Easter morning has come and gone, yet the resurrection bells ring still. Rightly so, for central to the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus. But what if the story ended there? What if Jesus had not ascended back to the Father? What would that mean for our salvation? At the risk of sounding heretical,…
Continue reading ➞ Four Reasons Jesus Must Ascend for Us to be Saved
It is a verse that many know well—even if it is more for its syntactic terseness than its theological robustness. Two words make an easy memory verse but they also make a balm for the pained soul. Upon drawing near to the tomb of Lazarus, John 11.35 says, “Jesus wept.” It has long puzzled many,…
What is the point of marriage? Is it a celebration of present love? Is it the pragmatic end of romance? And whose idea is marriage? Is it a cultural construct? Is it a societal structure? These are all questions the church would do well to consider, even more so in the context of the current…
With Holy Week and Easter behind us, there is still nonetheless a necessary need to keep the cross ever before us. Luke’s account of the crucifixion narrative is laced with scandalous irony that is meant to help illumine the glorious wonder of our salvation. While there are doubtless other ironies within Luke’s gospel, I pray…
The jealousy of God is often misunderstood. It can seem to some that God’s jealousy is the unwarranted begging of a needy megalomaniac for attention. For some the jealousy of God is something like the ruthless demanding of a drill sergeant to obey. Yet the jealously of God is nothing of the sort. His jealousy…
Christ’s relationship to the Old Testament is generally understood in one of two ways, both of which lie at opposite ends of the hermeneutical continuum and both of which are incomplete. When the Old Testament and Christ’s relationship to it is reduced in either of these ways, the beauty of the Old Testament narrative is…