Tim Keller on Hell

If I’m being honest, I’ve struggled with the concept of Hell. Yet in this article I find that Tim Keller really helps us to understand the what and why of it. Here is the article:

Preaching Hell in a Tolerant Age: Clarity and compassion on Christianity's toughest doctrine.

A few quotes from the article in case you don’t want to read the whole thing:

 “…hell must be preached as the only way to know how much Christ loved you… Unless we come to grips with this terrible doctrine, we will never even begin to understand the depths of what Jesus did for us on the cross. His body was being destroyed in the worst possible way, but that was a flea bite compared to what was happening to his soul. When he cried out that his God had forsaken him, he was experiencing hell itself.”

Peter Paul Rubens The Crucified Christ

 “Perhaps the greatest paradox of all is that the people on (C.S.) Lewis's bus from hell are enslaved because they freely choose to be. They would rather have their freedom (as they define it) than salvation. Their relentless delusion is that if they glorified God, they would lose their human greatness (Gen. 3:4-5), but their choice has really ruined their human greatness. Hell is, as Lewis says, "the greatest monument to human freedom."

 “"People ask, 'What kind of loving God is filled with wrath?' But any loving person is often filled with wrath. In Hope Has Its Reasons, Becky Pippert writes, 'Think how we feel when we see someone we love ravaged by unwise actions or relationships. Do we respond with benign tolerance as we might toward strangers? Far from it. … Anger isn't the opposite of love. Hate is, and the final form of hate is indifference.'

"Pippert then quotes E. H. Gifford, 'Human love here offers a true analogy: the more a father loves his son, the more he hates in him the drunkard, the liar, the traitor.'

"She concludes: 'If I, a flawed narcissistic sinful woman, can feel this much pain and anger over someone's condition, how much more a morally perfect God who made them? God's wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition to the cancer of sin which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with his whole being.' "

Why Palm Sunday?

Tomorrow is known as Palm Sunday and represents the beginning of the Holy Week when Jesus first rode into Jerusalem in a seemingly “triumphant entry” but which ended in His brutal crucifixion (Good Friday) and eventual resurrection (Easter Sunday). 

John’s Gospel (12:13) tells us that: “So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

This was a direct fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9. The people were excited because they expected Jesus to begin an earthly, temporal kingdom, ending Rome’s cruel reign over them. However, God had something much larger in mind – a Heavenly and eternal kingdom. 

So why Palm leaves? One study Bible says that they were a symbol of Jewish nationalism. 

The first mention of Palms in the Bible is Exodus 15:27 when, after escaping Egypt, the children of Israel camped at Elim where there were “twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees”.  Later we see that King Solomon carved many palm trees into the temple that he built for the Lord (1 Kings 6). He then plated them with gold. 

The vast majority of people at Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem did not believe in Him as the suffering Saviour but rather expected a great and immediate political victory from Him. All the while, Jesus knew in His heart that this week would end in the passion and agony of the cross and the utter abandonment of most of these people. Yet He persevered because of His undying love for us and His desire to see all people saved into the Heavenly Kingdom. 

In the last book of the Bible we see the true celebration – after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ – when “a great multitude…from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” cry out “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Jesus).” Revelation 7:9-10

Guess what they were holding in their hands while worshiping and celebrating the Lord? Palm branches.

After the entry into Jerusalem, Jesus said of Himself: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth (referring to the crucifixion), will draw all people to myself.” John 12:32 It is time, my friends, to draw near to God, even in His suffering, so that we may also rejoice with Him at the end of all things.