Luke 16:31

‘And he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.” '

So Jesus tells him that if they will not listen to the word of God through Moses and the prophets, they will not listen even if one rises from the dead. This was prophetic concerning His own resurrection, but it also contained an eternal truth. It is that those persuaded by wonders and signs, will just as quickly forget them when time has eradicated the impact from their minds. Those only can be expected to persevere, who believe because of the word of God, and especially the word of God as given through Jesus.

The Teaching Of The Passage On The Afterlife.

We will pause in order to consider what lessons about the Afterlife we may be able to gather from this account as connected with other Scriptures, although too much dogmatism would be foolish. The first point is that in death those who are Christ's go to a different sphere than those who are not. Elsewhere we learn that they go to be ‘with Christ, which is far better' than being on earth (Philippians 1:21). This must suggest consciousness and enjoyment. That ties in with here.

Unbelievers (revealed as such by their lives) go to a place of unpleasantness, of spiritual thirst and longing, of ‘anguish'. They have no joy in Christ. They lack what God made us for. How much of the anguish is positive (this flame) and how much is due to what is lacked (thirst) it is impossible and unnecessary to say. But while it is doubtful if we should take the idea of fire literally (it is chosen because it causes thirst and is destructive) it is clear that it is a place best avoided. It is a place of ‘outer darkness' (Matthew 8:12; Matthew 22:13; Matthew 25:30), away from the true Light.

Both await the day of Christ's appearing. At that stage the resurrection will take place. Then those who are truly His will rise in ‘spiritual bodies' (1 Corinthians 15:44) and go into everlasting bliss into a new spiritual ‘earth' (Isa 35:10; 2 Peter 1:11; Revelation 21:1 to Revelation 22:5), while those who are not His will be cast in their bodies into Gehenna (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:47; Revelation 20:15). This is the equivalent of the ancient rubbish dump outside Jerusalem and is described in those terms, except that its fires never go out and its maggots never cease consuming (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:48). But that it is largely spiritual comes out in that it is to receive the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). A literal burning furnace and literal fire would be of no use there. Many would argue further that nowhere is eternal consciousness suggested, except for the Devil, and that the impression given is otherwise. Consider for example the contrast in Revelation 19:20. The people themselves are cast in dead along with Death and Hades (Luke 20:12). It is the Devil and his minions who are cast in alive. But it is certainly something that no one would wish to experience, and the fact of punishment will be real and best avoided. It is deliberately revealed as horrific.