Bible Trilogy III – Part 3
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! [Psalm 24:7]
When Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week, where did He go? For that matter where was Jesus’ spirit during the three days His body was in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? We need to know what the Bible says about these matters, don’t we?
Well, the Bible says that Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week. Then he spent forty days appearing at times to his disciples and a few other folks. 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 speaks to this matter:
He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Acts 1:3 adds a tad bit more information for our consumption:
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
So we know where Jesus was after He rose out of death and His body was no longer in the tomb. At least some of the time He was on earth appearing to various disciples and followers. Likely He spent the majority of that time at the right hand of the Father in heaven, while He returned to earth for His several appearances for those forty days.
But what about the three days His body was in the tomb? Where was Jesus then? Again, what does the Bible tell us? Uh, it doesn’t…at least not categorically. That being the case, we mustn’t be dogmatic in asserting our opinions and demanding everyone else jump on our bandwagon! Or we could form a new church and name it “The Three Day Church”. Sounds like a plan…
I personally—and remember, I just stated that the Bible doesn’t categorically reveal where Jesus was during the three days when His body was in the tomb, so this is only my educated opinion—but I believe the moment Jesus died, His spirit went to be with the Father in heaven. He couldn’t appear to the disciples during that time: He didn’t have a body, so they couldn’t see Him! Why remain on earth?
Also, when Christians die they immediately go into the presence of the Lord in heaven, even though we don’t receive our resurrection bodies until the Rapture. During the period between our death and the Rapture, we are in the same state Jesus was during the three days His body was in the tomb. The Rapture serves as the Christian’s moment of physical resurrection, you see.
The Apostle Paul touched on this truth in 2 Corinthians 5:8. He noted that,
when Christians die, we exult because we
prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Notice the contrast involved in those words. On the one hand we are “absent from the body”. Those words can only refer to a time when we exist without our bodies. Am I not right? On the other hand we are simultaneously “at home with the Lord”.
We will finish this topic in our next study. In the interim enjoy your time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
When Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week, where did He go? For that matter where was Jesus’ spirit during the three days His body was in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea? We need to know what the Bible says about these matters, don’t we?
Well, the Bible says that Jesus rose out of death on the first day of the week. Then he spent forty days appearing at times to his disciples and a few other folks. 1 Corinthians 15:5-8 speaks to this matter:
He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
Acts 1:3 adds a tad bit more information for our consumption:
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
So we know where Jesus was after He rose out of death and His body was no longer in the tomb. At least some of the time He was on earth appearing to various disciples and followers. Likely He spent the majority of that time at the right hand of the Father in heaven, while He returned to earth for His several appearances for those forty days.
But what about the three days His body was in the tomb? Where was Jesus then? Again, what does the Bible tell us? Uh, it doesn’t…at least not categorically. That being the case, we mustn’t be dogmatic in asserting our opinions and demanding everyone else jump on our bandwagon! Or we could form a new church and name it “The Three Day Church”. Sounds like a plan…
I personally—and remember, I just stated that the Bible doesn’t categorically reveal where Jesus was during the three days when His body was in the tomb, so this is only my educated opinion—but I believe the moment Jesus died, His spirit went to be with the Father in heaven. He couldn’t appear to the disciples during that time: He didn’t have a body, so they couldn’t see Him! Why remain on earth?
Also, when Christians die they immediately go into the presence of the Lord in heaven, even though we don’t receive our resurrection bodies until the Rapture. During the period between our death and the Rapture, we are in the same state Jesus was during the three days His body was in the tomb. The Rapture serves as the Christian’s moment of physical resurrection, you see.
The Apostle Paul touched on this truth in 2 Corinthians 5:8. He noted that,
when Christians die, we exult because we
prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
Notice the contrast involved in those words. On the one hand we are “absent from the body”. Those words can only refer to a time when we exist without our bodies. Am I not right? On the other hand we are simultaneously “at home with the Lord”.
We will finish this topic in our next study. In the interim enjoy your time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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