What Jesus Taught on Death and Hell

Some people claim it, but Jesus did not speak on hellfire more than he spoke on any other topic. He actually spoke on God and heaven more than anything else.

But what did Jesus teach on death and hell? Well, let's start with the story of Lazarus.

Here, Jesus himself taught that death is asleep. When he said Lazarus is asleep, he had to clarify and tell his disciples Lazarus is dead.

John 11:11-14 — These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Here in John chapter five, Jesus taught that nobody receives their final reward until the end of time, not at death. He says, marvel not at this for the hour is coming, future tense. And Jesus is speaking here. Notice below:

John 5:28-29 — Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

If there was already a hell burning in some subterranean cavern, Jesus would have said something like, hey. Those of you who are wicked when you die, you're going to this place, some down deep in the earth that's burning for all eternity.

But he said, no. The hour is coming, meaning, not yet. And when does the Bible say this will happen? 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says at the second coming for the righteous. Revelation 20:5-6 says after the millennium for the wicked.

Notice what Jesus taught in Matthew 10:28. He says, “fear not them which are able to kill the body, but not able to kill the soul. But fear him which is able to to destroy both soul and body in hell.” And a lot of people will seize on that and say, see, he said soul. There must be an immortal soul, but that's not what Jesus is teaching here.

But slow down, folks. Genesis 2:7 teaches that we are dust + breath = a living soul, or a living creature. This word soul doesn't mean an immortal soul. It means creature or being. Now you may say, well, Genesis 2:7 isn't Jesus speaking.

But again, slow down. We find something very interesting when we compare Matthew 10:28 and the Septuagint version of Genesis 2:7.

In the Greek Septuagint of Genesis2:7, the same exact word is used there that is used in Matthew 10:28, the same word that the English KJV uses for soul. So Jesus isn't saying fear not him who can throw your soul into eternal torment. He's saying don't be afraid of those who can steal your physical life, but have no more ability to do anything else to you. But fear him, fear God who is able to destroy you so completely that there is no resurrection from that, that there is no coming back from that.

And a lot of people will point to Matthew 25:41, forgetting the verse 46 also exists. Jesus uses the phrase everlasting fire, and then he defines what that is as everlasting punishment. Notice, below, how Jesus says the righteous get life eternal, but He makes no mention of such a reward in regard to the wicked. Eternal fiery torment necessitates eternal life as well, don’t you think? But Jesus makes no such declaration of eternal life in regard to the wicked.

Matthew 25:41-46 — 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…And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

And then Paul also defines that as everlasting destruction in 2 Thessalonians 1:9.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 — Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

So you see, so far, Jesus is not teaching eternal hellfire. He's teaching quite the opposite, but let's continue.

In one of the letters to the seven churches, Jesus says this in Revelation 2:11:

He that overcomes shall not be heard of the second death.

Notice he doesn't say shall not be heard of eternal torment, of eternal fire. He shall not be heard of the second death.

But what about here in Mark chapter 9, where Jesus said three times where their worm dies not and the fire is not quenched? First off, we need to look at the context of what Jesus is even talking about here. The topic of hellfire here is the secondary topic. The primary topic is something else. He's talking about how we need to cut off the things that cause us to sin.

For example, are you an alcoholic? Don't go to the liquor store. Are you an an addict addict to Internet material? Don't go to those websites. Put accountability software on your phone.

Are you addicted to gambling? Don't go to the casino. And so on and so forth. You get the point. So what was Jesus saying here, though, about the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched?

A lot of what Jesus said, he quoted from the Old Testament. Remember, the Bible is His word. And so here, he's reminding them of something else in the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. You see, he's quoted from Isaiah 66:24. Interestingly, verse 22 is also in direct context, which is where Revelation 21 quotes from when it says that God will recreate the heavens and the earth.

Where Revelation 21 says, all the old order of things, sin, sorrow, pain, all that stuff will be passed away no more. Now what's really interesting is that the word for not quenched in Mark 9 means to extinguish. The word in Isaiah 66 for not quenched means to extinguish. So the Bible is not saying that the fire will never go out. It's saying that it won't be extinguished.

Do you understand the difference here? If I set a wood pile in my backyard on fire, is that wood pile going to burn forever, or is it gonna go out? If I let it burn until all of that wood is consumed, that fire is going to go out, but it's not extinguished. It's not quenched. It's the same thing with the wicked.

In fact, Isaiah, the same prophet that said Isaiah 66:24, also said in Isaiah 47:14 that the fire will go out. There will not even be a cold format nor a fire that said before. Here it is. You can read it for yourself.

Isaiah 47:14 — Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.

The Bible is doing in Isaiah 66 what Jesus is doing in Mark chapter 9. They're simply describing the destruction of the wicked. When there's no more fuel to burn, the fire goes out. When there's no more flesh to eat, the worms go away. Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that the wicked will receive eternal life.

In Romans 6:23, the Bible says,

“The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”

So the righteous receive eternal life, the wicked receive eternal death. Jesus said the the same thing in John 3:16. Those who believe have everlasting life, but what's the other option that Jesus lists? Perish. In order for the wicked to receive eternal fiery torment, they have to have eternal life also.

But the Bible says they won't receive eternal life, they will perish. So who are you going to believe, my friends? Are you going to believe popular Christian false doctrine? Are you going to believe Jesus himself and what he taught on death and hell?