6 3 03

6:30a

Luke 16:19-31

Preconceived notions aside, this passage is odd to me. The over-all gist of it is a precursor (in my opinion) of Jesus� death. In essence, Jesus is saying that if people refused to believe in God before Jesus walked the earth in human form, they weren�t very likely to believe in Him afterward. That�s covered in the last verse of this chapter.

31 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.�

I understand that and �get� it. The part that is odd to me is the whole after-death-hell-vs-heaven thing. So, I suppose the preconceived notions were not set aside. *chuckles*

I personally don�t believe in the popular concept of hell � that being a place of fire and torment for sinners upon their deaths � and I wonder if this passage isn�t just story. Jesus spoke in parables quite often and I�m not convinced that this passage isn�t based on popular myth. Even the word for �hell� is the Greek �Hades�. I�m of the opinion that it�s possible that Jesus was using the Greek understanding for hell simply to illustrate His point rather than actually confirming or denying the existence of a hell.

I don�t know. It�s difficult for me to get around that; through it, rather. I know that many Christians use this passage to �prove� that there is such a place as hell, and if Christians aren�t good little boys and girls, they�ll be spending eternity in that place. I find it extremely difficult to wrap my mind around the concept of something I�ve believed, for all my life, is non-existent. Strange how that can happen.

And yet, as I see it, this is the quandary which befalls most Christians � they get stuck on the concept of heaven vs hell and ignore the point of the passage entirely.

In my opinion, the entire point of the passage is that last verse. If Christians won�t follow the Law, if they don�t �get it� through the Old Testament, they won�t understand the New Testament either. The Bible is a whole, not one part or another. There is no part of the Bible more important than another. Yet there are many Christians who believe that only the �stuff in red� counts � that only what Jesus actually said is important to Christianity.

If you read just a little before that specific passage, Luke 16:16-18, you see that Jesus was talking about the Old Testament and that He used the passage about heaven and hell as an illustration to prove His point.

16 The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

In verses 16 and 17 Jesus tells us that, indeed, the Law and Prophets � The Old Testament � is so vital to Christianity that nothing will change it. He is telling us that we must take the Bible as a whole, not a part. We can not base our lives on just a few select verses and call ourselves done.

As an aside, the whole verse about divorce and remarriage is confusing to me for one reason only. I believe what it says � that to divorce and remarry is considered adultery � but I am divorced. And, I have the impression that I will marry again. I don�t know exactly what God�s plan for my life is, but I just have the feeling that He wills marriage and offspring in my future. *shrugs* Mom considers me a �spiritual widow� but I�m not sure what I think about that. It�s something I�ll dive into at a later date.

I think that the whole heaven-vs-hell discussion is completely irrelevant. I believe that the whole point of that passage is to illustrate that there will be some people who refuse to believe in the truths of the Bible regardless as to whether the word came from Jesus or Moses or the Prophets.

That�s my opinion for today.