You Can Kill My Body, But You Can't Kill Me!

Today we are taking a further look at how the Bible describes a human being. So far we have looked at the Hebrew O.T. and the Greek translation of the O.T., the Septuagint (LXX). Now we move directly into the New Testament, using both the original Greek and the English translations.

Soul (psyche) and Spirit (pneuma) in the New Testament


Everything noted about the Hebrew word nephesh may generally be applied to the Greek psyche in the N.T. This is a man's life, living, thinking and acting. For instance, Jesus says,

"Whoever would save his life (psyche) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul (psyche, so could be translated life)? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul (psyche)? - Matthew 16:25

"Whoever finds his life (psyche) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

In both instances Jesus is emphasizing that a man must decide to put his life in Jesus' hands. He is the Savior and Lord of all. To commit your life to anyone or anything else is to lose it. Earlier in Matthew 10:28 Jesus says,

"And do not fear those who will kill the body (soma) but cannot kill the soul (psyche). Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna)."

This is a very revealing passage. Obviously a man is able to kill the body of another man. The Greek word for kill is apokteino. So the tenants in Jesus' parable killed the son, hoping to gain his inheritance (Matthew 21:33-41). By this story Jesus predicted the Jewish leaders would kill Him. And so they did, by turning Him over to Pilate to be crucified. Jesus died, he ceased to breathe. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus' body in his own new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Just before He died Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded or gave up His spirit (pneuma) into the hands of His heavenly Father  (Matthew 27:50, John 19:30, Luke 23:46). The man Jesus did not cease to exist, however. They could kill His  body, but they could not kill His soul or life (psyche).

What does this mean for us believers? It means exactly what Jesus said. Men cannot kill us. They can only kill the bodily side of who we are. So when Stephen was stoned he taught us how to pray in the face of the death of our bodies. He prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (pneuma)." - Acts 7:59. Death for the believer has lost its sting, its power, as also the Apostle Paul taught us when he wrote, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55, cf. Hosea 13:14).

When Jesus raised the child of the ruler from death, Luke writes that her spirit (pneuma) returned (to her body). Those attending her knew she was dead. Jesus, however, said, "She is not dead, but sleeping" (Luke 8:52-55). Thus Jesus comforts us by reminding us that death is but a sleep and that on the last day He will restore us to full and complete life as He returns our spirits to a renewed and eternal bodily existence in the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Returning to the Matthew 10:28 passage about not being able to kill the soul, note that Jesus says that God can destroy (appolimi) both body and soul in hell. On the final Day Jesus will raise all to bodily life (Matthew 25:31-46). However, the unbeliever will face a bodily existence in hell, alone, separated from the joy of life in the presence of God, lost in pain, suffering, sorrow and grief (cf. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Hades, Luke 16:19-31; 2 Thessalonians. 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).

To find life (psyche) is to lose one's life for the sake of Jesus. This life begins when the Holy Spirit (Hagios Pneuma) grants us new birth and gives us new life (John 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:3). Full and complete life is always the life of body, mind and spirit in full communion with one's Creator. Jesus came to give us this life (Greek zoe) and give it abundantly (John 5:21-24; 6:27-63; 10:10, etc.). Believers will share in this life in the new heavens and earth (Romans 8:11-23). More on this next time.