PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 23:33-36
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“You snakes… how will you escape being condemned to gehenna?” (Matthew 23:33)
Referring to snakes and vipers, he compares them to the serpent in the garden.
They are deceivers, they mislead and ruin God’s world and family.
They rob people of life, and hold them in bondage to death
He then warns them of the consequences: gehenna (translated hell).
Gehenna was a dump outside of Jerusalem that represented God’s judgment.
It was where the worst of the worse were buried, under God’s judgment.
People who lived cruel, unloving and selfish lives were destined for there.
Jesus sounds so different here, so harsh and angry.
It is anger directed at a loved people who have been graced.
I hear Jesus’s words directed to the church when it forgets grace.
God has graced us so much, how can we refuse to show it to others?
When we make it hard for others to be graced, we make it hard for ourselves.
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you!” (Romans 15:7)
Of all people, christians and churches should know better.
Lord Jesus, your appeals and warnings come from gracious love. May we not ignore them, may we repent when necessary and become the loving grace community You saved and called us to be!