Resurrection of Christ

By Doug Schofield

Christianity has something that no other religion in the world has ever had --- an empty tomb. Indeed, the fact of the resurrection of Christ is the very basis of the world’s only true religion.

The resurrection establishes some critical facts for Christians: That Christ is “…declared to be the Son of God by His resurrection…”; that His resurrection is the basis for everything we do of a religious nature, 1 Cor 15:14 “…if Christ be not raised…”; and that we are saved “…by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”, 1 Peter 3:21.

Every detail foretold in prophesy is fulfilled. Just a few of the examples are:

John 19:31 is foretold in Zechariah 12:10; and relates to Deut 21:23

John 19:33 is foretold in Psalms 34:26

John 19:37 is foretold in Psalms 22:16, 17; and Zechariah 12:10

Deut 21:22 prophesies that His body would not hang overnight

Ps 34:20,36 foretells that no bones of His body would be broken

Zech 12:10 tells of the piercing

…and there are more…

The events surrounding His arrest, mock trials, abuse and crucifixion are historically accurate in every detail. Numerous writers of contemporary secular history make reference to the resurrection or to various events surrounding it that validate and give undeniable credence to the Bible accounts. The names of some of those historians are Flavius Josephus, Cornelius Tacitus, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, Thallus, Pliny the Younger, Justin Martyr, and Tertullian. There are also corroborating references even in the written records of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” - Josephus, Antiquities 18:3:3.

The scriptures tell us that the Earth went dark for a period three hours, from noon to 3 o’clock while Jesus was on the cross. This is supported in the writings of Thallus, a mid-eastern historian, who wrote about the unexplained darkness. Phlegon also wrote about a great earthquake and the phenomenal eclipse of the sun during the 202nd Olympic Games, in the year A.D. 33.

No historian of the era ever disputed the fact of the resurrection. The Jewish leaders paid money to the Roman soldiers, instructing them to lie about the resurrection, but they never disputed that Christ did indeed arise from the dead.

Hundreds of eyewitnesses – none disputed. The silence of His enemies speaks volumes.

It is important to understand that there is abundant proof of the resurrection of Christ completely independent of the Bible. This is not in any way to minimize the importance of the Holy Scriptures, but to provide additional evidence to their veracity. There were changed lives, even before our Lord was taken down from the cross. The Roman Centurion who stood next to the cross said as our Lord died, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39).

Other lives that were changed included Nicodemus, (the same one of whom we read in John chapter 3 who came to Jesus by night; the same one who in John 7:50-51 voiced protest to the way in which Jesus was being tried), found the courage to come forward and publicly participate in His burial.

Then there was Joseph of Arimathea; a member of the Sanhedrin, a contemporary of Nicodemus, of high social and political standing. The Bible tells us that he was a rich man, and certainly that would be indicated by the fact that he had just had a tomb carved out of rock in the garden of Gethsemane, no doubt prime real estate in its day. He also bought fine linen cloth in which to bury Jesus, and Nicodemus bought more than seventy pounds of myrrh and aloes. The aloes tree produces a nut-like berry that is very fragrant, and was typically ground into powder to be used as a deodorant or air freshener. Not to be confused with the aloe plant or the agavé which are well known today. Myrrh is a perfume made from the oil of the balsam tree, and very costly. Recall that myrrh was one of the gifts brought to Christ by the wise men. The aloes powder was typically mixed with the myrrh to make a paste which was then spread on the layers of linen strips in which the body was buried. This method of preparation for burial was typical of royalty.

Joseph and Nicodemus were evidently so moved by the death of Christ and the events surrounding it, that the faith they had possessed for some months now finally came to fruition. They were willing not just to spend of their wealth to provide a kingly burial for our Lord, but they were willing to face ridicule, being ostracized from society, perhaps being put out of the synagogue, becoming outcasts to their families and friends and even risking their own lives to demonstrate their feelings for Jesus.

The position and influence of Joseph is evident by the fact that he had access to Pilate. He didn’t have to wait for an appointment or go through some intermediary, he was of such standing that he was able to go directly to him and request permission to bury the body of Jesus. What a contrast for this Jewish leader, compared to most of his fellow council members.

Pilate was surprised to learn that Jesus was already dead. After all, the crucifixion had taken place somewhere around 9:00 AM; (the darkness came about noon and lasted for three hours), and by shortly after 3:00 PM Joseph comes asking for the body. Death by crucifixion normally took much longer than 5 or 6 hours. Victims, especially hearty individuals, could lift themselves up on their nail-pierced feet in order to inhale, then collapse, shifting their weight to their wounded hands and thus exhale. Some were able to keep this excruciating task up for many hours, sometimes even days until death mercifully ended their suffering. The Jewish leaders were son anxious to destroy Jesus that they apparently gave no thought to the fact that they were about to put Him to death only hours before the Sabbath – and a special one at that, because it was the Passover. So, they made a special request of Pilate to hasten the death of the victims in order that the bodies could be taken down before the Sabbath. This was done by crushing the bones of the lower legs with a heavy mallet to prevent the victims from being to lift themselves up to inhale. Death by suffocation soon followed.

Our Lord and the two thieves were crucified on a Friday, as the scriptures clearly show.

The practice was sometimes that the bodies of those who had been crucified were left to hang for long periods of time. Often, they were taken down and tossed into the city dump; certainly they were not accorded an honorable burial. This act of respect demonstrated by Joseph and Nicodemus was most extraordinary in many ways. Not only was it their intent to show respect to the body of our Lord, but they buried Him like royalty. Isaiah 53:9 foretold that although He would die with the wicked, He would be buried with the rich, (to paraphrase). And indeed He was.

We will examine other lives that were changed as a result of His resurrection later. But, of course, the most significant evidence of the fact of His resurrection is the church. As those early disciples came to understand the implication of what had transpired they were anxious to tell the world. Indeed, they did tell the world. Within about 30 years the scriptures tell us that the gospel, the good news about the resurrection had been told to every creature under heaven. And no wonder – Christ Himself had prophesied that it would be, in Matthew 24:14; He commanded it in Mark 16:15. Paul confirmed that is had been accomplished in Romans 10:18 and in Colossians 1:23. It distresses me that many people, including some who are learned scholars, qualify the statement by saying that the gospel had been preached to the entire “then-known world”. I humbly submit to you that the Bible claims that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write in his letter to the Romans, “…Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” (10:18). And to the Colossians he wrote that the gospel “…was preached to every creature which is under heaven…” Based on these passages, wherever there were people, the gospel had been preached there. To be certain, there were unexplored lands, but if there were people there they had had an opportunity to hear the gospel.

Look at the things the apostle Paul was willing to endure to preach the gospel, recorded in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28. There were many others who suffered similarly in order to tell others about the love of God, and about the death, burial and resurrection of His Son. Much of this took place perhaps as much as 20 or even 30 years before the first recorded account of the gospel was ever written!

According to the opinions of many scholars, the gospel of Mark was probably written first, (and some scholars suggest that he may have been assisted by Peter), somewhere around AD 50 to 65. Luke was probably next, written sometime between AD 58 and 62; followed by Matthew, AD 65 – 69, and finally by John probably written during the last 10 or 15 years of the first century. The actual time of the writing of these accounts is not really so important, so much as is the fact that the written evidence they provide is so thoroughly corroborated by such a great body of precedent history.

> Thought question: Why was the stone rolled away?

Joseph of Aremitha bought new linen cloth – it was torn in strips according to the custom – and wound around Christ’s body. The so-called shroud of Turin is a fake, a patent lie! Even common sense reveals its falsehood, and the scriptures underscore it. From John 11:44 we learn more details about burial customs and methods; “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”

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The burial cloths attested to His bodily resurrection.  The linen wrappings that were wound around Jesus’ body were still in place, [the Greek word eneileo translated ‘wrapped’ in Mark 15:46, actually means to roll in or wind in, W.E. Vine], but the body of Jesus had vanished from them, and the cloths had collapsed inward on themselves.  The handkerchief that laid upon Jesus’ head, had been removed and folded in a different place.  It is no wonder that when John entered the tomb, we read in his Gospel, that "he saw and believed" (John 20:8).  The collapsed grave clothes could only be explained by the bodily resurrection of Jesus, and yet His new body was drastically different from the body that was removed from the cross.  He could pass through the linen, just as He later passed through the locked door and into the room where His disciples had gathered.

We know from the scriptures that our Lord arose early in the morning. Matthew tells of the women going to the grave site “as it began to dawn”; Mark says it was “very early in the morning…at the rising of the sun”; Luke agrees that it was “very early in the morning”; and John says “while it was yet dark”. All this lets us know that our Savior arose very early in the morning. Not unusual at all: look at the numerous passages in the Old Testament that tell of early risers. Some of them are - Abraham, Gen. 19:27; 21:14 and 22:3 – Abimelech, Gen 20:8; Jacob 28:18; Moses, numerous passages; Joshua 3:1; 6:12; 7:16; David 1 Samuel 17:20; Hezekiah 2 Chro 29:20; Jesus, Luke 21:38; John 8:2.

There is no way to honestly misunderstand the clarity of the scriptures that the event of the resurrection of our Lord occurred on the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK. Various men have tried to play around with the time line of events, some even asserting that He was crucified on Thursday, or even Wednesday. A widely respected scholar, R. A. Torrey, insists that the crucifixion occurred on Thursday, Nisan 14 in the year A.D. 30, and the brilliant scholar and commentator Brother Burton Coffman agrees. But, numerous other scholars disagree, and so do I. Exodus 16:26; 20:10; Deut. 5:14 all specifically state that the Sabbath is the 7^th day; no other day is so designated except in a figurative sense.

Leviticus 23:39 states that the Passover was from “Sabbath to Sabbath”; around the date of note, Nisan 15. Brother Coffman goes to great length in his commentary on Luke 22 to establish the events as having occurred in AD 30. I think he is mistaken, and instead prefer to accept the year as having been AD 33. The 15^th of Nisan fell in this particular year on Thursday, (the night the Lord ate the Passover meal with his disciples), and that the Sabbath following was the eighth day of Passover, i.e. a high Sabbath, as the scriptures state. I have found no evidence anywhere in the scriptures that any other day of the week than a seventh day is ever called “THE” Sabbath. There is no such thing as a Friday Sabbath, it is an invention of men. Brother Burton Coffman’s assertion that the use of the plural form of the Greek word for Sabbath in Matthew 28:1 indicates two back-to-back Sabbaths might equally be extend to indicate the second Sabbath (eighth day) of the Passover week. Brother Coffman concedes that certain knowledge of these days cannot be had without knowing the exact year of Christ’s death in order to fix the day of the week of Nisan 15.

Coffman refers to Professor Roger Rusk of the University of Tennessee who calculated a calendar for the period AD 25 through AD 36, in which he demonstrates his theory that the dates would have fallen properly for a Friday crucifixion in either AD 25 or AD 33. For some reason unknown to me, Coffman assumes that AD 33 is too late, and so insists that the Thursday date occurring in AD 30 is more likely.

I believe that the scriptures are clear, Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples on Thursday evening, prayed in the garden all night, was betrayed by Judas and arrested before day on Friday morning, denied by Peter in the early pre-dawn hours before the crowing of the rooster, tortured then falsely accused before Pilate, Herod and then Pilate again, and was on the cross by 9:00 AM, (Matt. 27:46).

Let’s hasten to point out that the specific details really don’t matter. What does matter is the fact that these events did happen; just as the Bible says they did and just as the prophets foretold that they would.

I have to stop here for a moment and marvel at the ignorance of supposedly learned scholars who insist on referring to the events of this day as Easter. While it is true that the word appears one time and one time only in the KJV, (Acts 12:4), that is an obvious mistranslation, placed there by men to support the false doctrine propagated by the Roman Catholic church. It is as if they thought inserting the word here, in an almost offhanded way, so far removed from the resurrection accounts, that it was sufficient to serve their purpose. (After all, especially at that time, the church controlled the access of the people to the scriptures, so very few people could actually study the Bible). Easter, like Christmas, is an invention of the apostate Roman church, and has no basis in scripture whatsoever as a special observance. We are taught to observe the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord on the first day of every week, not holding one day in any special regard above others. (Galatians 4-10).

The pagan festival of Eastre in which the ancient Saxons celebrated the coming of spring was the basis from which grew the observance in the apostate Roman church, coming into full bloom around 325 AD. The rabbit was the symbol of the pagan goddess Eastre. As a symbol of the rebirth of spring, decorated eggs were exchanged as gifts. {Whence the chicken, or were they supposed to be rabbit eggs?} Easter has become entrenched as a part of our culture, right down to the meal of baked ham. {Why not rabbit? Who ever heard of the Easter Pig?} If Christians want to play Easter bunny with their children, and hide eggs, and dress them out in new spring finery – purely as a secular observance, I see no problem with that. But to attach any religious significance to it at all, or to connect any of its activities with a worship service is an act of apostasy. Christ would say, “But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:9).

Of twenty-six times the Greek word pascha appears in the text of the New Testament, it is translated Passover twenty-five times. It is used to refer to the Jewish observance every time, and NEVER to the resurrection of our Lord. The mistranslation has been corrected in every other credible version of the scriptures.

First to arrive at the garden was Mary Magdalene – the stone was rolled away, according to all accounts. Matthew tells us that an angel rolled the stone back from the door and sat on it. Not just any angel, the angel of the Lord. Without getting into a study of angels at this time, (we’ll save that for later), let’s consider just a couple of points. Remember that the word translated angel usually means messenger. The hierarchy among angels is indicated in various passages, and some of them serve before the very throne of God. The fact that Jesus used the possessive pronoun to refer to such angels in Matthew 18:10, (the antecedent being little children), the very strong implication gives rise to the concept of what men have called ‘guardian angels’. This may very well have been an angel whose specific duty it was to minister to our Lord. There were two angels or messengers present, only one of them is spoken of as ‘the angel of the Lord’.

The accounts give different perspectives of the event, and each gives additional information. Some try to claim that there is a discrepancy between the accounts, but a contradiction exists only where there is no other plausible explanation. In this case, there are at least two other plausible explanations; A- as stated previously, different perspectives, written several years apart by different men, some giving more detail than the others, or including additional facts, but none disputing the other nor the central fact of the resurrection of Christ; or, B- it is possible that Mary Magdalene, Salome and the other Mary left home headed for Gethsemane much earlier than the other group of women, John’s account says it was still dark when they started out. There very well could have been an agreement between these women and the other group, consisting of Joanna and others (Luke 24:10), to meet in the garden or at the tomb.

The dawn of light – the realization that He is truly risen. The natural inclination when we have some good news is that we want to tell others. The Angels instructed the women to go tell the others – Mark’s account includes a specific reference to Peter. The reason for the reference to Peter is clear, and it is not because he held any position of preeminence among the others – had such been the case we might surmise that this man would have been the first to whom the Lord would have appeared, at least his name would have been mentioned first. Instead, it was mentioned in the context, ‘tell his disciples – and Peter’, indicating that Peter had been forgiven for his denial of the Lord, and was to resume his place among them.

Matt 28:8, “and they departed quickly…with fear and great joy; and did run…” Mark 16:8, “And they went out quickly, and fled, from the sepulcher;…” In John’s account we see that Mary Magdalene ran to tell Peter, and then Peter and John ran together to the tomb. We see more of the characteristic nature of both Peter and John in John 20:5&6. They both ran to the tomb, John outran Peter and got there fist, stopped at the door and stooped down, looked in – but he didn’t go in. Peter was hot on his heels, no doubt, and may very well have bumped into him in his haste, because when he got there he ran right on in. And there they stood, panting for breath, their hearts pounding, and their minds almost numb in amazement. John saw the linen clothes lying there, and Peter too saw that the strips of linen cloth were lying there undisturbed, as was the linen which had bound His head. The pieces of linen cloth that had been coated with the mixture of myrrh and aloes and then wound around the Lord’s arms, legs and body, and a piece wrapping His head, were lying there undisturbed. Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God had risen from the dead; He got up from that grave right through the grave clothes without even disturbing them! We know that He was able to do this because the Bible tells us of His entering a room through a closed and locked door.

> Now why do you suppose the stone had been rolled away? Not to let our Lord out of the grave, but to let the disciples in!

Why seek ye the living among the dead? That question is especially meaningful when we consider all of the people who are seeking Christ among the dead religions of man. I think this could be enlarged to encourage us to choose Christian friends for our primary associates, rather than trying to live in Christ among those who are spiritually dead. We might consider the question in light of the things we choose as entertainment – are we really motivated to live for Christ when we seek to be entertained by those who are spiritually dead and corrupt? Isaiah 55:2, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”

Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness…” (Matthew 5:6); where do you think we can go to find righteousness? Not among the dead entertainers of this world, but to Him that gives life to all through His word.

There is an appointment made to meet them all in Galilee. {Matt 28:10; Mk 16:7}

Apparently Christ wanted this important meeting where He would confer the Great Commission to be in an appropriate setting. He wanted to avoid the distractions of Jerusalem. By the way, this account appearing in Mark 16:7 completely blows away the false claim by people like those who edited the NIV that verses 9 – 20 of Mark 16 don’t belong in the text. Verse 7 points specifically to the events, including the Great Commission, which would take place in Galilee as reported in Mark 16, 15 and 16.

The Lord’s appearance on the road to Emmaus, recorded only in Luke but mentioned by John in 16:12, gives some interesting insight. Emmaus was a resort city located about 6 or 7 miles from Jerusalem. Secular history tells us that there was a mineral springs there, and people would often go there as a getaway. We don’t know precisely who these two gentlemen were; Luke’s account gives the name of one of them, Cleopas, and John mentions “Cleophas”, (19:25), the husband of one of the Marys. It is reasonable to assume this is the same individual, just a different spelling of his name. {My own name is spelled both with and without the “H” within my Dad’s own family. He always said that those who dropped the H were horse thieves and wanted to throw off suspicion.}

The other traveler is not named at all, but it is safe to assume that they were both Jews, because they make reference to “our rulers” as having delivered Jesus to be condemned for crucifixion. (There is some speculation that it could have been Matthias). Verse 33 tells us that they went back to Jerusalem immediately and found “the eleven”, and them that were gathered with them.

Their response to Jesus’ question to them in verse 19, “What things?”, opened the way for Him to give them an in-depth Bible lesson. Assume perhaps a little slower than average rate of speed for the walk covering the approximately 6 ½ miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, (given the depressed mood of the walkers); say they covered it at the rate of 2 ½ miles per hour. (Average walking speed is a little over 3 mph.). That would mean that the trip would take about 2 hours and 36 minutes. Now even two full hours is a short time to cover Genesis to Malachi. Here are some of the topics our Lord may have reviewed for them:

The first promise, Genesis 3:15 Cain and Able, Genesis 4

Noah and the flood, Genesis chapters 6 – 9 The call of Abraham, Genesis 11:30

Abraham commanded to offer Isaac… The promise to Abraham, Genesis 22

The promise to Jacob, Genesis 32 Joseph in Egypt, Genesis 37 – 46

Moses in Egypt, Exodus 2 The Passover and Deliverance, Exodus 14

Crossing the Red Sea, Exodus 16 Giving of the Law, Exodus 24

Wandering in the wilderness, Entering the Promised Land, Joshua 3

Saul made king, 1 Samuel 15 David made king, 2 Samuel 5

Solomon’s kingdom, 1 Kings 2 The divided kingdom, 1 Kings 11

Babylonian captivity, 2 Kings 25 Restoration of Jerusalem, Nehemiah 2

The many prophesies of Isaiah, Zechariah and Malachi… He had a lot to talk about.

He appears to the disciples. Luke 24:36; Without taking time to enumerate the details of the several appearances of Jesus during for forty days following His resurrection, we will simply cite the account of Luke recorded in Acts 1:1-11. Luke indicates that the disciples saw Jesus from time to time over a period of forty days, between the time of His resurrection and His ascension back to the Father. His instruction that they should wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high is significant in many ways. It was prophesied that the gospel would go forth from Jerusalem, (Micah 4:2).

The Holy Sprit guided the apostle Paul to write in 1 Corinthians such a reassuring account of the resurrection that some have called it “our title deed to the promise of our resurrection”. Paul makes it clear by a number of points that the resurrection of Christ proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that we too will be raised. In verses 21 and 22 he introduces the logic that through one man (Adam) death came into the world, therefore by one man (Christ) came resurrection and everlasting life.

In verse 20 Paul refers to Jesus as the firstfruits of the dead – If Jesus was the firstfruits of the dead, what about the son of the Shunammite woman; Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus and others who were raised from the dead? How can this be?

All of those resurrections were temporal in nature, each of those people died again, as do all men. But Christ arose from the dead never to die again! Romans 6:9

Firstfruits: In this we have yet another of numerous Old Testament types and shadows being shown in Christ. We have earlier considered the fact that Jesus was the Paschal lamb, the perfect sin sacrifice; the only offering that could atone for the sins of man. In this term “firstfruits” we see Him again in the wave offering required under the Law of Moses, (Exodus 23:15-19: Leviticus 23:10; 2 Chronicles 31:5) Also in Nehemiah, Jeremiah and Ezra we read of the importance and significance of this offering of the first fruits. The first sheaves of grain, the first born among the flocks, the first of the grape juice, olive oil - everything, was to be offered to God. This principle should govern our giving habits today as well. Some want to teach ‘tithing’; whenever you hear someone use that term to refer to giving you may know that this person is unlearned in the scriptures. Yet, many want to use this partial element of old testament giving as a guide for giving today. I suppose they think that if they could just get people to give as much as 10% of their means that would certainly be an improvement. Sometimes people ask, “Is ten percent enough?” Well, turn the question around and ask yourself, if God gives me ten times what I give to Him this week could I live on that amount?

The wave offering of the first of each year’s increase was seen as a guarantee of the harvest to come. Likewise, the resurrection of Christ as the first fruits of the dead – the first to arise never to die again – is the assurance of the ultimate resurrection of all mankind. Because he arose we have the assurance that we shall do so as well. Revelation 1:17-18

Another view of the term “firstfruits” in this connection could be metaphorical, comparing Christ to the first fruits of harvest which were to be dedicated to God. Just as God’s people harvested their crops each year, crops produced by planting the seed in the ground, the first to come forth was given to God and the remainder of the harvest the followed. Jesus, the first to come forth from the grave never to die again, thus indicating that there surely would be an even greater harvest of resurrected souls to follow.

His resurrected body was both spiritual and physical – 1 Corinthians 15:52-54. He was able to arise right through the strips of linen cloth that had been wrapped around him without disturbing them; he was able to enter and leave closed rooms; he was able to transport himself from one place to another, to mask his identity and to appear and disappear at will. When we arise from the watery grave of baptism there is a change that has occurred. Romans6:4… We do not arise simply having our sins forgiven, be we arise to walk in “newness of life”. We are to be changed, as Christians our lives will show the influence of Jesus in the way we conduct ourselves toward others.

Christians have two resurrections – the first from having died to sin and been buried with Christ in Baptism; and the final resurrection as well. On that day we will be changed; we don’t know exactly how we will be but we shall be like Him, 1 John 3:2.

The ascension: Psalms 110:1 prophesied the ascension of Christ a thousand years before His birth; this passage from the Old Testament is one of the most frequently quoted passages in the

New Testament. Jesus Himself prophesied his ascension in Matthew 26:64 and John 14:12.

The certain fact of the resurrection and ascension is taken for granted throughout the epistles: Ephesians 4:8-10; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 3:1; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 3:22. Of all the things about which the inspired writers taught, there apparently was never a question about the fact of the resurrection and ascension of Christ. They found it necessary to address various matters time and again, but the certain fact of the resurrection seems never to have been questioned.

The ascension is described for us in literal terms just as it occurred; and it is in the very same manner that He will return. Luke states, “in like manner”, meaning His coming will be visible to all, not some secretive so-called rapture. Neither will it be His returning to earth at the same place from which he ascended, as some claim. The insistence of many false teachers today is that Jesus will return to earth and rule the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Even the very idea is absurd! Not that He couldn’t do that if he wanted to, but he plainly stated, “My kingdom is not of this world”, (John 18:36). Those who teach the false doctrine of premillennialism are simply calling Jesus a liar. Not only did he make the specific statement that his kingdom is not of this world, nowhere in all of holy writ, of all the promises and prophesies concerning Jesus, do we ever find even one statement that indicates that He will ever set foot on the earth again.

Our Lord left work for us to do, “Go…teach…baptize…teach” (Matt 28:18-19); “Go…preach…” (Mark 16:16); “…preach repentance and remission of sins…” (Luke 24:47).

In the last parable Jesus taught on earth, recorded in Luke 19:11-27 and Matthew 25:14-30, He makes clear that we must work to enlarge the borders of His Kingdom.