Sermons by Darryl G. Klassen

The Question Series   Many of us have spoken these words, “Don’t tell anyone, but…” A secret is being shared and you are among the privileged to hear it. But what goes through your mind as you hear the warning “Don’t tell anyone”? If it’s juicy, you think, “Who can I tell?” You promise not to tell anyone, but there is the unspoken rule that I will tell my spouse, because you cannot keep a secret from your husband or wife. Or maybe you have this confidentiality agreement with your best friend. The point is, when someone tells you a secret prefaced with “Don’t tell anyone, but…” that secret is going to be shared. I am not sure there is such a thing as a secret.              Our question today is based on this premise. Someone asked:  When Jesus heals, why does he tell them not to tell anyone?  If you perform an online search, you will find several posts on this question. I will save you the time and share what I have gleaned from my studies.              It happens more than once. Jesus

The Question Series   This next question in our series, “Questions you have always wanted to ask,” is really challenging to answer. Scholars all seem to agree that the text this question is based on is the most difficult passage in the NT, and possibly the Bible.              The question is this: Where was Jesus on the Saturday between Good Friday (the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the resurrection)?              The primary text from which we get this question is 1 Peter 3:18-22 where it talks about Jesus supposedly going to hell to preach. The difficulty with understanding this text arises from the distance of time and culture. Peter wrote this piece as an illustration but assumed that his readers would immediately understand what he was saying, which they did. But we do not. Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther commented on this text and said (in today’s language), “I haven’t got a hot clue what Peter meant.”              The church has wrestled with this question for centuries.