Tag: Resurrection

YAHSHUA, the First Born of the Dead

And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake (II Corinthians 5:15).

The ministry of reconciliation between God and men cost the life of YAHSHUA, for it was done by the shedding of His own blood. Reconciled with God, men are forgiven and given the position of God’s sons and daughters. We became God’s firstborn and part of the harvest of souls.  But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead, and He became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep; for since through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come]. Therefore, if any person is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! But all things are from God, who through YAHSHUA Messiah reconciled us to Himself and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation. It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against their trespasses and committing to us the message of reconciliation (I Cor. 5:17-19).

YAHSHUA died and was raised for the sake of those who live for Him. That is, who had been born again. His resurrection foreshadows the resurrection of believers at the time when He calls us up to heaven. The Prophet Isaiah prophesized saying, “Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for Your dew is as the dew of the dawn; and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits” (Isa. 26:19).  The redemptive work of YAHSHUA would be incomplete without His resurrection. Had He remained in the grave, we would be without hope and doomed to hell. Paul said, “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not risen; and if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless; and further, those who have died in Christ have perished; if we who are [abiding] in Christ have hope only in this life and that is all, then we are of all people most miserable and to pitied.  But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead, and He became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep [in death]. For since through a man that death [came into the world, it is] also through a Man that the resurrection of the dead [has come]. For just as in Adam all people die, so also shall all in Christ be made alive But each in his own rank and turn: Christ is the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s at His coming” (I Cor. 15:13-14;16-23)

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The Revelation Concerning the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ

It is a most solemn fact that Religious Christendom, by accepting that the Savior’s resurrection took place early on the Sunday morning after His death at 3 P.M. on the Friday, makes each of the Three specific statements on the subject uttered by our Lord Himself appear grossly inaccurate.  It is, therefore, a singular joy and a cause for much thanksgiving to be able to dispel the cloud of suspicion which has gathered around these Three statements by virtue of Christendom’s willingness to accept and act upon a theory which does despite to each one of them.  Every true Christian knows that our Lord could not err in any statement He made; but for eighteen centuries no one has been able to prove to the world from the Scriptures that each of His Three predictions was literally fulfilled.  Rather have His statements been explained away than explained, and this often by those to whom the process must have caused much misgiving. 

Statement 1:  Matthew 16: 21…

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the third day.”

The expression “raised again the third day” appears no less than ten times, in one form or another, as follows:  Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46; I Corinth. 15:4. This is by far the most frequent term used in reference to the time the Lord would be raised from the dead.

Statement 2:  Mark 8:31

“And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

This statement “after three days” occurs only once in the Authorized Version but the Revised Version renders Mark 9:31 and 10:34 as “after three days”.  It is also quoted in this form by the Jews to Pilate when the asked for a guard for the sepulchre. (See Matt. 27:63 and Luke 24:21.)

Statement 3:  Matt. 12:40

“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.”

The statement is only recorded once in the Gospels.

Statement 3 is the most important of all because our Lord prefaced it with the words, “There shall no sign be given … but the sign of the prophet Jonas”.  If, therefore, our Lord was not in the literal sense “three days and three nights” in death, then His one sign to this “evil and adulterous generation” failed.  To declare such a thing would be blasphemy.  To evade the issue by accepting the notion that the expression used by our Lord was a Jewish idiom that need not be treated literally is a most dangerous slight upon Him which, if taken to its final analysis, would allow His critics all the leeway they wish when belittling His statements on other subjects.  To be a true prediction, our Lord’s session in death must have covered all or part of “three days” and all or part of “three nights”; and exactly the same terms would have applied to Jonah’s session in “the whale’s belly”.

Obviously, our Lord intended these three statements covering the time of His resurrection to be complementary one to the other.  They are not purposeless and each one accomplishes a different object.  We will take them in turn.

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Your Dead Shall Live

(Isaiah 26:19-21)

Your dead shall live [O Lord]; the bodies of our dead [saints] shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For Your dew [O Lord] is a dew of [sparkling] light [heavenly, supernatural dew]; and the earth shall cast forth the dead [to life again; for on the land of the shades of the dead You will let Your dew fall] (Isaiah 26: 19). Resurrection unto life with YAHSHUA is the promise that rings eternally in the heart of all believer. Here the Prophet Isaiah assures the promise with words that connect to the words of our Lord when He said, I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, although he may die, yet he shall live; and whoever continues to live and believes in Me shall never die at all (John 11:25-24b). For the believer, death can only touch the physical part of the body. It has no power over the spirit. Life is in the spirit of the believer, although physical death has been ordained for men because of sin. Paul said, the body that is sown is perishable and decays, but [the body] that is resurrected is imperishable; it is sown in dishonor and humiliation it is raised in honor and glory. It is sown in infirmity and weakness it is resurrected in strength and endued with power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a supernatural body. [as surely as] there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body (Cor. 15:42-44). Paul referred YASHSUA as the first born from among the dead because He was the first to experience birth after death through His resurrection, so we will too. He will die no more. Many people experienced resurrection but had to die again. In the book of Revelation- the revelation of YAHSHUA the Messiah, John also referred to Him as the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the First-born of the dead… (Rev. 1: 5a). Because we were given the right to become the children of God by believing in His name, we owe our birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh nor to the will of man, but to God [we are born of God] (John 1:12), even though we died physically, we shall live.

“For Your dew is a dew of light” That implies life coming from heaven in a supernatural dew. When YAHSHUA rose from the dead in the powerful resurrection power, the tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep in death were raised to life and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matt. 28: 52-53). We know that these people were not resurrected in their glorified bodies, either to eternal life and like the rest who came to life, they died again. That was not the “heavenly, supernatural dew.” The impact of the resurrection of our Savior YAHSHUA- the author of Life, was so great and so powerful that caused life to enter into the lives of those saints. If they were recognizable, I presume they were saints who had died recently. I am just speculating, of course, for the Bible does not tell us whom they were. 

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Why Lazarus Had To Die and Be Buried

(John 11)

When YAHSHUA received the message from Lazarus’ sisters, concerning his sickness, He was in a town beyond the Jordan River, which was a day’s journey to Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters lived. His death took place 2 weeks before the Lord’s death. He died on Friday April 17th, and he rose on Monday April 20th. This parallels to the time span when YAHSHUA died, which was 2 weeks later, on the Friday of the first of May, which is 15 days from April 17th; and He rose on May 4th, two weeks from April 20th.  The delay Lazarus’ sisters experienced did not constitute a delay in God’s calendar to implement His divine plan in which He would glorify His Son through the display of His power over death, with the purpose that the nation of Israel might believe in this their last chance, YAHSHUA to be His Son, the Messiah that was to come to redeem the nation.

Arriving at the place, four days later, YAHSHUA encountered Martha, who in deep sorrow, expressed her frustration by saying, If You had been here my brother would not have died. “If you had been here” a phrase that demonstrates faith and confidence in YAHSHUA’S divine being. The presence of the Lord is the most desired presence Christians long for. His presence brings joy, peace, unity, love, healing, forgiveness, hope and much more. When He saw people’s sorrow over the dead, He then partook of their sorrow and wept with them, knowing that sin is the cause of death. Sighing repeatedly, deeply disquieted, he went to the tomb. This was the moment when He lived His soon coming death by crucifixion, and the evil treatments He was going to go through. This was the moment when He saw Himself paying the penalties of sins in a most humble way men ever experienced; when men’s cruelty, for whom He was going to die, would take its toll on Him, leaving Him completely disfigured; that would be the moment of His Father’s abandonment of Him as the sins of the world would weigh on Him. That was a disquieted moment, although for Lazarus and his sisters, it was a very exciting moment- it was Lazarus’ resurrection moment.

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Behold, the Messiah (part 2)

Messiah being essentially one with God and in the form of God, did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped, or retained, but stripped Himself, so as to assume the guise of a servant in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. That in the name of YAHSHUA every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess and acknowledge that YAHSHUA the Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2: 6-7).

On the first day of weeks, that is, counting from the day after the Sabbath, when they had brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths (Lev. 23: 15-16). That constituted Pentecost and the waving of the sheaf constitutes resurrection- Messiah’s resurrection, behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled the boulder back and sat upon it. And his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. He said to the women who had come to the tomb, do not fear. He is not here for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord was laid. There was the empty tomb! Some of His disciples witnessed as well and believed Him. As two of His disciples were walking to the city of Emmaus, Messiah walked with them to their place and ate with them. On the evening of that same day, Messiah appeared to His disciples though they were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. He stood among them and said, Peace to you! Then He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were filled with joy. The Prophet Zachariah foretold that in “that day” future day yet to come, Israel will look upon their Messiah, Whom they had pierced and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn. Messiah remained on earth forty days after His resurrection. He appeared to five hundred people at that time. They all testified His resurrection. He, the firstfruit of all those who will believe in Him, went ahead to conquer death. It was swallowed up in and unto victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through the Lord YAHSHUA the Messiah.

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A Manger, a Donkey, a Guestroom, a Cross and a Tomb

Because the blood of bulls and goats is powerless to take sins away, hence when He [Christ} entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me…Then I said, Behold, here I am, coming to do Your will, O God what is written of Me in the volume of the Book (Heb. 10: 4-5,7).  This is the most celebrated birth. The Son of God did not come according to the will of man, but of God. The place where God chose for His Son to be born was most significant and meaningful, although many are ignorant of this fact. The Son of God came to fulfill His Father’s will of salvation for humankind. He came representing a lamb for the purpose of being offered as a sacrifice to take the sins of the world. As such, He was given a manger for a crib in His birth. Not a regular manger, but a special one, where only the perfect chosen lambs laid their heads. These were raised for the temple sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of the nation of Israel. No one knew why there was no room for God’s Son to have a proper place to be born and a crib to lay His head. However, God does not need the things of the world to accomplish His intents and purposes. He has chosen the people from whom He was to bring His Son to the world and the exact place where He wanted to manifest His glory. His glory shone brighter in that humble place, where shepherds and lambs witnessed His glory and rejoiced, while the world slept through it, knowing nothing that was happening.

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But Mary Stood Alone Sobbing

YAHSHUA was dead; His body was not in the tomb, Mary Magdalene puzzled over what she was seeing, without understanding what had happened on that early morning of the first day of weeks. Without any delay, she ran to tell Simon Peter and John about it. Anxiously and worried, Mary related to the disciples that they had taken YAHSHUA’S body; she did not know where to. Her heart was disturbed and fearful with the idea that YAHSHUA’S body had disappeared. While the disciples went to verify her report, they left also puzzled, for not having understood the words of YAHSHUA concerning His resurrection in three days. Meanwhile, Mary remained at the tomb sobbing, overtaken by her emotion at the thought of Him been gone. She stood at the tomb alone, for the disciples had left at the reality of the empty tomb; they pondered over the fact, for their understanding was veiled with unbelief. As of today, not all Israel has yet been unveiled to see and perceive YAHSHUA been risen from the dead. But for Mary Magdalene, that was all a different story. Delivered from seven demons, she lived her freedom displaying her gratitude to the Lord, as in together with other women, she ministered to and provided for Him out of her property and personal belongings (Luke 8:2-3). Her love for YAHSHUA was clearly genuine, even when she thought Him to be dead.

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His Broken Body

Not a sound, not a cry

They came to take Him away

In violent disarray

In the night while in the Garden

Gethsemane, that was

In intense prayer

While sweat like blood clots

Ran down His face

Swords, clubs, torches

To lighten into the dark

Of the mob’s coward way

They came, Jesus, we want

I am He, He replied

At His voice, they fell

backward to the ground

Their strength gone.

With a kiss He was marked

For trials by the authorities

Of crimes not committed

The verdict by Rome

Not guilty of the charges

Crucify Him, others cried

Rome’s deaf to the truth

Listened to the mob’s voice

Cesar, Cesar, our king

Away with Jesus

Crucify Him, crucify Him!

Pilate scourged and whipped Him

Mercilessly by the hands

Of his soldiers, one by one

In a spectacle of cruelty

Disgraced and guilty

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Expression

Love, I saw your appearance

You were so disfigured

In an expression so deep

Beyond comprehension

Of a human mind

Love, you touched me

Penetrating my inmost being

I noticed your suffering

And not knowing what to say

I cried my God!

The crown of thorns piercing

Through your head

Causing your blood to flow

Your eyes speaking to me

In an expression so deep

Embracing me, I heard you

Say, Father forgive her

In an expression so deep

I bowed down, touching your feet

Wanting to understand such love

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