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ear Readers,
A recent opinion poll suggested that a surprising number of people believe that Jesus rose from the dead. But what happened next? Did he go off and live and die a natural death in obscurity - in some remote comer of Palestine? If not, then what did happen?
The Bible tells us that, over a 40 day period, he met with his disciples and many other followers. Then, witnessed by a number of them, he went up and was received back into Heaven. There he was given a position of the highest authority by which his earthly ministry was fully vindicated. This year the commemoration of this event -Ascension Day - falls on May 1st.
But 10 days after his ascension, he sent the Holy Spirit into the world. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks to our inner selves. It is the Holy Spirit who, as we read and study the Scriptures or listen to Bible messages and sing hymns, helps us to understand their meaning - their importance for us in our living and in our dying. It is the Holy Spirit who teaches us the significance of the coming into our world of Jesus - the baby born in a stable in Bethlehem - and of his life's ministry, his dying on a cross, his rising again from the dead and his ascension back into Heaven - in short, the whole process of our salvation. The Holy Spirit is the mainspring, the energiser both of the church and of the individual believer.
So it is that, on 11th May - Whit Sunday or Pentecost - we will remember and celebrate the first coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples and to other believers.
Rightly understood, these two events are indeed cause for celebration for every believer.
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