Q&R: Reading Biblical Threats – Brad Jersak

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Question:

How do you read difficult passages in the Bible like “the weeping and gnashing of teeth” and the seemingly threatening passages in the Bible? 

Response:

I believe it’s always essential that we start with Jesus’ revelation of God is infinite Love and that Jesus’ heart is to restore all things and all people through his victory over satan, sin and death through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The apostle Paul then anticipates Jesus’ end game: the summing up of everyone in Jesus (Ephesians 1) and the final outcome where every knee bows, every tongue confesses, and every eye sees at the very last that Jesus is Lord. Paul proclaims that all the damage Adam has done will be undone (and much, much more) in Jesus. This is his gospel. 

However, this does raise the question of various judgement passages in which the dire threat of judgement is very real… BUT just not final. I love the word ‘penultimate’ – i.e., ‘second last.’ To be sure, there is judgment (penultimate) and then there is mercy that triumphs over judgement (ultimate). 

If we acknowledge the reality and even the necessity of judgement in the New Testament, we can then ask about the ‘nature of judgement.’ And here, many Christians have raced to ‘retribution’ or ‘condemnation’ (defined as punishment that inflicts harm without redemption). It’s an ugly view of judgement that only works if we pluck individual passages out of their broader New Testament context and make them the total and final story and negate the texts that point to ultimate redemption. In other words, ONLY if we interpret  the judgement texts as referring to ultimate condemnation for some (or most), then the gospel texts that announce redemption and reconciliation for all cannot be true.   

But on the other hand, if the gospel texts describing a joyful outcome are true–if Jesus is correct when he says he will ‘draw all people to himself’–we need not negate the judgement texts. We only need to adjust how we interpret them. This isn’t simple, as you’ve discovered, because they don’t all refer to one thing or function the same way. It’s a big topic, but a few broad categories may be helpful:

Five Categories of Judgment

1. Some passages are warnings from a loving Father about the damaging consequences of our own defiance. Jesus is not threatening us. He is caring for us. Sometimes in the sternest ways. Do NOT run out onto the freeway! Do NOT throw aerosol cans into a campfire! Do NOT try to solve violence with more violence! 

Many of Jesus’ warnings were like this… he knew that if his opponents rejected his way of peace, eventually, it would lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. He wept. He rebuked. He warned. They killed him. And less than 40 years later, his unheeded warnings were fulfilled in the complete destruction of the city he loved. 

2. The same type of judgments come to individuals who resist the warnings of their conscience, their friends, their family, and people in authority. A good addictions counsellor will try to win the addict through a sense of welcome, belonging, and grace. But they also warn of the dangers of complacency, self-will, and dabbling… addictions are progressive and destructive and relapses get worse. The damage to self or others can be complete, so dire warnings are a way of love.

3. We might also think of our conscience as an internal judge that may accuse and torment us when we are being stubborn. In some ways, the conscience like a God-given, internal prophet like Nathan was to David… calling him to account but also, ultimately, to repentance. The flames of the conscience can be fiery indeed, even leading to actual fevers and sleepless nights. The voice of one’s conscience can be very unpleasant but in its own way, a healthy conscience (not always the case) calls us back to the gracious homecoming of the Father’s House.

4. In Hebrews 12, we are also reminded  that we have a heavenly Father whose chastisements should be regarded with gratitude as loving discipline. This is not about punishment or retribution, but rather, course corrections for our growth, healing and maturity. The Lord’s discipline is ultimately to strengthen weak knees and to lift drooping shoulders. The author cautions us not to think lightly of this kind of discipline but to be thankful for it, even if it is unpleasant in the moment, because we’re better for it.

5. Other passages describe trials that we experience, not out of sin, but actually as a result of faithfulness. If we’re faithful, sometimes things go very well, because there are blessings attached to living the Jesus Way. For example, living in the grace, compassion and forgiveness of the Jesus Way leads to healthier relationships with others and a greater liberty and peace in oneself. 

But on the other hand, sometimes following Jesus becomes hard. Faithfulness to the Jesus Way sometimes leads to rejection or even persecution and trials of all kinds. It’s important to know in the moment that the hatred of the world is NOT a sign that God is angry with us or that God has abandoned us. The grace of God is available for patient endurance leading to a crown of life. 

Weeping and Gnashing

I hope some of these thoughts help.

Now, when I think of the phrase, “weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth,” a few things come to mind but let’s start with some key texts:

  • 10 When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will take their places at the banquet with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:10-12, see also Luke 13:23-30).

On one level, these texts may be referring to the lament Jerusalem will experience when, having rejected the Jesus Way, Rome lays waste to their city. And this always happens in every war where the political and military elite choose violence over peace. We see it again right now all over the world. This is almost certainly what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24, an entire chapter forecasting that disaster.

It’s tricky, because he concludes with a parable where ‘the master’ can seem to be referring to God, but we know from Jesus revelation of God that it’s not a straightforward comparison:

  • 45 “Who, then, is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. 51 He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 24:45-51)

This passage has been weaponized as a warning to Christians who aren’t ready for the Lord’s return, but in context, Jesus seems to be warning the stewards of Jerusalem of what will happen in the coming decades as a result of rejecting Israel’s Messiah. It’s not the Messiah who literally chops them up and tortures them, but the Romans themselves. In any case, the weeping and gnashing describes awful outcomes in the coming decades that we can read about as historical events.

One more reference to the weeping and gnashing is in the following chapter, in the parable of the three investors. The foolish, fearful fellow is finally dismissed to judgment and we read,

  • 29 For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30 As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matthew 25:29-30).

While this may be read in conjunction with Matthew 24 and the fall of Jerusalem, there may also be a spiritual repurposing of the parable where, when in this life or the next, we finally see the meaning of our lives, what gifts we squandered, and where we have turned away from the good news of Jesus… Some early Christian teachers read this passage as describing how, reflecting on our lives, our conscience will be stricken and like Peter after denying Jesus, we may weep bitterly… we may even gnash our teeth in self-loathing at our folly.

But that is not the end.

The end only comes about when ‘every eye will see him’ and then, when ‘Jesus will wipe every tear from our eyes.’ Surely this is the ultimate fulfillment of the second beatitude: “Blessed are those who mourn. They shall be comforted.”

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