Actor Andrew Jack dies of coronavirus at 76 in Britain

SYDNEY (AP) — Star Wars actor Andrew Jack has died in Britain as a result of the coronavirus, his agent said on Wednesday. He was 76.

The actor, who also worked as a dialect coach, died in a hospital in Surrey on Tuesday, Jack’s agent Jill McCullough said in a statement.

“Andrew lived on one of the oldest working houseboats on the Thames, he was fiercely independent but madly in love with his wife, also a dialect coach,” McCullough said.

Jack appeared in “Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi” as General Ematt, as well as “Solo: A Star Wars Story” and “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.”

His wife, Gabrielle Rogers, who is quarantined in Australia, posted on social media: “Andrew Jack was diagnosed with coronavirus 2 days ago. He was in no pain, and he slipped away peacefully knowing that his family were all ‘with’ him.”

Passengers arriving in Australia must isolate in hotels for two weeks.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

Jack’s clients for his dialect coaching included Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth.

Last week’s column studied the first three verses of the book of Hebrews. This week we’ll continue that study by looking at the rest of chapter 1. After having accomplished the work which God the father had sent him to do on Earth (John 17:4), Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at God’s right hand (Hebrews 1:3; Mark 16:19; cf. Daniel 7:13-14). Truly all authority in heaven and on earth was given to him (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:20-22; Philippians 2:9-10; Colossians 2:10).

For this reason alone Christ is superior to the angels who serve him in heaven. Quoting the Psalmist, the Hebrew writer acknowledged that God had “made him for a little while lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7; cf. Psalm 8:46). Paul wrote of how this was accomplished when Christ left “the form of God” and “equality with God” and “made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men ... found in human form” (Philippians 2:6-8). Yet when he ascended into heaven, Jesus became superior to the angels by sitting at God’s right hand.

The name he has inherited – the Son of God – is far superior to that of angels, which is why the Hebrew writer asked, “For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’? Or again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’?” (He- brews 1:5; cf. Psalm 1:7; 2 Samuel 7:14). He then made another point by writing, “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, ‘Let all God’s angels worship him’” (Hebrews 1:6; cf. Psalm 97:7). Jesus is called “the firstborn” here because “firstborn” indicates superiority. Paul calls Christ “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20, 22), contextually talking about those who will be resurrected from the dead; Jesus is called their “firstfruits” because he was the first to be resurrected from the dead and live never to die again. By citing the Psalm that speaks of angels worshiping him, the Hebrew writer again