*Luke 13:3 / *Lk. 13:3 -
(Re: Will unrepentant people perish? Or will they go to hell where they will experience eternal conscious suffering?)
It is not either/or, but both/and. For in Luke 13:3 the original Greek word (apollumi: G0622) translated as "perish" does not require annihilation. For the same Greek word is used elsewhere to refer to things which have simply been ruined, while still existing in their ruined state (Mark 2:22, Matthew 9:17, Luke 5:37). Compare what Mark 9:45-46 says. That and Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, and Revelation 14:10-11 show that there will be eternal conscious suffering by non-Christians.
(See also Mark 9:45 and Matthew 25:41 above)
--
*Luke 13:16 / *Lk. 13:16 -
(Re: *Suffering / *Healing)
(See also the "healing" sections of 1 Corinthians 12:8 and 2 Corinthians 5:8 below)
Satan can be the one who causes people to suffer currently (Luke 13:16). Jesus Christ came to counteract Satan's work in the world (John 10:10). Jesus miraculously healed multitudes of people (Matthew 12:15b) oppressed by Satan (Acts 10:38). And Jesus still miraculously heals some people today, either directly by His Spiritual power, or through Christians who have been given God's Spiritual gift of miraculous healing (1 Corinthians 12:9).
Also, Christians, with their hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2), can look beyond any temporal suffering which they may be undergoing (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Revelation 2:10-11; 1 Peter 4:12-13). God can permit some Christians to suffer to help them to remain humble before Him and others (2 Corinthians 12:7). Also, suffering can strengthen Christians spiritually (Romans 5:3-5). It can help them to stop putting any hope in that which is merely mortal and temporal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, John 12:25, Matthew 10:37-39). Also, when God allows Christians to suffer, He provides them with His own, divine comfort to help them through their suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
No one should say that it is evil for God to allow people to suffer. For the only way to eradicate any possibility of people suffering would be to eradicate any possibility of people committing sin (John 5:14). And the only way to eradicate any possibility of people committing sin would be to eradicate their free will. It is better for people to have free will, and for there to be the possibility of suffering, than for people to be robots with no free will, and for there to be no possibility of suffering. By becoming a human in Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14), and suffering and dying for human sins on the Cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), God has made a way for Christians to retain their free will and yet escape suffering in hell forever for their sins (John 3:36, Revelation 14:10-11). For as the human/divine Son of God, Jesus' suffering satisfied God the Father's justice (Isaiah 53:11, KJV), which requires an infinite amount of human suffering for sin (Matthew 25:41,46).
(See 1 John 2:2 below)
Also, suffering is like gravity, in that while it can cause people problems, who would want to live without it? For example, someone could say that God was cruel to create gravity because it sometimes causes old people to fall down and break their hips. But who would want to get rid of gravity and float off into space? It is the same with suffering. Someone could say that God was cruel to create the possibility of suffering. But if God made it impossible for people to suffer, what could happen to them? For example, imagine that a man went on a camping trip, built a campfire, and laid down in his sleeping bag next to the fire, and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, he turned over at one point in such a way that his hand went into the fire. But because he had the ability to suffer, he immediately woke up and pulled his hand out of the fire, keeping it from getting badly burned. But if he had had no ability to suffer, he would have stayed asleep with his hand in the fire, and woken up in the morning with no hand: It would have been burned clean off.
So suffering can be a good thing when it causes people to draw back from something which will harm them. God sometimes brings suffering to those He loves as a way of chastening them, and getting them to repent from a sin (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:5-11). For God knows how much harm their sin will cause them (Galatians 6:8, Hebrews 10:26-29), while on their own they could be completely oblivious to the danger (Proverbs 14:12).
~
(Re: Someone suffering from an eating disorder for twenty years which she just cannot break)
Jesus Christ can break it by His miraculous power (cf. Luke 13:11-13, Luke 8:43-48, Matthew 9:20-22). An eating disorder can be an expression of self-hatred. But Christians asking Jesus to forgive them for their sins, and to save their souls, and to come and live within their hearts, can fill them with such a great sense of His love for them (Ephesians 3:17-21) that it completely melts away any self-hatred.
--
*Luke 13:21 / *Lk. 13:21 -
See Matthew 13:33 above.
--
*Luke 13:24 / *Lk. 13:24 -
(*Strive)
Christians "strive" for ultimate salvation because Jesus Christ told them to (Luke 13:23-24). And the apostle Paul taught the same idea (Philippians 3:11-14).
In Luke 13:24 the gate represents ultimate salvation, at the end of the way of initial salvation, which gate only obedient Christians will be able to enter (Revelation 22:14 KJV, Romans 2:6-8, Hebrews 5:9, Matthew 7:21). For Christians must "strive" to enter the gate in Luke 13:24, whereas initial salvation involves no striving, but simply faith in Jesus Christ, apart from any works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
(See also Ephesians 2:8 below)
--
*Luke 13:25-27 / *Lk. 13:25 -
This could include some Christians.
(See Matthew 7:21 above)
--
*Luke 13:30 / *Lk. 13:30 -
This and Matthew 20:16 are not distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles. For the Church includes both (1 Corinthians 12:13). Instead, Luke 13:30 and Matthew 20:16 are referring to individuals in the Church (Mark 10:29-31), whether Jews or Gentiles. During the future, Millennial Kingdom (Luke 13:29), many who were last in the Church will be first, and many who were first will be last (Mark 10:31). That is, in many cases, the returned Jesus Christ will overturn the relative valuing of people which the Church had made (in its fallibility) before His Second Coming.
(Compare Mark 10:31 above)
--
*Luke 13:32 / *Lk. 13:32 -
"The third day I shall be perfected" was referring to Jesus Christ's physical resurrection into immortality on the third literal day after His death on the Cross (Luke 9:22, Luke 18:33, Luke 24:7, Luke 24:46, Luke 24:39, Revelation 1:18).
~
(Re: But when He declared: "I do cures today and tomorrow", He could not have been referring only to the two days just prior to His death)
He could have been referring to the literal today and tomorrow at the time that He spoke Luke 13:32, as a synecdoche for "currently and in the future". And He could have employed ellipsis when He said: "and the third day I shall be perfected", in that He could have meant: "and the third day [after My death] I shall be perfected". For compare His repeated, literal use of "the third day" in Luke 9:22, Luke 18:33, Luke 24:7, and Luke 24:46.
--
*Luke 13:33b / *Lk. 13:33b -
This was a hyperbolic dig at Jerusalem (in its corrupt aspects) for killing prophets sent to it by God in the past (Luke 13:34). For prophets of God had perished in other places than Jerusalem, such as when Jezebel killed prophets of God in the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 18:13).
Similarly, Jesus Christ used hyperbole sometimes in condemning the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:24).
--
*Luke 13:34b / *Lk. 13:34b -
See Matthew 23:37b above.
--
*Luke 13:35 / *Lk. 13:35 -
Non-Christian Israel was abandoned by God at Jesus Christ's first coming, even before His death (Luke 13:35a), but with the promise that Israel would come into faith in Him at His future, Second Coming (Luke 13:35b), when all of the surviving, non-Christian elect Jews will become Christians (Romans 11:26) when they see the returned Jesus in person and believe in Him (Zechariah 12:10-14).
(See also Matthew 23:38 above. And see paragraphs 2-4 of the "fulness" part of Romans 11:25 below)
--
*Luke 14:2 / *Lk. 14:2 -
The original Greek word (hudropikos: G5203) translated as "dropsy", like the English word, can mean edema, a swelling of bodily tissues.
--
*Luke 14:19 / *Lk. 14:19 -
The original Greek word (dokimazo: G1381) translated as "prove", like the English word, can mean to test the worth or quality of something. Compare its translation as "try" in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. But it seems strange that the man in Luke 14:19 would test the oxen only after he had already bought them. It would be like taking a test drive in a car only after you have already paid for it. Perhaps he had a promise from the seller that he could return any weak or obstinate oxen for a refund, but only if he tested them (by plowing a field) that same day. So the man could have rejected the invitation to the supper (Luke 14:16-19) out of fear of losing some money if he attended the supper instead of testing the oxen and being able to return any defective ones. So he could have put money ahead of the supper, similar to how we can mistakenly put earning money ahead of serving God (Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24-33; 1 Timothy 6:8-12).
--
*Luke 14:23 / *Lk. 14:23 -
The original Greek word (phragmos: G5418) translated as "hedges" can refer to fences, or anything which causes a "partition" (Ephesians 2:14), including literal hedges, like how in the English countryside, individual farms or estates are often surrounded by hedges. So Luke 14:23 meant to go out of the city (of Luke 14:21b) and into the countryside, and invite to the supper anyone walking along a highway, or living on a farm or rural estate.
--
*Luke 14:26-35 / *Lk. 14:26 -
See Luke 9:23 above.
--
*Luke 14:32 / *Lk. 14:32 -
(Re: Luke 14:33)
Note that Luke 14:32 is not contradicting the requirement placed on every Christian in Luke 14:33 and Luke 14:26-27. For the parables in Luke 14:28-32 mean that people have to realize the full extent of that requirement before they claim to be Christians. Also, the peace in Luke 14:32 is not figurative of peace with God, for Christians do not go forth to make war with God (Luke 14:31-32). Instead, the peace for the king in Luke 14:31-32 is in him not even starting what he was going to do, just as the solution for the tower builder would have been for him to have not even started what he was going to do (Luke 14:28-30). That is, people should not even start claiming to be a Christian before they have performed in full the requirement placed on every Christian in Luke 14:33 and Luke 14:26-27. And if they are one of the relatively few people who are truly chosen by God (Matthew 22:14), then this will be easy for them to do (Matthew 11:30). That is, when they hear Jesus Christ say to them: "Come and follow Me", they will gladly walk away from everything but the clothes on their back (Mark 1:16-20).
--
*Luke 14:33 / *Lk. 14:33 -
People must forsake everything that they have if they are to be Jesus Christ's disciples (Luke 14:33).
When you hear Jesus Christ say to you: "Come and follow Me" (Luke 18:22), you must walk away from everything but the clothes on your back (Luke 18:23, Luke 9:59-62, Matthew 19:29). He may have you walk only as far as the city limits and then turn around and go back home, as long as you were willing to keep going indefinitely. Or, He may ask you to keep going, until He has separated your soul from all attachment to the temporary things of this fallen world (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; 2 Timothy 4:10, John 12:25-26).
--
*Luke 16:15b / *Lk. 16:15b -
(Re: A *majority)
The Bible must overrule even a majority of people. For even a majority of people can be in grave error (Luke 16:15b), whereas God's Word the Holy Bible can never be in error (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4).
(Compare section 2 of Romans 1:26 below)
~
(Re: Take a look at what happened when the people of ancient Israel demanded a king. Take a look at how reluctant God was to do that)
God was reluctant to do that not out of some love of democracy (a flawed, human invention), but out of a love for His own Kingship (1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 10:19).
But until the divine/human Jesus Christ returns from heaven, and rules on the earth Himself as King (Isaiah 9:6-7), democracy is still better than any other form of government, because of how evil we mortal humans are.
(See the "Millennium" sections of Revelation 20:4 below. Also, see Psalms 62:9 above)
--
*Luke 16:17 / *Lk. 16:17 -
See Matthew 5:18 above.
--
*Luke 16:18 / *Lk. 16:18 -
Luke 16:18a and Mark 10:11 are qualified by the pre-marital-sex exception granted only to husbands in Matthew 19:9a. But the Bible does not grant any exception to Luke 16:18b and Mark 10:12.
(See Mark 10:11 above)
--
*Luke 16:19-31 / *Lk. 16:19 -
Just as the statements in Luke 16:15-18 are not parables, so Luke 16:19-31 is not a parable. The Bible makes it clear when something that Jesus Christ says is a parable, by calling it a parable, and/or by Jesus using in it words such as "like" or "as".
--
*Luke 16:23 / *Lk. 16:23 -
Here the original Greek word "Hades" (G0086), translated as "hell", is not referring to the grave of the body, but to the place where a still-conscious soul can go.
(See Matthew 25:41 above. Also, see the "Soul Sleep?" section of 1 Corinthians 15:51 below)
~
(Re: "Hades", are not you referring to Greek mythology?)
No, what has been referred to is what the Bible itself shows in the original Greek text of the New Testament.
--
*Luke 16:26 / *Lk. 16:26 -
This referred to two sets of people: Old Testament believers and unbelievers, in the hell of Hades, and only before Jesus Christ's resurrection.
(See Matthew 25:41 above)
--
*Luke 17:5 / *Lk. 17:5 -
See Mark 9:24 above.
--
*Luke 17:9 / *Lk. 17:9 -
The original Greek word (dokeo: G1380) translated as "trow", like the English word, can mean "think" (Luke 12:40).
--
*Luke 17:10 / *Lk. 17:10 -
(Re: Not *boasting / Being *humble)
It is impossible for people to believe, or to continue to believe, all of the right things, apart from God's miraculous gift of Christian faith (Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65, Hebrews 12:2), and some measure of His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:18 to 2:16). Also, it is impossible for people to perform, or to continue to perform, all of the right actions as Christians, apart from God making it possible for Christians to do that (Philippians 2:12-13, John 15:4-5). And it is impossible for people to repent, if a sin is committed, apart from God making it possible to repent (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18, Romans 8:13). So even if Christians continue to believe, act, and repent as they ought to, they must stay so humble that they never give themselves any credit or glory (Luke 17:10, Galatians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 1:29,31). But when Jesus Christ judges the Church at His future, Second Coming, He will give obedient Christians some credit (Matthew 25:21). Also, God does glorify Christians (Romans 8:30).
(See also Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:13, and John 8:34 below)
--
*Luke 17:20b-21 / *Lk. 17:20b / *Lk. 17:21 -
This means that the Kingdom of God will not come with observation until Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming in Luke 17:24, when the Kingdom will come physically to the earth, with observation (Matthew 24:30).
(See the "Sign" section of Matthew 24:30 above. Also, see paragraphs 3-5 of Acts 1:6 below)
--
*Luke 17:22 / *Lk. 17:22 -
This was addressed to "the disciples", meaning Christians (Acts 11:26c). Luke 17:22 refers to the time between Jesus Christ's two comings, when only false Christs will appear on the earth (Luke 17:23, Matthew 24:24-26), before Jesus returns in a way which is visible to everyone (Luke 17:24, Matthew 24:27), and He gathers together (raptures) all Christians, immediately after the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
--
*Luke 17:26-37 / *Lk. 17:26 -
(*Left)
(Re: Pre-tribulation?)
(See also Matthew 24:44 above)
Note that nothing in the Bible says or requires that any Christian will be left behind at the rapture.
Is such a mistaken idea usually based on Luke 17:26-37 and Matthew 24:37-41? If so, people should realize that these passages refer only to what will happen at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, "when the Son of man is revealed" (Luke 17:30), "the coming of the Son of man" (Matthew 24:37,39), which Jesus had just finished saying will not occur until immediately after the future Tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31). Those "taken" at the Second Coming (Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) will be non-Christians who will be taken to where they will be killed by Jesus Himself, and birds will eat their dead bodies (Luke 17:36-37; Matthew 24:28, cf. Job 39:30b; Revelation 19:21). The Greek word "paralambano" ("taken": Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) can be used to refer to being taken to another place to be killed (John 19:16-18).
Those "left" where they are at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) will include non-Christians who will be forced to come up annually to worship the returned Jesus in Jerusalem during the future Millennium (Zechariah 14:16-19). These non-Christians will have to be ruled with a rod of iron by Jesus and the physically resurrected Church during the Millennium (Revelation 2:26-29, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 20:4-6, Psalms 2, Psalms 66:3, Psalms 72:8-11). And their descendants will be deceived by Satan after the Millennium into committing the Gog/Magog rebellion (Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel chapters 38-39).
Before the Millennium, at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming those in the Church will neither be "taken" and killed, nor "left" where they are, but will be "gathered together" (raptured) (Matthew 24:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1) into the sky to hold a meeting in the air with the returned Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The purpose of this rapture meeting will be so that the Church can be judged by Jesus (Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27), and the obedient part of the Church can then be married to Him (Revelation 19:7), in the sky, before He descends from the sky (the first heaven) to bring the Second-Coming wrath of God upon non-Christians (Revelation 19:14 to 20:3; cf. 1 Peter 4:17).
So Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will be like "the days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37) and "the days of Lot" (Luke 17:28,30) in that just as Noah went into the ark before the Flood from God, and Lot went out from Sodom before it was destroyed by God, so the Church will be raptured into the sky at the Second Coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself brings the Second-Coming wrath of God (Revelation 19:15 to 20:3, Luke 17:26-30, Matthew 24:37-39).
(See also Matthew 24:37 above)
~
(Re: Amillennialism?)
Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 do not mean that all non-Christians will be killed by Jesus Christ at His future, Second Coming. For Luke 17:34-36 and Matthew 24:40-41 go on to show that some non-Christians will be left alive at that time (Zechariah 14:16-19). So in Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 the point of the comparison is not that all non-Christians will be killed by Jesus at His Second Coming, but that none of them will be expecting to be killed, but will be eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Second Coming.
(See paragraph 3 of the section above. Also, see Matthew 24:37 above)
Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will be like "the days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37) and "the days of Lot" (Luke 17:28,30) in that just as Noah went into the ark before the temporal (not the eternal) judgment from God in the Flood, and Lot went out from Sodom before its temporal (not its eternal: cf. Ezekiel 16:53-56) judgment from God, so the Church will be raptured into the sky at the Second Coming (Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself begins the Second-Coming, temporal (not the eternal) judgment from God against the non-Christians who will still alive at that time (Revelation 19:11 to 20:3, Luke 17:26-30, Matthew 24:37-39).
Regarding the final judgment from God against all non-Christians of all times...
(See the "2 judgments" part of Matthew 12:36 above)
~
(Re: Were not Noah and Lot "taken"?)
No, for just as Noah's going into the ark before the Flood (Luke 17:27), and Lot's going out from Sodom before it was destroyed (Luke 17:29), are not analogous to a pre-tribulation rapture, so they are not analogous to non-Christians being "taken" and killed by Jesus Christ Himself at His future, Second Coming (Luke 17:36-37), but are analogous to Christians being "gathered together" (raptured) at the Second Coming (Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself begins the Second-Coming wrath of God upon non-Christians (Revelation 19:15-21).
~
(Re: Do Luke 17:26-30 and Luke 21:25-27 contradict each other?)
No, see Luke 21:25 below.
~
(Re: How can the taking from the field be post-tribulation when it will be dark as in Matthew 24:29? For who works in a field when it is dark?)
Those in the field (Luke 17:36a) could enter it while the sky is light. Then, while they are working, the sky could suddenly darken (Matthew 24:29), and one will be taken and one left (Luke 17:36b).
~
(Re: Does "as in the days of Noah" mean that the Tribulation will last only as long as Noah's flood: *5 months?)
No, for in Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 the point of the comparison is not that the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will last the same amount of time as Noah's Flood, but that just as unsaved people had not been expecting to be killed in Noah's Flood (even though they could see or hear about Noah building his huge ark), but had continued eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Flood, so non-Christians will not be expecting to be killed by Jesus Christ Himself at His future, Second Coming (even though they will have experienced the Tribulation), but will continue eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Second Coming.
(See also Matthew 24:37 above)
Also, Noah's Flood lasted longer than five months. For the Flood started "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month" (Genesis 7:11), when it started raining for forty days (Genesis 7:12). After that, the floodwaters stayed on the earth at a very high level for five months (Genesis 7:24), when they receded just enough for Noah's ark to come to rest on (very high) Mount Ararat "in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month" (Genesis 8:4). But the floodwaters were still on the earth, and only gradually receded for about three more months: "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen" (Genesis 8:5). But only their tops. So Noah had to stay in the ark even longer, until the floodwaters had completely receded: "in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried" (Genesis 8:14). This was a year and ten days after the Flood had started (Genesis 7:11). So, as far as Noah was concerned, the Flood lasted longer than a year.
And the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 could last some seven years (cf. Daniel 9:27).
-
Next entry / Prior / Table of Contents
Dec 5, 2018
(Re: Will unrepentant people perish? Or will they go to hell where they will experience eternal conscious suffering?)
It is not either/or, but both/and. For in Luke 13:3 the original Greek word (apollumi: G0622) translated as "perish" does not require annihilation. For the same Greek word is used elsewhere to refer to things which have simply been ruined, while still existing in their ruined state (Mark 2:22, Matthew 9:17, Luke 5:37). Compare what Mark 9:45-46 says. That and Matthew 25:41,46, Revelation 20:10,15, and Revelation 14:10-11 show that there will be eternal conscious suffering by non-Christians.
(See also Mark 9:45 and Matthew 25:41 above)
--
*Luke 13:16 / *Lk. 13:16 -
(Re: *Suffering / *Healing)
(See also the "healing" sections of 1 Corinthians 12:8 and 2 Corinthians 5:8 below)
Satan can be the one who causes people to suffer currently (Luke 13:16). Jesus Christ came to counteract Satan's work in the world (John 10:10). Jesus miraculously healed multitudes of people (Matthew 12:15b) oppressed by Satan (Acts 10:38). And Jesus still miraculously heals some people today, either directly by His Spiritual power, or through Christians who have been given God's Spiritual gift of miraculous healing (1 Corinthians 12:9).
Also, Christians, with their hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2), can look beyond any temporal suffering which they may be undergoing (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Revelation 2:10-11; 1 Peter 4:12-13). God can permit some Christians to suffer to help them to remain humble before Him and others (2 Corinthians 12:7). Also, suffering can strengthen Christians spiritually (Romans 5:3-5). It can help them to stop putting any hope in that which is merely mortal and temporal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, John 12:25, Matthew 10:37-39). Also, when God allows Christians to suffer, He provides them with His own, divine comfort to help them through their suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-7).
No one should say that it is evil for God to allow people to suffer. For the only way to eradicate any possibility of people suffering would be to eradicate any possibility of people committing sin (John 5:14). And the only way to eradicate any possibility of people committing sin would be to eradicate their free will. It is better for people to have free will, and for there to be the possibility of suffering, than for people to be robots with no free will, and for there to be no possibility of suffering. By becoming a human in Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14), and suffering and dying for human sins on the Cross (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), God has made a way for Christians to retain their free will and yet escape suffering in hell forever for their sins (John 3:36, Revelation 14:10-11). For as the human/divine Son of God, Jesus' suffering satisfied God the Father's justice (Isaiah 53:11, KJV), which requires an infinite amount of human suffering for sin (Matthew 25:41,46).
(See 1 John 2:2 below)
Also, suffering is like gravity, in that while it can cause people problems, who would want to live without it? For example, someone could say that God was cruel to create gravity because it sometimes causes old people to fall down and break their hips. But who would want to get rid of gravity and float off into space? It is the same with suffering. Someone could say that God was cruel to create the possibility of suffering. But if God made it impossible for people to suffer, what could happen to them? For example, imagine that a man went on a camping trip, built a campfire, and laid down in his sleeping bag next to the fire, and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, he turned over at one point in such a way that his hand went into the fire. But because he had the ability to suffer, he immediately woke up and pulled his hand out of the fire, keeping it from getting badly burned. But if he had had no ability to suffer, he would have stayed asleep with his hand in the fire, and woken up in the morning with no hand: It would have been burned clean off.
So suffering can be a good thing when it causes people to draw back from something which will harm them. God sometimes brings suffering to those He loves as a way of chastening them, and getting them to repent from a sin (Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:5-11). For God knows how much harm their sin will cause them (Galatians 6:8, Hebrews 10:26-29), while on their own they could be completely oblivious to the danger (Proverbs 14:12).
~
(Re: Someone suffering from an eating disorder for twenty years which she just cannot break)
Jesus Christ can break it by His miraculous power (cf. Luke 13:11-13, Luke 8:43-48, Matthew 9:20-22). An eating disorder can be an expression of self-hatred. But Christians asking Jesus to forgive them for their sins, and to save their souls, and to come and live within their hearts, can fill them with such a great sense of His love for them (Ephesians 3:17-21) that it completely melts away any self-hatred.
--
*Luke 13:21 / *Lk. 13:21 -
See Matthew 13:33 above.
--
*Luke 13:24 / *Lk. 13:24 -
(*Strive)
Christians "strive" for ultimate salvation because Jesus Christ told them to (Luke 13:23-24). And the apostle Paul taught the same idea (Philippians 3:11-14).
In Luke 13:24 the gate represents ultimate salvation, at the end of the way of initial salvation, which gate only obedient Christians will be able to enter (Revelation 22:14 KJV, Romans 2:6-8, Hebrews 5:9, Matthew 7:21). For Christians must "strive" to enter the gate in Luke 13:24, whereas initial salvation involves no striving, but simply faith in Jesus Christ, apart from any works (Ephesians 2:8-9).
(See also Ephesians 2:8 below)
--
*Luke 13:25-27 / *Lk. 13:25 -
This could include some Christians.
(See Matthew 7:21 above)
--
*Luke 13:30 / *Lk. 13:30 -
This and Matthew 20:16 are not distinguishing between Jews and Gentiles. For the Church includes both (1 Corinthians 12:13). Instead, Luke 13:30 and Matthew 20:16 are referring to individuals in the Church (Mark 10:29-31), whether Jews or Gentiles. During the future, Millennial Kingdom (Luke 13:29), many who were last in the Church will be first, and many who were first will be last (Mark 10:31). That is, in many cases, the returned Jesus Christ will overturn the relative valuing of people which the Church had made (in its fallibility) before His Second Coming.
(Compare Mark 10:31 above)
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*Luke 13:32 / *Lk. 13:32 -
"The third day I shall be perfected" was referring to Jesus Christ's physical resurrection into immortality on the third literal day after His death on the Cross (Luke 9:22, Luke 18:33, Luke 24:7, Luke 24:46, Luke 24:39, Revelation 1:18).
~
(Re: But when He declared: "I do cures today and tomorrow", He could not have been referring only to the two days just prior to His death)
He could have been referring to the literal today and tomorrow at the time that He spoke Luke 13:32, as a synecdoche for "currently and in the future". And He could have employed ellipsis when He said: "and the third day I shall be perfected", in that He could have meant: "and the third day [after My death] I shall be perfected". For compare His repeated, literal use of "the third day" in Luke 9:22, Luke 18:33, Luke 24:7, and Luke 24:46.
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*Luke 13:33b / *Lk. 13:33b -
This was a hyperbolic dig at Jerusalem (in its corrupt aspects) for killing prophets sent to it by God in the past (Luke 13:34). For prophets of God had perished in other places than Jerusalem, such as when Jezebel killed prophets of God in the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 18:13).
Similarly, Jesus Christ used hyperbole sometimes in condemning the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:24).
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*Luke 13:34b / *Lk. 13:34b -
See Matthew 23:37b above.
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*Luke 13:35 / *Lk. 13:35 -
Non-Christian Israel was abandoned by God at Jesus Christ's first coming, even before His death (Luke 13:35a), but with the promise that Israel would come into faith in Him at His future, Second Coming (Luke 13:35b), when all of the surviving, non-Christian elect Jews will become Christians (Romans 11:26) when they see the returned Jesus in person and believe in Him (Zechariah 12:10-14).
(See also Matthew 23:38 above. And see paragraphs 2-4 of the "fulness" part of Romans 11:25 below)
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*Luke 14:2 / *Lk. 14:2 -
The original Greek word (hudropikos: G5203) translated as "dropsy", like the English word, can mean edema, a swelling of bodily tissues.
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*Luke 14:19 / *Lk. 14:19 -
The original Greek word (dokimazo: G1381) translated as "prove", like the English word, can mean to test the worth or quality of something. Compare its translation as "try" in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15. But it seems strange that the man in Luke 14:19 would test the oxen only after he had already bought them. It would be like taking a test drive in a car only after you have already paid for it. Perhaps he had a promise from the seller that he could return any weak or obstinate oxen for a refund, but only if he tested them (by plowing a field) that same day. So the man could have rejected the invitation to the supper (Luke 14:16-19) out of fear of losing some money if he attended the supper instead of testing the oxen and being able to return any defective ones. So he could have put money ahead of the supper, similar to how we can mistakenly put earning money ahead of serving God (Luke 16:13, Matthew 6:24-33; 1 Timothy 6:8-12).
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*Luke 14:23 / *Lk. 14:23 -
The original Greek word (phragmos: G5418) translated as "hedges" can refer to fences, or anything which causes a "partition" (Ephesians 2:14), including literal hedges, like how in the English countryside, individual farms or estates are often surrounded by hedges. So Luke 14:23 meant to go out of the city (of Luke 14:21b) and into the countryside, and invite to the supper anyone walking along a highway, or living on a farm or rural estate.
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*Luke 14:26-35 / *Lk. 14:26 -
See Luke 9:23 above.
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*Luke 14:32 / *Lk. 14:32 -
(Re: Luke 14:33)
Note that Luke 14:32 is not contradicting the requirement placed on every Christian in Luke 14:33 and Luke 14:26-27. For the parables in Luke 14:28-32 mean that people have to realize the full extent of that requirement before they claim to be Christians. Also, the peace in Luke 14:32 is not figurative of peace with God, for Christians do not go forth to make war with God (Luke 14:31-32). Instead, the peace for the king in Luke 14:31-32 is in him not even starting what he was going to do, just as the solution for the tower builder would have been for him to have not even started what he was going to do (Luke 14:28-30). That is, people should not even start claiming to be a Christian before they have performed in full the requirement placed on every Christian in Luke 14:33 and Luke 14:26-27. And if they are one of the relatively few people who are truly chosen by God (Matthew 22:14), then this will be easy for them to do (Matthew 11:30). That is, when they hear Jesus Christ say to them: "Come and follow Me", they will gladly walk away from everything but the clothes on their back (Mark 1:16-20).
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*Luke 14:33 / *Lk. 14:33 -
People must forsake everything that they have if they are to be Jesus Christ's disciples (Luke 14:33).
When you hear Jesus Christ say to you: "Come and follow Me" (Luke 18:22), you must walk away from everything but the clothes on your back (Luke 18:23, Luke 9:59-62, Matthew 19:29). He may have you walk only as far as the city limits and then turn around and go back home, as long as you were willing to keep going indefinitely. Or, He may ask you to keep going, until He has separated your soul from all attachment to the temporary things of this fallen world (1 John 2:15-17; James 4:4; 2 Timothy 4:10, John 12:25-26).
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*Luke 16:15b / *Lk. 16:15b -
(Re: A *majority)
The Bible must overrule even a majority of people. For even a majority of people can be in grave error (Luke 16:15b), whereas God's Word the Holy Bible can never be in error (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4).
(Compare section 2 of Romans 1:26 below)
~
(Re: Take a look at what happened when the people of ancient Israel demanded a king. Take a look at how reluctant God was to do that)
God was reluctant to do that not out of some love of democracy (a flawed, human invention), but out of a love for His own Kingship (1 Samuel 8:7; 1 Samuel 10:19).
But until the divine/human Jesus Christ returns from heaven, and rules on the earth Himself as King (Isaiah 9:6-7), democracy is still better than any other form of government, because of how evil we mortal humans are.
(See the "Millennium" sections of Revelation 20:4 below. Also, see Psalms 62:9 above)
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*Luke 16:17 / *Lk. 16:17 -
See Matthew 5:18 above.
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*Luke 16:18 / *Lk. 16:18 -
Luke 16:18a and Mark 10:11 are qualified by the pre-marital-sex exception granted only to husbands in Matthew 19:9a. But the Bible does not grant any exception to Luke 16:18b and Mark 10:12.
(See Mark 10:11 above)
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*Luke 16:19-31 / *Lk. 16:19 -
Just as the statements in Luke 16:15-18 are not parables, so Luke 16:19-31 is not a parable. The Bible makes it clear when something that Jesus Christ says is a parable, by calling it a parable, and/or by Jesus using in it words such as "like" or "as".
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*Luke 16:23 / *Lk. 16:23 -
Here the original Greek word "Hades" (G0086), translated as "hell", is not referring to the grave of the body, but to the place where a still-conscious soul can go.
(See Matthew 25:41 above. Also, see the "Soul Sleep?" section of 1 Corinthians 15:51 below)
~
(Re: "Hades", are not you referring to Greek mythology?)
No, what has been referred to is what the Bible itself shows in the original Greek text of the New Testament.
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*Luke 16:26 / *Lk. 16:26 -
This referred to two sets of people: Old Testament believers and unbelievers, in the hell of Hades, and only before Jesus Christ's resurrection.
(See Matthew 25:41 above)
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*Luke 17:5 / *Lk. 17:5 -
See Mark 9:24 above.
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*Luke 17:9 / *Lk. 17:9 -
The original Greek word (dokeo: G1380) translated as "trow", like the English word, can mean "think" (Luke 12:40).
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*Luke 17:10 / *Lk. 17:10 -
(Re: Not *boasting / Being *humble)
It is impossible for people to believe, or to continue to believe, all of the right things, apart from God's miraculous gift of Christian faith (Ephesians 2:8, John 6:65, Hebrews 12:2), and some measure of His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:18 to 2:16). Also, it is impossible for people to perform, or to continue to perform, all of the right actions as Christians, apart from God making it possible for Christians to do that (Philippians 2:12-13, John 15:4-5). And it is impossible for people to repent, if a sin is committed, apart from God making it possible to repent (2 Timothy 2:25, Acts 11:18, Romans 8:13). So even if Christians continue to believe, act, and repent as they ought to, they must stay so humble that they never give themselves any credit or glory (Luke 17:10, Galatians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 1:29,31). But when Jesus Christ judges the Church at His future, Second Coming, He will give obedient Christians some credit (Matthew 25:21). Also, God does glorify Christians (Romans 8:30).
(See also Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:13, and John 8:34 below)
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*Luke 17:20b-21 / *Lk. 17:20b / *Lk. 17:21 -
This means that the Kingdom of God will not come with observation until Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming in Luke 17:24, when the Kingdom will come physically to the earth, with observation (Matthew 24:30).
(See the "Sign" section of Matthew 24:30 above. Also, see paragraphs 3-5 of Acts 1:6 below)
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*Luke 17:22 / *Lk. 17:22 -
This was addressed to "the disciples", meaning Christians (Acts 11:26c). Luke 17:22 refers to the time between Jesus Christ's two comings, when only false Christs will appear on the earth (Luke 17:23, Matthew 24:24-26), before Jesus returns in a way which is visible to everyone (Luke 17:24, Matthew 24:27), and He gathers together (raptures) all Christians, immediately after the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:29-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7 to 20:6).
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*Luke 17:26-37 / *Lk. 17:26 -
(*Left)
(Re: Pre-tribulation?)
(See also Matthew 24:44 above)
Note that nothing in the Bible says or requires that any Christian will be left behind at the rapture.
Is such a mistaken idea usually based on Luke 17:26-37 and Matthew 24:37-41? If so, people should realize that these passages refer only to what will happen at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, "when the Son of man is revealed" (Luke 17:30), "the coming of the Son of man" (Matthew 24:37,39), which Jesus had just finished saying will not occur until immediately after the future Tribulation (Matthew 24:29-31). Those "taken" at the Second Coming (Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) will be non-Christians who will be taken to where they will be killed by Jesus Himself, and birds will eat their dead bodies (Luke 17:36-37; Matthew 24:28, cf. Job 39:30b; Revelation 19:21). The Greek word "paralambano" ("taken": Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) can be used to refer to being taken to another place to be killed (John 19:16-18).
Those "left" where they are at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Luke 17:34-36, Matthew 24:40-41) will include non-Christians who will be forced to come up annually to worship the returned Jesus in Jerusalem during the future Millennium (Zechariah 14:16-19). These non-Christians will have to be ruled with a rod of iron by Jesus and the physically resurrected Church during the Millennium (Revelation 2:26-29, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 20:4-6, Psalms 2, Psalms 66:3, Psalms 72:8-11). And their descendants will be deceived by Satan after the Millennium into committing the Gog/Magog rebellion (Revelation 20:7-10, Ezekiel chapters 38-39).
Before the Millennium, at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming those in the Church will neither be "taken" and killed, nor "left" where they are, but will be "gathered together" (raptured) (Matthew 24:31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1) into the sky to hold a meeting in the air with the returned Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The purpose of this rapture meeting will be so that the Church can be judged by Jesus (Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27), and the obedient part of the Church can then be married to Him (Revelation 19:7), in the sky, before He descends from the sky (the first heaven) to bring the Second-Coming wrath of God upon non-Christians (Revelation 19:14 to 20:3; cf. 1 Peter 4:17).
So Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will be like "the days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37) and "the days of Lot" (Luke 17:28,30) in that just as Noah went into the ark before the Flood from God, and Lot went out from Sodom before it was destroyed by God, so the Church will be raptured into the sky at the Second Coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself brings the Second-Coming wrath of God (Revelation 19:15 to 20:3, Luke 17:26-30, Matthew 24:37-39).
(See also Matthew 24:37 above)
~
(Re: Amillennialism?)
Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 do not mean that all non-Christians will be killed by Jesus Christ at His future, Second Coming. For Luke 17:34-36 and Matthew 24:40-41 go on to show that some non-Christians will be left alive at that time (Zechariah 14:16-19). So in Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 the point of the comparison is not that all non-Christians will be killed by Jesus at His Second Coming, but that none of them will be expecting to be killed, but will be eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Second Coming.
(See paragraph 3 of the section above. Also, see Matthew 24:37 above)
Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming will be like "the days of Noah" (Matthew 24:37) and "the days of Lot" (Luke 17:28,30) in that just as Noah went into the ark before the temporal (not the eternal) judgment from God in the Flood, and Lot went out from Sodom before its temporal (not its eternal: cf. Ezekiel 16:53-56) judgment from God, so the Church will be raptured into the sky at the Second Coming (Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself begins the Second-Coming, temporal (not the eternal) judgment from God against the non-Christians who will still alive at that time (Revelation 19:11 to 20:3, Luke 17:26-30, Matthew 24:37-39).
Regarding the final judgment from God against all non-Christians of all times...
(See the "2 judgments" part of Matthew 12:36 above)
~
(Re: Were not Noah and Lot "taken"?)
No, for just as Noah's going into the ark before the Flood (Luke 17:27), and Lot's going out from Sodom before it was destroyed (Luke 17:29), are not analogous to a pre-tribulation rapture, so they are not analogous to non-Christians being "taken" and killed by Jesus Christ Himself at His future, Second Coming (Luke 17:36-37), but are analogous to Christians being "gathered together" (raptured) at the Second Coming (Matthew 24:30-31; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Revelation 19:7), before Jesus Himself begins the Second-Coming wrath of God upon non-Christians (Revelation 19:15-21).
~
(Re: Do Luke 17:26-30 and Luke 21:25-27 contradict each other?)
No, see Luke 21:25 below.
~
(Re: How can the taking from the field be post-tribulation when it will be dark as in Matthew 24:29? For who works in a field when it is dark?)
Those in the field (Luke 17:36a) could enter it while the sky is light. Then, while they are working, the sky could suddenly darken (Matthew 24:29), and one will be taken and one left (Luke 17:36b).
~
(Re: Does "as in the days of Noah" mean that the Tribulation will last only as long as Noah's flood: *5 months?)
No, for in Luke 17:26-30 and Matthew 24:37-39 the point of the comparison is not that the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will last the same amount of time as Noah's Flood, but that just as unsaved people had not been expecting to be killed in Noah's Flood (even though they could see or hear about Noah building his huge ark), but had continued eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Flood, so non-Christians will not be expecting to be killed by Jesus Christ Himself at His future, Second Coming (even though they will have experienced the Tribulation), but will continue eating and drinking without worry right up to the day of the Second Coming.
(See also Matthew 24:37 above)
Also, Noah's Flood lasted longer than five months. For the Flood started "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month" (Genesis 7:11), when it started raining for forty days (Genesis 7:12). After that, the floodwaters stayed on the earth at a very high level for five months (Genesis 7:24), when they receded just enough for Noah's ark to come to rest on (very high) Mount Ararat "in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month" (Genesis 8:4). But the floodwaters were still on the earth, and only gradually receded for about three more months: "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen" (Genesis 8:5). But only their tops. So Noah had to stay in the ark even longer, until the floodwaters had completely receded: "in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried" (Genesis 8:14). This was a year and ten days after the Flood had started (Genesis 7:11). So, as far as Noah was concerned, the Flood lasted longer than a year.
And the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 could last some seven years (cf. Daniel 9:27).
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