Remembering what the scriptures begin to tell us about why we should celebrate the day of the resurrection...Jesus the Messiah is Alive!
Chapter 21
Showing posts with label The Resurrection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Resurrection. Show all posts
Mar 27, 2016
Apr 6, 2015
The Gospel of John - Jesus the Resurrected on the Beach with the Disciples
Jesus restores and commissions Peter to take care of the new church...and foretells Peter's death at the hands of the Romans.
Apr 5, 2015
The Passion of the Christ - Crucifixion & Resurrection
Today above all days we as believers give thanks for the great love and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God from whom all blessings flow...
Aug 7, 2014
Our New Bodies
It has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him. (1 John 3:2)
God, through Christ, will deliver us from this present "body of death" (which is the sinful nature). Rom 7:20-25
God has prepared us for the purpose of being clothed with our heavenly body. 2 Cor 5:4-5
Although we do not know exactly what our new bodies will be like, we know that they will be like Jesus. 1 John 3:2-3
Our new bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. Phil 3:20-21, Rom 8:28-30, Ps 17:15, Rom 6:5-8, 1 Cor 15:49, 2 Cor 3:17-18 (See Our Lord's Glorious Body)
We will be changed instantaneously when we are raised. 1 Cor 15:51-53
Each of us will have a unique body as God determines, just as a single seed produces its own unique plant. 1 Cor 15:35-58 (Think about how much more grandeur a plant is than its seed! See also Mark 4:30-32, 1 Pet 1:22-23
To gain our new body, our current body must die. 1 Cor 15:35-49 (See also Phil 1:21-23)
Our new body will be incorruptible. Our current body is corruptible. 1 Cor 15:42-44, 1 Cor 15:52-54 (In context: 1 Cor 15:35-58)
Our new body will be glorified. Our current body is dishonorable. 1 Cor 15:42-44, (In context: 1 Cor 15:35-58)
Our new body will be powerful. Our current body is weak . 1 Cor 15:42-44, (In context: 1 Cor 15:35-58)
Our new body will be spiritual. Our current bodies natural. 1 Cor 15:42-44, (In context: 1 Cor 15:35-58)
Our new bodies will be from God, eternal and in the heavens. 2 Cor 5:1-5
Like Moses and Elijah, our bodies will likely be able to converse with others. Luke 9:28-32, Matt 17:2-3
We will speak a pure language that we may be able to call on the name of the Lord and serve Him. Zeph 3:8-9
People who currently have physical disabilities will not have them in their new bodies. Isaiah 35:3-5
We will have no racial or cultural distinctions Col 3:9-11
Remember, our new bodies will be like Christ's glorious body. 1 John 3:2-3, Phil 3:20-21, Rom 8:28-30, Ps 17:15, Rom 6:5-8, 1 Cor 15:49, 2 Cor 3:17-18
He had glory before and after He lived on earth. John 17:3-5
The glory of the Lord is like beautiful colorful brightness. Eze 1:26-28
At the transfiguration, Jesus' face shone like the sun. He was able to converse with Moses and Elijah. Luke 9:28-32, Matt 17:2-3
Jesus appeared to Paul in light. Acts 9:3-4, Acts 26:12-15
In his revelation, John describes Jesus as having eyes like fire, feet like fine brass, voice like many waters, and a countenance like the sun shining in its strength. Rev 1:13-18, Rev 19:11-16
Christ's resurrected body had flesh and bones and was able to eat. Luke 24:36-43
He walked. Luke 24:15-16
He was able to vanish from sight and enter locked rooms. Luke 24:25-32, John 20:19-20, John 20:26-29
He will never die again. Rom 6:9
Although we do not know exactly what our new bodies will be like, we know that they will be like His Christ's glorious body. 1 John 3:2-3 (See Our Lord's Glorious Body)
Each of our bodies will be different and will differ in glory. 1 Cor 15:35-58
Christ will be glorified in us. 2 Thes 1:10-12
We will be glorified together. The present sufferings in this world cannot be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. Rom 8:16-20
Our glory will be that of our Lord Jesus. 2 Thes 2:14-15 (See Our Lord's Glorious Body)
We will reflect His glory. 2 Cor 3:17-18 (see also Ex 34:29-35
God's people will be beautiful, sparkling like jewels in a crown. Zec 9:16-17, Mal 3:16-17
The righteous will shine as the sun in His kingdom. Matt 13:43
We will shine like the brightness of the firmament and like the stars. Dan 12:2-3
We should earnestly desire to be clothed in our heavenly bodies. 2 Cor 5:1-5
We should be confident and walk by faith not by sight, knowing that while we are at home in this body, we are absent from the Lord. 2 Cor 5:6-7
Therefore, we should make it our goal to please God. 2 Cor 5:6-11
We should eagerly wait with perseverance for the redemption of our bodies, even though we cannot see them now. Rom 8:23-25
We should seek insight and desire to lead others to God so that they, too, can be partake in God's righteousness. Dan 12:2-3
We should keep our focus on the better resurrection - even to the point of receiving torture. Heb 11:35
We should be ready to suffer for Christ. Rom 8:16-20
We should love one another fervently with a pure heart. 1 Pet 1:22-23 (See Love)
We should stand firm, holding on to what we have been taught. 2 Thes 2:14-15
Because we will have incorruptible, glorified, powerful and spiritual bodies, we should be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Cor 15:35-58
We should fear the Lord and meditate on His name. Mal 3:16-17
We should reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God and not let sin reign in our mortal body but rather live to God. Rom 6:6-12
Moses' face would shine after talking with God (we too will talk directly with God, presumably more intimately than Moses did at Mt. Sinai). Ex 34:29-35
Job knew that after "his skin is destroyed," he would see God. Job 19:25-27
God promised to make Zerubbabel like a signet ring. Hag 2:20-23
At the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah were able to converse with Christ. Luke 9:28-32, Matt 17:2-3
Daniel saw a vision of a man whose face was like the appearance of lightning, eyes like torches, and arms and feet like bronze. Dan 10:4-9
An angel was described as having a countenance like lightning and clothes as white as snow. Matt 28:2-5
In his revelation, John describes an angel as having a rainbow on his head, his face like the sun, and feet like pillars of fire. Rev 10:1
Our new bodies will be created by God. Psalm 104:28-31
Our new bodies will be like our Lord's glorious body. Psalm 17:15
God's people will be beautiful, sparkling like jewels in a crown. Zec 9:16-17, Mal 3:16-17
We will shine like the brightness of the firmament and like the stars. Dan 12:2-3
Daniel saw a vision of a man whose face was like the appearance of lightning, eyes like torches, and arms and feet like bronze. Dan 10:4-9
We will speak a pure language that we may be able to call on the name of the Lord and serve Him. Zeph 3:8-9
People who currently have physical disabilities will not have them in their new bodies. Isaiah 35:3-5
We should seek insight and desire to lead others to God so that they, too, can be partake in God's righteousness. Dan 12:2-3
We should fear the Lord and meditate on His name. Mal 3:16-17
Moses' face would shine after talking with God (we too will talk directly with God, presumably more intimately than Moses did at Mt. Sinai). Ex 34:29-35
Job knew that after "his skin is destroyed," he would see God. Job 19:25-27
God promised to make Zerubbabel like a signet ring. Hag 2:20-23
Read this article at - http://www.heaven.to/contents/new_bodies.htm
Mar 28, 2013
Christ's Death and Resurrection in the Old Testament
By Chuck Missler
“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced…” — Zechariah 12:10“…Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:” — Luke 24:46
After
his resurrection, Jesus met two men on the road to Emmaus, and he expected them
to already understand through the Scriptures that Christ was meant to suffer and
die. “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself,” (Luke 24:26–27).
We
would all have loved to be there on the road to Emmaus that day, walking with
the resurrected Jesus himself as he detailed the different prophecies that
concerned his death and resurrection. Still, the apostles and other New
Testament writers do a good job of filling us in. The Old Testament is filled
with prophecies and types of Jesus’ suffering and death and resurrection as
payment for the sins of the world, and the New Testament points those out.
Psalm 16:8–11
Simon
Peter starts out on the day of Pentecost explaining that Jesus the Messiah had
risen from the dead, “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it,” (Acts
2:24). Peter then pulled from the Psalms to prove the truth of his
testimony.
“For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.” — Acts 2:24–32
Psalm 22
The
sacrifice and resurrection of the Messiah are throughout the Old Testament.
Psalm 22, written by King David a millennium before Christ, gives us the very
perspective of the Lord hanging on the cross. It describes how the people mocked
Christ (Psalm 22:7–8; Mat 27:41–43), how they cast lots to divide up his clothes
(Psalm 22:18; Mat 27:35), how his bones were out of joint (Psalm 22:14), how the
wicked had surrounded him and pierced his hands and feet (Psalm 22:16) – the
scars of which Thomas later got to touch and feel (John 20:27). Psalm 22 ends by
saying God’s righteousness would be declared to “a people that shall be born”
(Psalm 22:31).
The Sign of Jonah
The
Bible is also full of types and foreshadowings. Jesus Christ is throughout the
Old Testament in a variety of details. For instance, before his death and
resurrection, Jesus offered simply the “sign of Jonah” as a foreshadowing of how
long he would be dead.
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” — Matthew 12:40
Isaiah 53
Isaiah
52:13–53:12 offers one of the most profound prophecies in the entire Old
Testament, written over 700 years before Christ’s death and resurrection.
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” — Isaiah 53:3–6
Some
have argued that this passage refers to Israel, but in the context that
explanation makes little sense. Isaiah clearly says in verse 53:8, “for the
transgression of my people was he stricken.” That is, “he” stands in
contrast to Israel, Isaiah’s people.
In
the next verse, Isaiah says: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and
with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any
deceit in his mouth.”
It
cannot be said of Israel that there was no deceit in her mouth.
On
the other hand, Jesus was crucified between two thieves (Mark 15:27), and yet
was buried in the grave of Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy man with enough
standing to go ask Pilate for Jesus’ body (Mark15:43–46).
In
Isaiah 53:10, we get a hint at a resurrection, because after his soul is made
“an offering for sin” he will then “prolong his days.”
In
the end, Isaiah says in verse 12 that God would reward this righteous servant
(numbered with the transgressors, but not one himself), “he shall divide the
spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he
was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.”
Our Redeemer Lives
In
the oldest book of the Bible, written even before Moses wrote the Pentateuch,
Job prophesied from the ash heap where he suffered. He declared in verses
19:25–26:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”
Passover
These
prophecies are just the beginning, of course. Exodus 12:1–28 describes the feast
of Passover. It was set up as a type of Christ, one that gave the Hebrews an
understanding of the use of a perfect lamb as a sacrifice, the blood of which
would protect those under it from the wrath of God, the angel of death. The Jews
were to prepare for the feast by removing all leaven from their homes, symbolic
of removing sin from their lives.
Paul
the scholar writes in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old
leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us.”
The Pure Spotless Lamb
Peter
describes how we are saved by “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot.” Just as John the Baptist understood,
Jesus was the fulfillment of the Levitical system of blood sacrifice (e.g. Lev
8–9). Jesus was the true spotless lamb whose blood could take away sins. The
sacrifice of bulls and goats could never take away sin, as the writer of Hebrews
noted in verses 10:4–5, quoting Psalm 40:6:
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.”
The
sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity was not an afterthought of
God. It was always the plan from the beginning. Revelation 13:8 calls Jesus,
“the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Throughout
the Law and the Prophets, God revealed His eternal plan of redemption to
mankind. In advance, He described the sacrifice and resurrection of the Messiah.
It was a plan He had purposed before He had even formed humanity. He then
accomplished it, and through Jesus Christ we have the victory now and
forever.
Praise
the King!
“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” — Isaiah 25:8
Mar 26, 2013
Mar 11, 2013
Jesus Wasn't Crucified on Friday or Resurrected on Sunday
How can we fit three days and three nights between a Friday afternoon crucifixion and an Easter Sunday sunrise? The fact is, we can't. So what is the truth about when Jesus was crucified and resurrected?
About one billion Protestants and another billion Catholics believe that Jesus Christ was crucified and entombed on a Friday afternoon—"Good Friday"—and raised to life again at daybreak on Easter Sunday morning, a day and a half later.
Yet when we compare this to what Jesus Himself said about how long He would be entombed, we find a major contradiction. How long did Jesus say He would be in the grave? "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40).
The context in which Jesus Christ said these words is important. The scribes and Pharisees were demanding a miraculous sign from Him to prove that He was indeed the long-awaited Messiah. "But He answered and said to them, 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah'" (verse 39).
This was the only sign Jesus gave that He was the promised Messiah: "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" (emphasis added throughout).
Traditional timing doesn't add up
The Gospels are clear that Jesus died and His body was hurriedly placed in the tomb late in the afternoon, just before sundown when a Sabbath began (John 19:30-42).By the traditional "Good Friday–Easter Sunday" timing, from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is one night and one day. Saturday night to Sunday daybreak is another night, giving us two nights and one day.
So where do we get another night and two days to equal the three days and three nights Jesus said He would be in the tomb?
This is definitely a problem. Most theologians and religious scholars try to work around it by arguing that any part of a day or night counts as a day or night. Thus, they say, the final few minutes of that Friday afternoon were the first day, all day Saturday was the second day, and the first few minutes of Sunday morning were the third day.
Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
The trouble is, it doesn't work. This only adds up to three days and two nights, not three days and three nights.
Also, John 20:1 tells us that "on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb."
Did you catch the problem here? John tells us it was still dark when Mary went to the tomb on Sunday morning and found it empty. Jesus was already resurrected well before daybreak. Thus He wasn't in the tomb any of the daylight portion of Sunday, so none of that can be counted as a day.
That leaves us with, at most, part of a day on Friday, all of Friday night, a whole daylight portion on Saturday, and most of Saturday night. That totals one full day and part of another, and one full night and most of another—still at least a full day and a full night short of the time Jesus said He would be in the tomb.
Clearly something doesn't add up. Either Jesus misspoke about the length of time He would be in the tomb, or the "Good Friday–Easter Sunday" timing is not biblical or accurate.
Obviously both cannot be true. So which one is right?
Understanding God's time is the key
The key to understanding the timing of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection lies in understanding God's timetable for counting when days begin and end, as well as the timing of His biblical festivals during the spring of the year when these events took place.We first need to realize that God doesn't begin and end days at midnight as we do—that is a humanly devised method of counting time. Genesis 1:5 tells us quite plainly that God counts a day as beginning with the evening (the night portion) and ending at the next evening—"So the evening [nighttime] and the morning [daylight] were the first day." God repeats this formula for the entire six days of creation.
In Leviticus 23, where God lists all of His holy Sabbaths and festivals, He makes it clear that they are to be observed "from evening to evening" (verse 32)—in other words, from sunset to sunset, when the sun went down and evening began.
This is why Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, followers of Jesus, hurriedly placed His body in Joseph's nearby tomb just before sundown (John 19:39-42). A Sabbath was beginning at sundown (verse 31), when work would have to cease.
Two kinds of "Sabbaths" lead to confusion
As John tells us in verse 31: "Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [of those crucified] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken [to hasten death], and that they might be taken away."In the Jewish culture of that time, the chores of cooking and housecleaning were done on the day before a Sabbath to avoid working on God's designated day of rest. Thus the day before the Sabbath was commonly called "the preparation day." Clearly the day on which Christ was crucified and His body placed in the tomb was the day immediately preceding a Sabbath.
The question is, which Sabbath?
Most people assume John is speaking of the regular weekly Sabbath day, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. From John's clear statement here, most people assume Jesus died and was buried on a Friday—thus the traditional belief that Jesus was crucified and died on "Good Friday."
Most people have no idea that the Bible talks about two kinds of Sabbath days—the normal weekly Sabbath day that falls on the seventh day of the week (not to be confused with Sunday, which is the first day of the week), and seven annual Sabbath days, listed in Leviticus 23 and mentioned in various passages throughout the Bible,
that could fall on any day of the week.
Because traditional Christianity long ago abandoned these biblical annual Sabbath days (as well as the weekly Sabbath), for many centuries people have failed to recognize what the Gospels plainly tell us about when Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected—and why "Good Friday–Easter Sunday" never happened that way.
Most people fail to note that John explicitly tells us that the Sabbath that began at sundown immediately after Jesus was entombed was one of these annual Sabbath days. Notice in John 19:31 his explanation that "that Sabbath was a high day" —" high day" being a term used to differentiate the seven annual Sabbaths from the regular weekly Sabbath days.
So what was this "high day" that immediately followed Jesus Christ's hurried entombment?
The Gospels tell us that on the evening before Jesus was condemned and crucified, He kept the Passover with His disciples (Matthew 26:19-20; Mark 14:16-17; Luke 22:13-15). This means He was crucified on the Passover day.
Leviticus 23, which lists God's festivals, tells us that on the day after the Passover a separate festival, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins (verses 5-6). The first day of this Feast is "a holy convocation" on which "no customary work" is to be done (verse 7).
This day is the first of God's annual Sabbaths. This is the "high day" of which John wrote. Several Bible commentaries, encyclopedias and dictionaries note that John is referring to an annual Sabbath here rather than the regular weekly Sabbath day.
Passover began at sundown and ended the following day at sundown, when this annual Sabbath began. Jesus kept the Passover with His disciples, then was arrested later that night. After daybreak the next day He was questioned before Pontius Pilate, crucified, then hurriedly entombed just before the next sunset when the "high day," the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, began.
Leviticus 23 tells us the order and timing of these days, and the Gospels confirm the order of events as they unfolded.
Jesus crucified on Wednesday, not Friday
Several computer software programs exist that enable us to calculate when the Passover and God's other festivals fall in any given year. Those programs show that in A.D. 31, the year of these events, the Passover meal was eaten on Tuesday night and Wednesday sundown marked the beginning of the "high day," the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.Jesus, then, was crucified and entombed on a Wednesday afternoon, not on Friday.
Can we find further proof of this in the Gospels? Yes, indeed we can!
Let's turn to a seldom-noticed detail in Mark 16:1: "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him."
In that time, if the body of a loved one was placed in a tomb rather than being buried directly in the ground, friends and family would commonly place aromatic spices in the tomb alongside the body to reduce the smell as the remains decayed.
Since Jesus' body was placed in the tomb just before that high-day Sabbath began, the women had no time to buy those spices before the Sabbath. Also, they could not have purchased them on the Sabbath day, as shops were closed. Thus, Mark says, they bought the spices after the Sabbath— "when the Sabbath was past."
But notice another revealing detail in Luke 23:55-56: "And the women who had come with [Christ] from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment."
Do you see a problem here? Mark clearly states that the women bought the spices after the Sabbath—"when the Sabbath was past." Luke tells us that the women prepared the spices and fragrant oils, after which "they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment."
So they bought the spices after the Sabbath, and then they prepared the spices before resting on the Sabbath. This is a clear contradiction between these two Gospel accounts—unless two Sabbaths were involved!
Indeed when we understand that two different Sabbaths are mentioned, the problem goes away.
Mark tells us that after the "high day" Sabbath, which began Wednesday evening at sundown and ended Thursday evening at sundown, the women bought the spices to anoint Jesus' body. Luke then tells us that the women prepared the spices—activity which would have taken place on Friday—and that afterward "they rested on the Sabbath [the normal weekly Sabbath day, observed Friday sunset to Saturday sunset] according to the commandment."
By comparing details in both accounts, we can clearly see that two different Sabbaths are mentioned along with a workday in between. The first Sabbath was a "high day"—the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on a Thursday. The second was the weekly seventh-day Sabbath. (To see these events spelled out in day-by-day detail, see the chart above.)
The original Greek in which the Gospels were written also plainly tells us that two Sabbath days were involved in these accounts. In Matthew 28:1, where Matthew writes that the women went to the tomb "after the Sabbath," the word Sabbath here is actually plural and should be translated "Sabbaths." Bible versions such as Alfred Marshall's Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, Green's Literal Translation Young's Literal Translation and Ferrar Fenton's Translation make this clear.
Read more at - http://www.ucg.org/doctrinal-beliefs/jesus-wasnt-crucified-friday-or-resurrected-sunday/
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