Is there an afterlife? Many people don’t think much about that question at all; or if they do, they offer fanciful and highly speculative answers. The Bible insists on no-nonsense realism. We are mortal, the Scriptures remind us, and our natural destiny is death. There is no speculation or wishful thinking in the Bible. Thus in much of the Old Testament, there is no mention of life beyond death, because God had not yet provided an answer to death.

But ultimately, God acts through Jesus Christ! In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God opens the way for us into what would otherwise be impossible—life beyond the grave. There is an afterlife—not because we might wish it to be so, but because God through Christ has acted for our salvation. Paul expressed it well in his first Letter to the Corinthians: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O grave, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (I Cor. 15:54–55,57)

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Sunday’s Scripture Readings:
Psalm 73:26
Mark 12:18–27

About the Author

Dr. David A. Palmer has been the senior pastor at the United Methodist Church of Kent since 1995. He has a B.A. from Wittenberg University, a Master of Divinity from Duke University, and a Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. A native of Wooster, Ohio, he has served three other churches in east Ohio before coming to Kent. He and his wife, Mavis, have three children.