throne issuing a river of water by which the tree of life gives forth leaves for the healing of the nations, of a city with gates that never shut, only the pure and unashamed can enter - there is this statement above from Jesus. If there is any kind of chronological semblance to these visions, it seems to imply that even in the New Heavens and New Earth, there will be "dogs" hanging around outside the New Jerusalem. 

These dogs are beckoned to enter the gates - the Spirit and the Bride and all who hear say, "Come!" Anyone who is thirsty is invited to enter - the gates are always open, the leaves of the tree of life are there for the touching.  It would seem that either these "dog's" have yet to be thrown into the lake of fire, or, this is what it means to be thrown into the lake of fire - to be always outside the gates of the New Jerusalem but never having the courage to enter. They are too cowardly.

Another way to translate torment is torture. Not only physical torture, but internal torture. Another word is vexation. To be too ashamed to enter the city where God and the Lamb fill the place with shalom and light - to hear the words, "Come!" and not believe it. It would seem that the invitation is unending. Or, the lake of fire is the destination eventually of those who will never be willing to enter.

Maybe it is that the visions are overlapping, and each one presents a new angle to the future reality of all people. All people are resurrected, all people are judged. Some are found to be righteous, others found to be wicked. The righteous are welcome to enter the New Jerusalem. The wicked are invited as well - if they are willing to wash their robes. To repent. To trust the words of Jesus. To believe Jesus.

In summary: there is nothing conclusive to say what is the lake of fire - other than it is called the second death. The lake of fire could refer to the fire of Gehenna - the Valley of Slaughter. The lake of fire could imply total destruction of whatever is thrown into it. The lake of fire could refer back in part to the Daniel vision. The lake of fire could be a way of describing irrevocable judgment. It could be similar to the fiery furnace Jesus talked about in the Gospels, or the eternal fire for the devil. The lake of fire could be literal or it could be a metaphor pointing to something else very real. The text does say that hell/hades is thrown into the lake of fire, so hell is not the same as the lake of fire.

So is there any more clarity that we can gain on who goes into the lake of fire? How does one get your name into the book of life? What is the book of life? What is the correlation between being cowardly, faithless, etc and having one's name missing from the book of life? What is the connection between Jesus and the book of life? What about forgiveness of sins, repentance, grace, and reconciliation with God? What about the teachings of Jesus and Paul - how does that connect with the book of life and being thrown into the lake of fire?

That's what we'll attempt to examine in the final study.

Notes on Hell: Valley of the Son of Hinnom

When Jesus talks about hell, he uses two different words: hades and gehenna.

We've explored the two possible meanings of hades - that Jesus is referring back to the Hebrew idea of sheol, and that Jesus is tapping into the popular cultural beliefs about the afterlife (ie. Greek and Roman tales of hades). It's my observation that Jesus uses both meanings of hades, depending on the point he's trying to make.

With gehenna, we explored the use of the word in context - it seems to be a real place - associated with the idea of judgment. In a previous note we observed that gehenna is Greek word for the Aramaic word for the Hebrew word Valley of Hinnom. So what is this valley and why is it used by Jesus as a place of judgment? What is this hell that Jesus refers to?

If you go to your Old Testament you'll find several interesting references to this Valley of Hinnom. First in Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 we are introduced to the valley, it's a sort of boundary, rather innocuously located at the southern shoulder of Jerusalem. (See also Nehemiah 11:30)

But then in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles we are introduced to a Valley of the Son of Hinnom where kings of Judah are burning their sons and daughters as a sacrifice to the local gods. Not only that but the Valley is a place for sorcery, necromancy, obsession with the dead and knowing the future. It becomes a very evil place.

In 2 Kings 23:6 we read about King Josiah trying to clean up this accursed valley - one polluted by his father and grandfather. "And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech." King Josiah had mixed success. His sons did not follow in his steps, nor did they listen to the prophet Jeremiah - who prophesied doom and bloodshed, judgment and destruction for this idolatry and murder."

In 2 Chronicles 28:3 we read about King Ahaz, the great-great grandfather of King Josiah and his introduction of Molech worship in the Valley of Ben Hinnom (Ben is Hebrew for Son): "and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel."

In 2 Chronicles 33:6 we read about King Mannaseh, the grandson of King Ahaz and the grandfather of King Josiah: "And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger."

This is evil stuff. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, read these verses in context. The kings were leading their nations forward into an idolatry that would bring economic havoc on the poor, vile religious prostitution upon women and preying men, association with political entities that subverted Israel's devotion to Torah, and desecration of the Temple, God's holy dwelling place amongst his people. God and neighbor were defiled. Moloch's name sounds a lot like the Hebrew name for king. A perversion of what a true Israelite king was to be doing in the name of God.

So now we know a bit more about the ugly history of Gehenna, of the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. What we also need to learn about is why it became a place to be cast for judgment. The prophet Jeremiah is the one to confront the kings of Judah, to turn them from their wicked ways and unveil to them the consequences of their sins. Three different prophesies against those that do evil in the high places of Topheth in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom:

Jeremiah 7:31-32 "And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere."

Jeremiah 19:2, 6 "...and go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you.
 6 therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter."

Jeremiah 32:35  "They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

Read these verses in context, read the chapter (the link is there for your convenience).

A couple of observations: 
Jeremiah renames the Valley of the Son of Hinnom the Valley of Slaughter. It's a place of judgment for Moloch worship, where bodies will be thrown, their corpses will rot in the sun - Babylonian arrows, swords and spears dripping with blood. The nation would be judged - and another nation would be used to do the judging.

There must be consequences when a king and a nation thumb their nose at God, they sacrifice their children in the fires, when the rich indulge in gross luxury while the poor have their noses ground into the dust. How does God turn Israel around? After a few hundred years of sending messengers announcing the need to repent, to return to God and Torah, the LORD had certainly gone out of his way to make his plans known. And still God was ignored. And so God used Babylon to bring an end to the disgrace Israel had become.

We learn that Potsherd Gate led down to the Valley of Hinnom. Some contend that in Jesus' day Gehenna was the town garbage dump. It's become a popular characterization for that valley, but it is unsubstantiated. The legend goes way back to the seventh century, but it can't be verified as true for first century Jerusalem. 

Potsherd Gate would indicate that somewhere in the region of the Hinnom Valley was a dumping place for potsherds. Pottery was used for most cookware and dining. When a jar of clay cracks and is no longer useful, it is cast out through the Potsherd Gate, in the general direction of the Gehenna. We can't verify whether the Valley of Hinnom was the city dump, but we can verify the legacy of that accursed place, the vile stories of burning children as sacrifices, of the Babylonian slaughter, of the judgment.

Becoming familiar with these stories in Kings and Chronicles, and of Jeremiah's sermons regarding the Valley of the Son of Hinnom helps add context to Jesus' use of the Gehenna. Jesus said people were in the danger of "the gehenna of the fire" if they didn't quit being angry and lusting. This is different then going to hell because you don't believe in Jesus.

Interestingly, the teaching on anger and lust are connected to Jesus' teaching on murder and adultery - killing and sex, this is what the Valley of the Son of Hinnom had become known for. Jesus also directed his threats of "the gehenna of the fire" towards the Pharisees - he even calls them sons of hell, or literally "sons of gehenna" or more literally: "sons of the valley of hinnom!" What were the Pharisees doing that induced Jesus to so vehemently denounce their work? It was their leading people astray from God! Which is exactly what the kings of Judah had done with their Molech worship.

Jesus' teaching on hell is rooted in his teaching on Gehenna. Rather then guessing what Gehenna means, we can go to the Old Testament to put the valley in context. Gehenna was a real place with a real history with a real accursedness. To be thrown into that valley was another way of referring to God's judgment brought by the Babylonians in the fifth century. And Jesus had another empire in mind, that would be used by God to judge Israel. Rome was the new Babylon.

Jesus could see where the nation was headed. Their political, economic, and religious leadership were headed towards a clash with Rome that would result in destruction, devastation, slaughter. In 66AD Rome initiated a siege of Jerusalem that resulted in annihalation of many citizens. By 70AD the Romans prevailed, the Temple was razed, and the Valley of the Son of Hinnom once again flowed with blood and bloated corpses.

Jesus came as a prophet, just as Jeremiah did, to turn the nation away from destruction, back to God. It was Babylon for Jeremiah, and Rome for Jesus. And both times the words of the prophet were ignored by the masses. But not all. The remnant that believed Jeremiah survived the slaughter, and endured into the Exile. And the remnant Jews that believed Jesus were the first and second generation Christians who heeded their Lord's words to both forgive their enemy and flee the slaughter. Gehenna was much more about the political, economic, religious and national judgment of God upon Israel then it is about a comprehensive teaching on hell.

Notes on Hell: Gehenna

There are four basic words in the Bible that form our understanding of hell - sheol in Hebrew, hades and tartarus in Greek, and the Aramaic word gehenna. (Click here for notes on those words.) The KJV translate these words as hell. When you explore these words in their original language and cultural context, they seem to all have different nuances. What is gehenna and how is it different from the other words?

Listed below is the references where gehenna is used by Jesus according to Young’s Literal Translation.

Following each given reference will be a commentary on how gehenna is used in this context.

Matthew 5:22 

but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.

This first reference is found in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In this particular pericope he is discussing the Torah teaching on murder. Not only will murder put you in danger of the judgment, so will being angry with your brother without cause. What are two examples of the judgment? the Sanedrim and the Gehenna of the Fire. So what does this tell us about gehenna? It's a place of judgment for those that murder and are angry without cause, comparable to that of the Sanhedrim (the 70 elders of Israel, the ruling council for observance of Torah). Since there is not much of a difference between the words "Empty Fellow!" and "Rebel" - they are mere examples of being angry with your brother without cause; it's hard to argue that there is much of a difference between judgment with Sanedrim and Gehenna of the Fire.


Matthew 5:29-30

`But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna. 30 `And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

This second usage of gehenna is also used by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, this time in his teaching on adultery. Looking at a woman lustfully is equated as adultery. How serious is Jesus about his disciples and Pharisees in accepting this teaching? He uses hypberbolic language to capture their imagination. Lust is about imagination, and so Jesus gives them images of gouged out eyes and hacked off hands as preventative measures for lusting and committing adultery. Jesus argues that it is better to use an eyeball or a limb then to have your whole body thrown into gehenna. Jesus isn't using literal language here - amputation doesn't stop adultery. Neither does the threat of gehenna. But Jesus promises that there will be judgment on the men who oppress women through their lusting and adultery.


Matthew 10:28

`And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.

In this third use of gehenna Jesus is instructing his disciples just prior to sending out the twelve to proclaim the gospel and heal the sick. Part of his instructions include a warning about impending persecution. He tells them to not be afraid of those who will persecute them. 

Here's how Jesus' logic goes: don't be afraid of those who persecute. IF you were going to be afraid of suffering, be afraid of God who can destroy your body and soul in gehenna. But God cares for you, so you don't have to be afraid of God destroying you in gehenna. Therefore you don't have to be afraid of those who can kill your body. What do we learn here about gehenna here? It's a place of destruction of body and soul, that God is the one that sends people there. And that Jesus' followers have nothing to fear about gehenna.


Matthew 18:9

`And if thine eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee; it is good for thee one-eyed to enter into the life, rather than having two eyes to be cast to the gehenna of the fire.

This is another reference to gehenna by Jesus, similar to his usage in the Sermon on the Mount. Interestingly, instead of adultery being the context, it's being the cause for a child or young disciple to stumble. How serious is Jesus about people not being a cause for stumbling? First he says it's better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and being cast into the depths of the sea. So the judgment of gehenna of the fire is compared with judgment of tossed into the chaotic sea. It's not a description of two different kinds of judgment, but a graphic attempt to make the same point. Do. Not. Cause. Kids. To. Stumble.


Matthew 23:15

`Wo to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

Matthew 23:33

`Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

In this powerful sermon against the Pharisees, Jesus declares seven Woes upon these religious leaders of Israel. It seems that he is purposefully drawing upon the imagery of the Old Testament Valley of Hinnom. You can read about it some in Jeremiah 7, 19, & 32. The old name of the landmark was Valley of the Son of Hinnom, south and west of Jerusalem. And in the one example, Jesus says that the Pharisees, by making proselytes, are making foreigners a Son of Hinnom even more than themselves. And in the second example, the idea of judgment is clearly linked with the idea of gehenna, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. Reading the prophet Jeremiah's words to Israel give great context about what is the nature and purpose of gehenna. That is next week's lesson!

Mark 9:43

`And if thy hand may cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is better for thee maimed to enter into the life, than having the two hands, to go away to the gehenna, to the fire -- the unquenchable --

Mark 9:45

`And if thy foot may cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into the life lame, than having the two feet to be cast to the gehenna, to the fire -- the unquenchable --

Mark 9:47-48

And if thine eye may cause thee to stumble, cast it out; it is better for thee one-eyed to enter into the reign of God, than having two eyes, to be cast to the gehenna of the fire -- where their worm is not dying, and the fire is not being quenched;

The usage of gehenna here is an expanded teaching of the same material found in Matthew 18:9 about causing children to stumble. In Mark's version of the teaching, the threat of gehenna and to the fire is repeated three times. Jesus, in this case, doesn't want anyone to doubt how serious he is about this issue of causing children to stumble.

Jesus does something interesting here - highlighting the connection between gehenna and fire - with the the fire, the idea of it being unquenchable. This is an obvious allusion to Isaiah 66:24, which is quoted in part in Mark 9:48. The description of judgment in Isaiah 66 matches the kind of judgment that Jeremiah prophesies will happen in the Valley of Hinnom, gehenna. Jesus is not attempting to give literal descriptions of what gehenna is like, but rather link the kind of judgment that will come down upon those who cause children to stumble - the judgment will be like that which God brings down upon Israel through the nation of Babylon as prophesied by Isaiah. And we know from history that Rome was used by God to judge Israel, much like Babylon had been almost six hundred years earlier.


Luke 12:5

but I will show to you, whom ye may fear; Fear him who, after the killing, is having authority to cast to the gehenna; yes, I say to you, Fear ye Him.

This singular usage by Jesus in Luke's account is similar to that of Matthew 10:28, but here used in a set of warnings and encouragement to his disciples in the midst of the crowds of thousands who gathered around Jesus.


James 3:6

and the tongue [is] a fire, the world of the unrighteousness, so the tongue is set in our members, which is spotting our whole body, and is setting on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by the gehenna.

James, the brother of Jesus, is writing to Hebrew Christians about the dangers of the tongue. Like his brother, James knows how to use graphic language to capture imaginations and make his point. Everyone, especially teachers, will be judged for their use of the tongue. How many times have our words brought punishment on ourselves? The tongue can be a powerful tool for good, but it can also be a pervasive weapon of destruction - both for our own bodies and those around us. James effectively makes his point in his use of gehenna.


In all of these uses of gehenna, it is not obvious that Jesus is referring to an afterlife. The word gehenna is clearly connected the idea of judgment, but the idea of judgment is not obviously tied in these verses to an afterlife event. In context, Jesus makes a connection between actions now and the resulting consequences to come in this life. Just as the Valley of Hinnom became a real symbol of judgment in the lifetime of those who heard Jeremiah preach about it, so many of Jesus' listeners were around when Rome made the Valley of Hinnom once again a place of judgment.

An exploration next week will examine the Old Testament references to gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom. This will help us keep Jesus usage of gehenna in context. To be sure, Jesus was serious about people changing their actions, about fueling their imagination with graphic details to compel them to repent and act righteously. The threat of gehenna did not come across to those first readers like the threat of hell is used in our modern age. The threat of gehenna meant something different then. And we'd be wise to consider what the threat of gehenna meant then so that we can better understand what it is to mean today.

Notes on Hell: Hades, Tartarus & the Underworld

What does the Bible teach about hell? 

If you've got an old King James Version of the Bible, you'd find over a hundred references to hell. Except that in the original languages, there are a few different words for hell. And they don't all carry the same nuances. And so the vision of hell gets a little more complicated.

First we looked at the Hebrew word sheol that the KJV often translates as hell. Then we looked at the Greek word hades, which the KJV translates as hell, especially those uses that seemed to be similar in usage to the Hebrew word sheol. However, there are other uses of hades that don't seem to refer back to the Hebrew idea of sheol.

For example, when Jesus tells the parable about the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke records the story by having Jesus use the Greek word hades. The parable has the Rich Man and Abraham having a conversation. Granted it is a parable, but it's not one that is referring to a Jewish idea of the afterlife. So which hades is Jesus referring to? Maybe the one of popular culture, the idea of hades that floats around in the minds of people who have been influence by Greek and Roman culture for the past three hundred years?

In sheol, dead men don't talk. In a Roman vision of hades, they would. So it seems that here we have Jesus using the popular notion of hades to make a point about how the rich ought to treat the poor. Does this mean that Jesus is giving us a literal description of what hell is really like? Or is it more likely that since Jesus is telling a story, he's referring to the legends of hades? It doesn't mean he's affirming that the Roman view of the afterlife is correct, but rather that he is using those stories for great effect.

Another example: Peter in his two letters refers to Tartarus and to a prison. In Virgil's map of hades (as seen in Alice K. Turner's book: The History of Hell) there is a prison of Tartarus that is separated form the Elysian Fields by a great river of fire. Tartarus is a deep abyss, an inescapable prison where there are terrible torments and endless torture. Peter says that God sent rebellious angels to Tartarus. He also says that Jesus went and preached the gospel to these spirits. So is Peter saying that Tartarus really exists? Or he, like Jesus, is using a common notion for the after life to make bigger points about judgment and the scope of Jesus' ministry.

Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians that there will come a day when every being in the heavens, upon the earth, and under the earth will bow down before Jesus. The ancients believed in a three tiered universe - so this is Paul's way of saying that every being in existence will acknowledge Jesus as Lord. But Paul also seems to be asserting that there are beings in the Underworld that exist - which is not a Jewish idea. Paul seems to be referring to notions of classic hades rather than sheol - and this is a big deal. In sheol there is nothingness, but in hades there is a shadowy existence. Whatever beings are there, they will someday confess Christ as King.

Hades does not carry the same meanings as sheol. Often times the gospel writers used the words hades when quoting an Old Testament verse that originally used the word sheol. Did that writer mean to change the meaning? Or was it a "dynamic equivalent" situation? Hades was the closest meaning available in Greek? Simple research shows that what the ancients believed about hades is not the same as what the Jews believed about sheol.

So there seems to be a shift within the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament in ideas about what happens after you die. In sheol, everybody is in the grave or the pit, eaten by worms and no hope for the future. In hades, everybody goes down to the depths to a shadowy existence crossing the River Styx maybe into the Elysian Fields. Some part of the man or woman, the soul or spirit, continues existence in hades, not as punishment or reward, but a listless abode of the dead. And some New Testament Scriptures seem to affirm that there is some kind of place that exists, which is in conflict with what the Old Testament teaches.

Up to this point in the study, we've examined the use of sheol and hades. It's not revealed anything definitive about hell as we moderns understand it. It's not a place of torment for everybody. It's not a place of punishment, it's not the destination of sinners - it's just where everybody goes after they die, according to Greek and Roman notions about the afterlife.

In Revelation it describes death and hades being thrown into the lake of fire. Since hades has been our understanding of hell up to that point in the Bible, it makes you wonder what John means when he prophesies that event happening. How does death and hell get tossed into a lava pit? What happens to death and hades in a pool of flames? Is this a reference to sheol and classical hades? Is this a reference to general pagan notions of death and the afterlife? What is the lake of fire? It can't be our definition of hell, since hell gets thrown into it. Rather then getting a clearer picture of hell, the vision is getting murkier.

And so it is that there is more the Bible has to say about hell then just references to sheol and hades. Next week we explore the idea of gehenna as Jesus used it. This is another word that the KJV translated as hell, though it likely refers to a ghastly place called the Valley of Hinnom.

Notes on Hell: Sheol & Hades

In the King James Version of the Bible, sheol and hades are almost always translated hell. Sometimes death or grave, but mostly hell. Thus we get our many of our notions of hell from those verses using sheol and hades. However, as we probe each word, we find that sheol and hades carry different nuances. And sometimes the use of hades in the NT is a reference back to the OT, meaning we ought to consider the original meaning before we add a new meaning. And this has implications for which verses we draw on to construct our vision of hell.

In examining the different occurrences of the word "hades" in the Greek New Testament, it seems that often it is referring to the Jewish word "sheol." This prompts the question: what does Jesus mean when he uses the word "hades"? Does he mean the common Greek culture perception of hades? Or, as an observant Jew, does he mean sheol, even though his words were recorded in Greek?

For a review of the usage of sheol in the OT, see last weeks' notes on Hell.

A clue to how to translate and understand the different uses of the word hades has to do with context. There are some verses where it seems that Jesus is either indirectly or directly quoting from the Old Testament. Thus, though the word in the New Testament is the Greek hades, the original word is the Hebrew sheol.

Below are Scriptures in the New Testament that use the word "hades," accompanied by Scripture from the Old Testament that I think is the original reference.

Matthew 11:23 (NIV) And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. [see also Luke 10:15]

Sheol Reference: Isaiah 14:15 (YLT) Only -- unto Sheol thou art brought down, Unto the sides of the pit.

Here it seems that Jesus is drawing on Isaiah's prophecy of doom towards Babylon, and using it to denounce the unbelief of Capernaum. It's very similar language, such that whatever connotations come from the use of "hades" to the reader of Matthew, it is likely that Jesus quoted from Isaiah using "sheol". Thus this description of hell by Jesus points us back to our understanding of sheol.

Matthew 16:18 (NIV) And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Sheol Reference: Isaiah 38:10 (YLT) `I -- I said in the cutting off of my days, I go in to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of mine years.
Job 38:17 (YLT) Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see?

There is one use of "gates of Sheol" in the OT. Often times sheol and death equate a very similar idea, and thus I've included the reference that uses "gates of death." One wonders if Jesus is inferring back to the story of Hezekiah when using the phrase "gates of Hades." Or the suffering of Job?

Others point to archeological evidence that Jesus is referring to geography and mythology. Jesus makes this statement while in the area of Caesarea Philippi, also known as Panea. Worship of the god Pan was common in this area, and at one of the worship areas to Pan was a Gate of Hades.

Click here for a helpful website with pictures of the Gates of Hades and archeological insights.

Click here for a blog with good insights on Caesarea Philippi. Context is everything!

So here we have an example of where the gospel uses the word "hades," and while there seems to be slim evidence that Jesus is referring to the Jewish idea of sheol, it's more likely that he is referring to the notions of Greek mythology held in the popular imagination.

Acts 2:27 (ESV) For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
Acts 2:31 (ESV) he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

Sheol Reference: Psalm 16:10 (YLT) For Thou dost not leave my soul to Sheol, Nor givest thy saintly one to see corruption.

Peter is preaching, making the case that King David was referring to resurrection in Psalm 16, and that Jesus was the one actually resurrected. Peter then goes on to point out the implications of this fact. What's interesting is that the author of Acts quotes Psalm 16:10, substituting the Jewish word sheol for the Greek word hades. King David meant sheol when he wrote Psalm 16, not hades. To those that heard Peter's sermon, it's likely he directly quoted Psalm 16 and used sheol. But Luke records the sermon in Greek, and uses the word hades. This dosen't mean that hades and sheol mean the exactly the same thing. There is a reason for this substitution, including for cultural reasons.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (YLT) and when this corruptible may have put on incorruption, and this mortal may have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the word that hath been written, `The Death was swallowed up -- to victory; where, O Death, thy sting? Where, O Hades, thy victory?'

Sheol Reference: Isaiah 25:8 (YLT) He hath swallowed up death in victory, And wiped hath the Lord Jehovah, The tear from off all faces, And the reproach of His people He turneth aside from off all the earth, For Jehovah hath spoken.
Hosea 13:14 (YLT) From the hand of Sheol I do ransom them, From death I redeem them, Where [is] thy plague, O death? Where thy destruction, O Sheol? Repentance is hid from Mine eyes.

Here Paul is writing at length about resurrection. He is nearing the end of his piece when he pulls together two direct quotes from two different authors, Isaiah and Hosea. The two poems that Paul pulls from are compelling, imaginative, resonating ideas about what God will do in the future. The NT Greek has hades, but the original OT has sheol. The KJV here uses the word death in the OT. But it's the same word sheol that in other contexts it translates hell.

Revelation 1:18 (NIV) I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Sheol Reference: Matthew 16:18, Hosea 13:14 (see above)

John the Revelator is quoting the words of Jesus to him. The idea of death and Hades together points back to the Hosea text. Jesus' reference to the gate of Hades earlier now comes to mind as he describes holding the keys to Hades. Here the KJV uses the word hell. But when examining the Hosea and Matthew texts, Jesus seems to be implying something else other than our popular notion of hell. 

Revelation 6:8 (NIV) I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Sheol References: Deuteronomy 32:22-25, Ezekiel 14:12-23, Leviticus 26:14-39, Hosea 13:14

Again, John uses "death and hades" together, though he seems to personify them in this text. His usage of the ideas of sword, famine, plague, and beasts all come from previous texts in Torah and the Prophets. Whether John is referring to Hades as the Greek mythological god, or a personification of sheol, as sometimes the OT does, is not abundantly clear. What is clear is that the KJV usage of hell here does not clear up any notions of how we ought to think of hell.

Revelation 20:13-14 (NIV) The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

Sheol Reference: Deuteronomy 32:22 (ESV) For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Song of Songs 8:6 (YLT) Set me as a seal on thy heart, as a seal on thine arm, For strong as death is love, Sharp as Sheol is jealousy, Its burnings [are] burnings of fire, a flame of Jah!,

Daniel 7:10 (YLT) A flood of fire is proceeding and coming forth from before Him, a thousand thousands do serve Him, and a myriad of myriads before Him do rise up, the Judge is seated, and the books have been opened.

This is an interesting and creative use of references to "death and hades", as John the Revelator has done elsewhere in Revelation. I looked for references in the OT where there is a connection between sheol and fire. I included the reference from Daniel since it refers to a "flood of fire" which seems metaphorically close to "lake of fire" and it includes a reference to the book of life, which is in the same verse of Revelation as sheol and fire and death. According to the KJV, hell is cast into the lake of fire. However, it seems clear that hell here means sheol. And the end of sheol has been prophesied elsewhere using different imagery. So we don't have here a very clear notion here of what the popular vision of hell is like.

These have been examples of the usage of hades in the NT and it's referring back to OT uses of the Hebrew word sheol. I am contending that in these instances, though the Greek word hades was used in the written text, the original meaning was Hebrew. Thus, though the KJV often translated hades and sheol as hell, getting clarity on what those two different words mean shapes what we understand hell to be. These usages of the words hades points more back to a Jewish understanding of sheol then our current popular notion of hell.

Victory Over Gluttony

If you've come to the conclusion that you wrestle with the deadly sin of gluttony, now what? How do you achieve victory over gluttony?

We saw that Jesus was initially tempted with gluttony. Those first temptations were very powerful, much like the ones we face on a regular basis. Somehow Jesus continually found ways to be victorious over gluttony. How? Through  fasting.

WHAT IS FASTING? Abstaining from food and/or drink for a period of time as a way of worship, a humbling of oneself, a form of contemplative prayer, a preparation for service to others.

Not only was fasting a key reason for why Jesus was able to be victorious over the temptations to gluttony in the desert, it was a regular part of his ministry. He would often withdraw to the mountains to pray. It's hard to believe that Jesus would pack a papersack of bread and dried fish as he trekked through the hills in order to get away to pray. 

If you struggle with gluttony, you ought to become familiar with the themes of Isaiah 58 - it reveals the heart of God and what he wants to accomplish in the world through his people. If Isaiah 58 gave direction to the life of Jesus, it ought to be instructional for us. It reveals what is true fasting, what God expects from us, as well as what God wants to do in the world through us.

Here's how I would summarize Isaiah 58 (from the Message):

Hey, You’re a Glutton!
1-3 "Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives,
face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship,
and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—
law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?'
and love having me on their side.
But they also complain,
'Why do we fast and you don't look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'


Your Gluttony Plugs Up God’s Ears
3-5"Well, here's why:
"The bottom line on your 'fast days' is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.
You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do
won't get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I'm after:
a day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face
and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting,
a fast day that I, God, would like?


Fasting That Feeds Your Neighbor
6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed, cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
THEN WHEN YOU PRAY, GOD WILL ANSWER.
YOU'LL CALL OUT FOR HELP AND I'LL SAY, 'HERE I AM.'

Generosity On An Empty Stomach
9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.


Jesus Triumphs On An Empty Stomach
13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
Yes! God says so!

A Summary: Turn Away From Gluttony To Fasting That Feeds Others

Turning away from gluttony will be a continuous process. The temptations will grow in intensity to the degree that you learn to resist them. The ongoing response to the temptations of gluttony will be to turn towards serving and blessing others with generosity and food and justice. Think about it: the temptation of gluttony can be your reminder and prompt to lifting up your neighbors out of poverty and hardships!

WHAT IS FASTING? Abstaining from food and/or drink for a period of time as a way of worship, a humbling of oneself, a form of contemplative prayer, a preparation for service to others.

Your fasting is not about impressing God or seeing how long you can go without food. We traditionally think of fasting as a spiritual discipline that is to benefit ourselves. But clearly from Isaiah 58, while fasting does have obvious personal benefits, it is at its best when it blesses others. Our fasting is worship and prayer, but God wants it to alleviate the suffering others.


Which is why I think Jesus entered Jerusalem as king on a growling belly. Victory over gluttony comes from fasting that results in generosity to those who hunger and are oppressed. Apparently it takes a lot of work to overcome gluttony. And it also takes a lot of work to alleviate suffering in the world. And God makes a connection between the two with his idea of fasting. Jesus the starving king who saves the world.


If you are considering a lifestyle of fasting, you must consult your doctor. If you have any ongoing medical conditions or on any medication, you need to discuss with your doctor how you can make fasting a regular part of your diet without harming your self. Everybody can fast, and fasting can take many forms.

Victory over Gluttony. Where there is a will, there is a way.  
And where there is unwillingness, there is an excuse.

He is Not Here. He is Risen!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared, and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground.

But the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, He’s risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee? ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.’”

Then they remembered his words.

Then they remembered his words.

They had forgotten his words.

How could they have forgotten Jesus’ words about crucifixion and resurrection?

Didn't they believe in resurrection?

Why didn’t they remember Jesus’ words? Didn’t they believe Jesus? Maybe they didn’t remember because they didn’t really believe that Jesus would be resurrected. Maybe they believed that once Jesus died, that was it. Done. Finished. Over.

Even though they had heard Jesus repeat his little line about death and raised to life at least three different times, they must not have really understood what he was talking about. They didn’t understand, and so they didn’t really believe.

How could you be a friend of Jesus, feed him, care for him, and then forget about his dire warnings of death on a cross? How could you forget about your friend promising to be raised up again?

Sometimes people have no imagination.

Sometimes people only hear what they want to hear.

Sometimes you have to believe something in order to see it.

Mary Magdalene loved Jesus. Joanna financed Jesus’ ministry. Mary the mother of James took care of everyone, including Jesus. How could they not remember his words about resurrection?

How did Mary Magdalene not remember Jesus’ words?

Jesus had saved her life. He had rescued her.

She had been home to demons. Seven of them ravished her soul.

She was helpless. Mary of Magdala was driven to madness. Until she met Jesus. Or, until Jesus met her.

Maybe a friend dragged her screaming and frothing corpse to the feet of Jesus. Maybe Jesus heard her wails and seen her writhing as he passed through the dirty streets of her hometown.

When Jesus arose to deliver her, when Jesus placed his weathered hands on her worn out body, when Jesus’ stern gaze caught her tear-drained eyes, when Jesus commanded with steely authority for the demons to depart, when Mary’s exhausted body dropped into the carpenter’s arms, she had been born again. She had a new life. When she woke up, she was starting over. She was loved. She was healed.  She was at peace.

So when Mary hears a few years later that Jesus is telling the apostles about upcoming tragedies, she is frightened. She wonders: what does Jesus mean that he must be delivered unto the hands of sinners and crucified, and on the third day raised again?

What does Jesus mean? Crucifixion? Why will he let that happen to himself? What will we do if that happens? What will happen to us? And what does he mean that he’ll be raised back to life again on the third day? On the third day you’re dead-dead. Maybe I could believe that he’d be raised again on the first day, but the third day?

No way.

Is this another parable? I don’t understand what he’s saying.

How did Mary of Magdala not remember Jesus’ words?

She got busy? She stayed confused? She couldn’t believe in resurrection? She loved Jesus, but she didn’t always understand Jesus. She didn’t always understand Jesus, and she didn’t always agree with what she did understand.

Crucified and raised again on the third day?

To be crucified is to be cursed. Cursed by God.

If Jesus is crucified, does this mean he is cursed by God? Why? What would Jesus have to do in order to be cursed by God? I understand why some of the Pharisees and Herodians want Jesus crucified, but God? Surely God won’t allow Jesus to be cursed and crucified?

Didn’t Peter confess that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Son of the Living God? What about the stories that we heard from Mary and James about when Jesus was born in Bethlehem? Surely God won’t let the Savior of Israel be crucified! Why would God let Israel’s Deliverer become accursed? And if God curses Jesus, why would he bring him back to life three days later? Why would God curse Jesus on one day, and then raise him back up on the third day? What does this mean?

Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here, He is risen!

You can imagine the two men rehearsing their lines. Should they shout it out loud and full of joy, or should they come across as serious and exasperated? Should they say it together in unison, or take turns with the different lines?

Here’s what I think they were supposed to say when they confronted the unbelieving women coming to put the burial spices on Jesus’ entombed body – it comes from Deuteronomy 32:29, a chapter that charts out Israel’s history – a history that God is prepared for, a history that God is preparing for:

See now that I myself am He,

There is no god beside me:

I put to death and I bring to life,

I have wounded and I will heal,

And no one can deliver out of my hand.

I think that was the first line, and here’s what was supposed to be the second line, a portion from Isaiah 53:

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; 


By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, 
   

and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death, 
   

and was numbered with the transgressors. 


For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

But I think the men – messengers from God, clothed in gleaming garments of flashing lightening – they got so excited about announcing this good news to the women that they blurted out a much shorter, concise, and memorable announcement:

Why do you look for the living among the dead, he is not here – he is risen!

And then they remembered his words.

The Son of Man must be delivered over to sinners and be crucified.

And on the third day be raised again.

He is not here – He is risen.

So don’t go looking for him.

So now what. What do we do now? This is crazy good news! We’ve got to tell the others! Except we know what they’re going to say: you girls are crazy!

Jesus is dead! He’s been crucified! Cursed of God! We’re doomed! Doomed I tell you! You’re crazy to leave this Upper Room. You’re crazy to visit the tomb. You’re crazy if you think we’ll believe it’s empty and that two linen-lightening clad men told you that Jesus is alive. You’re crazy and we’re doomed. All is lost.

Even when Jesus did show up in the flesh – with obvious wounds to his hands and feet and side – everyone was very frightened. They just didn’t expect to see a resurrected Jesus. Even with Mary and Joanna’s crazy good news, even with Peter’s confirmation of a missing body and empty tomb, even with the weird story of Cleopas claim having broke bread with Jesus – nobody was ready for Jesus to show up amongst them.

Jesus was hard pressed to convince the cowering crowd that it was really him and not a ghost. What to do with disciples who are more apt to believe in ghosts then resurrected rabbis? What do with doubters?

Jesus had to eat fish to show his friends he was really alive. You got to wonder how much fish did he have to chew up before the doubting turned to delightful belief?

Maybe He spent the first hour disproving he was a ghost by downing bowls of broiled fish. Then maybe he spent the next hour with a stomachache while letting James and John stick their fingers in his feet, letting Peter and Andrew hold up his wrists and peek at each other through the holes.

Enough!
Jesus pulls his friends together, big smiles, big eyes, big hearts – and he reviews with them his version of what’s happened, what’s going on, and what’s going to happen.

This was the way things had to be.

It was hard. It was tragic. It was difficult. It was confusing. It had to be this way.

And this changes everything.

You know how I healed you Lazarus. You know how I rescued you Peter. You know how I delivered you Mary. And now I’m back – I was crucified by sinners and cursed by God, and I’m back – blessed by God and ready to forgive sinners!

You didn’t believe me. You betrayed me. You abandoned me. You denied me. You ran away. You fell asleep on me. Yet hear me now: I. Love. You. I. Forgive. You. We. Are. Friends. My. Peace. I. Give. You. God has blessed you. God has been making you a blessing. And now God is ready to bless the world through you.

Now hear this – this is what’s next for you:
I’m going to send you out into the world that God loves. You remember how through God’s Spirit I helped you change your life? Well you get to go into the world and help sinners and cripples and the brokenhearted, showing them how to change their life. You get to preach repentance and demonstrated forgiveness of sins with that Same Spirit of God!

Just as I invited you to change your life – so you get to go and invite others to change their life. Just as I forgave you, so you go and forgive others. Just as I taught you how to forgive others, so you go and teach others how to forgive. Just as I healed you, go and heal others in my name, with the Same Spirit of God. Just as I saved you, rescued you, delivered you – let me save and rescue and deliver the world through you.

Don’t just believe in resurrection. 
Live in light of the resurrection.

Resurrection. Raised up. New beginnings. Born again. Invincibility. Getting back up. And the resurrected Jesus – what’s the first and best message he gives his followers? Forgive. Teach others to forgive.

How do you sow seeds of resurrection in the world God loves? Repent. Change. Forgive. Love. The resurrected Jesus came to forgive and save sinners. To those that remember his words: remember to forgive, to help others forgive.

Don’t just believe in resurrection. 
Remember the words of the resurrected Jesus.

This is how the world that God loves learns to believe in him. When those that follow the resurrected Jesus remember his words and choose to proclaim forgiveness of sins.

Don’t just believe in resurrection. 
Believe in the resurrected Jesus.

He is not here, he is risen!

He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Why Is Today Called Good Friday?

Why is today called Good Friday?

As my six year old son said, “Shouldn’t it be called Sad Friday?”

His twin brother suggested that it be called Bad Friday, since Jesus was killed on a cross.

Indeed it was a bad day for God. His one and only son was unjustly condemned, slandered, betrayed, abandoned, tortured, mocked and murdered.

It was a sad day for God. It was a sad Friday for Jesus.

Why call it Good Friday when it is a day of grief, of sorrow, of suffering, a day of affliction and transgressions, a day of iniquities and wounds?

Why call it Good Friday when God’s Son is humbled and crucified for preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom?

If anything, it should be called God’s Friday. On it God’s Son was killed by God’s people, they had killed another of God’s Prophets as they had done in centuries past, another of God’s Servants rejected. On this Day it was God’s Kingdom that was resisted, God’s good News of Deliverance and Salvation of Peace and Righteousness was rejected.

God the Father sent His Son to be the New King of Israel; to fulfill that ancient promise to Abraham: I will bless you, I will make you a blessing, through you I will bless the world.

They killed their king.

It was a bad Friday for God the Father. Why call it Good Friday when it’s a day marked by violence, rebellion, and defiance?

If nothing else, call it God’s Friday, just not Good Friday.

The earliest Christians called today Holy Friday. Holy carries with it the meaning of set apart, unlike all else. For obvious reasons, today is holy, unlike all other Fridays in all of history.

Today also became known as Great Friday. A tradition developed in early Christianity when every Friday became a Holy Feast Day in remembrance of Christ’s crucifixion. This day today became known as Great Friday, a distinction from all the other Holy Feast Days.

Holy Friday. Great Friday. Those are the ancient names for today.

Maybe we should reclaim those early titles for today. Instead of calling it Good Friday, call it Holy Friday, or Great Friday. Just not Good Friday. For too many years now, whenever someone hears the title for today, it often prompts that searching question: Why is today called Good Friday?

For obvious reasons, today is God’s Friday. It’s when God died. We believe that God was in the flesh on the cross. Here’s how St. Paul writes it:

Who, being in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he made himself nothing,
By taking the form of a servant
Being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human being,
He humbled himself
By becoming obedient to death
Even death on a cross.

You could say that God’s heart was hammered onto a hardwood tree that day. A day of rejection, a morning of brokenness, of shattered, bleeding love.

Instead of calling it Good Friday for all these years, we should’ve been calling it God’s Friday. All by itself, there is nothing good about today. When you look at just today, it’s not a Good Friday.

It’s God’s Friday. God suffered on this Friday. God in the flesh was staked to a rough-hewn pole amidst criminals. On this Friday God the Son who came to serve and save was ripped to shreds. His life and blood pouring out onto the stones on this Friday.

God gave a vision of this many centuries earlier to a prophet who was also rejected and tortured and destroyed on a tree. Well, according to legend, in a tree. It is told that on his final day, Isaiah was stuffed into a hollow tree and then sawn in half.

Isaiah was a servant that suffered. He was the servant of a God who suffered. He was given words to remember about another servant to come who would suffer. A poem for how God would suffer again:

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering.
Yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him and afflicted.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers are silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away,
yet who of his generation protested?
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death.
Though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

This makes for a Sad Friday. As my son Levi said, “It should be called Bad Friday.” Or at least, instead of Good Friday, God’s Friday.

If any of you know your German, you’ll remember that today is known in their land as Gottes Freitag. For a nation that predates ours, they carry the tradition of calling today God’s Friday. But it also seems that some in Germany long ago referred to today as Gute Freitag.

Gute carries with it the meaning of Benevolence, Charity, Kindness, Goodness.

And so it seems the tradition of calling today Good Friday can stand.

Today is God’s Friday. And on His Friday, God turned a Bad Day into a Good day.

As we read the sorrowful story in the Gospel According to Luke, amidst the words of grief and paragraphs of pain, there is a simple, stunning line from God’s Son that transforms God’s Friday into a Good Friday:

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with them to be executed. When they came to the place of The Skull, they were crucified him there, along with the criminals – one on his right, the other on his left. And Jesus whispered amidst his tears groans: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

He’s not supposed to be there, between two brigands.

Jesus was a good man. He brought good news. He was good news. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, befriended the poor, lifted up the lame, set sinners free, generously gave away faith, hope, and love.

It can’t be a good day when God’s good Son is unjustly put to death. But even amidst the torture and agony and pain, God’s Good Son lets his body:

Be pierced for our transgressions,
Be crushed for our iniquities.
He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

This is the Father’s Friday. For those that believe, trust, accept, want it, today can be a Good Friday.

How would someone know that you believed that today is a Good Friday?

How would someone know that you trusted in the Father’s Forgiveness?

How would someone know that you believed that on Good Friday the Father laid on his Son the iniquity of us all?

How would someone know you want today to be a Good Friday? They would know it when they hear you whisper those same words of Jesus on the cross amidst your own sorrow and suffering.
Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.

When you are afflicted and crushed, we’ll know you believe God’s Friday is a Good Friday when you whisper the words of God’s Son.

Why is today called Good Friday? Because one by one, Christians quietly choose to respond with forgiveness when they are sinned against.

It’s always been God’s Friday. Through our response to the Father’s forgiveness, our lives, our words, our forgiving just as God forgave us – this will become the best answer to the annual question:
Why is today called Good Friday?