6/11/23 - Jesus and the Meaning of ”Gehenna” - Matthew 25:41-46 - Pastor Jason Fritz

This Sunday we’ll be looking at the words of Jesus as he speaks about a place called Gehenna. I mentioned it last Sunday and again some have asked, “Do we really have to talk about this?” Well, it seems like everyone is talking about eternal places except for Christians. For example, those who don’t know Jesus use the word “hell” all the time; and shouldn’t we be talking about the things Jesus talked about? Surprisingly to some, he talked about a place of torment quite a bit. So to ignore this is to miss an important subject according to Jesus.

At the same time I understand this is not a conversation anyone enjoys. I think there is a tendency to put this out of our minds as Christians because the thought of everlasting suffering seems cruel and not at all congruent with a loving God. A lot could be said here but let me briefly state two things…One, humans have free will; meaning they can choose to accept God’s salvation or they can dismiss it. So God isn’t sending people, moreso people are choosing to reject God’s gracious offer of deliverance. Second, the Bible clearly states that God desires that none should perish, this is His heart...

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
-2 Peter 3:9

Salvation is precious and you can’t fully appreciate your salvation until you know what you’ve been saved from. The message from Jesus is this: "I can deliver you from a place of eternal and conscious torment." Consider this…

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell (Gehenna); yes, I tell you, fear Him!”
-Luke 12:4-5

Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
-Matthew 25:45-46

It’s popular to say that Jesus saves you from a purposeless life, or from a destructive lifestyle. Those things are true but they fall short. According to Jesus, what you are ultimately saved from is an eternal separation from God in a place of punishment. Jesus used the word "Gehenna” (often translated as hell) to describe this place. Perhaps you’ve heard of this as the location of a smoldering dump just outside of ancient Jerusalem. As we’ll discover, this place might not be what you think. In fact, the "Gehenna" Jesus speaks of is worse than you know.

The teaching of a literal eternal hell has been challenged in recent times and we’ll talk about this. More importantly, we will look at what the Bible actually says. In fact, the person who talks most about God’s righteous judgement is none other than Jesus himself.

I can appreciate what R.C. Sproul said, "Every time we preach hell we do so with a tear in our eye.” It’s a tear of both sorrow and gratitude.