Epaggelia

Key Text:  Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:9-12

Bethany is on the eastern foothill of Mt. Olivet. This is the same place he started from during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, (Mk. 11:1). Now he is beginning his triumphal entry into Heaven, which we may term as the New Jerusalem?  It is the Mt, which Zechariah prophesied the beginning of a great change in Judah, where living waters start to flow, Zec.  14:1-9.  Jesus lifted his hands when he blessed his disciples. Why? Posture is important. The Jews often lifted their hands in prayer, (not praise), so they could offer God clean hands prepared for holy work. Jesus knew they would become His hands on earth, when He left.  Jesus also prayed looking up to Heaven, (Mk. 6:41).

One of our most difficult problems with prayer is distractions, and posture can help prevent our mind from wandering. Fervent prayer can not be prayed flippantly, especially when we are praying for someone other than our self.  The apostle Paul was on his knees in prayer, Eph. 3:14.   Jerome mentions a rumor that the author of “James”, the Lord’s brother, actually was nicknamed, “old camel knees”, because so often he was on his knees in prayer, they became callous. Josephus actually says James was regarded even by unbelieving Jews, as “James The Just”. Prayer can make us strong to do what is right. Nelson’s Dictionary says camels must be trained to kneel. We may have something in common with them. When Jesus prayed blessings, he was asking the Father to help strengthen them for His absence. This was not a prayer of thanksgiving, but rather a claim for help. Jesus knew their greatest need in His absence would be to practice what he sent them to preach. It is the living practice of our message as a Christian that puts our priesthood real. Read 1st Peter 2:9.  

Interesting note that “Clouds” relate to Jesus three times, once during the transfiguration, Mt. 17:5, also here in the ascension, Ac. 1:9 and he is promised to come in clouds upon judgment day, 1st Ths. 4:17. Clouds are essentially water, and that is what demons avoid, which is where we meet the blood of Jesus by faith in baptism, (Mt. 12:43 & Lk. 11:24). Water has always been in Gods’ plan.  The apostles first reaction during the ascension of Jesus and His blessing was to worship Him. Never under any circumstance should we hesitate to worship or pray to Jesus. Why? Because right then and there He became our High Priest.  Without Jesus interceding, we are hopelessly unable to do anything acceptable for God, Mk. 16:19.  See Hebrews 8:1-4, without Jesus as our High Priest, we are like a body beheaded.  His High Priesthood is the reason He is the Head of the church, his body, Colossians 1:18.  The second reaction of the disciples during his ascension is “staring”.  Christians can not afford to be “watching the sky”, we are to be doing the will of the Lord, loving and looking and staying prepared for the coming of Christ, as if it will be tomorrow, 2nd Peter 3:10, 1st Ths 5:2. We should be in love with His appearing, 2nd Tim. 4:8, with as much love as the first disciples had, when they missed Him.

Key Texts:  John 21:1-24 & Acts 1: 3-12

When the disciples reached land they immediately saw Jesus with a charcoal fire, fish being cooked and bread. How can 1 fish and loaf, feed over 7 men breakfast, when they are tired and hungry?   Is there another miracle here being performed, besides the 153 big fish in an untorn net Jesus provided? The lesson we get is that Jesus has everything we need, in order to do what he wants us to do, even when it feels like he isn’t with us. Instead of fishing for fish, they should have been fishing for men. The compassion of Jesus in calling them from a distance, “children”, is how God views our disappointments. We may fish all night and feel our work is a waste, but Jesus knew that would be the case and used their frustration and loss to help them appreciate his merciful power.

After breakfast, Jesus calls Peter,  “Son of John”, which is the same as “Bar-Jonah” and may have brought to Simon Peter’s remembrance that day when he first confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the son of God.  Matthew 16:16, 17, “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”. When Peter’s confession of love was being made, you may safely assume that Peter’s denial was being forgiven. Was this the Lord’s way of making sure we understand that remorseful tears are only the beginning of repentance? We must realize that it is our love for Jesus, not our sorrow for sin, that ensures our forgiveness and compels our confession, see 2nd Tim. 4:8 & James 1:12.

This obviously got Peter motivated to help lead the disciples back towards Jerusalem, which Jesus was near in his ascension from Mt. Olivet. The promise of the coming Holy Spirit was made sure by Jesus immediately before his ascension. The usage of two different words for “love” in John 21, helped teach Peter, that his love for Jesus must grow to the extent that he put his own fears aside, and feed the sheep despite however many ravenous wolves of distraction scare him.  Going back south towards Jerusalem must have been scary, there his enemies in the Sanhedrin would confront the sheep. But not without the presence of the Holy Spirit.  During this time, Jesus spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, Ac. 1:3. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was promised during the 40 days Jesus showed himself, so perhaps this message of love, leadership and power in the Spirit and Kingdom served to mature Peter’s leadership in the right direction.  The restoration of the Kingdom to Israel was happening but there are two things about it’s nature we must remember.

Firstly, it is spiritual not physical, Lk 17:21, we can’t even put a specific calendar date to it. We indeed can see the church born on Pentecost, but we can not date it’s entry and establishment in the world from Bethlehem to Calvary. Indeed the power of the Kingdom is increasing and progressive in the language of Paul in Col. 1:13  & 2nd Tim. 4:18.

Secondly, Christians are indeed the true circumcision, that is, spiritual Israel, see Php. 3:3, Romans 11:25-28 & Galatians 3:28. Therefore we have citizenship in the heavenly Jerusalem, Php. 3:20, and the Kingdom of God is being restored for eternity from heaven to earth and vice-versa.

The women departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to tell the disciples what had happened. How are “fear” and “great joy” compatible? (Mat. 28:28). Jesus appeared at least ten times between his resurrection and ascension, five of which, the first five listed below, were on the day of the resurrection:           

To Mary Magdalene (John and Mark).  

To Other Women (Matthew).

To Peter: Luke 24:34,

To Ten Apostles, Thomas Absent: John 20:20

To Disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24:12-17).

To Eleven Apostles, Thomas Present: John 20:26

To Seven by the Sea: John 21:1-25           

To Above Five Hundred: 1 Corinthians 15:6.

To James & the Apostles, including Matthias: 1 Corinthians 15:5-7, After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

To All the Disciples with the Great Commission in Different Words:  Acts 1:3-8.  

Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. Why did Jesus appear first to Mary instead of to one of the dedicated apostles such as Peter, James or John? Jesus had cast, driven seven demons out of Mary of Magdala.  However, she did not know, realize the person she saw was Jesus. Why not?  Why did she not recognize Jesus? Mary was not the only one who failed to recognize Jesus.  Acts 13:26, 27, John 21:4,  Many today would not recognize Jesus because of such things as: 

1. Worldly distractions & prejudices,    

2. Satan.  IICorinthians 4:4, In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.  

3. The lowliness of Jesus.  Example: John 1:46, And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said unto him, Come and see.

Jesus further said to Mary, “Do not hold on to me, don’t touch me; for I have not yet ascended, returned to the Father.” Mary must have impulsively embraced Jesus, fallen at his feet and held them. The meaning is, “Don’t hold on to me.”  I have a job for you.  Several instances of people who touched the resurrected Christ are given in Scripture: 

1. Matthew 28:9, And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.  And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 

2. John 20:27, Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 

3. Luke 24:39, Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.“Go instead unto my brethren, brothers and tell them, I am returning, ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary’s job was to tell the apostles that Jesus had been resurrected, that she had seen Jesus and that he was soon to ascend to glory. What is our job?

Key Text: 1st Corinthians 15:50-58

It seems the point of Paul’s description of our resurrection is to give us an assurance that all we do in this body is not in vain, v58. Life, rewards and power belong to everyone inside Christ Jesus for eternity because of the resurrection.

The superiority of Jesus as the resurrection is stated by Paul in Colossians 1:16-18.  The resurrection of Jesus himself has a unique quality because of his own power to perform the resurrection.  No one raised Jesus from the dead, he raised himself, we see this claim in the fact of the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:8-11), not allowing His body to be bound to hades or death itself, Acts 2:22-33.  It is stated at least twice that God the Father raised Jesus, but as Jesus often claimed to be one with the Father, we can easily accept that the “Godhead”  (Romans 1:20), was at work on His body for that victorious event of life after death.  The Biblical account of the resurrection can in no way be understood to be solely spiritual, but rather, as Scripture points out, it is both physical & spiritual.  Every person that has ever lived & died on this earth will experience this phenomena, John 5:28-29.  Do you believe in Him and His power? The apostle Paul did, Acts 24:15, and he wanted LIFE eternal from the Just One.

All the other resurrections recorded in the Bible have lessons for us.  We need to learn about them in order to help our faith grow in the power of God on our own soul & body.  This kind of faith, led Abraham to be blessed with God imputing His own righteousness upon him and confirming the promise of blessings from God to be fulfilled upon Abraham because he obeyed God’s voice.  Genesis 22:1-18.  Do you believe in Him and His power as Abraham did?  See Galatians 3:26-29. 

A.   Son of the widow of Zarephath, 1Kings 17:22 

B.  Son of the Shunammite, 2nd Kings 4:35 

C.  Dead man restored to life at the touch of Elisha’s bones, 2nd Kings 13:21 

D.  Jairus’ daughter, Matthew 9:25 

E.  Son of the widow of Nain, Luke 7:15 

F.   Lazarus of Bethany, John 11:44 

G. Saints at the time of the crucifixion, Matthew 27:52,  Mark 5:42 

H. Dorcas, Acts 9:40 

I.   Eutychus,  Acts 20:9-12

J. Every Single Faithful Child of God !  Romans 6:1-8, John 11:25. 

The very purpose of God’s Spirit living in us is revealed in 2Corinthians 5:1-8, it explains the promised gift of our resurrection unto life.   Herein is found the famous saying, “walk by faith”, but what is He asking us to walk believing in?  The Resurrection!   

Many people can’t accept the bodily resurrection and deity of Jesus. Here are the main points in Scripture proving it true. Proof is simply evidence written by eye-witnesses which has never been disproved with contrary evidence. In order to prove the bodily resurrection of Jesus false, someone must present evidence against the eye-witness accounts in the New Testament. Today, there are theories abounding about alleged bones of Jesus being discovered in Jerusalem, but they are simply that, theories. However, non-Christian scholars refute the bones as even legitimate evidence, and conclude that they are anonymous bones. Let us consider what the New Testament says. Afterall, it is the most well authenticated ancient writing in the world. Here are five Biblical facts as logical evidence confirming the resurrection.

1. Buried in a Tomb!  From the event to present day, no one is on record historically to deny the tomb is empty, neither did anyone produce a body.  Jesus was placed in an identifiable tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea with burial preparations and women watching as the body was placed in the tomb, when they returned with more preparations, they found it empty. The heavy stone covering was large, and was officially sealed by enemies of Jesus, providing a witness to the fact that the disciples could not have stolen the body.  The Temple guards of the tomb, faced the possibility of execution upon failure to carry out their duties. The only thing found in the tomb were grave clothes, tidily unmoved, yet stained with His precious blood, the redeeming price for the sin-sick souls of humanity. Jn. 19:31-20:10.

2. The Disciples of Jesus. Before his death, they proved to be cowards, but after the resurrection, James his own physical brother had a change of heart, Peter’s past denial turned into a proclamation, Thomas’s skepticism turned into confession and in all of them, the message of the resurrection brought upon them brave sacrifice and even martyrdom. At first, they did not expect Jesus to rise!  If the resurrected body of Jesus was a hallucination, they would need to have had an expectation to have seen it. They were brought to belief after the resurrection against their own past doubts. Jesus led them to face the truth, because of his undying love for us, Jn. 20:19-29. The change in Saul and the early Apostles is phenomenal.  1st Corinthians 15:1-17 & 2nd Corinthians 11:22-28

3. The Appearances of Jesus: they are noted in over 15 occasions in varying times, places and by different people. Sometimes being in small groups or in a large crowd. People saw him, touched him and even ate with him, Mt. 28:16ff, Lk. 24, Jn.20-21, 1 Cor. 15:4-9. Eye-witnesses are the best proof for undeniable truth which can’t be proven false in the future. In order to logically disprove the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the unbeliever must produce some evidence contrary to these reports. Evidence which could out-weigh eye-witness records in the most authenticated historical document the world has ever known, the New Testament.  Paul claims the deity of Jesus rests on the undeniable resurrection of Jesus, Romans 1:1-4.

4. Jesus claimed that he would rise from the dead, prior to his death. His disciples heard this publicly, but did not understand the reality of it, until after it happened and then recorded it. This act of self-prophecy by Jesus, would either make him out to be a liar, an idiot or God with us.  The fact of his own resurrection proves life goes on, as every human craves for it beyond the grave.  Jesus truly met & defeated our greatest fear, Jn.2:13-22. The Old Testament prophets predict the resurrection, Gen. 22:5-14, Psa. 49:15 & Hos. 13:14, showing fulfilment in Jn. 8:56. Jesus identified with theses prophecies before his death! Jesus hasn’t been discounted as an idiot to this day!

5. The Establishment of the Church verified by the New Testament was completed and recorded within the lifetime of people who could argue against it’s claims and provide the body of Jesus as evidence against their teachings, but it never happened. Yet the resurrected body of Jesus was central to the church’s message.  The new religion was so different, they forever revoked their holy day as the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday the “Lord’s Day” because of the resurrection. The church’s most public displays of faith are the Communion and Baptism, both of which focus their purpose on the death and bodily resurrection of Jesus.  Whenever the day arrives for the unbeliever to present evidence against the resurrection, the Church will dissolve. Until then, the burden of evidence rests on the unbeliever, not Christians.  We are still standing in His grace, Romans 5:2, and power, Romans 1:3-4. In all honesty, in view of the five facts above, can anyone dismiss the resurrection as a factual historical event today without sacrificing their own reason or logic?

Grace indeed, is the greatest word in the greatest book, the Bible. If not for God’s grace, we would know nothing of His love for us personally, nor would we ever have even heard about the blood of Jesus. Without God’s grace, there would be no Jesus, no New Testament and no hope of salvation. Our world would be a horrific place in which to live without the grace of God.

Here are five facts God declares about His grace:

The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Grace , Hebrews 10:29. Therefore it is gracious that He even would want to live with us.

The apostle Paul instructs us to be strong in God’s grace, 2nd Timothy 2:1. Therefore we an emulate his grace.

Paul believed that Christians stand in the grace of God, Romans 5:2. Therefore we survive in His presence by grace.

The grace of God causes salvation to appear to all of us, Titus 2:11. Therefore we have access to a powerful and positive hope.

By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of  yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9. Therefore we can not claim or dare to even think, that we saved ourself, by ourself.

…as God has dealt to each person a measure of  faith.

Romans 12:5. Even our faith is given to us by grace!

What does God’s grace teach us?  See Titus 2:11-14.  Can we see God’s grace?  See Acts 11:23.  Who is the “prince of the power of the air” and in whom does he work?  See Eph. 2:2.  Who is the “Ruler of the kings of the earth” and in whom does He work? See Rev. 1:5.

Key Texts: Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-56, John 19:38-42

Isaiah 53:9, “He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death”  Jesus was buried with sinners, as a sinner for sinners, in a sinners graveyard, but Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He gave the corpse of Jesus a new place. Wherein our new life would emerge with a new promise and law for us and all “Good and Upright” people who would imitate the faith of Abraham that was in Jesus. Another man called “Good”, was Barnabas, Ac. 11:22-24. The goodness of Joseph was from God, (2Ths. 1:11), and we too can be counted worthy by God, for his power to fulfil every desire for goodness and work of faith. Goodness truly is a fruit of His Spirit in us, Gal. 5:22-23. In this hour of crisis for Christ, most disciples abandoned Christ and ran away, while others, like Joseph, stepped forward to do the will of the Father. What will we do, when Christ is being treated ill by others around us? What do we say, when people take His name in vain? Joseph “begged” Pilate (Mt. 27:58) for the corpse of Christ to be taken off the cross for burial, and it was publicly made official. Joseph must have expected that his gift of the tomb was a permanent contribution. What Joseph gave to Jesus he received back “good as new” three days later. God raised up a Joseph… to save the Israelites from famine…to save the infant Jesus from death at the hand of Herod…to save the body of Jesus from being buried along with the robbers in a potter’s field. What we give to Jesus we receive back in heaven “with interest!”

The gravesite was obvious, both Joseph, Nicodemus and at least two Marys knew exactly where it was, when he was laid inside. Also the Jews laid their own sentry and seal upon it, so there could be no confusion amongst his enemies or disciples, about the location of God’s greatest miracle. Why do we know so little about it today?

A long tradition going back to the first century, however, maintains that Jesus’ tomb is at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem. In the 4th century, Constantine supposedly located the tomb site beneath a second century Roman temple. He constructed a church over it. This church has been restored and maintained over the centuries ever since. It is today shared by six faiths: Latin Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Syrian, Copts and Ethiopians. If it could be proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that this was truly the place, we would surely see it made into an idol. Humanity would exalt it higher than Jesus himself. Jesus doesn’t want a grave to be the memorial of the resurrection, he wants our hearts to maintain the resurrection!

Matthew 27:65, Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. This may indicate that Pilate was prepared to believe Jesus might well rise from the dead… or was it just to pacify the Chief Priests and Pharisees? So much had happened on the crucifixion day that Pilate didn’t know what might happen next. Even the hardened Roman centurion declared, “Surely this man was the Son of God.” The Pharisees now assumed they could relax thinking they had finally silenced Jesus of Nazareth. On the Sabbath Jesus was in the tomb.  The Sabbath was not Jesus’ day of victory.  The Lord’s Day was the first day of the week, the resurrection day. 

Consequently Christians worship on the day of Christ’s great victory, not on the day of his being dead and buried, a day of apparent defeat. We need to die to our old self and let God’s new creation in our new life rejoice in Sunday the Lord’s Day. God has saved the burial story for us to learn this from: Our Lord knows what it’s like to die and feel like all is lost, but faith in His power, goodness and promise is our victory. Baptism as a burial in where that faith is rewarded by forgiveness and His Spirit’s presence.