Jeremy R. Geerdes Posts

I will admit that I have a problem with jealousy. No, I don’t struggle a whole lot when I see someone else with a fancy new car or a shiny new boat. Sometimes, I get a tad jealous when people are toting new computers or gadgets, but even then, I certainly don’t lose a lot […]

For forty days after that first Easter, the resurrected Jesus kept coming back. He met with women, Peter, the two on the road, the disciples sans Thomas, the disciples with Thomas, and even a group of as many as 5,000. Apparently, after lingering a few days in Jerusalem, the disciples made their way back to […]

I imagine there was a great deal of commotion and confusion in that upper room that day. There was the lingering sorrow and trauma of Jesus having been crucified and buried less than 48 hours earlier, the grief that brought. And yet there was a strange, unlikely hope which was slowly blooming as the story […]

I’ve heard it said many times that, when someone chooses to believe in Jesus, the angels in heaven rejoice. It’s a great thought that reminds me of just how significant is that decision of faith, but also how valuable we are in God’s eyes: He and His hosts throw a bash for everyone who claims […]

The seventy were, in a word, ecstatic. Days earlier, when Jesus had told them that they were going to be going out to preach and heal, they had been a bit leery. Okay, they had been terrified. None but Peter felt up to the task. But Peter felt up to anything. He seemed perpetually eager […]

The words of the angel were astounding. I imagine that the women standing there at the breached tomb, mouths gaping, absolutely speechless, in utter shock. Indeed, Matthew couldn’t even describe how the angel departed from their presence, I suspect because none of them could recall. They were too busy processing the revolutionary message which it […]

Matthew 13 is a significant chapter for my study of joy. In it, Jesus is delivering a series of parables, including that of the sower/seeds/soils, the wheat and the weeds, the mustard seed, the yeast, a couple about hidden treasure, and one about a large net. Through it all, He’s trying to explain what it’s […]

Editor’s note: Well, once again, my fingers were running faster than my brain, and I posted this prematurely. So I suppose I had better actually shape it up, cite sources, and make it into a real post. At any rate, today, Stephen G. Bloom, a professor and Bessie Dutton Murray Professional Scholar at the University […]

As I cross finally into the New Testament in my word study of joy, I come, right away, to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (or on the Plain, depending which gospel you want to go with), and in the opening of what is probably the most recognizable speech in history, I run headlong into a […]

Today’s joy reference is Zechariah 9:9. As the prophet takes up the subject of the coming Messiah, he calls on Israelites, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious.” And it makes sense. I mean, the word image which has just […]