What is Heaven Like? (Part I)

Note: Story-telling is an ancient form of communicating values, mores, and history from one generation to the next. The 20th Century scholar and Christian author, C. S. Lewis, noted that human beings most often communicate in word-pictures, which are helpful in conveying and understanding basic concepts. While more modernistic (and often complicated) teaching methods are promoted and instituted in American public schools, stories are what we often remember the best. Who has not gone to a meeting or lecture and walked away remembering an excellent joke offered by a presenter as a way to illustrate the topic of discussion?

The teachings of the Holy Bible are more than a collection of writings or a historical perspective of Judeo-Christian beliefs. In its most basic form, the Scriptures contain many great stories, including the "greatest story ever told." So it is not unusual to find (during his earthly ministry) that the founder of the Christian faith, Jesus, was a story-teller himself. His use of parables conveyed messages to both the commoner and scholar, which at their core are still applicable to the human condition 2,000 years later.

But how does one communicate to others something that is indescribable? Scholars have devoted lifetimes of study in attempts to understand human descriptions contained in Scripture of a place only a chosen few humans have caught glimpses of in visions, and only one man (Jesus) claimed to know intimately. This three-part Sunday Sermon series, called "What is Heaven Like?" will examine the descriptions of Heaven offered by Jesus in his teachings recorded in the gospel of Matthew.



What is Heaven Like?


(Part I)


In the gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, Jesus makes a number of statements, which begin with, "The kingdom of Heaven is like..." As a follower of Christ, I have gathered these Heaven-statements made by Jesus and offer my assessment of what these statements mean. This review is a presentation of what one of the twelve disciples (Levi, also called Matthew) wrote concerning what he heard Jesus say. Please feel free to read the gospel account for yourself.

Although there have been many testimonials offered about the hereafter through near-death experiences, it seems inconceivable that God would violate His very nature and established laws. One should consider why God might permit a sinner to enter Heaven without first receiving Christ as savior. If, indeed as Scripture declares, sin requires atonement, how could a sinner enter Heaven without atoning for his own sins? What kind of place must Heaven be like, if the laws governing it are so vital that no infraction can be tolerated? Therefore, can the accounts of people who have had near-death experiences be trusted?

The Bible is not silent on this matter. Old Testament accounts tell us briefly of two men who were suddenly taken from the Earth, by supernatural means. Genesis 5:24 (NIV) tells us a man called Enoch "...walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him." In the account of 2Kings 2:11 (NIV), we learn the prophet Elijah was walking with his disciple Elisha when "... suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."


When God called Enoch and Elijah to Heaven, there was no near-death experience. Both men ceased to exist here on earth. Most Biblical accounts either speak of chosen individuals having visions and being taken by the Holy Spirit into a portion of heaven for a specific purpose. None of the Biblical accounts speak of anyone being ill or near death, in fact, the subjects were conscious and interacting with angels and the Spirit of God, according to the record. And much of what they came back to share from these visions was difficult to understand and is still debated among biblical scholars and laypersons alike.

Similarly, there are Old and New Testament accounts of people who were dead being supernaturally resurrected by the power of the Holy Spirit (Jesus' friend Lazarus, comes to mind.) Yet there exists no record or interview from any of those individuals describing Heaven or their experiences being dead. God's prohibition of communicating with the dead through mediums, divination, sorcery, or spiritists (Leviticus 19:26, 31 and 20:6.) prevents believers from seeking answers from any other spiritual source than the word of God.

As he began his earthly ministry, Jesus presented Heaven in a unique and unexpected manner. Through a series of authoritative pronouncements (and parables), Jesus told followers he came from Heaven and knew God personally. Jesus drew clear distinctions about two places: Heaven and Hell. The contrasts were startling and difficult for many to accept.

So what is Heaven like? In one story, offered in Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told of a farmer who sowed good seed in his wheat field. During the night, when everyone was sleeping, the man's enemy sowed weeds around the newly planted wheat. As the wheat crop started to grow, the weeds also appeared. When asked by his servants what to do about the weeds, the farmer instructed his help to wait until the wheat was fully matured at harvest, because pulling the weeds prematurely would result in good wheat being ruined. So at harvest, the servants pulled the weeds and tossed them into the fire, then collected all the wheat and stored it in his barn. Jesus explained in this parable that he was the farmer sowing the good seed and Satan was the enemy planting the weeds. Good seeds represented the followers of Jesus and the weeds the followers of Satan. The servants of the farmers are the angels who will weed out Satan's followers who will be cast into Hell, at the end of the age.

Based on this parable, it would appear that God makes no room for unrepentant sinners ANYWHERE in Heaven. Jesus declared himself as the arbiter in this story, who distinguished the good seed from the weeds and provided an outcome for both good and bad. As equally compelling is what Jesus did not say in this story. There is no appearance of a "gray area" in which some of the weeds might have been found acceptable to the farmer; so much for the power of positive thinking.

Jesus also compared Heaven to a treasure hidden in a field, in Matthew 13:44. Jesus said a man found this buried treasure, sold everything he possessed, and purchased the land containing the treasure. The man was filled with great joy. In Matthew 13:45-46, Jesus said Heaven was like a merchant who was in the business of purchasing fine pearls. One day the man found a pearl of great value and sold everything he had in order to buy it.

In both of these descriptions, we find people who were actively seeking God. They were rewarded by finding God. Once both men realized what they had discovered, nothing they owned could compare to what they were to receive. However, there was a trade off, so to speak. Metaphorically, both men gave up one lifestyle to attain a greater one. According to Jesus, life in Heaven far surpasses life on Earth.

Another similar parable in Matthew 13:47-50, uses a fishing analogy. A net was let down into the water by a group of fishermen. When they pulled the net up, there was a great variety of fish hauled up onto the shore. There, the fishermen began separating the good fish (and collecting them in baskets) from the bad. The bad fish were thrown away. Again, Jesus told his disciples the fishermen were his angels who would separate the good from the bad at the end of the age. Jesus informed his listeners the bad fish would be thrown into the fiery furnace (another Hell reference.)

The fishing parable is similar to the first farming parable, where angels are seen harvesting and separating the good from bad, while demonstratively rejecting the bad. The angelic fishing expedition implies a standard existed prior to the gathering of the haul of fish. The angels inspect each fish and reject those who are unworthy by Heavenly standards.

Jesus added an interesting side note in Matthew 13:52 about those who teach about the kingdom of Heaven, according to God's word. He said each one who teaches about the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his own storeroom new and old treasures alike. It infers joy similar to the story of the man with the field and the pearl merchant. Sharing the promise of Heaven with others conveys both expected and unexpected blessings upon the bearer.

(copyright 2008, Gregory Allen Doyle)