Meriweather
Not all who wander are lost
- Oct 21, 2014
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Mark 9.43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.
Mathew 25.41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mark 9:43: I don't know which version of the Bible you are using but both Matthew and Mark say "Gehenna" not "Hell."
In Jesus day, Gehenna was a reference to the city's dump, where fire and the worm were ever present. The New Testament also presents the idea that sin/disobedience to God is slavery; that, in fact, obedience to God is freedom. Slavery, sin, disobedience is like a dump--where the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies. Matthew is more specific, comparing even becoming angry with the city dump. Anger--a situation where the fire burns and the worm lives. Forgiveness on the other hand leads to peace or life in the Kingdom.
The reason people found Jesus a charismatic speaker is that he spoke to the heart and every day situations people in which people found themselves. Would we rather be a slave (be it to sin or another person) or would we rather be free? Would we rather our spiritual/emotional lives in a fiery, wormy place or in a place centered in peace and love?
Matthew 25 addresses the concept of how we treat others reflects how we treat God; how we treat God is how we treat others. A rejection of humans is a rejection of God. I mentioned before that all people have a choice: To be with God for eternity, or to choose to be apart from God for eternity.
In my opinion Matthew's passage should provide some hope for non-believers. Some truly hold no belief in God no matter how hard they try. They can take a look at how they treat others. In a passage in Romans they can see where they will be judged by their own hearts. Often times our own hearts are a harsher judge of behavior than God.