“What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions?” (Ephesians 4:9) Dr. Luke tells us that Jesus died around 3:00 on a Friday afternoon, just a few hours before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. Funerals were prohibited on the Sabbath, so Jesus’ supporters didn’t have the luxury of time with which to plan a service. They had to hustle just to bury him before sunset. In fact, the Bible notes that they didn’t even have time to secure a tomb in […]

“Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’.” (Matthew 26:31) The Easter Story, in and of itself, is a story of hope. In spite of the trials that Christians face, we always have hope because of what happened at Easter. No one understood the hope that the Cross offers more than the Apostle Peter. He was one of Christ’s most trusted disciples […]

“For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’.” (Romans 1:17) For those of you who missed last week’s column, I told a moving story about a funeral I recently attended. It was held at my church and my pastor’s message for the family came from the 19th Chapter of Job. Job is normally not a book of the Bible on which pastors will rely for […]

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes.” (Job 19:25-27) I attended a funeral recently, one that I shall never forget. A member of my church lost his son. I hadn’t known him for very long, but I liked him and felt so sorry about the tragic circumstances in which he found himself. I had […]