Jesus Christ
If I am honest, I have always thought of the Ascension of Christ kind of like the cherry on the sundae—that is, the few times I have spent time thinking about Christ's ascending from earth back to the Father. In church circles, we spend most of our time talking about the death of Christ. [...]
"Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice." [...]
Like many white upper-middle-class mainline Protestants, I’ve long taken issue with the concept of divine wrath, believing it to conflict with the God whose most determinative attribute is goodness itself. Whenever I’ve pondered the possibility of God’s anger, I’ve invariably thought about it directed at me—I’m no saint, sure, but I’m no great sinner either. […]