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| Jesus' teachings on Hell, part 4 |
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Mat 11:23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to the heaven, shall be brought down to hell (hades). For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
G86 ᾅδης hadēs hah'-dace
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1492; properly unseen, that is, "Hades" or the place (state) of departed souls: - grave, hell.
Here hadēs aka the grave is translated to hell.
Let us look at the story.
Mat 11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.
Mat 11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man who is a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners. But wisdom was justified by her children.
By this account, Jesus had a bad reputation aging likely by the religious of the day. He hung out with the non-religious.
Mat 11:20 Then He began to upbraid the cities in which most of His mighty works were done, because they did not repent.
So by now we have Jesus that came as the Messiah and performed many works yet many still chose not to believe and did not repent from their religiosity.
Mat 11:21 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the powerful acts which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes!
What did Tyre and Sidon do? Read these articles:
Tyre, the city cast into the sea and Tyre, location profile
Mat 11:22 But I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.
Mat 11:23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to the heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
We know the judgment that took place against Sodom and Gomorrah.
Some more info on Capernaum here and here
From the 1st link, I quote:
The inhabitants of Capernaum, including various high ranking citizens, were given unique and abundant opportunities to hear Jesus Christ's message firsthand and witness His awesome power and love.
Now as I have mentioned in the previous articles, so far we see the “hell” teachings are not directed at sinners but at the religious elect.
There are some of the miracles Jesus carried out in that city.
Today we have just ruins of the city so in essence it is dead. In spite of miracles demonstrated to the “elect”, they still held onto their religious ways and rejected Christ. This was anyway prophesied that with ears they would not hear and with eyes they would not see. The Levitical order was so well entrenched that just like in the time of Moses, when God was ready to speak direct to His people; they elected Moses to speak on God’s behalf.
If Jesus came back today, he would likely not be what you are expecting some dude in white robes, halo and beaming with light, he would likely take on the form of a lowly man and entering a Church would be asked to fill in a questionnaire by an usher and be asked if He wanted visitation.
See what we have today differs little from that of the Levitical days where we have accepted an intermediary in the form of a pastor/priest/reverend etc. I am not against these people in any way but Religion is what Jesus came to abolish and yet, if you look objectively, that is all we still have in many cases.
Jesus’ strongest admonitions were toward the Pharisees and not toward the sinners.
Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard, He said to them, They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who have illness. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Now who do you suppose was included in this? All of us.
Many today profess Christianity but do not even know the Father, they know of Him and His Son Jesus, yet they have little or no relationship. The reason, most stop at the sinner’s prayer once fire insurance is ensured or they are taught how to interpret et al.
Those who know beyond a shadow of a doubt they are born-again will have entered, or should have, into a closer walk with the Lord.
We are not saved from hell; we are saved from our sins. How we choose to walk after the re-birth is dependant on our co-responsibility. That others eyes are not yet opened to the reality of salvation, does not imply they are doomed.
Blessings
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