Hot Days, Cool Change, and Jesus Christ

The last three days have been very trying for me, and everyone who lives in Melbourne. The temperature soared beyond 40 degrees C for four consecutive days. This is the worst temperature in the last 100 years, according to the Bureau of Meterology. Today the media reported the temperature hit 45.1 maximum around 4.30pm. It is unbearably hot! I can prepare a sunny set up in a blink on my work desk.

Approximately 350,000 homes across Melbourne and the greater area of Victoria do not have power following a massive power blackout. Hundreds of trains have been cancelled throughout the city, causing a huge mass of commuters left stranded in various stations across Melbourne. Lots of people who can afford their time and lifestyle choose to stay overnight on the beach. There is a lot of bushfire around the outer areas, and many firefighters experienced heat stress fighting them. Some people lost their houses. I feel for them.

At a much smaller and personal level, I had my share of agony as I moved office in the last two days. Yesterday I spent hours packing my stuff into boxes until 6.30pm. Altogether there were 24 reasonably large boxes of textbooks, books, journal articles, and research data. Weird it may sound, but my old office does not any air con, as it is part of a very old building that simply can't take the load that comes with a cooling system. Understandably I perspired quite a lot.

In between packing books and getting endless cups of cold water, I cannot stop thinking about what hell must feel like. If I can't stand 43 degree for even 2 hours, what does it feel to be in hell for eternity?

The New Testament's word understood as hell is Gehenna, which is really a metaphor for hell. It was actually a burning garbage dump near Jerusalem. The place used to be a site for child sacrifice to a pagan God, a practice that was outlawed by King Josiah in the book of Second Kings. Jesus used the word Gehenna some 12 times (e.g., Matthew 10:28; Matthew 23:33). When He used Gehenna as a metaphor of hell, don't think for a minute "O in that case, there is no real hell." The whole purpose of using a garbage dump where the fire never stops was to give a word picture and evoke a certain sensation of hell. If Gehenna is hot and painful, let alone hell!

I had a preview of hell yesterday in my office, which is like a modern Gehenna minus the garbage.

The cool change that will come on Sunday is always a reminder of God's mercy towards men and women who deserve to get hot days beyond 50 degrees all the days of their lives. But in His own way of showing love and justice, and keeping them in the balance, God sent His son Jesus Christ to rot under the scorching sun, crucified. He was crushed for our iniquities, bearing the sins of the world on His shoulder, experienced hellish suffering.

A series of hot days in Melbourne should remind us of Christ who went to hell so that you and I don't have to. When the cool change comes, we know we are the recipients of that amazing grace of God in Christ Jesus.