• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sermo Humilis

Humble Speech

  • Home
  • Topics
    • Just a Thought
    • Who we Are Instead
    • Life in Christendom
  • Series
    • Topical
      • Words that Matter
      • Jesus Through all of Life
      • 8 Weeks Before Marriage
      • Life and Times of Jesus
      • Rock of Ages
      • The Ten Commandments
    • Bible Book
      • Proverbs
      • The Book of Ezra
      • 1 Corinthians
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / The Life and Times of Jesus / Jesus, When We Die

Jesus, When We Die

24 May 2020 By David Trounce

Reading Time: 4 minutes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

#49 Jesus, When We Die - The Life and Times of Jesus

In Luke 16:19-31, we meet two men. The rich man in this event was an idolater. He knows who God is but he suppresses it with cheesecake, leg ham and satin sheets.

At death, he finds himself in Hades awaiting a final judgement. The other lad, a man called Lazarus, also dies and goes down into Hades to be with Abraham.

Separating these two men in the belly of the earth, but within ear-shot, it would seem, is a great chasm (Luke 16:23).

The man, tormented by flames, calls out to Abraham and asks that Lazarus be sent to dip his finger in water, duck over to the other side and cool his tongue. Abraham replies that the chasm between them is too great.

Abraham also reminds the rich man that he had it good while he was alive, while Lazarus, a poor man covered in sores, had to pick up the cheddar that fell from the rich man’s table.

He then asks if Lazarus could be sent to warn the rich man’s brothers of this terrible fate, to which Abraham replies that they have Moses—listen to him.

From this event, it would seem that those who are judged and condemned by God in the next life will not suddenly come to their senses and repent. Instead, their hearts just become more self-sorbed (Luke 13:28).

But the more basic point of the story is this: God had sent Israel witnesses and they were not believed. And having rejected the messenger, they were not likely to accept the reality—even if that reality rose from the dead! (Luke 16:31)

In giving this account, Jesus also gives us some insight into what the after-life was like before His own death, and what His death would mean to those who lived and died prior to His resurrection.


On the move?
This article can also be seen and heard on Youtube

Jesus tells us that the man was in Hades. This is sometimes translated as hell and unfortunately, both words are often collapsed into something along the lines of the lake of fire (Gehenna). But this is not the meaning of Hades.

Hades, from Greek mythology and synonymous with the Old Testament word, ‘Sheol’ (Psalm 16:10 Acts 2:27), was a place located within the earth where people, both good and bad, went after death.

Jonah spent three days there (Jonah 2:2), David, foreshadowing the resurrection of Jesus, expected to go there, but not stay there (Psalm 16:10) and Samuel came up from there to give Saul a piece of his mind  (1 Samuel 28:14-15).

In Greek mythology, this underworld was separated into two areas. One called Elysium (a paradise) and the other Tartarus, a place of torment.

Jesus was not at all squeamish about appropriating such mythological language and applying it to reality.

We see the Apostles doing the same thing. Logos and Theos are straight out of Greek Mythology and John happily takes the terms and applies them to God the Father and God the Son (John 1:1-3).

What shocked John’s listeners was not that Logos was God. The Greeks knew that the Word created the world. What stunned them was John saying that the Word was a person. That the Logos became flesh!

So, here we have Lazarus and the flammable rich guy both in Hades. One in Elysium, one in Tartarus.

Peter uses the word Tartarus in 2 Peter 2:4 as the temporal home of disobedient spirits. It was also the place Jesus went in order to preach the gospel when He died (1 Peter 3:19).

Paradise, Elysium, an “Eden” (cf. Ezekiel 31:15-18), was a place of stillness, inactivity and temporary rest (Psalm 6:5). No coming and going, just stillness. And when Jesus told this story, Lazarus was in it.

And it was down to Paradise that Jesus promised to take the repentant thief on the cross (Luke 23:43).

And it was up from Paradise that Jesus took the saints when He rose from the dead.

I shall ransom them from the power of Sheol; I shall redeem them from Death. O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? (Hosea 13:14)

Not only did Jesus Preach to Tartarus, He ransacked Paradise and sent it up (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

What Changed? The resurrection happened. Jesus rose and when He ascended He took Paradise and its occupants with Him (Ephesians 4:8-10).

And what Did all this accomplish? Philippians 2:8-11 tells us that by His descent into Hades and His ascension into Heaven, He filled the universe with His unshakeable Lordship.

And so, if we die today we will go to Heaven; Paradise. And we will rest there until the day we are clothed with new bodies and return.

Related...

A Hill to Die On

Jesus, Precious Gems

Jesus, Our Anchor

We Would if We Could...

Filed Under: The Life and Times of Jesus Tagged With: Death, Hades, Paradise


Writing Ideas on Sermo HumilisWhat do You Want to Read About?

 

Nothing like real-world issues to focus the mind. If you have something you would like me to write about, send me a message and let me know.

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Danuta says

    25 May 2020 at 7:18 am

    Thank you David. Well researched and lots of food for thought here. God bless you.

  2. David Trounce says

    25 May 2020 at 9:10 am

    Thanks Danuta. Bless you too!

  3. Nat Watt says

    25 May 2020 at 9:54 am

    Very clearly explained. Thanks David 👍

    • David Trounce says

      25 May 2020 at 6:31 pm

      Thanks Nat!!

Primary Sidebar

Sermo Humilis

For the love of all things true, beautiful and good.


Welcome to Sermo Humilis, a digital home for biblical discipleship and cultural Christianity. A few new thoughts every week.

Please remember to like, subscribe and share. It really helps me out.

Categories

  • Life in Christendom
  • Just a Thought
  • Who we Are Instead

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Series

Sidebar Series - 1 Corinthians Sidebar - Words that Matter Sidebar - Jesus Through all of Life Series Sidebar Series - The Book of Ezra

The Most Popular Guff

And Kings will Tremble

If you've ever attended a recital of Handel's Messiah, you may have

Bed Blockers

Professor June Andrews, a former Scottish government official thinks

4 Weeks before Marriage – Enough Wine for Everyone

My wife and I made a mistake in planning for our wedding day.

The Resurrection of the World

Many Christians think that the resurrection is something that needs to

Rearranging the Bishops Furniture

Last Sunday (the 14th of August 2022 AD), the Diocese of the Southern

The Procession of Power

Jesus Christ died for the atonement and forgiveness of sins. He was

Lesser Things

Little arms like to wrap themselves around big things. There's the

See and Hear

On the move? Weekly content can also be seen and heard via Youtube.

Topics

Beauty Charity Children Covenant Creation Death Discipleship Evangelism Faith Faithfulness Fear Forgiveness Gospel Grace Grief Guilt Holiness Hope Jesus Joy Judgement Kingdom Law Liberty Life Love Marriage Mercy Money Obedience Power Prayer Redemption Rest Resurrection Sacrifice Salvation Service Sin Suffering Truth Victory Weakness Wisdom Worship

Footer

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe to Sermo Humilis

Find us on Social

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Support Sermo Humilis

If you enjoy Sermo Humilis and want to say thanks you can support me here.

Support

Copyright © 2025 · Sermo Humilis

Thor's Oak

Around 723 AD, a missionary named Boniface entered Hesse in Germany. Upon finding a sacred tree named Thor’s Oak, he took an axe to it, cut it down and built a church. Many in the town, believing that the God of Boniface must be greater than Thor, left their paganism behind converted to Christianity.