Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 3:11). Not only is He the foundation, but Jesus also testifies of Himself that His words or teachings constitute the foundation upon which we ought to build (Matthew 7:24-27). Therefore, to develop any doctrine that deviates from the words and teachings of Jesus Christ is simply to move away from Christ into error. Without the knowledge and understanding of the words of Jesus, we cannot even have an accurate understanding of what the apostles taught and wrote in the epistles. For the Scriptures say concerning the apostles of the early church that they preached Jesus Christ (Acts 5:42; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 2:1-2). What the apostles taught and wrote in the epistles were no new revelations contrary to Christ; rather they only built on the foundation – On Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). The Spirit of God, who moved upon them to write the epistles and Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21) only revealed to them what the Father and Son spoke (John 16:13-15).
Again, in Hebrews 1:2, the Scriptures teach that in these last days God has spoken to us through His son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, any message purporting to come from God in these last days and yet deviates from the teachings of Jesus certainly cannot not be coming from God. For God in this new covenant has spoken to us through His son. Even the Old Testament with its laws and rituals, according to the Scriptures, only pointed to Jesus (see Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1; Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:20-22), and all the prophets of the Old Testament, from Samuel, spoke of the things pertaining to Christ (Acts 3:23-24). So that the truths enshrined in the Old Testament cannot even be properly understood outside of Christ. Jesus Christ is perfect Theology (Bill Johnson). He is the revelation of the Father- His love, His will, His purposes and His judgements (John 14:8-9; Matthew 11:27). Even so, we cannot properly grasp an accurate understanding of what the Scriptures teach by ignoring Jesus and His words. And if we are going to have accurate understanding God’s judgement, about what happens to those who reject Him and make a practice of sin, we can only gain that by building on the foundation already laid by Jesus.
In Matthew 13:24-30, “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 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.”
If Jesus had left the parable as it is without any further explanation, we could have come up with our own interpretations of what the tares mean, as well as what “burning them” represent; whether literal burning with fire or something else. However, we are told in Mark 4:34 that “And He (Jesus) did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples”. Thus, whatever the “tares” and “burning” meant, as well as whatever was supposed to cause the burning can only be rightly understood in Jesus’ own explanation of the parable He gave. Even so, as was the custom of Jesus, He explained the parable to His disciples, giving the exact meaning of the tares and their burning: “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 tares of the field.” And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 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; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear (Matthew 13:36-43).
Jesus did not leave any blanks to be filled by anyone when he explained the parable. He explained every detail and called on those who have ears to hear. According to Jesus, the tares in His parable are the son’s of the evil one; those who commit lawlessness. And at the end of the age, all those who make a practice of sin will be thrown into a furnace of fire, a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Lest we forget, these statements by Jesus were no parables, metaphors or figures of speech. According to the Scriptures, these are literal interpretations of a parabolic lesson Jesus gave, noting that the tares represent literal human sinners, while their burning, represent a literal casting of sinners into a literal furnace of fire (Matthew 13:36-43). Therefore, we must be very deceived to think that when Jesus literally says that the final destination of sinners will be in a furnace of fire, that could still not mean literal fire. We also have to be highly deceived to think that when Jesus says in this furnace of fire there is literally going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth – that could not be the case. When we disregard what Jesus taught on the subject, and come up with interpretations of other Scriptures in a way that deviates from Jesus’ teachings, we simply enter into error. Because, the Word of God, Jesus Himself (John 1:1), does not contradict Himself since He cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18; Romans 3:4; Numbers 23:19). To teach that the furnace of fire reserved for sinners at the end of the age could not be a literal fire after we have known what Jesus taught about the subject, is to disbelieve Jesus and call Him a liar, just as it is written “…the one who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar…”(1 John 5:10).
To be continued…
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
July 18, 2018.
Can we also then conclude that the burning destroys the tares, and so then it is not an “eternal torment” but a ceasing to exist? That also sounds like a reasonable conclusion to draw, what do you think?
Thanks for the question Kwame.
If Jesus had left his parable uninterpreted or gave no conclusive statement about what happens to sinners once they are cast into fire, then we could have attempted to fill in the blanks for Him, and come up with what we think could be a reasonable conclusion. Thankfully, He does, so that we don’t have to come up with our own conclusions contrary to what the Bible says:
First of all, when Jesus gave the literal meaning of his figurative speech (Matt 13, parable of wheat and tares), He stated that at the end of the age (Greek “aion”, also means Messianic period), Sinners will be cast into a literal furnace of fire. So it is without a doubt that sinners at the end of the age will indeed be cast into a literal fire. In Jesus parable, He never said that when the tares are cast into the fire, they eventually disappear and are no more. And in His explanation of the parable, He said nothing like that. Rather, He said in that furnace there will be a literal weeping and literal gnashing of teeth. Thankfully, Jesus told us how long this will last:
In the book of Revelation, which the Bible says is a Revelation of Jesus, given by Jesus Himself (Rev 1:1), these words of Jesus as to what will happen to sinners at the end of the age are repeated with details on the duration of the punishment. We are told that at the end of Jesus’ millennial rule, those whose names are not found in the book of life will be cast into a lake of fire (Rev 20:7-15). Further, we are told that this lake of fire burns with fire and brimstone, and those who will end up there will be tormented with fire and brimstone and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night (Revelation 14:9-11). From Jesus’ own words, the fire into which sinners are cast at the end of the age is literal, and He makes us understand here that those who end up in there are tormented day and night, forever and ever, simply put eternally.
You may read the Part 2 of this series.