Does Luke 12:5 refer to an afterlife hell?

Over the years, a few people have written and asked something like, “You quote Luke 12:4–5 as one of the eleven verses about hell. Yet it seems pretty plain that Jesus was talking about an afterlife hell there—how can you say he is not?” As a similar question was asked this week, and the answer is too long for a simple answer, I decided to write this blog about it. 

In the first chapter on hell in my book (Chapter 6 – “The Doctrine of Fear”), I list the eleven verses in the Gospels in which Jesus uses the term Gehenna, which was translated in our English bibles as “hell.” Gehennais a Greek term, which was a translation of the Hebrew term Ge-hinnom, which is the name of a real valley just outside Jerusalem. In chapter 7, I show that the only time Jesus ever specified for the possibility of when sinners and the unrighteous could go to this place was on the day of judgment—when the Son of Man will return to judge all humanity and end the world as we know it, making way for the new kingdom of God on earth. 

I must say at the outset: Luke 12:5 is the only verse out of the eleven verses in which the term Gehenna is found that could even possibly be taken to task as referring to an afterlife hell. The verse says: “I tell you my friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who after he has killed, has authority to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him!” 

It’s easy to see how “after he has killed, has the authority to cast into Gehenna,” could seem to be referring to when you die. But looking at the words in context with the whole Gospel of Luke, and in the context of Matthew and Mark as well (the other Gospels where Jesus refers to “Gehenna”), the scripture defies that interpretation thoroughly. 

First, you would have to look at the verse isolated and out of context in order to make that meaning work. In fact, there are only two spots in the entirety of the four Gospels where Jesus mentions an afterlife at all. He never mentions an afterlife hell; the two spots mention heaven. And think about that as you read on—what could be or would have been more important than for Jesus to have spoken often about our afterlife, rather than just the two spots where heaven is only briefly mentioned? Meaning, if it was as important to Jesus as it is to us, why does he only mention it twice in all four Gospels, and with little to no elaboration? 

The most Jesus tells us of a heaven is in John 14:2: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” The one other mention is in a verse at the end of the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus is on the cross and he says to the criminal next to him, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).” But he says nothing else about it. Other than that, in the greater part of Luke, as is the dominant theme in Matthew and Mark, Jesus speaks in the context of the day of judgment. That is why there is little to no talk of an afterlife. For example: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge them before the angels of God” (Luke 12:8). The Son of Man returns on judgment day. Or when he says to the people of the city of Chorazin, “Indeed, at the judgment, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you” (Luke 10:14). Jesus is speaking about what will happen to them on the day of judgment.

Second, it would be a terrifically important statement for Jesus to make—about God possibly killing you and then throwing you into Gehenna—that it wouldn’t make sense for him to have only said it once in all four Gospels. Our version of hell applies to any sinner or evildoer who dies a natural death. Can any of us say that we walk around wondering if God might kill us? Of course not. There is most certainly talk of God killing people throughout the Synoptic Gospels, but it is when Jesus returns to exact God’s judgment on humanity. At which time, the wicked will be thrown into Gehenna and destroyed. That is the only killing God does. 

Third, there is a parallel verse in Matthew to the verse in Luke, and this could not be more germane in settling this issue: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Matthew 10:28).

Notice the Gospel of Matthew refers to God being able to throw your physical body into hell (in what version of our idea of hell do our actual bodies get sent there?). After we die a natural death, our physical body does not continue on. Once again, the only time when physical bodies are destroyed in Gehenna is at the end of the world as we know it. And even more importantly, the verse in Matthew says God can destroy the soul in Gehenna, not just the body. If the soul is destroyed, then there is no part of that person left to suffer in hell for all eternity! (My three chapters on hell, 6–8, cover all this extensively.) 

In conclusion, it is impossible to reduce Luke 12:4–5 to the simple understanding of an afterlife hell unless you want to ignore all the above evidence to the contrary. It’s an easy mistake to make when you hear the verse cited alone, out of context. I used to make the mistake myself before I started seriously studying the Bible. 

For more reading, check out the rest of our blog pages here.