Pages 332-333 … Jesus & Gehenna
You then go on again about Jesus & Hell, saying “Jesus taught of Hell … The existence of Hell wasn’t something he questioned, debated, or defended, and he certainly didn’t apologize for it. He assumed the reality of Hell just as much as he did the resurrection … Jesus viewed Hell as a real place, a certainty, and so should you.”
You know my Friend, you are actually far more correct than you even know. For Jesus did think Hell was a real place – because it actually was a real place during his lifetime, and it still is a real place even to this day! … That’s right, Gehenna – also known as the Valley of Hinnom (see image below) – was (and still is) located just outside of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day & age.
Though it has become a beautiful park today (see the image on the opposing page), it was initially a place where the worshipers of various Canaanite gods sacrificed children by burning them alive (see 2 Chronicles 28:3 & 2 Chronicles 33:6). Thereafter deemed to be an accursed place (see Jeremiah 7:31 & Jeremiah 19:2-6), it is quite fitting that Gehenna eventually became a garbage dump in Jesus’ day – a place that lay ever-smoldering and ever-stinking (and probably ever-worm-infested) on the outskirts of Jerusalem … And as such, it makes total sense that Jesus, whenever wanting to warn his listeners of the great pain & immense suffering that comes from living lives of arrogance & callousness & greed, would frequently mention Gehenna in his teachings (often incorrectly translated into English today as “Hell” – see Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29-30, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 18:9, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:33, Mark 9:43-47, Luke 12:5 et al).
And so you are right, Lucy, Jesus does provide “the model on how [we] should think about Hell”, because just as his “Kingdom of Heaven” is always within us – always within reach in every moment of our lives (see Luke 17:20-21), so is his version of Hell always potentially poignant in each moment as well. Indeed, it is the Great Grace of God that has allowed each of us to choose in each instant of our lives where we will spiritually reside (see John 13:17-17 et al) – either in the pain & torment that comes from living selfishly (“Hell”), or the Bliss & Peace that comes from living for the betterment of others (“Heaven”).
Amen, Jesus … AMEN!
P.S. If anyone wants to read my concise commentaries on almost every single verse in the Bible where Jesus mentions “Hell” (including those Lucy mentions again here), simply head on back a few pages in this book to Chapter 52 (entitled “on Jesus & Hell”, found on pages 266 – 295) and you will find them all there …
“Another of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and let the [spiritually] dead bury their dead.’” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:21-22)
“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you restore its saltiness? By having salt in yourselves, and being at peace with one another … Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his Voice and will come out — those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.” ~ Jesus Christ (Mark 9:49-50 + John 5:28-29)
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