In John 3:8 Jesus describes the working of the Spirit in the regeneration of the believer as “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This verse and others have been used to make the Holy Spirit the chaotic or unpredictable member of the Trinity.  Other than this chaotic idea being a bad reading of John 3:8 (the verse doesn’t say “The wind blows in ways you wouldn’t guess”), it also doesn’t play out in scripture.  Today we will see that some of the most intense “The Spirit told me to” moments in early church play out precisely according to the plan and command of Christ.  The wind does blow where it wishes, but that doesn’t mean the Spirit gives license to do whatever your intuition tells you.  What we will see is the Spirit is moving the early church to fulfill and pursue the mission Christ gave them.

Acts 6:3 ”Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.”  The early church is growing beyond its temple court structure.  Essentially, the apostles taught, people gave, and the apostles distributed or closely oversaw the distribution.  The apostles’ response to the dispute wasn’t “Let us handle it” but “Let us delegate it.”  But notice, the delegation was not because delegation was some virtue they were seeking but because, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables” (v2).  They delegated because preaching of the word of God was to remain paramount.  And so, verse 3’s appeal to the Spirit is interesting.  The very logistical, non-doctrinal concerns of table-waiting results in an appeal to find “seven men… full of the Spirit.”  These seven are called the first deacons because of v2’s “to serve (diakonein) tables.”  [As an aside, this story’s account of the lowly and servant-natured creation of the diaconate makes the phrase “The deacons control that church” alarmingly un-biblical.]  The important thing to see is that the early church called upon the Spirit not just to supply their big doctrinal, or miracle-working, or missionary-ing needs, but also their practical “who will serve tables” needs.  And boy did the Spirit provide some winners. Also, all the deacons conveniently had Greek names so that probably helped ease the tension in the room.

Acts 6:5 “And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.” The seven are full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit.  The next two chapters will show what faithful Spirit filled deacons can do and what their contrast Simon the magician and Saul the accuser can’t do.

Acts 6:10 “But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” The “synagogue of the Freedmen” and others enter a debate with Stephen in response to him doing wonders and signs among the people.  Notice the order, he is doing Jesus-work, faces adversity, then is empowered by the Spirit to face the adversity.  Stephen did not wake up saying, “Today the Spirit is calling me to debate those synagogue people.”  But, he finally got his chance to speak.

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” The word for “resist” is strong language.  They are anti-yielding/bowing down to the Holy Spirit.  Stephen knows where this speech is going and reminds them that his martyrdom will be just like how their ancestors murdered the prophets.

Acts 7:55 “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”  The Spirit equipped Stephen for his final mission of martyrdom. The first deacon was about to die, and the Spirit didn’t slay his foes or even change all their dispositions (John 3:8), but instead the Spirit gave Stephen a glimpse of Jesus.  The Spirit points to Christ.  The Spirit, who gives disciples power for the mission, points us again and again to Christ.

Acts 7:59 “And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Stephen’s words echo Jesus’, “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.” This first deacon gave his life for the mission of declaring to the world who Jesus is.

Acts 8:7  “For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.” Saul’s persecution seeds the church throughout the region.  Philip, another deacon, heads to Samaria and “proclaimed to them Christ” (8:5).  The crowds love the message.  They also were amazed at the spiritual power Philip brought with him.  But notice, Philip’s story will serve as a foil for Simon the magician.  Philip’s spiritual power enhanced his message about Christ.

Acts 8:15  “Who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit… 17  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” This is the verse that makes many non-Pentecostals squirm.  After all, the story is about those who believe and are baptized in the name of Jesus but have not received the Spirit. However, this is part of the story of Simon the magician. The story shows that Simon has a wrong view of the Spirit and the spiritual world in general.  He offers money for this “power” v19, but the apostles rebuke him for trying to buy the “gift” v20.  This gift language is not different from Peter’s description of the Spirit’s work in 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Somehow, these new believers in Samaria have not received or not been instructed/understood that they have the Spirit with them for the mission.  They are in the state of many a new Christian who walks an aisle out of fear of hell or marveling at Christ who then would ask “What next?” They are ignorant or negligent of the much bigger calling they are a part of.

Acts 8:18 “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.” The word for give could be as simple as “give a present” or more nuanced such as “supply, furnish, grant.” Simon’s interpretation of events will show that when it comes to the Spirit things aren’t very simple.

Acts 8:19 “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” You have the Spirit, give it to me.  And how many false teachers boldly or vaguely make claims “I have the Spirit, I can give it to you.”  If any man says, “I have something of God’s, and I give it where I want (or worse to the highest bidder)” then they strongly misunderstand John 3:8.  The apostles command Simon to repent.  Peter takes Simon back to square one of his messages from Acts 2:38. Simon desired the Spirit not, so he could obey Christ or die for the mission, but to serve himself.

Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”  Philip had been on mission in Samaria.  The Spirit has given a new mission location.  All of this moves the early church toward fulfilling Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8. Philip is heading toward “ends of the earth” territory.

Acts 8:39 “And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.” In God’s timing and by the Spirit’s prompting Philip was in the right spot to send the gospel down to Africa. Before planes and trains, the Holy Spirit sent the gospel there.  In 8:31 the eunuch even says, “How can I, unless someone guides me,” and then he invites Philip into his chariot. The Spirit gift wrapped this evangelism experience for Philip, this deacon.  Notice also that the eunuch’s desire for teaching and oversight also is a foil of Simon the magician.  The eunuch is subservient to Philip’s explanation through the prompting of the Spirit.  The Spirit guided Philip to someone desperately desiring to understand scripture and, we are left to assume, to obey it. The newly baptized believer rejoices all the way home.  The literal activity of the Spirit in this verse is it “carried Philip away.”

The church of Acts 2 is in a good spot.  People are sharing.  Signs are happening.  The truth about Christ is proclaimed and received.  Acts 3 does not contain the word pneuma or spirit.  Spiritual activity certainly occurs.  A lame man walks.  Peter issues his famous “I have no silver and gold” line.  However, the topics are Christ, repentance and the testimony of scripture to Christ.  So notice the point of the whole miracle was Christ.  It draws attention to Christ, and the Spirit is not mentioned.  In chapter 4 the question of power will come up, and the testimony to the Spirit will begin.

Acts 4:8  Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders…” In his editorial note, Luke makes sure we know that the Spirit is filling Peter. In chapter three there is astonishment and wonder from the crowd, but no overt opposition.  The Spirit is preparing Peter to say hard things to hard people.

Acts 4:25  “who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?”” Peter says his hard things, and he is nearly jailed.  Peter’s big sermon in Acts 2 ends with the conversion of many.  Peter’s big speech in Acts 4 ends with a run in with the law.  As a preacher, he is hit or miss. This prayer though is from the fledgling church that Peter helped begin.  They have heard that Peter is in trouble, and their response is a prayer that begins with a beautiful theology of scripture’s inspiration.  The points to note in v24 and 25 are 1) God is sovereign 2) Psalm 21 is penned by David 3) However, he was saying the words “by” or “through” the Holy Spirit.  They begin their prayer of comfort not by taking comfort in their circumstances but by taking comfort in the truth that God’s word is sure and inspired by God’s Spirit.

Acts 4:31  “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” The church’s response to political and judicial drama wasn’t to lawyer-up or run for office.  They depended wholly on prayer.  Their prayer has three basic parts 1) God we get that you have big plans 2) Look upon our threatening circumstances 3) Grant us boldness in speaking your word.  They don’t pray for Peter’s release or that Rome would fall.  They pray for boldness in doing what Jesus commanded.  That is the kind of prayer that shakes the earth.  Notice especially the same “get ready for adversity” language occurs in v43 “all filled with the Holy Spirit” as did in v8 “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  The Spirit rushes in on God’s people not for the peaceful times but for the times of adversity with regard to the mission.

Acts 5:3  But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Acts 5:9  But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

The first internal challenge to the church wasn’t heresy, apostasy, or scandal.  It was money.  If anyone says, “Money is not a spiritual matter,” or the half-as-naive, “Money is a force for good,” they are in a dangerous spot.  Ananias is killed for lying to the Holy Spirit.  This is the word we get the prefix pseudo- from and means misrepresent.  There must have been some earlier conversation or assertion on Ananias part where he claimed that he would donate one hundred percent of the proceeds to the collection (v4).  Ananias was seeking to gain something by misrepresenting how much he was giving, and Sapphira his wife was on board.  The accusation against her is that she was testing the Spirit. This word is the same as James 1:13 “I am being tempted by God.” They are not tempting God or the Spirit to sin, but are instead flirting with acting as an adversary of the church. The Jerusalem council was external, Ananias and Sapphira are an attack from within.

Acts 5:16  The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

Multitudes are still being added to the church.  They still gather daily in the temple.  They still sit under the apostle’s ministry of signs and proclaiming Christ from scripture.  What we see is that the healing ministry is taking off.  The healing is a draw. Families are bringing those affected by unclean spirits from miles around. The word for “unclean” can refer to ceremonial process but by Luke’s day it was a common way to refer to the demonic or Christ-opposing spirits (cf.  Matthew 10:1; Matthew 12:43; Mark 1:23, 26; Mark 3:11).  Notice that in Acts 4, the very clean Jerusalem council, rejects the apostles’ message. In Acts 5, those affected by unclean spirits flock or are drug to the apostles.  This isn’t spiritual warfare, it is spiritual mutiny or surrender of territory.

ESV Acts 5:32  And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

The “him” of v32 is the “him” of v31, Jesus.  This is important.  We began by noting that Acts 3 does not directly reference the Holy Spirit or even Spirits.  Likewise, we should see in this verse that Peter is outlining that the plan of God is about Christ, and the Spirit is a gift to those who obey Christ.  The word for obedience is not the most common but is instead two ideas together of obey + authority.  Essentially “obey Christ as authority.”  The Spirit never calls a man “Come obey me.” The Spirit always calls, “Obey Christ.”

Jesus’ death and resurrection are a big deal.  Take a moment to reflect that these two events happened on the same planet you live on, in real history.  Jesus is just as real as George Washington or your grandmother.  These very real events began a very real church.  The infancy of that church, or gathering of the called, begins in Luke’s sequel to his Gospel, Acts of the Apostles.

I had planned on moving on from looking at the Spirit in Matthew and then on to Mark, but I decided variety would help the process.  Most of the occurrences of pneuma in Matthew, Mark and Luke are parallel.

(1) Acts 1:2 “Until the day when [Jesus] was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen”

Luke begins his sequel by reminding Theophilus of Jesus’ resurrection appearances and instructions to the remaining disciples who now bear the title “apostle” or “sent-one”.

Jesus quickly points out the not-ready-ness of the apostles with “but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  The main purpose of this looking at the Holy Spirit and spirits in scripture is to understand the workings of the spiritual world.  Jesus affirms that the Spirit somehow will baptize the apostles.  However, it is interesting that the timing is not instant.  Luke will build up the theme that the Spirit is not on a train schedule.  After all, this is the Spirit of the risen Son of God, why wait?  Certainly, the delay isn’t because of some material insufficiency, the Spirit’s timing is its own (cf. John 3:3).

This theme of timing picks up with 1:7-8 “It is not for you to know times or seasons… but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses.”  The Spirit’s coming upon the apostles is at once a promise of Christ’s providing spiritual power and a reminder that they are completely insufficient for His mission.  They can’t know the timing, they can’t know the means, but that can know power is coming.  Furthermore, the power is not without bounds.  They aren’t being given power to jump buildings, slay enemies, but power to “be my witnesses”.  This idea of power for a mission and not for anything will come up again (Acts 8:18).

(2) Acts 1:16 Peter says “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas.”  Peter then goes on to cite Psalm 69:25 and 109:8 for explanation of how they should move on to elect Matthias by prayer and casting lots in v26.  We learn two ideas that will expand as the story continues.  First, the early Christians deeply believed the Spirit connected Scripture to Scripture and Scripture to their present circumstances.  The Scriptures weren’t just old history texts but living truth for their time.  Second, the early church always sought the Spirit’s direction and occasion for putting forward leaders.  Why pick someone new? Because God’s Word says so.  Who do we pick?  The one appointed by God.  Leadership was not established based on trends or models, but God’s word.

(3) Acts 2:2 “There came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind… and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirt and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”  The Spirit does many things in this passage.  First, the Spirit fulfills Jesus word from Acts 1:5 and as Peter will point out Joel’s prophesy from Joel 2:28.  But most strikingly, the Spirit manifests with observable phenomena, wind and fire.  And what power do they receive?  Healing, super-strength, super intelligence?  They receive power to communicate the Gospel to every tribe tongue and language.  Acts 4:6 says “Each one was hearing them speak in his own language.” This is not the worshipful utterances of 1Cor 14:4-6, but a miracle of enabling the reception of the Gospel.

(4) Peter then begins to preach a message with two parts 1) What are you seeing/hearing? 2) What did Jesus do?

With regards to the Spirit, the citation of Joel 2:23-32 states “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…. In those days I will pour out my Spirit and [male and female servants] shall prophesy.”  The Spirit is drawing people into God’s service who before did not have power.  There is a youthfulness to what the Spirit is doing and an unexpected-ness.  Certainly, the crowd could not fathom why these ex-fishermen disciples should be part of this spiritual movement. They must be drunk. The crowd is seeing/hearing God’s Spirit poured out and at work.

Then Peter explains what Jesus is doing in all of this.  Acts 2:33 “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”  The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ to pour out on His followers for the works the crowd is seeing.  Peter defends Jesus’ life, ministry, and Scriptural claims and then appeals to the crowd with “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38).  Jesus is the one pouring out this Spirit, and it can be the crowd’s gift too.  Notice that this first sermon is just as much an invitation to receive the Spirit as it is a plea for repentance.  The Christ who forgives is the Christ who pours out.

The Spirit is alive in the church, not the buildings but the people.  Christ has poured out His Spirit on those who are forgiven.  This timing and work is not for the apostles or us to control.  However, the entire work is a reminder of our insufficiency and God’s perfect timing.  Furthermore, in this initial story we see that the Spirit provides power for the mission.  Next time in Acts the Spirit will empower a miracle that begins the church’s initial persecution.

Spirits are real.  Historians or philosophers may refer to the spirit of an age.  There is the American spirit.  When someone cheats, it is against the spirit of the game.  In biblical Greek, the word for spirit is pneuma.  It is the word for the wind or an active unseen force.  I want to begin looking at how pneuma is used in scripture.  A secondary goal is to discern from scripture how to expect and desire the Spirit to work in our lives.

By my count Matthew uses pneuma 19 times in roughly eight different sections.  First off, Jesus birth is occasioned by the Spirit.

Matthew 1:18 “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” and 1:20 “that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit” serve a multitude of theological purposes (Trinity, Dual-Nature of Christ, Jesus’ sinlessness, etc.), but in the context of the story the inclusion of pnuema explains a basic narrative question, “If Joseph isn’t the dad, where did the baby come from?”  Matthew’s Gospel begins with the Spirit like how Genesis 1:2 begins with the “Spirit of God hovering over the waters.”

Both verses also add the modifier “Holy” to Spirit.  Good theologians know this refers to the person of the Trinity that is not the Son or the Father.  But, at the basic level the modifier assures Matthew’s readers that 1) This is a pretty special Spirit 2) They and Joseph should expect big things from this child.  The title Holy Spirit will develop as Matthew’s Gospel unfolds.

Matthew 3:11 “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” and Matthew 3:16 “he saw the Spirit of God descending” involve the Spirit in Jesus’ Baptism.  Matthew 4:1 “Jesus was led up by the Spirit” adds the Spirit’s involvement in Jesus’ life and ministry even into his temptation and provision.  This Spirit-conceived child has grown up into a Spirit-commissioned man and Spirit-guided man.

John the Baptist testifies that Jesus’ ministry will employ the Spirit.  Then Matthew gives us the viewpoint of Jesus at the baptism saying “[Jesus] saw the Spirit of God.”  Interestingly, Jesus’ viewpoint doesn’t add some qualifier of “Holy” or “Life-giving” but plainly attributes the Spirit to God.  Jesus is not seeing this Spirit for the first time.  For everyone else, the scene at the baptism came as quiet a shock.

The Spirit of the Baptism leads Jesus into proximity with the devil.  Questions about free-will or God’s goodness aside, it is important to see that the first act of the Spirit after commissioning Jesus and empowering Jesus isn’t to make Jesus’ life better or more comfortable.  The words of James 1:2 ring true, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.”  We must be taught to count trails as joy precisely because it is counterintuitive.

The third block of references to pneuma in Matthew occur in Matthew 5:3 “blessed are the poor in spirit”; 8:16 “he cast out the spirits with a word”; 10:1 “he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits”.

This block of spirit references occurs in the initial part of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew.  In Matthew’s telling Jesus first teaching is “Repent” (4:17) and his second teaching is “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (5:3).  Jesus’ life began with the Spirit, and Jesus’ ministry will tend not just to morality, philosophy, religion, injustice or simply disease.  Jesus’ ministry deals with spirit and spirit stuff.  But Jesus doesn’t say “Let me tell you how to live spiritually fulfilling lives” but “blessed are the poor in spirit.”  Furthermore, Jesus ministry begins as one of spiritual combat.  From Jesus’ telling, some spiritual forces have been oppressing people robbing them of the Kingdom of Heaven, and Jesus is here to throw these enemy combatants out.

The fourth block of references to pneuma  occur in Matthew 10:20 “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father”; 12:18 “I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles”; 12:28 “If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons”; 12:31-32 “blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven… whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”  This block all revolves around Jesus’ authentic message connected to the Spirit and the messages from the Pharisees and others that are inauthentic.  Certainly, the Pharisees have questioned Jesus’ motives and methods since Matt 9:11 and the calling of a tax collector, but by 9:34 (“He casts out demons by the prince of demons”), the opposition is overt and spiritual.

Matthew 10:20 is conditioned by 10:19 “When they deliver you over.”  Jesus is preparing his rag-tag disciples for great persecution.  Jesus’ disciples can expect words from God’s Spirit to flow from their mouth in the context of persecution.

The persecution has begun by 10:18. Matthew is citing Isaiah 42:1-3 to illustrate how it should come as no surprise that Jesus should face opposition.  The most recent cause for the opposition was that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, which set the Pharisees on a path of figuring out “how to destroy him” (12:14).  Jesus’ life but also his spiritual authority is in danger.  Isaiah comforts with the message that this is to be expected.  Then in Matthew 12:28-32 Jesus engages the Pharisees’ spiritual threats and accusations.

Jesus has been accused of using the power of Satan to cast out demons (12:24).  In 10:28 Jesus points out that if he is casting out demons, then this is a good thing, like Kingdom of God good.  Then in 10:31-32 Jesus provides his counter attack.  Every sin is forgivable (good news for us) and even every word against the Son of Man is forgivable (good news for Peter), but if you blaspheme or speak against the Spirit it is an eternal problem.  The basic point.  If the Spirit of God in your view of the world is “actually” the spirit of Satan, then you are completely broken.  The spiritual world isn’t muddied and confusing and filled with spirits of varying degrees of rightness.  You are on the Kingdom of God team where the Spirit empowers the Son to release captives, or you aren’t.

The fifth block of pneuma references could be attached to the fourth block.  Narrative wise, Jesus is still engaged with the Pharisees who for some reason are still talking with him.  However, this reference has more to do with the practical understanding of Jesus’ spiritual-work.  Matthew 12:43 “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a person” and 12:45 “then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits” explain the spiritual reality we aren’t aware of.  In this world of spiritual evil and God’s Spirit, humans experience this “occupation,” which Jesus points out doesn’t really end.  The spirits come back each time in force.  Jesus’ bleak description leaves us desiring that someone would first bind the strong man (12:29).  Jesus is pointing out that the world at this point is in a spiritual stalemate of wins and losses.  Something must change to tip the scales.

The Spirit and certainly the spiritual world are active in Matthew 13-22.  Chapter 17 has both the transfiguration and the healing of a demon possessed boy.  However, pneuma is not used until 22:43 “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord,” which is referencing Psalm 110:1.  The Spirit inspires scripture; lead Israel’s history; and most importantly always points God’s people to the promised one.  But why is this point, that there is a separation between David’s line and the Christ, so important.  After all, 2Samuel 7:13 establishes that the eternal throne of the Christ will be from David’s line.  The Pharisees loved v13 without v14 “I will be his father and he will be MY son.”  Certainly 2Sam 7 refers also to Solomon, but it assures that goal of the David line isn’t ancestor worship but that one day an heir would claim divine sonship.

The seventh block is 26:41 “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” and 27:50 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.”  These verses could be viewed separate but 27:50 flows as a real-life application of 26:41. Jesus was warning his disciples of the danger of being a flesh + spirit being.  It poses a challenge.  We may desire with all our spiritual self for something, but our flesh in weakness will fail.  Jesus in his flesh asks, “Let this cup pass from me” (26:39). A cup is not an instrument for the spiritual self but for cracked lips. But Jesus knows, “If this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (26:42).  Jesus knows that his body, a body soon to be beaten and scarred and very very thirsty, will accomplish something spiritual.  His weak flesh will accomplish something that a spirit alone cannot.

Roman crucifixion was meant to break a man’s reputation, his body, but also his spirit and the spirit of any would-be followers.  The idea was “Your messiah is false, see.”  At Jesus’ death, he was abandoned by his friends, his body wasn’t in his own control, and he even felt abandoned by God, but his spirit was his own.  His spirit remained till the deed was done.  Jesus apheimi his spirit.  The word means released, sent away.  He didn’t drop his spirit.  It didn’t slip through his fingers.

What can we learn from how Matthew uses the word spirit?  First, I hope this exploration gives us a clearer understanding that the Spirit and our spirits are not mystical forces that drive us toward destiny and fate.  Will we find the Spirit is a mysterious cloud that moves us toward fuzzy spiritual truths and concepts?  Or, will the Spirit be revealed as a definite mover with clear motives in all that God does?  Specifically in Matthew, we learn that the spiritual world is clearly marked off into God’s team and the other team.  Jesus comes as the liberating, or even better, invading force.  Also, we are introduced to the theme of spirit and flesh.  Jesus recognizes that they don’t always pull together in the same way; however, his death and what it accomplished certainly proved that when flesh and spirit flow together great things happen.

There is one last reference to pneuma in Matthew.  Matt 28:19 has “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  Other than 10:20’s promise that the Spirit would speak for disciples in times of persecution, Matthew doesn’t offer a buddy-buddy view of the spirit.  Instead, his Gospel ends with Jesus final marching orders, which feature the Spirit.  Someone has come and bound the strong man, we now should go carrying the banner of the Father, Son and Spirit declaring what Jesus in the Spirit has done.

Who leads God’s people?  God, duh.  That is fine and good if God is a fire and flame before them, but what about when God is more mysterious, not face to face.  Who leads?  That is the question at the heart of Numbers 10-17.  I am re-continuing my walk through the imperatives uttered by God in scripture.  These are the times when God would say, “Do this now,” and usually the consequences are life and death.  What would God command us today?

Numbers 10:2 “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp.

The ex-slaves have been camped at the bottom of the mountain, and it is time to move.  There is no GPS.  There aren’t even wristwatches to synchronize.  The silver trumpets would be the call to break camp.  This isn’t an army moving through the wilderness, this is a herd of men, women, children, and animals.  God makes promises for how the horns will be used in the land, but ultimately they remind the people “I am Yahweh your God.”

Numbers 11:12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,’ to the land that you swore to give their fathers?

This imperative of “carry them” is from Moses to God.  It is an urgent ask.  Moses is burdened by the cries of the people.  They had cried out to God.  He freed them from slavery.  They got hungry and cried out to God.  God sent manna.  They now desire meat.  Moses can’t bear all the complaining.  But we shouldn’t read the grumbling passages as a child does.  This isn’t the whine of a spoiled child.  These are parents and grandparents coming to Moses.  They have had family die on the journey, and some of them died at God’s hand (11:1).  Moses needs a sign from Yahweh before things get ugly.  So Moses desperately asks “You carry them.”

Numbers 11:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you.

The two commands in this verse are “gather” and “bring them”.  This is God’s solution to Moses’ grumbling-over-meat problem.  Moses needs people help before he needs calorie help.  Moses is to bring the elders, the indigenous leaders, of the people to tent of meeting.  God is saying, “I’ll carry these people by sending you people.”  We often ask God for help, and the help is often those around us that we hadn’t thought of sharing our burden.

Numbers 11:18 And say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you shall eat.

“Consecrate yourselves” could also be “sanctify” or “prepare for holiness.”  God is going to bless the people.  Will they be spiritually ready?

Numbers 12:4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out.

God helps Moses by providing help and by providing meat.  God isn’t done purifying the people though. In 11:31-35 Yahweh sends a plague that results in the destruction of the people “who had the craving,” which refers to not just their desire for meat but their desire for the things of Egypt.  God’s promised land people aren’t “old land” people.  So with more dead brothers, cousins, and parents, Moses’ brother and sister, Miriam and Aaron also grumble.  Were the two seeking power for its own sake, or were they genuinely concerned about following a brother prophet that kept leading in a way that resulted in destruction?  Either way, God doesn’t let the family infighting slide.  Who is going to be boss isn’t for them to decide.

Numbers 12:6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.

“Hear” is the common verb for what you do with your ears.  If God has to command these prophets who would take Moses’ place to hear, then what were they doing before?

Numbers 13:2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

“Send men” is exciting for the herd.  Finally, they aren’t sitting around.  All tribes are to be represented.  The word for “spy” is not official espionage but “seeking out,” such as 10:33 where the ark seeks out the next campsite.  Notice, were the men sent to assess battle readiness of their enemy?  Not necessarily, the chief focus of their seeking out is the land that “I am giving to the people.”  It is tragic that their report is mainly about the people they can’t defeat.

Numbers 14:25 Now, since the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”

Surprise!  The people rebel again.  God brought them to the land of promise and all they see are the things they can’t defeat.  God’s promised land people don’t want the promised land part of the deal.  God promises that “none of those who despised me shall see it” 14:23.  God doesn’t leave the people at the border of these powerful kingdoms.  He instructs the people to go wander into the safety, but not abundance, of the wilderness.

Numbers 15:2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land you are to inhabit, which I am giving you

Numbers 15:18 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land to which I bring you

Numbers 15:38 “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.

The return to the wilderness is not wasted time.  God instructs the people in this time of judgment.  These commands would help encourage the people because they begin, “When you come into the land.”  The punishment does not trash the promise.  God has his prophet speak to God’s people.  The specific instructions concern sacrifices and how to remember God’s commands.  Good idea.

Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

A people who follow false-prophets can’t be promised-land people.  Fortunately, the people quickly repent.

Numbers 16:24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

Stand back and watch this.  The earth swallows up the false prophets and their families.  The grumbling nation that thinks Moses is just making it all up and leading them astray watches in amazement.

Numbers 16:37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy.

Korah’s rebellion begins with the idea, “Anybody can do your job,” but ignores the truth, “Only Moses can do what God called Moses to do.”  Moses authority is questioned, but God’s authority to claim whom he wants is at stake.  Yahweh’s agency and personhood are at stake.  Is this God of the ex-slaves going to be a God for the priests with the most power or the real God that chooses whom he will?

This last imperative of Korah’s rebellion is to have Aaron’s sons step right into the place where the false priests were consumed.  And God lets them approach.  And all the people see it.

Numbers 17:10 “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony”

The people grumble again.  This time they state plainly, “You have killed the people of Yahweh.”  Hold on, did they not see the earth open up and fire come from the sanctuary.  Was that Moses?  No.  God sends a plague and the priest Aaron does what priests do.  “He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped” (16:49).  God asks for a final test to affirm his authority to choose his priests and prophets.  Every tribe is to put a staff in the tabernacle, and only Aaron’s buds.  A dead walking stick grew green overnight.  God commands that the staff be put at the center of the worship place.

In this section of Numbers, God’s authority to choose a prophet and priest is assaulted constantly by the grumbling of the people.  Any notion of democracy or politics is thrown out at Korah’s rebellion.  Having the most voices doesn’t make you right.  The righteous God makes you right.  Most importantly we see a God that is long suffering with the people.  Their identity still centers on Egypt.  They “crave” Egypt.  God culls promised-land people that reject the promised-land, but God declares he will be faithful to the next generation.

The mornings are still pleasant, but soon the heat will be on.  Central Texas catches on fire several times each summer.  People say things like “It’s a dry heat” or “It’s extra muggy.”  Heat is heat. As we look to the last installment in the examination of how Jesus refers to hell we turn to pur, fire.  What does Jesus mean when he speaks of eternal fire? Is it judgment? Is it a regular fire?

Agricultural Fire

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:6 NASB)

Jesus uses metaphors that his people understand.  In John 15 Jesus is giving a final speech to the disciples before his priestly prayers of John 17.  The topics all center around the idea that Jesus is leaving, but the “helper” is coming so the disciples should “abide” in Jesus during incoming persecution. In all the grand rhetoric Jesus has no problem describing a common agricultural practice of his day, burning unproductive and dry brambles.  Israel is a place that is not heavily treed.  There isn’t lumber and timber in abundance.  So if heat or fuel is necessary, then anything combustible is burned.  Jesus is describing some fruit producing branch that is cut off from the vine, dries out, and then is burned with the other wood scraps. The point, if you aren’t connected to the source of life, then fire.

Matt 7:19 picks up this same metaphor but puts the emphasis not on abiding but on bearing fruit, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is… thrown into the fire.”  This similar metaphor is preached in a very different context from John 15.  Jesus is delivering the Sermon on the Mount.  These are newly recruited disciples who likely will abandon Jesus before he even gets to Jerusalem. The thrust of the warning then is for people to “recognize” others by their “fruits” in reference to the “prophets” of v15.  In short, there are people who call themselves prophets.  Do you want to know how to judge them?  Don’t look at what they say, but instead look at the fruit of their life/prophecy.  The fruitless prophecy/prophets are garbage that will be burned.

“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field” is a great request by the disciples in Matt 13:36.  Jesus just delivered the parable of the weeds in 13:24-30, and the disciples clearly don’t want to be on the losing team that meets the reapers and is bundled up and burned.  Jesus explains: weeds = sons of the evil one; evil sower = devil; harvest = close of the age. This metaphor crosses the line between a very in-the-moment agricultural metaphor and eschatology, the end of history. “Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age” (13:40). What you disciples see every day, using brambles for fuel, is not that different form the end of history. We will save the discussion of the eschatology (v42) for the next section, but notice what is very different about this agricultural fire. In the previous two metaphors, the weeds are there “just because”.  Either they didn’t stick with the living vine or they didn’t produce fruit.

However, this metaphor contains layers of intrigue.  Wiley Coyote sneaks into the field and tries to thwart the field owners plan to grow a good crop (v25).  But the field owner will show him.  He will let everything grow up and then collect the weeds to burn them (v30). Notice that there is no repentance, there is no abiding offered to the weeds.  They exist for an evil purpose by an evil devil. So the question is, “What are the weeds?” or furthermore, “What are sons of the evil one?” We know that Jesus has no problem calling humans sons of the devil (John 8:44), but the explanation in v41 says, “all causes of sin and all law-breakers.” Some of the weeds are impersonal and some are “law-breakers.” The pur is for the sources of sin and persons who seek to choke out the sower’s good seed. So could the disciples end up on the losing team?  Could you? If your goal is to choke out sower’s good seed, then yes. But the point of the parable is actually to touch at the age old question, “Why does persecution and evil in general happen?” 1) There’s a bad guy, the evil sower. 2) The good sower like a good farmer doesn’t blast the whole field, but he lets the good and bad grow up. God doesn’t smash all the evil people/forces in the world because he wants to give good people/forces time to sprout up. 3) Once again, God doesn’t lose.  The Wiley Coyote character is not very formidable, neither is the devil compared to God.

Descriptive Fire

And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched … For everyone will be salted with fire. (Mar 9:43-44, 49 NASB)

This passage also popped up in the gehenna passages.  These verses describe the gehenna of pur in more detail than Matt 5:30; 18:8-9.  Mark emphasizes of “unquenchable fire” and adds “where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”  Furthermore, Matthew spreads these teachings out, but Mark crams them all together and follows up with a version of the “salt of the earth” by leading into it with “everyone will be salted with fire.” Clearly, Jesus is more descriptive of hell and judgment in Mark 9, “It’s like this,” than he is in Matt 5, “Avoid it at all costs.”  So, what is Jesus describing? The worm as a form of curse first occurs in Deu 28:39 “You shall plant and cultivate vineyards, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall devour them.” The curses are looming over Israel’s disobedience.  If they disobey their new God, their grapes will be worthless, fall off the vine, and be eaten by worms.  Jesus is quoting the last verse in Isaiah, 66:24.  That passage is very eschatological and pictures a day when God would gather all nations and judge peoples’ visible deeds and even their secret thoughts (Isa 66:18). The first part of 66:24 says, “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me.” So in the context of Isaiah, the vision describes a battleground that God is gloriously victorious over. The victory is so decisive that the fires for the dead rebel’s bodies will burn and fester. It’s a pretty gruesome end to a shiny and happy vision. But Jesus intentionally doesn’t quote the first part of the verse. In doing so he emphasizes the unending-ness of the vision. More importantly, he quotes Isaiah 66:24 to add to the intensity of controlling your hands.  Modern readers are most shocked that Jesus would recommend chopping of your hand, Jewish listeners who had Isaiah practically memorized, saw that he was putting hand-sin in the same category of the not-on-Yahweh’s-side of Isaiah 66. Your hands are more important than your lineage.

Just as his audience is being scandalized by Isaiah 66, Jesus throws in the bit about salt. Is this still a statement about the end of the world or a statement about what Jesus’ followers should expect?  It is easy to go both ways. If it is about Jesus’ followers the metaphor works like, “Fire, or trials, will come. Only the steadfast, or salty, will persevere.  Don’t be like garbage-salt and lose/hide your saltiness.” If it is about the whole of humanity, “All will be judged. The righteous ones are self-evident, like salt is inherently salty. The unrighteous are self-evident too, like unsalty salt. My disciples should be self-evident and have peace with each other.” The “whole of humanity” option seems to fit the passage better.  What does that do for how Jesus talks about the fire of hell? As he zooms out to an Isaiah 66 view of history, the eternal fires are a testament to God’s victory, and it’s no secret why the damned are defeated.  We think justice is complex, but when it comes to eternal justice it is easy as tasting salt and deciding salty or not.

And [the Son of Man’s angels] will cast [causes of sin and all law-breakers] into the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. (Mat 13:42-43 NAS)

This parable of the wicked sower was discussed above, but now focus on how Jesus describes the pur.  It is a furnace that is accompanied by “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Notice that this fire does not emphasize the usually good quality of light. The fire burns and is very unpleasant, but the source of light is the righteous shining “as the sun.” The fire is not a semi-positive thing, it is wholly negative. The furnace goes beyond the agricultural metaphor begun in Matt 13:30. The farmer would gather the brambles and burn them. But there is no need to burn the brambles in the furnace. Even modern farmers and ranchers don’t take brush to be burned at a special facility. Jesus is likening hell to a specifically prepared place, not a brush pile. “Weeping and gnashing of teeth” also occurs in Luke 13:28 where Jesus is describing the sense of angst and remorse that the Pharisees will have at being tossed out of the heavenly banquet. Jesus uses the phrase not just to mean discomfort but also to describe awareness of “missing out.”

Eschatological Fire

Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matt 25:41 NASB)

The Sheep and the Goats passage is unique to Matthew.  Jesus’ purpose is to describe the eschaton, the end of history. The righteous and unrighteous are as evident as sheep and goats. In v41 hell is a fiery place that is intentionally designed for the devil and fallen angels. Furthermore v46 adds “they will go away to eternal punishment.” The idea is that God has settled everything and there is no revisiting. Also, hell has multiple tiers of beings there. There is no, “But the devil made me do it.” The word for eternal is aionios, which is the general term for eternity and is linked to the modern word eon. There is no end in sight for the final state. The theology of the passage is bigger than this examination of what Jesus means when he references hell, but what is important is that Jesus frames this vision of the final judgment with the Son of Man coming in glory. Jesus is describing a glorious thing, the historical culmination of his work. He came for the cross, but that is connected to his glorious authority to judge the world.

What do we learn about Hell from how Jesus uses pur?

Throughout all these passages Jesus describes hell as an agonizing and eternal place. From Matthew 25 we see that the pur of hell certainly takes on a quality that is different from a friendly camp fire. It is more than just the chemical process of combustion. But, the fire, like an ancient battlefield, is a testament to defeat and death (Mark 9). There is the horrifying reality that those in hell are aware of their judgment and “missing out” on heaven (Matt 13). Also, hell is a prepared location that God intends not just for rebellious humans but every source of sin including the devil and fallen angels. Most importantly, Jesus never describes the fire just because knowledge is fun. Like in Matthew 5 or Mark 9, Jesus describes the fire in order to warn away from it. Or like in Matthew 25, Jesus describes the fire in order to describe his glory. A king’s authority to eternally enact his judgment is a sign of power and authority. If a king can only enact a judgment for a few months but then the judgment gets ignored, then that king is weak.

At the end of this very bleak discussion you may be thinking, “Well that sounds terrible and unfair!” Next time we will tease out that reaction and revisit three very important things that Jesus brings up in his statements on hell: repentance, abiding, and fruit. Also, you may have another great question, “How do I find out more about hell?” Well remember this examination got started as a question, “What do you believe about hell?” I went through and cataloged from all the NT the references to Gehenna, Hades, Pur. Also, I searched all the OT for references to esh, and fire, sheol. The attached file is the compilation of all those verses. Study them all to develop a full biblical theology of hell.

Take and read: Brief Theology of Hell Research

Easter has come and gone. Time for another entry examining all of the ways Jesus discusses hell in the gospels.  Last time we looked at how Jesus references the valley of Gehenna.  The simplified conclusion, “Really, really, REALLY try to avoid hell.”  This time Jesus will talk about Hades as a consequence, an adversary, and a parable.

Hades

“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!” (Luke 10:15 NASB)

Next time you think your pastor is wrong for referencing pop culture, remember that Jesus references popular culture and religions all the time.  Hades is a Greek word for the pagan idea of a netherworld.  Hades is definitely a god in the Greek pantheon, but by saying “brought down” Jesus is clearly using hades to mean the realm of the dead.  Furthermore, Jesus is referencing a specific cosmological idea of underworld, specifically a world that is “under.”

Hades as Consequence

Matthew 11:23 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. (Mat 11:23 NASB)

Jesus is bemoaning Capernaum as well as the other Galilean towns.  What was the issue?  They saw his miracles, but something still was off.  The trouble in v20-21 is that these towns see the miracles but don’t respond with repentance. Therefore, the towns won’t “go up” but will “go down.”  Does Jesus really think heaven is in the sky and hell is in the ground?  The verb for “be exalted” is a nuanced way of going up.  The Greek version of Isaiah 33:10 has three words “arise”, “exalted” and “lifted up” that are close in meaning.  Matt 11:23 and use Luke 10:15 use this same verb upsow.  Matthew reuses this verb in 23:12 to say “whoever exalts himself shall be humbled.”   Why spend so much time on the heaven verb?  If Matthew is speaking beyond the most basic spatial use of the verb “go up”, then it is likely he is using more than the spatial use of the verb “descend,” katabainw.  Capernaum won’t be exalted to heaven, it will descend to hades, which is a lowering of glory and not elevation.  But, if Jesus is speaking more along the lines of humbling the city, was Capernaum a prosperous world city?  Not really.  It was certainly a hub for the Galilee region, but that is like being the biggest town in the Yukon territories (although Dawson City is great).  So, if in terms of prestige, the city of Capernaum is on the bottom floor, what exactly is the consequence?  Since Matthew 4:25 gobs of people have been following Jesus all over Galilee, and his home base was Capernaum.  What Jesus is saying, “Since there is not repentance, my miracles that make you great will actually condemn you.”  Jesus’ miracles are a weight that brings an unrepentant city down instead of up.  So is hell “down there?”  No, but if by “down there” you mean an inglorious state, then yes.  But most importantly, repentance is the key to the elevator.  Hades is the consequence for a city that saw miracles and did not heed them with repentance.

Hades as Adversary

Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. (Mat 16:18 NAS)

Katisxuw only occurs three times in the gospels.  Luke 21:36 says, “Keep on the alert at all times… that you may have strength to escape.”  Also, concerning the raucous crowds at Jesus’ trial Luke 23:23 says, “They were insistent… and their voices began to prevail.”  We often read “overpower it” from Matt 16:18 and think, “The church will handle any attack from hell.”  But what Jesus is saying, “Hell won’t be able to overcome any attack from the church.”  Hell is on the defensive.  Hell is the one with gates.  The Jewish people knew siege warfare.  A few years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jerusalem itself would be put under siege by Rome.  The hope was that you could stay holed up in your city walls until the attacking army got diverted somewhere else or another larger force came around.  So, hell is an adversary for Jesus’ disciples.  Hell represents an enemy force worthy of being besieged, but victory is assured.

Hades as Parable

Luke 16:23 “And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. (Luke 16:23 NAS)

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is connected to Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees in 16:13-14 “You cannot serve both God and money… God knows your hearts.  What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight” (TNIV).  The parable explains those one-off statements.  The parable discusses money, God’s knowledge of hearts, and God’s detesting.  Short version (but seriously read Luke 16:19-31), rich man ignores poor and sick Lazarus at his front gate.  Both guys die.  Rich man is in Hades “in torment” and “in agony… in fire,” and he can see Lazarus in “Abrahams bosom” which is a place of comfort and apparently has cool water.  There is an uncrossable space between Hades and the Bosom.  And what is the punch line of the parable?  Rich guy wants to warn others to repent from being rich jerks by coming back from the dead, but Abraham shuts him down.  The super Easter foreshadowing is “They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (v31).  Notice that this parable is not meant to be an dictionary entry on the afterlife.  Parables are stories that essentially are about something not in the story.  What is the parable about?  1) You cannot serve God and money 2) God knows your hearts 3) What people value is detestable to God 4) and the new idea, resurrection is not more convicting then Moses and the Prophets.  Jesus’ use of parable does not make him a liar, but we can learn a lot about his perception of Hades by how it has to function in this parable.

Hades is agony (v25).  The parable only works if the rich man is aware of himself and his circumstance (v23).  Hades is permanent separation (v26). And as all of our passages on hell have shown, Hades should be avoided (v28), specifically avoided by repentance (v30).  If Jesus was to tell this parable, but actually believe or mean the opposite of these statements (e.g. “The afterlife has no negative experiences”) then the parable would be incoherent and nonsensical.  Jesus tells this parable to hit home his rebuke of the Pharisees.

What do we learn about Hell from how Jesus uses Hades?

From the passage on Capernaum we learn that Hades is sort of in a cause-effect relationship with Jesus’ ministry and miracles.  If you react to Jesus without repentance, then you are missing the point of Jesus.  What should bring glory, such as Jesus working in your city, now stands to shame you.

In the adversary passage, we learn something that sounds like it clashes with the “who is the boss” passages from last time.  If God is the boss of hell, which should be a comfort, how can Jesus talk about Hades as an adversary?  How can Hades be like any enemy city, if God is “the boss”?  If we really believe that God is the boss, then it makes sense that Jesus tells Peter, “The gates won’t hold you back.”  It helps to remember that Jesus had no room for dualism.  There are not eternal forces of good and evil.  Good was always from God and the forces of Hades are a new thing.  They hide behind gates that God controls.  Jesus can assure Peter the gates won’t hold.

From the parable of Lazarus and the rich man we must be cautious in what we use to define the after-life, because it is not primarily about the afterlife but money and repentance.  But for the parable to function at all, Jesus had to have a very concrete idea that there is a permanent self-aware agony awaiting those who don’t repent.  This parable plus the gehenna passages make it very hard to think that Jesus had a fluffy version of the afterlife. Furthermore, Jesus specifically targets the Pharisees’ hidden love of money.  The sin is two-fold.  The Pharisees think they can hide their love of money from God, and they plainly love money more than God.  So on the other side of Easter and headed to April 15th,  take comfort or take caution that God is with you.

“What do you believe about hell?” She said earnestly.

That was a problem.  We were supposed to be discussing the life of Jesus.  I had invited this couple over along with several other friends to eat food, vent about our jobs and stresses, and read scripture.  Our lives were the serious things, the theology wasn’t supposed to be.  We were supposed to discuss divorcing friends, quitting or getting fired from jobs, how scary it is to talk to our neighbors.  Life was scary, not the theology.  I said the wisest answer possible, “I don’t know.”

I knew stuff about hell, but I still don’t “know” hell.  When it comes to the afterlife, I have no firsthand experience.  Is there fire?  Do people continue in agony forever?  Is it God’s idea?  Where is it at? I resolved to look for answers.  I followed with, “I’ll find out.”

So, to continue my theological explorations of terrible, dreary, and scary things (see last January’s “Brief Theology of Miscarriage” http://wp.me/p5pi3B-h); I present a theology of hell.  It was supposed to be brief.  Then my wife in her wisdom said, “That’s not brief.  You should chop it up.”

First off, hell presents a scriptural problem.  Not because of too few references, as is the case with miscarriage.  Hell or judgement by fire is mentioned over one hundred and thirty times in scripture.  From all these references questions arise.  Where is hell?  What is it like?  How absolute is it?  And most importantly, how do I not go there? Add to all these other questions the fact that there is a gradual progression of cosmology – how the universe is structured – and eschatology – how everything ends – in scripture.  Instead of chasing every loose end, I will examine just Jesus’ statements from the Gospels on hell.  Why Jesus?  If you believe he is the Son of God, then his opinion on the afterlife is pretty important.  Jesus references hell using three words or phrases: gehenna, hades, pur.

Gehenna

“Whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Matt 5:22 NASB)

Jesus invents hell.  That is to say, if you are using a very literal translation of the Greek or Hebrew from scripture the word “hell” won’t occur until Matthew 5:22.  Jesus is repurposing the word gehenna to mean hell. Today the valley of Ge Hinnom is a place you can visit, and it is pretty scenic.  You can drive down Gey Ben Hinnom Street just south of old town Jerusalem.

Why would Jesus reference this scenic valley to discuss the severity and danger of anger, judgment, and sin in general?  The valley of Hinnom, ge hinnom, is a pretty evil zip code in Jeremiah 7:31.  In this valley just outside of Jerusalem, people were performing child sacrifices.  Also, during the gap between the writing of the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) the idea that a valley or pit would be the place of end times torment enters Jewish thought (1Enoch 27:2; 4Ezra 7:36).  When Jesus says gehenna, he is using his audiences’ understanding that 1) the Hinnom Valley is an evil or tainted place, and 2) that end-time torment involves a pit or valley.  Let’s look at the “flavors” of how Jesus uses gehenna.

Do Anything to Avoid Passages

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” (Matt 5:29 NASB)

These are some of the scariest verses in scripture.  Jesus wanted them to be.  If your body is causing you to sin, you are better off with self-mutilation than hell.  Pluck out your eye; chop off your hand.  Matt 5:29-30; Matt 18:9; Mark 9:43-47 all have this idea of mutilation to avoid sin in order to avoid hell, but listen to the hyperbole.  The context of Matt 5:29-30 is Jesus’ teaching on adultery.  Jesus wouldn’t tell an adulterer, “Oh you plucked out your eyes!  All good now.”  The context of Mark 9:43-47 is causing “little ones” to sin.  Jesus wouldn’t tell a lead-others-to-sin amputee, “You lost your hand! That made it all better.”   These passages are hyperbole, but not because they overestimate the severity of sin or the extremes that should be taken to avoid hell.  Jesus is overplaying what “causes” – skandalizw – to snare, to cause to stumble – sin.  He reveals a more fleshed out theology on human corruption in Matthew 15:18-29; Mark 7:20-22.  “Out of the heart” is the source of evil.  Your eye can’t force you to sin.  Your hand can’t make you do evil.  You make you sin.  Jesus is playing up to the audience, “Do whatever it takes to avoid hell,” but he hasn’t revealed just how drastic the measures will be.  And remember, these are Jews who might say, “We have Abraham as our father,” which meant that God was categorically on their side (Matt 3:9).  He is teaching that sin is dangerous; hell is a possibility; and you should do anything to avoid both.

Judging Passages

“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the sentence of hell?” (Matt 23:33 NASB)

Jesus is kind and merciful to a lot of people: tax collectors, adulterers, zealots/terrorists, gentiles, crazed demoniacs, old Pharisees, etc.  However, he doesn’t shy away from judgment.  Matt 23:15, 33 detail how Jesus is pronouncing “Woe” against the Pharisees.  These were Jewish religious guys whose mission in life was to be righteous enough and train enough disciples to usher in God’s kingdom. Interestingly, v23 details how the Pharisees and scribes are in trouble for not showing “justice and mercy and faithfulness” while overemphasizing super tithing.  The root for the word justice is krisis, which is the same root for “the sentence/judgment of hell.”  They neglected justice; they will know the krisis of gehenna.

Mat 23:15 is condemning the Pharisees’ whole disciple-making enterprise, “you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Mat 23:15 NASB).  This verse is less intense than v33, but it does undercut half of the Pharisees’ game plan.  Their making disciples isn’t bringing God’s kingdom closer but instead advances gehenna.

“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Mat 5:22 NASB)

Here is the progression laid out in this verse.  Anger => court; Raca/Empty-one => supreme court; Fool => fiery gehenna.  This passage is part of Jesus’ super expansion of the Mosaic law. “Don’t commit adultery” now is don’t look lustfully.  “Don’t swear falsely” now is don’t swear.  We are way past “Don’t murder.” Insults are worthy of hell.  Jesus is using gehenna here as a warning, but notice that the language is court room language.  Read v23-26.  All those words for court and judge are krisis words.  Unlike the Pharisees that would say, “Take care of the dill and mint tithes before the krisis,” Jesus is saying, “Leave the altar, pause the temple stuff!  Run and take care of krisis right now.”  Jesus is teaching that hell is a just response to our refusal to be just.

Who Is the Boss Passages

Matt 10:28; Luke 12:5

“But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!” (Luke 12:5 NASB)

Luke 12:5 and its parallel in Matt 10:28 come after Jesus’ warning about future persecution.  Luke 12 is more centered on the Pharisees challenging and silencing the message.  Matt 10 is more broad and end-timesy.  From either passage, Jesus’ message is, “They (Pharisees/World in general) will try to stop you.  Don’t fear them.  Fear God.”  And why should they fear God?  God has authority over hell.  The smiter has the smite button.  However, both Luke and Matthew pair this fear passage with, “Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt 10:31; Luke 12:7).  The root word for the verb “fear not” and the noun “fear” in these passages is phobos, which is common everyday fear.  Jesus warns about hell, but he tells us to fear the God who is the boss of hell.  However, the boss cares for us more than we can imagine.

What do we learn about Hell from how Jesus uses gehenna?

Most importantly, God is the boss of hell, and this should be a source of comfort.  Our imaginations have run wild with the concept of hell.  We think the devil sits on a throne and commands legions of biker-gangs who are eternally partying.  God is the boss.  There are no demons that will drag you there.  And no earthly judgment can send you there.  There is no dualism for Jesus.  There isn’t a kingdom of darkness with skills and forces strong enough to pose a real threat.  He knows his followers will die from persecution just like he will, but it is only a flesh wound.

Hell is not unjust.  We are unjust.  The Pharisees were much better at their religion than you ever will be.  They tried to follow every law, but they couldn’t produce an ounce of justice.  It is important that we see Jesus pronouncing judgments or sentences.  Hell is not an accidental place.  God doesn’t look at those in hell and say, “Oops!  That one was a mistake.”

Now that we have laid out that God is the boss, and hell is not unjust, there is a big question.  What is hell?  After all, gehenna was a place Jesus could point to.  This was part of the reason he references the valley in his teaching.  We say, “in hell” and “in heaven,” but can you pull them up on a map?  From these passages, we haven’t determined much about the character of hell.  We just know it is connected to sin, and we should try to avoid it.  But since Jesus is so severe in these passages, it is safe to assume he is not joking.  That is to say, sometimes people read gehenna passages and begin analogizing and making everything metaphor.  Does Jesus sound like he wants us to make gehenna less scary?  Since Jesus invented hell, we will have to study the other ways he references it to understand more of its nature and character.  Next time is hades.