In the Daily Audio Bible this week, we finished the fourth and last of the Gospels–the book of John. It was a little sad to wrap that up since the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ earthly ministry have loomed large in the New Testament since the beginning of the year. And now Jesus is gone.

Or is He?

Why not? you may ask, and I’m glad you did.

Well, for one thing, He appears in His resurrected form to the disciples in the first chapter of the book of Acts, before He ascended to heaven. And for another thing, even though He is not present in bodily form for most of the rest of the New Testament, His fingerprint is emblazoned upon nearly every remaining page.

For example, He trained Peter on how to lead this band of misfits, and Peter led them well. Jesus also planted His message on the heart of a young religious scholar named Saul, and that man–whose name He changed to Paul upon converting him–wrote most of the rest of the New Testament, imploring them to follow the real Jesus and not the savior they often wanted Him to be.

These are important new beginnings in the life of the church that would not have happened if Jesus had not ascended to the heavenly Father. So, even though some endings can be emotional, in the long run, they are usually OK since they lead to new beginnings, just like God planned them to do.