Tag Archives: resurrection

Easter: A First-Hand Account

Posted on April 22, 2025 by salooper57

For the first time I could remember, it wasn’t just me. It was us. I was saying things like, “We should go to the market. We should bake some bread. It felt so good to say “We.”
But we were us only because of him. Continue reading →

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First Stone in an Avalanche

Posted on June 13, 2023 by salooper57

Easter celebrations frequently focus on the fact that we will continue to live after we die. As true as that is, it’s important to realize that most people believed that before Jesus rose from the dead. They believed that humans … Continue reading →

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Why Coming Near God Is Both Risky and Redemptive

Posted on April 8, 2023 by salooper57

People sometimes ask, “Why doesn’t God just show himself? Why doesn’t he come near?” In the Scripture, God promises to come near, but that coming near is always a kind of judgment. The presence of God is a spotlight, revealing … Continue reading →

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20 Years Later: Peter and John Reminisce About Jesus’s Resurrection

Posted on April 24, 2022 by salooper57

Enjoy this skit that takes us back to that first Easter Sunday!

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What Was He Thinking? (Jesus on Death – John 11)

Posted on April 4, 2022 by salooper57

(Excerpt) Have you ever asked, “What was he thinking?” Or perhaps said, “I don’t know what I was thinking.” We ask these questions because something has been done that should not have been done, but the question is just as … Continue reading →

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The Resurrection: “He Is Going Ahead of You” (Wide Angle)

Posted on March 2, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: 3-4 minutes.) We’ve been looking at the resurrection of Jesus over the past few weeks and it is now I time to put on our wide-angle lenses. Survey the big picture. Eve’s son would crush the serpent’s head … Continue reading →

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Wide Angle: The Resurrection (“Just as He Said”)

Posted on February 23, 2022 by salooper57

(Reading time: Approx. 4-5 minutes.) The men who pushed and manipulated the governor into delivering a death sentence on Jesus went back to the governor after the execution with an odd request. They asked that a guard (the word is … Continue reading →

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Joseph of Arimethea: The Secret Disciple (Wide Angle)

Posted on February 10, 2022 by salooper57

It is difficult enough to move on after each of the earlier posts in this series, but it is even more difficult to move on after such an inadequate treatment of the crucifixion of Jesus. Saying that we have gazed … Continue reading →

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What Does the Author of Hebrews Mean by “Made Perfect”?

Posted on June 10, 2021 by salooper57

I was reading Scot McKnight’s book, Embracing Grace, and was surprised to see how he correlates the author of Hebrews use of the term “made perfect” (τελειωθεὶς) with the resurrection. In Hebrews 5:8-9, we read that the Son “learned obedience … Continue reading →

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Christian Hope: Does It Differ from Optimism?

Posted on April 23, 2021 by salooper57

He then told me something – and it was hard for him to talk, so I had to listen closely – that I have never forgotten. He told me that the last two months – since he had come over to Jesus’s side – had been the two best months of his life. I looked at him in wonder. Here was a man from whom everything had been taken. His former life was gone. His world was a bed. His body was a prison. And the last two months had been the best time of his life.

How was that possible? What had happened? Continue reading →

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