As a Jesus-following Christian, I am continually annoyed with and offended by Christian Leaders who candy coat HELL with the phrase, “eternal separation” from God. While that is an aspect of Hell, it can make it seem like it is a place where everything is ok, but God just is not there. That is NOT how Jesus talks about HELL, not even close. If you say you are a Jesus-following Pastor and you “do not feel led” to impart the truth of what Jesus said about Hell, check in with who you serve.
We as Christians are not doing any of our neighbors any good by trying to sugarcoat the reality of how JESUS talked about HELL. Jesus talked about HELL more than any other person in the Bible. His sacrifice for us rescues us from HELL, it is called being SAVED because, you are saved from HELL. This paper spells out every passage where Jesus talked about HELL with context and commentary.
Personal Relationships
21 “You have heard that [a]the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be [b]liable to the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be [c]guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[d]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be [e]guilty before [f]the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be [g]guilty enough to go into the [h]fiery hell. 23 Therefore if you are presenting your [i]offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your [j]offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your [k]offering. 25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last [l]cent.
In this passage, Jesus says that if you call your neighbor a FOOL, you will be guilty enough to go into “THE FIERY HELL”. Hell is a place of never-ending FIRE.
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Very famous verses that state that most people are headed towards destruction in HELL. The road that leads to life (Heaven) is narrow and few find it.
Jesus was NOT a universalist. He said he was the ONLY way to HEAVEN.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Tares among Wheat
24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed [b]tares among the wheat, and went away. 26 But when the [c]wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 27 The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? [d]How then does it have tares?’ 28 And he said to them, ‘An [e]enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he *said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Jesus warns HUMANITY to heed his words because what you build your life on, if it is not Jesus, will have a GREAT FALL, into HELL.
The Tares Explained
36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the [a]tares of the field.” 37 And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the [b]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the [c]end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [d]all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, [e]let him hear.
The DEVIL is real. He runs HELL and is looking for fuel. The Jews used to call gentiles, fuel for the fires of hell. Here Jesus says some horrible things about what people will be experiencing in HELL. 41 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [w]all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus says, that the devil’s crop will be thrown in a furnace of fire and in that place there will weeping and gnashing of teeth. Pretty clear, Hell is a place of suffering.
A Dragnet
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So it will be at the [a]end of the age; the angels will come forth and [b]take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” 52 And [c]Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, [a]Elijah; but still others, [b]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are [c]the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon [d]Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are [e]Peter, and upon this [f]rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth [g]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth [h]shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He [i]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was [j]the Christ.
Rank in the Kingdom
18 At that [a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him [b]before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you [c]are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it [d]would be better for him to have a [e]heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Stumbling Blocks
7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than [f]to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than [g]to have two eyes and be cast into the [h]fiery hell.
If you are a Pastor who is more concerned with people feeling loved, than that they repent of their sin and follow Jesus, you should do yourself a favor and check in with Jesus about if you are causing people to stumble. There is a special place in Hell for those who cause others to Stumble.
Parable of the Marriage Feast
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to [b]a king who [c]gave a wedding feast for his son. 3 And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own [d]farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. 7 But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. 8 Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with [e]dinner guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, 12 and he *said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are [f]called, but few are chosen.”
This is probably the passage were wearing your “Sunday Best” came from. Jesus compares himself to an all-powerful KING because he is. If you call yourself Jesus’s friend and then don’t come to his wedding banquet, then he gets ANGRY and destroys them and burned their city. How does that line up with your kumbaya image of Jesus? Be AFRAID, be very AFRAID.
Parable of the Talents
14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five [a]talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. 17 In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his [b]master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your [c]master.’
22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. 27 Then you ought to have put my money [d]in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Side note, Jesus was not anti-slavery, because he knows that we are all slaves to SIN, so the analogy works for every human on the planet. If you bury your talent and don’t even collect bank interest on it, you get thrown into HELL.
The Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [a]take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
How we act as Christians MATTERS! Apparently, when we do not love our neighbor as ourselves, eternal punishment is a possible outcome.
This concludes JUST the book of Matthew, where Jesus talks about hell, the devil and the devil’s schemes. I will be adding more to this post over time. If you have a candy-coated view of Hell, I would assert that FEAR is lacking in your faith. Jesus should be FEARED, he has the power to not only destroy the body, but to destroy the soul.
28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in [a]hell.
