Who Is Melchizedek?
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him…abideth a priest continually” Hebrews 7: 2-3
The book of Hebrews is about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Why does the writer repeatedly
invoke the name of a city preacher who made a country visit two thousand years before? Why
didn’t the visitee receive a local pastor? How much “was the tenth of the spoils?” But most
importantly: How well will we know Jesus from studying this figure’s brief appearance ? We
start with his only appearance in Genesis 14. Eleven hundred years later in Psalm 110 God
inspired David to honor his name. Chapters describing Melchizedek in Hebrews in the New
Testament will give us a unique perspective of the Son of God. He came to give us access to our
Holy Father in heaven.
Priest of the Most High God
Abram was a worshiper of many Gods when he lived in Ur of the Chaldees.(Joshua 24: 2) God
called him to be the father of His chosen people: the Hebrews. He told him to move his family
and business, but he didn’t tell him where. Abram obeyed. He asked him to toil in a land that
his descendants would one day own. In the end Canaan became his final resting place.
Abram and his nephew, Lot, had acquired so many livestock that they had to divide central
Canaan between them to insure adequate pasture for both. Lot chose to move to the fertile
land near the city of Sodom. Abraham pitched his tent on the plain of Mamre “in Hebron and
built there an altar unto the Lord.” (Genesis 13: 18 KJV) Their neighbors were warring kings.
Sodom was among the losers in the battle. At that point the victors made a big mistake. They
captured Lot. Abram armed 318 of his employees, caught up with the offending kings, and
soundly defeated them. This reminds us of Gideon’s 300 and their victory in Judges.
The spoils of war were great, but all Abram wanted was his nephew and family safe and sound.
Melchizedek’s arrival must have been very welcome. The hundreds of men and women were
probably hungry and thirsty, and this King of Salem (possibly Jerusalem)[1] brought bread and
wine. There is no mention of sacrifice of animals on an altar here. This first priest in the Bible
was a type of Christ when he introduced the elements of Holy Communion to the ancestor of
Christ.[2] Picture Jesus turning the water into wine, in part, to save the wedding in Cana.
Remember His compassion when He fed the thousands the bread and fish for nourishment.
The visiting priest recognized “the possessor of heaven and earth.” (Verse 19) He thanked the
most high God for delivering Abram from the enemy. Abram gave Melchizedek ten per cent of
all the goods that they had brought back from their raid in the north as an offering. This
probably included herds of livestock.
THE Lord Said Unto My Lord
“THE Lord said unto My Lord, ‘Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool.” In Psalm 110: 1 (KJV) David recognized Messiah as “MY Lord” (Adonai) and God as
THE Lord (Jehovah).[3] Because He had never sinned, Jesus could enter God’s presence boldly as
our high priest. “When the Son ascended and appeared in the sanctuary on high, God saluted
Him or addressed Him as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek…This was His reward for
His suffering and obedience.[4] This was the answer to His anguished prayers. He went to make
atonement for our sins. Unlike the temple priests who entered the Holy of Holies once a year,
Christ presented His own sinless blood once, for all, forever. This duty completed, He sat down
at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 1: 3) It is interesting that He stood up to welcome Stephen into
heaven (Acts 7: 55).
.
Jesus is seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. When Satan accuses us
to the Father, Jesus Christ defends us and wins every case. It’s not that we didn’t do the crime;
It’s His righteousness that covers our sin, and God forgives us, and He forgets (Romans 8: 1-4).
“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father…
For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet’ or footstool (1 Corinthians 15: 24-
25 KJV). Verse 28 continues “And when all things shall be subject unto Him, then shall the Son
also be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”
David wrote that his Lord, the Messiah to come, was “a priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
Melchizedek was a priest of God before there were any Jews. This means that Jesus was not
a Jewish priest. He was a priest as Melchizedek was, and He reigns forever. “The Lord hath sworn and
will not repent ” (Psalm 110: 4 KJV). God himself took an oath to appoint Jesus as our high priest.
The only reason for a man to take an oath is because someone might not believe him. William Barclay
pointed out that a statement that God confirms by an oath must be “so utterly unchangeable that it is
woven into the very fibre of the universe and must remain forever. [5]
Without Father, Without Mother
God kept His promise. Hebrews 6: 20 confirms. “...even Jesus made an high priest for ever after the
Order of Melchizedek.” Barclay believed that this letter was from a scholar writing to a small group of
scholars. Possibly they were separated, and he believed that they were drifting away from their Faith.[6]
They must have asked how a descendent of the Tribe of Judah could be our great high priest.
The writer goes to some length in Chapter 7 to show them and us who Jesus Christ is. Who is “without
father, without mother”? J. Barmby wrote that these are “omissions from the narrative ...arranged by
Holy Spirit.”[7] Melchizedek did not need a priestly pedigree as did a priest of the Order of Aaron. God
appointed him His first priest, and his order is to last forever. His name means king (Melchi..) of
righteousness (Zedek). His title was King of Salem (king of peace). His ultimate successor is Jesus Christ,
who is our priest and king.
God ordained the descendants of Levi to be the priests of His chosen people. In order for a man to
become a priest, he had to prove his linage all the way back to this son of Jacob (Israel). The Levitical
priests sacrificed the animal offerings for the sins of the people, but they could not give the people a
“perfectly adequate” access to God.[8] Only Jesus Christ can do that. “The whole Paraphernalia of the
sacrificial and ceremonial law is wiped out in the priesthood of Jesus.”[9] When the Levitical priests
passed on, the younger men took their places. Jesus does not need a successor; He lives forever.
The author of Hebrews cites another evidence of the superiority of the Order of Melchizedek over that
of Levi. Abram, the Friend of God and patriarch of the nation, presented tithes to Melchizedek and
received a blessing from him. Only the lesser can receive the blessing from the greater.[10] Further more,
Levi, even though he was not born until hundreds of years later, was deemed to have paid tithes to
Melchizedek because his ancestor paid them on his behalf.
Better or Unique?
The Book of Hebrews seems to say that because the Order of Melchizedek is superior to the Order of
Aaron, Jesus Christ is a better priest than they are. This is a great understatement. Our Savior and Lord,
Jesus Christ, is unique. There are no adverbs or adjectives to accompany unique. We have access to
God through Him alone. Jesus appeared to John that day on the Island of Patmos dressed as
our high priest. The Seven Lamp Stands that He was standing among are the Seven Churches. As Aaron
lighted the lamps in the Tabernacle, Christ now does this with His present lights, the local churches.[11]
Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews South Bend: St. Augustine’s Press 2006
Barmly, J., “Hebrews” The Pulpit Commentary, William B. Erdman’s Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1950
Barclay, William, The Letter to The Hebrews, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1957
Cotton, J. Harry, “The Epistle to The Hebrews” The Interpreter’s Bible, New York: Abington Press, 1955
Heen, Erik, Editor, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove 2005
Hobbs, Herschel, Studies in Hebrews , Nashville: Southern Baptist Convention 1954
Kelly, Jack, GraceThruFaith.com
Thompson, James, Hebrews Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008
Wilmington, Harold, Great truths From God’s Word, 2003
[1] Harold Wilmington, Great Truths from God’s Word, 1975, 285
[2] Erik Heen, Ancient Christian Commentaries on Scripture, Inter Varsity Press, Downers Grove Illinois 2005 96
[3] Woodrow Kroll, “Psalms” Liberty Bible Commentary, The Old time gospel Hour, Lynchburg, 1982, 1135
[4] J. Harry Cotton, “The Epistle to The Hebrews” The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume XI Abington Press, New York, 646
[5] William Barclay, The Letter to the Hebrews, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1957, 85
[6] Barclay XX
[7] J. Barmly, “Hebrews” The Pulpit Commentary, William B. Erdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1950 , 188
[8] Herschel Hobbs, Studies in Hebrews, Southern Baptist Convention, Nashville, 1954, 61
[9] Barclay, 84
[10] Hobbs, 61
[11] Wilmington, 381
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Baptism of The Holy Spirit
The phrase evokes the sights, sounds, motions, aromas, miracles and visitors that come from heaven. Baptism refers to an ordinance of the Church in which a pastor submerges a new Christian in water or pours water on his or her head. Holy Spirit is the one of the three persons of the holy Trinity. He is present everywhere at the same time, while God and Jesus remain in heaven. This brief study examines three aspects of the baptism of Holy Spirit. What He does, Who has it? and How long does it last? Readers of Acts will discover the significance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the early Church and for the world-wide Church of today.
What He does:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In Genesis 1: 2 “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” John 1: 1 states that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here, John introduced Jesus Christ. The result was the creation of the entire universe in six days. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: These are the persons of the Trinity.
In Verse 6 the Apostle introduced the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist. Even as he spoke to the people who came to hear him in the wilderness, Jesus arrived to fulfill thousands of years of prophecy. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1: 29 KJV) All four Gospels relate the baptism of Jesus attended by both the voice of God and the “Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.” The rural evangelist did not recognize his own cousin. “And I knew Him not, but He (God) that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. “ (John 1: 32-33 KJV) John complied with Jesus’ request and received that triple confirmation.
The Old Testament includes many super natural occurrences. Those that came from God always had a purpose. “So God created man in His own image,…and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1: 27-28) This is the first time that God spoke to Man in the Scriptures. God and people have communicated with each other from that day until now. Some of our conversation has been audible, and even loud.
After they had eaten of the forbidden tree, the couple” heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.” Adam and Eve had hidden themselves from the One who knows all. When we sin we often try to avoid God, but He speaks a little louder to implore us to return. Enoch was one who continued to walk with God so closely that He didn’t have to die. Noah obeyed God’s command, and he viewed the first rainbow. God had spoken through nature in the world-wide flood. Then He came down and confused the languages of civilization at Babel. (Genesis 11: 7-8) God responded to this confusion two thousand years later with His miracle at Pentecost.
In Genesis 15 God told Abram in a vision that he would father a nation. In chapter 18 He made a bodily appearance. Abraham hailed three men and entertained them at his tent home. One of them promised “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” Sarah was ninety years old at the time and had her doubts. Verse 13 identifies the speaker as the Lord.
The three men had another stop on their schedule. Abraham was escorting them when “the Lord said, (to Himself) Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew, Lot, resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this appearance a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was the head of that trio.[1] Other scholars call it a theophany or a representation of God himself.
Holy Spirit visited men and women in the Old Testament. “The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon” Sampson. It left him after he sinned repeatedly. When Samuel anointed David to be the future king of Israel, the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” In Psalm 51: 11 he pleaded with God not to take it away from him as He had Sampson before him.
In the Old Testament not everyone depended on God’s Holy Spirit. He often made His presence known in certain situations and then seemed to fade into the background. The prophets had some exciting adventures when they called on God for help. Elijah was one. After watching the prophets of Baal beg for a miracle from dawn to noon, he prayed once and fire came down from heaven and zapped the bullock, “the wood, the stones, and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (Kings 18: 38-19: 16) That was a mountain top experience. When Queen Jezebel found out that Elijah had executed her prophets, she threatened his life. Elijah was so fearful that he ran and hid in a cave. The Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire that rocked his lonely habitat. The Lord was in the still small voice that then told him how to get relief.
Who Has it?
Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He told the Eleven disciples to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father…For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” (Acts 1: 4-5 KJV) He led them as far as Bethany before He ascended into heaven. They returned to the city and alternated between the temple and “an upper room” with the other disciples for the next ten days. Approximately 120 disciples included Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his half brothers. The others were the men and women who had traveled with or ministered with Jesus during the previous three years. Peter asked them to nominate two candidates to fill the office Judas Iscariot had vacated. Matthias “was added to the Eleven apostles. And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (Acts 1: 26 – 2: 1 NASBU) The next three verses refer to the Twelve Apostles.
“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2: 2 NASBU) There was a loud sound but no wind.
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” (Verse 3 NASBU) The tongues were like fires. Each Apostle had a tongue resting on him.[2]
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.“ These Galileans were telling “of the mighty deeds of God” to devout Jews “from every nation under heaven. “ The Twelve Apostles may have been the only ones who spoke in tongues other than their own. These tongues were not the ecstatic prayer language that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14. In Acts 2: 4 Luke used a rare Greek expression that means “to speak with gravity” that KJV translates “as the Spirit gave them utterance.”The words language and tongue in verses 6 and 8 Luke translates a word that means dialect.[3] This was Holy Spirit’s way to resolve the confusion that began at the tower of Babel when the people wanted to build their own way to heaven. This was the birth of the Church. Jesus ascended to the Father so that His followers would have a comforter and guide all over the world forever.
Then the crowd wanted an explanation. Peter stood and responded. The real miracle occurred when three thousand people accepted Christ. It may have taken more than twelve men to baptize them, but there were enough pools in Jerusalem. [4] Burial with Him beneath the water and rising to new life” was not just a symbol for them. They had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Luke did not record additional sounds or sights from heaven here.
Jesus told His disciples to “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria…” (Acts 1: 8). Philip, one of the “seven men of honest report,” preached Christ to the people of Samaria. With one accord they believed and were baptized. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard about it, Peter and John traveled to Samaria. Luke wrote that they prayed and laid their hands on the people, and only then did they receive Holy Spirit. (Acts 8: 5-8; 14-17) Howard Marshall believed that “God withheld the Spirit until the coming of Peter and John in order that the Samaritans might be seen to be fully incorporated into the community of Jerusalem Christians who had received the Spirit at Pentecost. [5]
Another red letter date in the life of Peter occurred on his missionary travels. In a vision God answered the prayers of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He told him to send for Peter in Joppa. At the same time Peter had a vision of a sheet full of dead animals including those that Jewish people did not eat. God told him not to call what He had cleansed unholy. When three Gentiles came looking for him, Holy Spirit told him to invite them in and accompany them to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea. When Cornelius and his friends and relatives heard Peter say that those who believe Jesus Christ receive forgiveness of their sins, they began to speak in tongues exalting God. At that moment they received the baptism of Holy Spirit. Immediately Peter asked his associates to baptize Cornelius, his family and friends. Holy Spirit had the new Christians speak in tongues just as the apostles did at Pentecost. Peter and the men from Joppa could begin to understand that there are no second class Christians. [6] Convincing the rest of the Church may take a little longer.
In 1st Corinthians 12: 13 Paul taught that “by one Spirit are ye all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
How long Does It Last?
The moment a believer gives his life to Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit baptizes him. There may be heavenly sounds or sights before or after, but the lack there of does not discount the validity of one’s salvation. Jesus paid for it all. Holy Spirit comes to every believer immediately. He stays with the Christian forever. In John 10: 28 The Great Shepherd spoke about His followers: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. “
Harold Wilmington writes that the ministry of Holy Spirit is perfecting. “That is to say, His new ministry would now be to make all repenting sinners grow in grace and be like Jesus. “[7] Paul wrote to the Philippians (3: 14) that he was pressing on “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Conclusion:
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the beginning of the life of the follower of Jesus Christ. He draws the man or woman. He or she gives his life to Jesus Christ. At that instant Holy Spirit enters that person’s life forever. There may be dramatic signs from heaven, or there may not be. When the follower of Jesus prays and obeys Holy Spirit, he grows spiritually and glorifies God. There is joy in times of tribulation as well as in happy times.
Bibliography
Barrett ,C. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994)
Bock, Darrell L. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007)
Marshall, I. Howard, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980) 1
McGee, J. Vernon, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976)
John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992
Schrader, Stephen, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982)
FOOTNOTES
1. Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour 1986) 53-54
2. C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994) 54
3. John B. Polhilll, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992) 98-99
4. Darrell L. Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007) 146
5. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 156-157
6. Vernon McGee, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976) 126
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
The phrase evokes the sights, sounds, motions, aromas, miracles and visitors that come from heaven. Baptism refers to an ordinance of the Church in which a pastor submerges a new Christian in water or pours water on his or her head. Holy Spirit is the one of the three persons of the holy Trinity. He is present everywhere at the same time, while God and Jesus remain in heaven. This brief study examines three aspects of the baptism of Holy Spirit. What He does, Who has it? and How long does it last? Readers of Acts will discover the significance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit for the early Church and for the world-wide Church of today.
What He does:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In Genesis 1: 2 “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” John 1: 1 states that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Here, John introduced Jesus Christ. The result was the creation of the entire universe in six days. Father, Son and Holy Spirit: These are the persons of the Trinity.
In Verse 6 the Apostle introduced the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist. Even as he spoke to the people who came to hear him in the wilderness, Jesus arrived to fulfill thousands of years of prophecy. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1: 29 KJV) All four Gospels relate the baptism of Jesus attended by both the voice of God and the “Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him.” The rural evangelist did not recognize his own cousin. “And I knew Him not, but He (God) that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, ‘Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. “ (John 1: 32-33 KJV) John complied with Jesus’ request and received that triple confirmation.
The Old Testament includes many super natural occurrences. Those that came from God always had a purpose. “So God created man in His own image,…and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it.” (Genesis 1: 27-28) This is the first time that God spoke to Man in the Scriptures. God and people have communicated with each other from that day until now. Some of our conversation has been audible, and even loud.
After they had eaten of the forbidden tree, the couple” heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.” Adam and Eve had hidden themselves from the One who knows all. When we sin we often try to avoid God, but He speaks a little louder to implore us to return. Enoch was one who continued to walk with God so closely that He didn’t have to die. Noah obeyed God’s command, and he viewed the first rainbow. God had spoken through nature in the world-wide flood. Then He came down and confused the languages of civilization at Babel. (Genesis 11: 7-8) God responded to this confusion two thousand years later with His miracle at Pentecost.
In Genesis 15 God told Abram in a vision that he would father a nation. In chapter 18 He made a bodily appearance. Abraham hailed three men and entertained them at his tent home. One of them promised “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” Sarah was ninety years old at the time and had her doubts. Verse 13 identifies the speaker as the Lord.
The three men had another stop on their schedule. Abraham was escorting them when “the Lord said, (to Himself) Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew, Lot, resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this appearance a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was the head of that trio.[1] Other scholars call it a theophany or a representation of God himself.
Holy Spirit visited men and women in the Old Testament. “The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon” Sampson. It left him after he sinned repeatedly. When Samuel anointed David to be the future king of Israel, the “Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” In Psalm 51: 11 he pleaded with God not to take it away from him as He had Sampson before him.
In the Old Testament not everyone depended on God’s Holy Spirit. He often made His presence known in certain situations and then seemed to fade into the background. The prophets had some exciting adventures when they called on God for help. Elijah was one. After watching the prophets of Baal beg for a miracle from dawn to noon, he prayed once and fire came down from heaven and zapped the bullock, “the wood, the stones, and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.” (Kings 18: 38-19: 16) That was a mountain top experience. When Queen Jezebel found out that Elijah had executed her prophets, she threatened his life. Elijah was so fearful that he ran and hid in a cave. The Lord was not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire that rocked his lonely habitat. The Lord was in the still small voice that then told him how to get relief.
Who Has it?
Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He told the Eleven disciples to wait in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father…For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” (Acts 1: 4-5 KJV) He led them as far as Bethany before He ascended into heaven. They returned to the city and alternated between the temple and “an upper room” with the other disciples for the next ten days. Approximately 120 disciples included Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his half brothers. The others were the men and women who had traveled with or ministered with Jesus during the previous three years. Peter asked them to nominate two candidates to fill the office Judas Iscariot had vacated. Matthias “was added to the Eleven apostles. And when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (Acts 1: 26 – 2: 1 NASBU) The next three verses refer to the Twelve Apostles.
“And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2: 2 NASBU) There was a loud sound but no wind.
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.” (Verse 3 NASBU) The tongues were like fires. Each Apostle had a tongue resting on him.[2]
“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.“ These Galileans were telling “of the mighty deeds of God” to devout Jews “from every nation under heaven. “ The Twelve Apostles may have been the only ones who spoke in tongues other than their own. These tongues were not the ecstatic prayer language that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 14. In Acts 2: 4 Luke used a rare Greek expression that means “to speak with gravity” that KJV translates “as the Spirit gave them utterance.”The words language and tongue in verses 6 and 8 Luke translates a word that means dialect.[3] This was Holy Spirit’s way to resolve the confusion that began at the tower of Babel when the people wanted to build their own way to heaven. This was the birth of the Church. Jesus ascended to the Father so that His followers would have a comforter and guide all over the world forever.
Then the crowd wanted an explanation. Peter stood and responded. The real miracle occurred when three thousand people accepted Christ. It may have taken more than twelve men to baptize them, but there were enough pools in Jerusalem. [4] Burial with Him beneath the water and rising to new life” was not just a symbol for them. They had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Luke did not record additional sounds or sights from heaven here.
Jesus told His disciples to “be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria…” (Acts 1: 8). Philip, one of the “seven men of honest report,” preached Christ to the people of Samaria. With one accord they believed and were baptized. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard about it, Peter and John traveled to Samaria. Luke wrote that they prayed and laid their hands on the people, and only then did they receive Holy Spirit. (Acts 8: 5-8; 14-17) Howard Marshall believed that “God withheld the Spirit until the coming of Peter and John in order that the Samaritans might be seen to be fully incorporated into the community of Jerusalem Christians who had received the Spirit at Pentecost. [5]
Another red letter date in the life of Peter occurred on his missionary travels. In a vision God answered the prayers of a Roman centurion named Cornelius. He told him to send for Peter in Joppa. At the same time Peter had a vision of a sheet full of dead animals including those that Jewish people did not eat. God told him not to call what He had cleansed unholy. When three Gentiles came looking for him, Holy Spirit told him to invite them in and accompany them to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea. When Cornelius and his friends and relatives heard Peter say that those who believe Jesus Christ receive forgiveness of their sins, they began to speak in tongues exalting God. At that moment they received the baptism of Holy Spirit. Immediately Peter asked his associates to baptize Cornelius, his family and friends. Holy Spirit had the new Christians speak in tongues just as the apostles did at Pentecost. Peter and the men from Joppa could begin to understand that there are no second class Christians. [6] Convincing the rest of the Church may take a little longer.
In 1st Corinthians 12: 13 Paul taught that “by one Spirit are ye all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
How long Does It Last?
The moment a believer gives his life to Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit baptizes him. There may be heavenly sounds or sights before or after, but the lack there of does not discount the validity of one’s salvation. Jesus paid for it all. Holy Spirit comes to every believer immediately. He stays with the Christian forever. In John 10: 28 The Great Shepherd spoke about His followers: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. “
Harold Wilmington writes that the ministry of Holy Spirit is perfecting. “That is to say, His new ministry would now be to make all repenting sinners grow in grace and be like Jesus. “[7] Paul wrote to the Philippians (3: 14) that he was pressing on “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Conclusion:
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the beginning of the life of the follower of Jesus Christ. He draws the man or woman. He or she gives his life to Jesus Christ. At that instant Holy Spirit enters that person’s life forever. There may be dramatic signs from heaven, or there may not be. When the follower of Jesus prays and obeys Holy Spirit, he grows spiritually and glorifies God. There is joy in times of tribulation as well as in happy times.
Bibliography
Barrett ,C. K. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994)
Bock, Darrell L. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007)
Marshall, I. Howard, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980) 1
McGee, J. Vernon, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976)
John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992
Schrader, Stephen, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982)
FOOTNOTES
1. Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” in Liberty Bible Commentary Volume I, ed. Jerry Falwell, Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour 1986) 53-54
2. C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, (ICC. New York, NY: T&T Clark, 1994) 54
3. John B. Polhilll, The New American Commentary Volume 26, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1992) 98-99
4. Darrell L. Bock, Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Baker Academic, 2007) 146
5. Howard Marshall, The Acts of the Apostles (Grand Rapids. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 156-157
6. Vernon McGee, Acts Volume I (Pasadena, Thru the Bible Books , 1976) 126
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Ascension of Christ
In the Bible there are two descriptions of Jesus’ return to heaven after His resurrection. Luke contributed both accounts. “And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while He blessed them that He was carried up into heaven (Luke 24: 50-51 KJB). Acts 1: 9 adds “While they beheld He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The cloud that received Christ was not merely condensed vapor; It was the symbol of Shekinah glory, the glorious presence of God. Yes, it broke off the Apostles’ visible fellowship with their Master, but it bore His resurrected body to the invisible world of God’s dwelling.[1]
Why does our Bible allude so often to this moment in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles? How is Heaven different since Jesus returned there? Can and will human beings affect the next event on God’s eternal schedule? What is the role of Jesus Christ in God’s eternal time table?
The object of this brief study is to explore how the Ascension of the man, Jesus Christ, to His Father after the Resurrection was a critical part of God’s eternal plan for mankind.
It’s His World
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1: 1 KJV)
Verse 14 identifies the Word as Jesus Christ. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” In the beginning Jesus Christ was God. He spoke the universe into existence and created man on the sixth day.
Throughout the generations He has often come to visit earth. President Lyndon Johnson would have said He came to “press the flesh.” He and two angels had dinner with Abraham outside his tent in Genesis 18. The Lord said, (to himself) “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew Lot resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was head of that trio. [2]
The Lord wrestled with Jacob all night in Genesis 32. Jacob spent 21 years working for Laban, his father-in law. He was rich with livestock as he returned to the Promised Land with his two wives, concubines, children and servants. While passing through Edom, Jacob sent messengers to his brother, Esau. He believed that Esau might try to kill him because of the way he had cheated him years before. He sent herds of animals to his brother as gifts. Next he placed his concubines and their children between himself and Esau. Behind them came his wife, Leah, and her children. In the rear were Rachel and her precious son, Joseph. All of these passed over the river, and only Jacob returned to the far side, and it was night. Genesis 32: 24 tells us that a man wrestled with him. Jacob must have discovered early on that he could not prevail physically over his opponent, but he held on. One touch to Jacob’s heal socket should have ended the battle. He had lost the wrestler’s pivot of strength. He was “prayerfully clinging to God’s grace. He, who had the blessings of prosperity, was clinging to the blessing of overcoming his enemies- possibly Esau. He, who in the past had prevailed through trickery, would from then on prevail with God. “God sanctified Jacob’s absolute.“[3] George Bush in his Notes on Genesis wrote that it is obvious that Jacob knew that a man had attacked him. (Esau could have sent an assassin.) This was “no created angel, but that divine person, the sent of God; the Messiah that was to be…was really manifested in flesh and blood.”[4] The fourth man in the fire in the third chapter of Daniel was Jesus. These visits were fore gleams of God’s master plan.
The Incarnation
Genesis 3: 15 is the first prophecy of the birth of Jesus to Woman. Two thousand years ago He came down from heaven for an extended stay. He became a man. We make that smelly stable in Bethlehem a beautiful tableau. The temptations He conquered after His forty day fast in the desert, we dismiss with a shirk: “O He was God.” We casually follow that One Solitary Life as He walked those miles with His disciples feeding the poor and healing the lepers. William Milligan wrote that the incarnation was not just to prepare “our Lord as a victim for sacrifice.” That up to the crucifixion the Son “had been learning obedience by the things which He suffered.[5] (Hebrews 5: 8)
He went all the way to the Cross. Paul described Christ’s sacrifice in Philippians 2: 2-8 (NASBU). “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond servant, and being in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” In the movie “The Passion of Christ” He wasn’t dragged. Mel Gibson has Jesus crawl onto the Cross. The height of His suffering was certainly His Father’s rejection when He asked, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Harold Wilmington observed that He didn’t even know why God had forsaken Him, because He had abstained from using His omniscience (knowledge of everything) for a period.[6]
Satan probably began celebrating at this time. He did not possess omniscience then or now. He must not believe his Bible either for he persists generation after generation.
Jesus cried telelestai meaning “It is finished.” He didn’t say “I am finished” either because His work was just beginning. Also, no one had taken His life from Him; He had gone willingly. Jesus had taken the punishment for the sins of all human beings past and present. There is no work we can do to earn our salvation. The Temple veil tore in two exposing the Holy of Holies. Humans would have direct access to God from then on. The earth shook and tombs opened exposing saints, who would later walk the streets.
The Resurrection
The devil’s celebration was short. The first to discover the empty tomb was Mary Magdalene. She came while it was still dark. (John 20) While she ran to tell Peter and John, other women arrived. When they came out of the empty tomb, two angels told them that Jesus was risen from the dead. (Luke 24: 1-10) When Mary returned Jesus presented himself to her. God had chosen these women to be the first messengers of the resurrection. The men inspected the burial clothes, but they had to wait until that night to see their Master in the upper room.
During the next forty days Paul states that Jesus made numerous appearances to the Apostles and over 500 other witnesses.(1 Corinthians 15: 5-7) They ate with Him and touched Him. God gave Him the ability to appear in that upper room with His disciples without using the door, just as he had walked on water before his death. A top priority was to meet with and affirm Peter, who had denied Him so vehemently three times in one night. Forty days was just long enough for the disciples to begin to connect the dots from the acts of love and partially understood teachings of those three years together.
God and Man
It was time for Jesus to escape the confining bounds of earth. The Ascension completed the Resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christ’s death would have left us hopeless. Without the Ascension the Resurrection would be incomplete. We know Him no longer as just a man; indeed He is the God-Man. (2 Corinthians 5: 16-17).[7] He returned to the glory that He had known before His Holy Spirit entered Mary’s womb. Henry Swete wrote that Our Lord returned to the Father not as He came, but forever united with human nature: the word made flesh.” [8]“The full vision of God …burst upon the human soul of Christ.”[9] William Milligan taught that He ascended in His human as well as His divine nature. That when He put the “garment of flesh aside…He did not lay aside the humanity He had assumed when He was born in Bethlehem.”[10]
Jesus had muscles from hard work. He had used His hands to build and had walked many miles. He needed regular rest and food. He enjoyed and needed recreation and the support of friends and family. He experienced every human emotion. He was burdened when He saw suffering and sad for those who lost loved ones. He grieved for Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. Was He also sad because He had to bring Lazarus back from paradise?
Most importantly, Jesus was tempted to sin. Tempted means that He could have sinned. He overcame temptation by praying to the Father. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet” He never succumbed even once. (Hebrews 4: 15 KJV) He knows what each of us is going through because He went through it himself. Sometimes we tell a friend, “I know how you feel.” Jesus really knows.
Our High Priest
Because He had never sinned, He could enter God’s presence boldly as our high priest. He went to make atonement for our sins. Unlike the temple priests who entered the Holy of Holies once a year, Christ presented His own sinless blood once, for all forever. This duty completed He sat down at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 1: 3) It is interesting that He stood up to welcome Stephen into heaven in Acts 7: 55-56. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. When Satan accuses us to the Father, Jesus Christ defends us. It’s not that we didn’t do the crime; It’s His righteousness that covers our sin, and God forgives us forever. (Romans 8: 1-4)
Coming King
For five hundred years the Jews expected their Messiah to be their king. “When the kings of the earth set themselves…against the Lord and against His anointed…the answer comes…Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2: 2-6) Isaiah and Zechariah promised the people a king who would reunite Israel. When Jesus healed the sick and fed the 5000, the people wanted to make Him king. He had to withdraw from the multitudes to focus on His real objective. The thief on the cross must have understood before the disciples did because he asked, ”Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.” (Luke 23: 42)
Jesus resumed His role as King at the Ascension. Before time began God had given His Son all authority in Heaven and earth (Matthew 28: 18). He relinquished His power when He was born, but early in His ministry He asserted, “The Son of Man hath authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2: 10) Other times He called on His Father to heal the sick or to turn water into wine. David’s Psalm 110: 1 is a powerful prophecy of Messiah as king. “The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (adonai) ‘Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Picture the foot of the conqueror on the neck of the defeated foe.[11] David was king so adonai must be Jesus Christ. When Jesus went back to God, He assumed the role of king. He will sit at God’s right hand until “He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father.” (1 Corinthians 15: 24 KJV). Theologians of the early1900’s referred to this enthronement as The Session. The culmination will be the Eternal Reign of God.[12] Every man will bow before our maker.
The Lord Jesus has visited Man since His Ascension. John, the Apostle, was captive on the island of Patmos for his persistent testimony for Christ.[13] He had to be in his nineties, but he may have had to do hard physical labor. He wrote in Revelation 1: 9-17 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…and I turned to see the voice that spake with me…And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.”
Sixty years after Jesus parted from the Eleven, John was worshiping alone in that austere place. His first response to Jesus’ sudden appearance was reverential fear. When Jesus reached out and touched him, he was probably relieved. His life must have flashed before him. For three years he had been the youngest in that inner circle among the Twelve, “the disciple whom Jesus loved. “ (John 13: 23) He had shared the Transfiguration, fantasized sharing a throne, leaned on Jesus at The Last Supper and braved the foot of the cross. After Jesus’ resurrection he received Holy Spirit, healed the sick and survived torture for his Lord. What a reunion this must have been!
John described the appearance of the Lord of the universe in detail. Jesus directed John to write this Apocalypse to shew His servants the things which must shortly be done” (Revelation 22: 6)
Holy Spirit
Jesus ascended into heaven so that He could send Holy Spirit to minister through those He left in the world. (John 16: 7 NASBU) To his disciples He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Holy Spirit is our helper or comforter. He also reproves the sinner and seals the believer. He directs the millions of churches throughout the world. He guides billions of Christians in an instant.
Our Eternal Home
Another reason that Jesus returned to heaven was to prepare a home for each of us. (John 14: 2). We are actually citizens of heaven here temporarily as “ambassadors for Christ.” Only human beings can have this “ministry of reconciliation” to and with the people of the earth. Even angels do not have this wonderful privilege. (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20)
Our Ascension
Jesus also promised to come back to earth again “in like manner as (they) saw Him go” to take His people to live with Him. “The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 KJV) A cloud received Jesus when He was taken up. (Acts 1: 8) The Apostles expected their Lord to return during their lifetimes. We do not know when He is coming back. He only tells each of us to be ready.
Conclusion
The Ascension brought the Son of God back to His rightful place at the right hand of God.
He is our lifeline to Holy God. He told us to pray in His name. We have Jesus Christ. We do not need a religion. He is our high priest and our coming King. We must speak His name.
[1] Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Editors C F. Pfeiffer and E. F. Harrison (Nashville: Southwestern 1962) 1025
[2] Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” Liberty Bible Commentary, (Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982), 53-54
[3] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, A Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) 116
[4] George Bush, Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Genesis (New York: 1857)
[5] William Milligan, The Ascension of Christ, (Minneapolis: Kloch and Kloch Christian Publishers 1980) 30
[6] Harold Wilmington, Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1984)
[7] J. Hamilton Keathley, “The Ascension of Jesus Christ”, WWW.Bible.org
[8] Henry Barclay Swete, The Ascended Christ, (London: Macmillan and Company, Limited, 1916) 9
[9] Swete 10
[10] Milligan, 27
[11] Woodrow Kroll, “Psalms” Liberty Bible Commentary (Lynchburg: Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982) 1135
[12] Swete 1
[13] Wilmington 536
In the Bible there are two descriptions of Jesus’ return to heaven after His resurrection. Luke contributed both accounts. “And He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while He blessed them that He was carried up into heaven (Luke 24: 50-51 KJB). Acts 1: 9 adds “While they beheld He was taken up and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The cloud that received Christ was not merely condensed vapor; It was the symbol of Shekinah glory, the glorious presence of God. Yes, it broke off the Apostles’ visible fellowship with their Master, but it bore His resurrected body to the invisible world of God’s dwelling.[1]
Why does our Bible allude so often to this moment in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Epistles? How is Heaven different since Jesus returned there? Can and will human beings affect the next event on God’s eternal schedule? What is the role of Jesus Christ in God’s eternal time table?
The object of this brief study is to explore how the Ascension of the man, Jesus Christ, to His Father after the Resurrection was a critical part of God’s eternal plan for mankind.
It’s His World
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1: 1 KJV)
Verse 14 identifies the Word as Jesus Christ. “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” In the beginning Jesus Christ was God. He spoke the universe into existence and created man on the sixth day.
Throughout the generations He has often come to visit earth. President Lyndon Johnson would have said He came to “press the flesh.” He and two angels had dinner with Abraham outside his tent in Genesis 18. The Lord said, (to himself) “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” He was planning the destruction of Sodom where Abraham’s nephew Lot resided. “Abraham stood yet before the Lord” to plead for the city. Stephen Schrader termed this a christophany meaning that Jesus Christ was head of that trio. [2]
The Lord wrestled with Jacob all night in Genesis 32. Jacob spent 21 years working for Laban, his father-in law. He was rich with livestock as he returned to the Promised Land with his two wives, concubines, children and servants. While passing through Edom, Jacob sent messengers to his brother, Esau. He believed that Esau might try to kill him because of the way he had cheated him years before. He sent herds of animals to his brother as gifts. Next he placed his concubines and their children between himself and Esau. Behind them came his wife, Leah, and her children. In the rear were Rachel and her precious son, Joseph. All of these passed over the river, and only Jacob returned to the far side, and it was night. Genesis 32: 24 tells us that a man wrestled with him. Jacob must have discovered early on that he could not prevail physically over his opponent, but he held on. One touch to Jacob’s heal socket should have ended the battle. He had lost the wrestler’s pivot of strength. He was “prayerfully clinging to God’s grace. He, who had the blessings of prosperity, was clinging to the blessing of overcoming his enemies- possibly Esau. He, who in the past had prevailed through trickery, would from then on prevail with God. “God sanctified Jacob’s absolute.“[3] George Bush in his Notes on Genesis wrote that it is obvious that Jacob knew that a man had attacked him. (Esau could have sent an assassin.) This was “no created angel, but that divine person, the sent of God; the Messiah that was to be…was really manifested in flesh and blood.”[4] The fourth man in the fire in the third chapter of Daniel was Jesus. These visits were fore gleams of God’s master plan.
The Incarnation
Genesis 3: 15 is the first prophecy of the birth of Jesus to Woman. Two thousand years ago He came down from heaven for an extended stay. He became a man. We make that smelly stable in Bethlehem a beautiful tableau. The temptations He conquered after His forty day fast in the desert, we dismiss with a shirk: “O He was God.” We casually follow that One Solitary Life as He walked those miles with His disciples feeding the poor and healing the lepers. William Milligan wrote that the incarnation was not just to prepare “our Lord as a victim for sacrifice.” That up to the crucifixion the Son “had been learning obedience by the things which He suffered.[5] (Hebrews 5: 8)
He went all the way to the Cross. Paul described Christ’s sacrifice in Philippians 2: 2-8 (NASBU). “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond servant, and being in the likeness of men…He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” In the movie “The Passion of Christ” He wasn’t dragged. Mel Gibson has Jesus crawl onto the Cross. The height of His suffering was certainly His Father’s rejection when He asked, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Harold Wilmington observed that He didn’t even know why God had forsaken Him, because He had abstained from using His omniscience (knowledge of everything) for a period.[6]
Satan probably began celebrating at this time. He did not possess omniscience then or now. He must not believe his Bible either for he persists generation after generation.
Jesus cried telelestai meaning “It is finished.” He didn’t say “I am finished” either because His work was just beginning. Also, no one had taken His life from Him; He had gone willingly. Jesus had taken the punishment for the sins of all human beings past and present. There is no work we can do to earn our salvation. The Temple veil tore in two exposing the Holy of Holies. Humans would have direct access to God from then on. The earth shook and tombs opened exposing saints, who would later walk the streets.
The Resurrection
The devil’s celebration was short. The first to discover the empty tomb was Mary Magdalene. She came while it was still dark. (John 20) While she ran to tell Peter and John, other women arrived. When they came out of the empty tomb, two angels told them that Jesus was risen from the dead. (Luke 24: 1-10) When Mary returned Jesus presented himself to her. God had chosen these women to be the first messengers of the resurrection. The men inspected the burial clothes, but they had to wait until that night to see their Master in the upper room.
During the next forty days Paul states that Jesus made numerous appearances to the Apostles and over 500 other witnesses.(1 Corinthians 15: 5-7) They ate with Him and touched Him. God gave Him the ability to appear in that upper room with His disciples without using the door, just as he had walked on water before his death. A top priority was to meet with and affirm Peter, who had denied Him so vehemently three times in one night. Forty days was just long enough for the disciples to begin to connect the dots from the acts of love and partially understood teachings of those three years together.
God and Man
It was time for Jesus to escape the confining bounds of earth. The Ascension completed the Resurrection. Without the resurrection, Christ’s death would have left us hopeless. Without the Ascension the Resurrection would be incomplete. We know Him no longer as just a man; indeed He is the God-Man. (2 Corinthians 5: 16-17).[7] He returned to the glory that He had known before His Holy Spirit entered Mary’s womb. Henry Swete wrote that Our Lord returned to the Father not as He came, but forever united with human nature: the word made flesh.” [8]“The full vision of God …burst upon the human soul of Christ.”[9] William Milligan taught that He ascended in His human as well as His divine nature. That when He put the “garment of flesh aside…He did not lay aside the humanity He had assumed when He was born in Bethlehem.”[10]
Jesus had muscles from hard work. He had used His hands to build and had walked many miles. He needed regular rest and food. He enjoyed and needed recreation and the support of friends and family. He experienced every human emotion. He was burdened when He saw suffering and sad for those who lost loved ones. He grieved for Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. Was He also sad because He had to bring Lazarus back from paradise?
Most importantly, Jesus was tempted to sin. Tempted means that He could have sinned. He overcame temptation by praying to the Father. He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet” He never succumbed even once. (Hebrews 4: 15 KJV) He knows what each of us is going through because He went through it himself. Sometimes we tell a friend, “I know how you feel.” Jesus really knows.
Our High Priest
Because He had never sinned, He could enter God’s presence boldly as our high priest. He went to make atonement for our sins. Unlike the temple priests who entered the Holy of Holies once a year, Christ presented His own sinless blood once, for all forever. This duty completed He sat down at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 1: 3) It is interesting that He stood up to welcome Stephen into heaven in Acts 7: 55-56. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God to make intercession for us. When Satan accuses us to the Father, Jesus Christ defends us. It’s not that we didn’t do the crime; It’s His righteousness that covers our sin, and God forgives us forever. (Romans 8: 1-4)
Coming King
For five hundred years the Jews expected their Messiah to be their king. “When the kings of the earth set themselves…against the Lord and against His anointed…the answer comes…Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” (Psalm 2: 2-6) Isaiah and Zechariah promised the people a king who would reunite Israel. When Jesus healed the sick and fed the 5000, the people wanted to make Him king. He had to withdraw from the multitudes to focus on His real objective. The thief on the cross must have understood before the disciples did because he asked, ”Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom.” (Luke 23: 42)
Jesus resumed His role as King at the Ascension. Before time began God had given His Son all authority in Heaven and earth (Matthew 28: 18). He relinquished His power when He was born, but early in His ministry He asserted, “The Son of Man hath authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Mark 2: 10) Other times He called on His Father to heal the sick or to turn water into wine. David’s Psalm 110: 1 is a powerful prophecy of Messiah as king. “The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (adonai) ‘Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Picture the foot of the conqueror on the neck of the defeated foe.[11] David was king so adonai must be Jesus Christ. When Jesus went back to God, He assumed the role of king. He will sit at God’s right hand until “He shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father.” (1 Corinthians 15: 24 KJV). Theologians of the early1900’s referred to this enthronement as The Session. The culmination will be the Eternal Reign of God.[12] Every man will bow before our maker.
The Lord Jesus has visited Man since His Ascension. John, the Apostle, was captive on the island of Patmos for his persistent testimony for Christ.[13] He had to be in his nineties, but he may have had to do hard physical labor. He wrote in Revelation 1: 9-17 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet…and I turned to see the voice that spake with me…And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man…And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead, and He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.”
Sixty years after Jesus parted from the Eleven, John was worshiping alone in that austere place. His first response to Jesus’ sudden appearance was reverential fear. When Jesus reached out and touched him, he was probably relieved. His life must have flashed before him. For three years he had been the youngest in that inner circle among the Twelve, “the disciple whom Jesus loved. “ (John 13: 23) He had shared the Transfiguration, fantasized sharing a throne, leaned on Jesus at The Last Supper and braved the foot of the cross. After Jesus’ resurrection he received Holy Spirit, healed the sick and survived torture for his Lord. What a reunion this must have been!
John described the appearance of the Lord of the universe in detail. Jesus directed John to write this Apocalypse to shew His servants the things which must shortly be done” (Revelation 22: 6)
Holy Spirit
Jesus ascended into heaven so that He could send Holy Spirit to minister through those He left in the world. (John 16: 7 NASBU) To his disciples He said, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you.” Holy Spirit is our helper or comforter. He also reproves the sinner and seals the believer. He directs the millions of churches throughout the world. He guides billions of Christians in an instant.
Our Eternal Home
Another reason that Jesus returned to heaven was to prepare a home for each of us. (John 14: 2). We are actually citizens of heaven here temporarily as “ambassadors for Christ.” Only human beings can have this “ministry of reconciliation” to and with the people of the earth. Even angels do not have this wonderful privilege. (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20)
Our Ascension
Jesus also promised to come back to earth again “in like manner as (they) saw Him go” to take His people to live with Him. “The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17 KJV) A cloud received Jesus when He was taken up. (Acts 1: 8) The Apostles expected their Lord to return during their lifetimes. We do not know when He is coming back. He only tells each of us to be ready.
Conclusion
The Ascension brought the Son of God back to His rightful place at the right hand of God.
He is our lifeline to Holy God. He told us to pray in His name. We have Jesus Christ. We do not need a religion. He is our high priest and our coming King. We must speak His name.
[1] Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Editors C F. Pfeiffer and E. F. Harrison (Nashville: Southwestern 1962) 1025
[2] Stephen Schrader, “Genesis” Liberty Bible Commentary, (Lynchburg: The Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982), 53-54
[3] Bruce Waltke, Genesis, A Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) 116
[4] George Bush, Notes Critical and Practical on the Book of Genesis (New York: 1857)
[5] William Milligan, The Ascension of Christ, (Minneapolis: Kloch and Kloch Christian Publishers 1980) 30
[6] Harold Wilmington, Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible (Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1984)
[7] J. Hamilton Keathley, “The Ascension of Jesus Christ”, WWW.Bible.org
[8] Henry Barclay Swete, The Ascended Christ, (London: Macmillan and Company, Limited, 1916) 9
[9] Swete 10
[10] Milligan, 27
[11] Woodrow Kroll, “Psalms” Liberty Bible Commentary (Lynchburg: Old Time Gospel Hour, 1982) 1135
[12] Swete 1
[13] Wilmington 536
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