In this segment, we will take a look at words of judgement and punishment spoken by Jesus, specifically referencing and/or implying punishment by death, negative judgement, a tortured afterlife, and/or burning. This should give us an idea of how loving and gracious Jesus was. I will ignore passages that merely say someone won't go to heaven. We are going to examine many passages we have not previously covered in this series, from the gospels and words in red. We will pass over some that we've already discussed.
The first passage I come to is Matthew 8:10-12. There Jesus is talking about a Roman Centurion. He says "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come frim the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside , into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." This sentiment is repeated in Luke 13:28-30. It obviously is a rebuke of the Jews not recognizing Jesus's authority. The word "subject" in this passage is actually "sons" in the Greek. Which brings me to an interesting question. What place did women have in this supposed kingdom of god, Jewish or Christian? The bible was written by men, for men. As far as I can tell, very few of Jesus's doctrinal teachings were directed to women, if any. As far as I can tell, no Old Testament teachings were either, even those that told stories about specific women. If women "defiled"men on earth, would they even be allowed in heaven?
The next passage I come to is Matthew 10:14-15. There Jesus is sending the twelve disciples out to preach. He tells them, "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town." Luke 9:5 has the same scene but does not conclude with a curse of divine judgement. Remember that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone. Many modern christians take this passage to be applicable to those who will not listen to their evangelistic efforts.
The passage in Matthew 10 continues on to verse 28, which tells the disciples, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell (gehenna). This passage is not echoed elsewhere. It seems that maybe Luke was less concerned with judgement than Matthew. We shall investigate Luke deeper when we are through with Matthew. In the meantime, notice that the One who destroys body and soul in hell is capitalized. That means the people who translated and edited this version believe it is referring to god. God destroys bodies and souls in gehenna. This is an active statement about god. Many christians like to say that their god doesn't send people to hell, people send themselves. Baloney. Also, if the body and the soul is destroyed, what is left? Is that the end? I don't see any indication of an eternal torment.
In Matthew 10:20-24, Jesus curses some cities with the Sodom and Gomorrah curse when they wouldn't repent after he performed miracles.
In Matthew 12:36-37, Jesus says, "But I tell you that men (mankind) will have to give an account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken (whew! That will take a long time.) For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Well. I don't imagine there are many, if any, people who haven't said something regrettable at some time. Also, this certainly flies in the face of a grace based, as opposed to works based, salvation. Some could say that he was talking to Jews, so it doesn't refer to christians. In that case, anything he said exclusively to Jews would not apply to christians. That would cut out a large chunk of Jesus's teachings.
To be continued.
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