I know I I have a habit of repeating myself sometimes and I hope it’s not a sign of my impending senility! But some things that deserve repeating and the Mrs. Bloom saga is one of them. I came across her sorry tale a few years ago and I often think of it because it is a sobering reminder that we need to listen very carefully when someone is telling us something important.

Minnesota-based Mrs. Bloom telephoned her son because she couldn’t get her boiler to work properly. His advice was very simple. ‘Just set the thermostat a little higher.’ Now you would think that was no big shakes but unfortunately Mrs. Bloom thought he told her to ‘Set the thermostat on fire,’ which she duly did with the help of a blow torch! Thankfully, Mrs. Bloom managed to escape with her life, but tragically and not surprisingly she lost her home.

Lots of people seem to make mistakes when they think about the Christian position on life after death. For so many, it’s a case of ‘Well you simply go to heaven when you die.’ Now I can understand why they think like that, but it’s certainly not what Jesus taught and sadly, far too few of us spend time listening to what He really said. And that’s really unfortunate because He offers us something far more appealing than that.

Take this familiar promise ‘In My Father’s house there are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you so that where I am there you may be also.’

This is regularly taken to mean that His followers will join Him in heaven when they die, enjoying His presence in some kind of unearthly eternal bliss. But Jesus and the Gospel writers like John always chose their words carefully, and so it is important to appreciate that the word we often translate as ‘mansion’ was regularly used to refer to a temporary halt rather than a final resting place.

It’s the same with ‘Paradise,’ the word Jesus used when talking to the man who was being crucified alongside Him. The word was used in Jesus’ time to refer to a blissful garden or parkland of rest and peace where the dead were refreshed waiting for the glorious day of resurrection.

For the Christian, hope is summed up in that incredible word: resurrection. And resurrection doesn’t speak of life after death it refers to what one distinguished scholar says is ‘life after life after death.’ In other words, Jesus doesn’t offer us a blissful time eternally playing harps and singing songs with the angels. He wants us to know that His risen body is the prototype and that His disciples can look forward to living on earth again but with a body just like His. And that body could pass through locked doors yet allow Him to eat a plate of fish (there is no record of Him having chips)

‘How stupid’ I hear some people say. ‘It’s ridiculous’ others agree. ‘How can you believe things like that?’ they ask.

To which I reply that I find it easier to believe in the resurrection of the dead than to believe that everything came into existence out of nothing. That really does take some believing!

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]