Passed...

Spotted this link on the BBC news website: "Kinky Granny among those who passed". Of course "Kinky Granny" grabs attention - but what caught my eye was "passed". Passed what? Her driving test? The citizenship exam? Her 100th birthday? No - it was a link to the monthly review of lesser-known people who've recently died.

But I still want to know what "passed" means. Is it short for "passed on" or "passed away"? If so, where to? Some pleasant place where the deceased meet loved ones and look down benevolently on this world as in The Lovely Bones? Or have they "passed" some kind of entrance exam, proving themselves good enough for "heaven"? Or is it simply that their lives have passed - been used up, finished, no longer existing?

If the BBC mean any of the above, it can only be because they don't believe Jesus' words:

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 5 v 24