Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
Jesus and the 2 Heavens: Which Do You Believe In?

Jesus and the 2 Heavens: Which Do You Believe In?

Last updated on: May 23, 2022 at 4:07 am by Tom Rapsas

Jesus and the 2 Heavens: Which Do You Believe In? 2022-05-23T04:07:16-06:00 Tom Rapsas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Johannes Plenio via Unsplash

Do you believe in a place called heaven? If you were raised in a Christian household like me, from a young age you heard that when someone passed away, they had “died and gone to heaven.” But where is heaven? And how does one get there?

If you read the gospels of the Bible, you might come away with two very different interpretations of the nature of heaven and how one gains admittance. In a nutshell, one heaven is tough to get into—the other, well, not so much. It breaks down like this:

In the Gospel of Mark, the doorway into heaven is narrow. Jesus mentions specific criteria for getting into “the kingdom” and it’s safe to say that many of us (myself included) could have trouble getting past the doorman.
In the Gospel of Luke, there’s a very different take on heaven and it runs counter to traditional notions. Luke says that heaven is not located in the clouds but is a place here on earth. More on that to come.

Heaven #1: According to the Gospel of Mark

You may know the passage from the Gospel of Matthew that states when it comes to entering heaven, “many are called, but few are chosen.” And if you read the Gospel of Mark, it’s easy to see why. The eligibility requirements to get into heaven are tough, about as difficult as a high schooler trying to gain admittance into an Ivy League college.

When looking at Mark, I used a recent, fresh translation by Thomas Moore in his book Gospel–the Book of Mark. Moore goes beyond the words found in the Bible to put some context around the criteria. What you’ll find below are the words of Jesus as translated by Moore, followed by edited insights from the author.

Criteria #1. You must be like a child.

“Let the children come to me. Don’t stand in their way. They are natural citizens in the kingdom of God. Anyone who can’t be like a child can’t enter the kingdom.” ~ Mark, Chapter 10

Jesus tells many stories about outsiders and misfits being more likely to merit inclusion in the kingdom than people who think of themselves as virtuous. Children belong because they do not fit into the adult world. They have different ways of thinking and relating to others and the world.

Criteria #2. You must give to the poor.

“There’s one thing you haven’t done. Go, sell everything you own and give it to the poor. Then your treasure will be up there. Then you can come and join me. It isn’t easy for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God.” ~Mark, Chapter 10

You have to create a radical sense of community and step back from pure self-advancement. It is difficult, if not impossible, for someone to pursue financial wealth as the main goal in life and still be part of the kingdom. That’s not say that wealth is automatically an obstacle, but it is if interferes with your responsibility to respect everyone and live a life of compassion and healing*.*

Criteria #3. You must be awake to life.

“Be alert. You don’t know when the master of the house will come—in the evening, at midnight, at dawn, or in the later morning. Don’t risk him coming and finding you asleep. I can say only this to one and all: Stay awake.” ~Mark, Chapter 13

To quote William Blake, “you have to stay awake and not slip into old, lazy habits.” Ordinary life, lived according to the ways of the world, is a condition of sleep. The kingdom requires an alert mind. You have to know what is going on in your world and resist the tendency to slide and drift on currents that flow away from the kingdom.

Heaven #2: According to the Gospel of Luke

While the Gospel of Mark seems to fit the traditional concept of heaven being “up there” in the clouds, a different picture is painted in the Gospel of Luke. In that book, Jesus leaves a clue that seems to indicate heaven is a lot closer than we imagine—and can even be accessed prior to our death. Check out this passage from Luke 17:20-21:

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

The Kingdom of God, synonymous with the kingdom of heaven, is “in the midst of you.” It’s a phrase that has also been translated as “already among you” and “already within you.” Which seems to raise the prospect that heaven can be experienced here on this earth, right now, prior to our death.

In the Bible, heaven is sometimes referred to as a distinct place, as in “on earth as it in heaven” in Mark 6:10. You might also recall the passage from the Apostle’s Creed that says “Jesus ascended into heaven; and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Which makes the idea of heaven being on Earth, as found in Luke, pretty radical.

Luke is not the only place where the idea of “heaven on earth” is found.

There’s a similar passage that appears in what some call the fifth Gospel, the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. It’s the closest in form and content to the 4 gospels included in the Bible. Like Luke, Thomas raises the enticing prospect that heaven is in our midst, if only we are alert enough to realize it.

Jesus said, “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you.

Two different gospels that date to the first century, Luke and Thomas, carrying a nearly identical message from Jesus. Heaven is here right now, just out of our range of vision, perhaps not visible to the naked eye. They paint a very different picture of heaven than what is found in Mark, and raise the questions: Which heaven do you believe in? Is it possible to believe in both at the same time?

Previous Post

May 11, 2022

8 Life-Affirming Benefits of Growing Older

Next Post

May 26, 2022 Creation Spirituality: A Different Way to View Christianity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 50+ Spirituality 60 Second Inspiration Activism Adversity Afterlife agape aging Aliens Angels Angels and aliens anger animism Astrology Atheists Attention Attitude Authenticity Awareness Awe Ayahuasca Balance Beginnings Being Present Belief Bhagavad Gita Bible birth of Jesus Blessings Bliss Bono Breathing Buddha Buddhism Calling cats Centered Centering Prayer Chakras Change Character Character and Aging Christ consciousness Christianity Christmas Church Civility commencement speeches commitments compassion Connecting with God Consciousness Contemplation Contemplative Prayer Contentment Conversations with God Coping Coping mechanisms Corinthians Coronavirus Covid creativity Daily practice Dalai Lama David Brooks David Frenette Death Deathbed visions Decisions determinism Discernment disconnecting Donald Shimoda Dreaming of the Dead dreams Drinking Easter Eastern religion Eckhart Tolle ego Elders Emerson Engagement Enlightenment everyday magic Evil Spirits Expectations experience Faith fate Fatima Fear Feel Finding God Fitness Fulfillment Gandhi Gary Zukav Generosity Giving Gnostic gospels Gnostics God God's will Golden Rule Good & Evil Gospel of Thomas Gospels Grace Gratitude Grief Growing Older Guardian Angels gumption Gurus Halloween Happiness health health and happiness Heaven Helping others High Strangeness Hinduism Holiday Season honesty Honor Hope Humility impostor syndrome inner music Inner Work Insights insomnia Inspiration Inspirational intuition Investing Jeff Bridges Jesus Jesus Christ John Templeton joy joy of life Justin Bieber Kaballah Kabbalah Karma Kindness koans Law of Attraction Life Life after Death Life and death Life Balance Life Hacks Life Lessons Life Path Life Philosophy Life Plan life purpose Life Rules Life Tips Life's Big Questions Lindsay Lohan Listening Living Intentionally Loneliness Love Magic Mark Twain Marriage Meaning of Life Meditation mentor Mentors Mid-Life Crisis Mindful Mindfulness Money Monks Multiverse Mysterious World mystical experience Mysticism Mystics Mythology Napoleon Hill Near Death Experience (NDE) New Thought New Year New Year's resolutions Noise Oprah out-of-body experience Parables Peace of mind philosophy Plant Intelligence Pope Francis Positive Thinking Prayer prayers for the spiritual Preachers Premonitions presence Prophecies Prophecy Prophets Psalms Purpose Purpose of Life quietude Quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Trine Reconnect Recovery reincarnation Relaxation Religion resolutions Resurrection Ritual Rituals Rules to Live By sadness Sam Harris Sandy Second Act Seeking self Self Mastery self-help self-improvement Seneca sermon sex shamans Sickness Silence Silence of God sleep small voice Smiling Social Activism solitude Soul Soul and Spirit Soul Awakening Spiritual Awakening spiritual beliefs spiritual guidance spiritual journey spiritual living spiritual path Spiritual philosophy Spiritual Practice Spirituality Spirituality and work Spooky Spirituality Stillness stoicism stoics Storytelling Stress Relief Success Suffering Suicide Surrender tao Thanks Thanksgiving the afterlife the bardo the Bible the Blues The Election the Kingdom the secret the self The Soul Thomas Keating Thomas Merton Thomas Moore Time Tony Robbins tradition UFOs Uncategorized Universe Values visualization Voice of God Wake Up Call Wake Up Call book Walls Walt Whitman Well-being Winter Blues Wisdom words to live by Work work/life balance worry Yogananda Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 January 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 December 2009 November 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites eat in the wilderness for 40 years?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Locusts Quail Manna Bread

Books by This Author Books by Wake Up Call

See All Titles »