This is a rather odd saying from Jesus, but his point is clear; and it applies to life in all sorts of ways.  Let’s try examining it in the most common application.  The Jewish people were a people oppressed by the powerful Roman Empire.  They also inhabited a geographic area that included the Silk Road to Asia and also stood at the intersection of a great deal of merchant traffic.  The money that comes with that much trade attracted a great many roving bands of bandits and other dangerous people.  The story of the Good Samaritan begins with a man who has been beaten and robbed.  That sort of thing was a regular occurrence in that part of the world.  So, when Jesus says “Do not fear those who kill the body,” He was speaking to the state of fear that virtually everybody lived in.  And indeed, that everybody still lives in. 

Texas is an extraordinarily safe state to live in.  It may not seem that way to you, but compared to New York, or Illinois, or California, we Texans walk the streets in relative safety.  Many Texans go about with concealed firearms, which makes all of us safer because the bad guys have no way of knowing just who has effective means of defense and who does not.  All of that aside, what Jesus is saying is “That guy whom you fear is strong, but his strength is nothing when compared to the Almighty who is far stronger.”  Even more, That the nature of God is Just as well as Merciful is brought to mind as we note that either the soldier who acts unlawfully or the bandit who takes the life of a person stands as Judged and who will pay for his crimes by being consigned to Hell for his misdeeds.  That is only a bit comforting when considered by the victim, but that fact should give the soldier and the bandit reason to pause before they carry out their plan to deprive someone of their life.

The question was asked “What will destroy our souls?  The answer is nothing.  The soul is eternal.  But, the soul can be so reduced that it exists within a form of torture.  Souls that are consigned to hell are deprived of the presence of God.  Without God, a soul only possesses one thing; itself.  So many people live such selfish lives that they must be preparing themselves for a hellish existence.  In fact, God does not condemn them to Hell, rather they choose hell because it is only there that they can be the very gods for themselves that they have chosen to be.

Our saying from Jesus carries within itself a couple of eternal truths; one, God is Almighty and is far more powerful than any earthly force that we face, we should take comfort in that, and two, the consequences of a selfish life are horrendous beyond imagination, destined to live in eternity in solitary confinement.