What did Jesus say about hell?

Last week I read articles and blogs about hell. There seems to be a ruckus surrounding a new book coming out by a man named Rob Bell. In this book Mr. Bell is suspected of denying the existence of hell. All of the articles made claims about what the Bible says and doesn’t say, but no one really quoted it. In response, I thought I would go through the New Testament and make notes about what the Bible actually says about hell.
I have only made it through Matthew. But I tell you first off, it was so good to hear Jesus speaking and not people telling me what he said! Jesus is very clear on this subject. It is frightening and uncomfortable, but here is what Jesus said:

2:1-12 ok, this is not Jesus, it is John the Baptist, but he baptized Jesus!
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

5:22  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

5:29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
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7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

13:24-30 the parable of the sower
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

13:36-43 Jesus explains the parable of the sower
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

18:8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

24:46-51 on being prepared for the coming of Jesus
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

25:1-13 parable of the 10 virgins
10 …the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

25:14-30  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country…
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

25:31-46  When the Son of man shall come in his glory…
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
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:
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

To sum up what Jesus taught us:

While we talk about heaven and going to heaven etc, Jesus talked about the kingdom. The kingdom is something real, prepared by God for the righteous. It is something entered into. It is something to gain.

Destruction (7:13-14) or hell is also as real as the kingdom. The essence of hell seems to be separation from God – depart from me. What could be worse than to be separated from Him who is life and light, health and joy? This state of being away from God is a place. And there are very vivid descriptions of it: outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, everlasting fire, everlasting punishment.

Hell is as real as the kingdom. And existence in hell lasts as long as the bliss of the kingdom: “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” Everlasting is the same Greek word as eternal. If we decrease the everlasting of punishment we diminish the eternal of life as well.

Finally, as if all this wasn’t offensive enough, Jesus has the audacity to say:
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Not only is hell a place to avoid and God assumes the right to cast people into it, God is to be feared!

I don’t need to go through the rest of the New Testament. These are the words of Jesus and the apostles will not contradict Him. I confess, I don’t like this. This is uncomfortable. But I believe in Jesus and I go with what He says.