Jesus Believed in Hell

This post is directed primarily at believers……..Christians. If you don’t accept Jesus as divine, then this will mean very little to you. On the other hand, I have found the teachings of Jesus to be trustworthy. Maybe you should read on, and consider the possibility that Jesus may have been on to something.

In the Bible there are two men named Lazarus…….two unrelated stories. The first is the one we all know. Jesus’s friend Lazarus dies and Jesus raises him from the dead. This contains the famous “shortest verse in the Bible”…….”Jesus wept”. This is an account told by Luke about Jesus and the things that he did. The second Lazarus story is not nearly as well known………but it is arguably far more important. It is a story told by Jesus……possibly a parable……..comparing a poor beggar named Lazarus and a rich man. More importantly, it is a brief description of heaven, hell, and the relationship between the two. It is a summary of Heaven and hell, spoken by the Creator. As such, it deserves our attention.

The cliff notes version is this:

Heaven is a place of comfort.
Hell is an agonizing burning fire…….a place of torment.
Both are permanent.
Whichever you land in, you are there for eternity.

I hear a lot of Christians say something to the effect of, “I believe in Christ, I believe in heaven, but I don’t believe in hell”.
A more common statement by Christians is, ” I can’t believe that an all loving God would send Aunt Jane to hell.”

These Christians are wrong. You cannot be a Christian and deny the existence of a burning hell.

Why?

You must believe in a burning hell………because Jesus did.

If you are not a Christian, and if you don’t believe in a burning hell, and if you are wrong……..then you are headed for a lot of pain.

Here is the other Lazarus story……..as told by the Creator.

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets;  let them listen to them.’

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Jesus, NIV