"When He Ascended" Eph .4:1-8
There seems to be very little written concerning the ascension of Christ, & even less on
its relevance or importance to the church. As we approach the day of fulfillment of the
prophesied resurrection & ascension of a firstfruit remnant of "a glorious church…holy
& without blemish" (Eph.5:27), we believe there is an ever increasing light of truth
shining upon the path of the just.
Whatever view one has of the resurrection & its relation in comparison to the ascension
is bound to affect the timing & typology. We wish to share the following information, in
order that some tradition might be further exposed in light of scriptural inspiration. We
submit this to our beloved readers for prayerful consideration & hopefully profitable
study. It is a somewhat different look at THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST AND ITS
TIMING.
We will begin first with a summary of pertinent scriptural passages, & then get into what
we are advocating in more detail. This may well be important for those who are seeing
& experiencing their calling unto sonship, & especially for those who are called to a
writing ministry for the end time body. We will endeavor to bring out spiritual
understanding here as clearly & as precisely as possible. Even so, though the following
may be divinely revealed truth, one should realize it is still subject to the present will of
the Father & operation of His holy Spirit, to either quicken or withhold a fuller revelatory
understanding of His word.
Major Passages Concerning The Ascension
Math. 28:1-20—Gives a very general picture of the first day of the week. the
resurrection morning & later day, then jumps to a mountain in Galilee on an unknown
day sometime after the resurrection day.
Mark. 16:1-20—Again, another very general picture of the first day & this also includes
some of what Jesus said to His disciples that evening on the Mt. of Olives just before He
VISIBLY ASCENDED - vs.l9.
Luke 24:1-52—Here is a much more detailed picture of the resurrection morning,
afternoon, & evening. . also recording another thing Jesus said ( vs. 49) .."Tarry ye
in...Jerusalem until ye be endued with power.. & He blessed them (Mk.16:15-18)..& it
came to pass [while He walked & talked with them & blessed them, all the while heading
back up toward the Mt. of Olives summit--a mile or so away according to our map], HE
ASCENDED. " Lk.24:51.
John. 20:1-23— Here is a detailed description of the resurrection morning which leaves
out the afternoon account of the encounter on the road to Emmaus & picks up again in
vs. 19 & 20 of the same late day or evening. Jn.20:19-20 also corresponds with the timing
& setting of Lk. 24:36-49. The gospel of John leaves out the trip to Bethany found in Lk.
24:50 & also doesn't mention the first time the disciples saw Christ ascend as is recorded
in Luke's gospel.
Acts 1:1-12—This is a relation by Luke to Theophilus [a friend of God] who had not
been an eye or ear witness of Jesus' acts & words before & after His resurrection &
ascension. See Lk.1:1-4. One could see this readily in proper time relationship if the book
of Acts directly followed the gospel of Luke.
"Seen of them 40 days"
(vs. 1)"The former treatise ["logos", word, declaration, discourse] have I made of
Theophilus of all that Jesus began to do & to teach [this relates to all written in the book
of Luke's gospel].
(vs. 2) until the day in which He was taken up, after that [meaning: following the
discourse & events where] He through the H.G. had given commandments [on the eve of
His recur. day - Lk.24:1,13,29,33] unto the apostles [the commandments incl. Mk.l6:15;
Lk.24:49; Jn.19:22].
(vs. 3) to whom [these apostles] He also showed Himself alive [for 40 days] after his
passion [suffering of death on the cross] by many infallible proofs [such as Lk.24:31, 39;
Jn.20:20,30; 21:12-14,25; Matt.28:9,10,16-20], being seen of them [the apostles -
Ac.13:31, as well as other witnesses-Ac.10:40,41; ICor.15:5-7] 40 days [of which detailed
recorded coming & goings are—on the first day on the road to Emmaus - Lk .24:13-28;
then when He sat & ate with them at a disciples house in Emmaus vs. 30; then later that
day when they returned to Jerusalem Vs .33-36+; then 8 days later in the presence of
Thomas & others - Jn.20:26-29, then Jn.21:1-25; Mk.14:28] & speaking of the things
pertaining to the kingdom. of God [such as in Lk. 24:32,45-47; Mk. 16:15-18; Matt.
28:18-20; Jn.20:21-23].
(vs. 4) And being assembled together with them [the disciples at that time, near the end
of the first day of His resurrection - Lk.24:49. ..not 40 days later!] commanded them
that they should not depart from Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father which
satin He [Jesus] ..ye have heard of [spoken by] me [Luke-recorded in Lk.24:49 & also
before Christ's death as spoken in Jn. chptrs. l4, 15, 16].
(vs. 5) For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the holy Ghost
(Jn.20:21,22) not many days hence [referring to the upcoming day of Pentecost approx.
50 days hence from the day Jesus spoke this ].
(vs. 6) When they were therefore come together [later in the eve of the first day of His
resurrection, this time somewhere on the Mt. of Olives outside Bethany - Lk.24:50] the
disciples asked Jesus the question of restoring the kingdom to Israel & Jesus answered
...as found in vs. 7-9. Vs. 7 & 8 are obviously just a further record of words of what Jesus
had said that day in addition to what was recorded in Mk.16 & Lk.24. The appearance
of the two men [angels?] in white apparel (vs. 10) was also mentioned here but not
recorded in the gospels. "..This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Ac.1:11. Vs. 12 then ties
in perfectly with Lk. 24:52,53. Certain ones began gathering continually (Ac.1:13,14;
Lk.24:53) for prayer daily at the ninth hour (Ac.3:1) for 49 days—not 10! THIS
ASCENSION WAS THE FIRST DAY OF THE RESURRECTION— not just 10 days
before Pentecost. This was the 1st & maybe only, visible ascension.
Note this also. According to 1Cor.l5:5, Jesus was seen of 12 disciples after His
resurrection & 1st ascension. Mathias was numbered among the other 11 to be the 12th
disciple. 1Cor.l5:5 says it was "the twelve" that saw Jesus. This is solid evidence that
the scriptures containing the events of Acts 1:13-26 should be placed not in the time span
of the 40th to 50th day as is traditionally done, but rather the gathering daily in the upper
room & the choosing of Mathias had taken place somewhere in the midst of the 40 day
sightings of Jesus.
"And what if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?" Jn.6:62.
Now if all or even part of that which we have stated to this point be truth, this is far from
the traditional teaching on the ascension where it is stated in biblical reference books &
in encyclopedia's etc. that the relevant ascension of which chptr.one of Acts speaks, was
not until 40 days after the resurrection. This is merely an assumption based almost
entirely on Acts 1:3. As we will see, there is much more scriptural evidence to refute
this tradition than to support it. If what we advocate is true, it could open a door to more
correct types & applications that may apply to this generation in the soon coming
resurrection & ascension.
"Not yet ascended"
We will touch here on some of what this could mean. It certainly clears up some previous
questions & scriptures which were difficult to reconcile until now. For example, one
question which always bothered us somewhat was, why did Jesus say to Mary? .."Touch
me not: FOR I AM NOT YET ASCENDED to my Father" (Jn.20:17); then later that same
day when Jesus appeared in a closed room in the midst of His disciples (Jn.20:20,21) &
said, "Behold, my hands & my feet, that IT IS I MYSELF: HANDLE ME & see.."
Lk.24:39. See also Matt. 28:9. The only reason Jesus had given for not wanting to be
touched was that He was NOT YET ASCENDED to His Father. His new spirit-body
was about to be glorified.
In light of the foregoing, it is evident that Jesus must have FIRST ASCENDED & THEN
DESCENDED UNSEEN in the time span between Jn.20:17-19. He may well have been
in a transitory, resurrected flesh & blood body much like unto Adam's before He
disobeyed his maker; but because the incorruptible seed (1Ptr.1:23) of His spirit & soul
had gone through death in triumph & rose in the newness of resurrection life. He was to
receive His completed glorified body that was reserved in heaven for Him upon His first
unseen ascension to the Father.
Jesus had prayed for His former state of glorification (Jn.17:5; 6:62) & appears to have
received it on His first ascension to His Father somewhere in that time period of
Jn.20:17-19. Here, "in a moment" as in likeness also unto our coming change
(1Cor.15:52), He was "caught up" (1Ths.4:17; Rev.12:5 ) & was crowned once again with
all of the Father's exalted power & glory - Eph.1:19-23; 1Ptr.3:22; Ac. 2:33. He must
have been to the Father, for the power was His to give in Matt.28:18. It is evident that
He must have ascended & quickly returned in the power of His unrecognizable new, &
glorified body somewhere very early that same day, even before He walked with the
disciples to Emmaus. He now was a perfected "heavenly" "spiritual body."
1Cor.15:44-49; Gal.1:16.
"In another form"
After He was seen of Mary "He appeared In another form unto two" (Mk.l6:12) as they
journeyed toward Emmaus. This signifies, that from the time of "the redemption, of our
body" (Ro.8:23) in the next resurrection & ascension, we shall only know each other &
Christ after the new nature, not after recognition of the flesh - 2Cor.5:17. We will be
known only by a new name, a new heart, a new nature - Rev.2:17. "Flesh & blood
cannot inherit the kingdom. of God. "1Cor.15:50; Matt. 22:28-33. The former body of
the Adam nature will not be known. But then shall we know & be known even as He is
also known in a state of resurrected glory - 1Cor.13:12. When we see Him as He is "face
to face", we shall be like Him (1Jn.3:2), "our vile body. ..fashioned like unto His glorious
body'' Phil.3:21. For we are made "partakers of the divine nature" (2Ptr.1:4), "partakers
of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end" (Heb.3:14)
whereby we become "filled with all the fullness of God." Eph. 3:19; 4:13.
It is significant that His body form & speech was not recognizable the disciples until their
eyes were opened by the Spirit to know it was He. Then He had the power & ability to
vanish at will out of their sight - Lk.24:31. Later that same day, He all of a sudden
appeared in their midst again (Matt.28:9; Lk.24:36; Jn.20:19) & did similarily 8 days later
in Jn. 20:26, & again in Jn. 21. Note the order & tense of the verbs in. 30:4.
So it seems in His fully glorified state He was unrecognizable, at least to the human
eye—appearing different than He was prior to death & also His first hour resurrection
state. It seems, Mary didn't recognize Jesus at the first instance in the dim light of the
dawn nor did she first recognize His voice because of her own loud weeping (vs. 11).
But when He spoke her name "she turned herself" (.vs. 16), instantly recognizing His
voice & features. It makes sense that He was not yet in His final state of glorification,
but was in a stage of transition in His passing through the grave back into the earth on His
way to the final heavenly glorification of His body.
It appears from the Old Test. that even in His former glory (Jn.6:62; 17:5), He was able to
appear to men in a glory such as in the burning bush or on Mt. Sinai—or in lesser states
such as Gen.18:1-33 & Gen.14:18-20. Once .again, after being clothed upon with
humanity, dying, resurrecting & ascending, He has returned unto His former power &
glory. Since the first ascension, could He not again appear to man in any form that He
wills? Could He net reveal Himself even now, in various manifested glories of 30 fold,
60 fold, or 100 fold? It is certainly possible & highly probable!
"Raised a spiritual body"
Jesus had prophesied of His coming resurrection & also His ascension saying, "Destroy
THIS TEMPLE & IN 3 DAYS I will raise IT up" Jn.2:19. This He did first in
resurrection, "having loosed the pains of death" ( Ac.2:24) & "being the first that should
arise from the dead" (Ac.26:23), "now no more to return to corruption." Ac.13: 34. "He,
whom God raised again, saw no corruption' 'Ac. 13:37. Again He. spoke of that same
3rd day revealing, "WITHIN 3 DAYS [not after 40 days], I will build another made
without hands. " Mk.14:58. Both times "He spoke of the temple of His body." Jn.2:21.
A glorified body that many brethren are yet to inherit, "incorruptible, undefiled, & that
fadeth not away." 1Ptr.1:4.
In His secret ascension [final rising from earthly to heavenly image ], the earthly house of
His former tabernacle [temple] was dissolved & He now had put on "an HOUSE NOT
MADE WITH HANDS, eternal in the heavens....WHICH IS FROM HEAVEN."
2Cor.5:1,2. His former mortal, now incorruptible body was quickened by the Spirit of
the Father (Ro. 8:11), whereby He upon that first ascension became "the Lord of lords,
who only hath immortality" (1Tim.6:15,16) whom no mortal eyes can see nor attain to in
a body of sinful flesh. Christ's earthly mortality was "swallowed up of life. "2Cor.5:4;
1Cor 15:54. It was raised from a natural "terrestrial" image to the "celestial" "image of
the heavenly." 1Cor. 15:49. It was "raised a. spiritual body" (1Cor.15:44), not only "in
incorruption" (vs.50) but also "raised in power" & "in glory" (vs.43) & in "immortality."
(vs. 52,53,54).
Conclusions:
All of the scriptural evidence so far examined, leads one to believe that there was FIRST
AN UNSEEN ASCENSION unto fulness of glory, as well as a quick descent: & return of
the glorified Christ early in the FIRST DAY OF HIS RESURRECTION. This all took
place in the interim after He had seen Mary, & before His walk on the road to Emmaus
(Lk.24:13+); before His subsequent breaking of bread at Emmaus (Lk.24:30), His
appearance a little later that day back at Jerusalem ( Lk.24:33-39) & of course before His
obvious VISIBLE ASCENSION THAT SAME EVENING from the Mt. of Olives near
Bethany - Lk.24:51.
We note that the Mt. of Olives [Olivet] was "a sabbath's day journey" (Ac.1:12) from
Jerusalem. A sabbath's day journey is five furlongs or approx. half a mile. Bethany was
on the far slopes of the Mt. within a mile or so past the ascension point. Jesus & His
disciples could have easily walked to Bethany & then part way back to the place on the
Mt. where He ascended—all the while talking & being blessed by Jesus. This would
explain why Luke says He led them out as far as Bethany..."And it came to pass [as they
returned], while He blessed them…He was PARTED FROM THEM.." Lk.24:51.
"Bethany" [home of Mary, Martha & Lazerus] means "house of affliction" & "house of
unripe fruit." This is surely where Christ had ascended earlier out of His immature body
of affliction & took on His new heavenly body of glory that first morning.
Three Ascensions?
Now we have the possibility of at least three ascensions in view here, & two bodily
returns—the time of His first unseen ascension to receive a glorified body; the time the
disciples saw Him bodily go up from the Mt. on the eve of the resurrection; & thirdly, a
time when He apparently left after 40 days (Ac.1:3) ...as the record of the Bible only
indicates He was no more seen until Paul saw Him as recorded in Ac. chptr.9. It is
interesting that 1Cor.l5:8 lists the sighting by Paul, in the same category as those
sightings in the 40 day period.
As we've already touched on, it should not be suprising that Jesus could come & go from
heaven to earth if the Father will, even as the angels are able to ascend & descend - Gen.
28:12; Gen.l8:1-33; Prv.30:4; Heb.13:2; Ac. 12:7 etc. The scripture also say resurrected
ones will be "as the angels of God." Matt. 22:30.
"This same Jesus"
All this could also result in Acts 1:11 having been at least partially or primarily fulfilled
in Christ's literal sense of coming again. This would have been fulfilled when the
disciples saw Him in the same glorified body 8 days later (Jn.20:26) after His first visible
ascension, & again in Galilee as recorded in Jn. chptr. 20 & Matt.28:16-20. The 40th
day, 10 days before Pentecost, must have been His final ascension to remain in the
heavenlies until Paul experienced His presence sometime later. Jesus had already
descended in His new body of glory in like manner as He did ascend & also as the
disciples had seen Him do, prior to His final unseen & unrecorded ascension 40 days
hence.
All of this surely makes it harder to believe in a literal Christ coming in His next world
wide advent--to sit on a literal throne in the literal city of Jerusalem for 1,000 yrs. It may
well be all flesh & every eye shall eventually see Christ (Rev. 1:7) but this could well be
at the end of the 1,000 year literal reign of His glorified sons—at the time of the 2nd
resurrection & great white throne in Rev. chptr. 20, where every remaining unregenerated
knee shall bow & every tongue confess to an initial salvation to the gracious glory of
God. The perfecting fires of cleansing would still be in effect for these ones through the
presence of the all consuming spiritual "lake of fire."
We also see in all this, three types of bodies…The natural body we now have, a
resurrected spirit-body as Jesus had in the first part of His resurrection day, & a fully
glorified one upon completion of His ascension.
"Who Shall Ascend"? Psa.24:3-5
Math.27:51-53 says there were many {note: not all—in type to firstruit resurrection]
bodies that were resurrected, obviously right after Christ's resurrection. What happened
to these ones? It appears that these were they who ascended up as a cloud of witnesses
[even to His own resurr. ] & ascended into the heavenlies at the same time Christ first
ascended (Eph.4:8-10) at the end of the first day. If they actually remained alive in
resurrected. bodies for 40 days, waiting for Christ to take them to heaven, this most
assuredly would have caused much stir & warranted biblical record of such extraordinary
happenings? There is no scripture record. It is highly probable & certainly logical that
they descended with Christ on that resurrection morning. These obtained a "better
resurrection" (Heb.11:35) & are now a part of those waiting ones in Rev.6:9-11; 12:12a.
Many saints are waiting in the heavenlies to be made complete - Heb.11:39,40. This
shall be fulfilled through their resurrected bodies being supernaturally raised in the earth
& then being "caught up" [but not away from] the natural realm of this earth's atmosphere
where together with "those which are alive & remain", they shall receive their perfect &
complete, promised bodies of eternal glory. This remnant of "overcomers" shall remain
in the earth to establish divine governmental authority for a thousand year period of the
kingdom of God on earth. Who shall ascend into the governmental & priestly authority
of the Lord? Who (shall stand in oneness with the Lord in this holy place of His
kingdom? Only "he that .hath clean hands, & a pure heart [not just positionally, but
experientially]; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He
shall receive the blessing [of the kingdom on earth], & [perfect completed] righteousness
from the God of His salvation." Psa.24:3-5.
A holy remnant from every generation that has sought Him with all their heart shall enter
in. "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty", God shall shine. "Gather my saints together
UNTO ME; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice." Psa.50:5. It is their
righteousness the heavens are about to declare.
Following the first resurrection & ascension pattern, we now see 1Ths.4:15-18 in a
slightly different way. "The dead in Christ [incl.those of Matt.28:52,53] shall rise first
[FIRST IN RESURRECTION, NOT ASCENSION— in the early morning of the first day
of the thousand year kingdom reign. The type here is the resurrected body of Christ seen
only by Mary before He ascended]: Then we which are alive & remain [through great
tribulation ALIVE,—there would be no need of resurrection for these who] shall be
caught up [ascend to a higher order spiritually, physically] together with them in the
clouds [of heaven, .a spiritual glorification in the midst of the natural realm, .all this
happening the same day like unto the pattern of Christ's ascension ] to meet the Lord [the
same glorified Jesus which the disciples saw ascend] in the air"...& so shall we [those
alive & remaining overcomers] be that same day & time, glorified with the resurrected
ones "in the twinkling of an eye.
They shall return, descending literally to the terra firma to begin kingdom rule & reign as
manifested sons of the glory of God. Yes, the Lord is about to come in fulness of His
resurrection power. Again, shall He ''suddenly come to His temple" (Mal 3:1), coming
"with clouds" (Rev.1:7) in holy myriad's of Himself - Jude 14. In both the resurrection &
the ascension of our Lord, is found the complete pattern for both the dead in Christ & for
that remnant that shall be alive & remain.
Following the pattern of the original day of Christ's resurrection & ascension, now begins
to open up other patterns of truth. For example, the two disciples on the road to
Emmaus [meaning an earnest longing] who were sad, dejected, & understandably
discouraged [that there was no visible rapture, no visible literal Christ that the natural eye
could behold], were a type of the church that had not had their eyes open to see &
understand the firstfruit resurrection & ascension which just took place. They are of the
foolish virgins & are the church In the wilderness of Rev.12.
Christ is a type of the resurrected & glorified body of believers that shall first be revealed
to the church who had not made themselves ready for this resurrection & ascension.
This remnant of the woman's seed (Rev.12:17), shall be fed (Rev. 12:5,6) of the true
living bread of life [typed by Lk.24:30,31,45] & ministered to in the midst of the great
wilderness of the fallen Babylonian systems of the earth. There they shall be fed, by the
"manchild"; the manifested sons who had been caught up unto God & His throne
(Rev.12:5,6) even "unto the power of His resurrection." Phil.3:10.
The 40 days [signifying the remaining days of the woman's testings] where Christ
Himself appears only to certain ones (ICor.15:5-8; Ac.10:40,41 ..Here the chosen ones
would typify the earthy woman, the church) being ministered to in many unrecorded acts
during this period of time, whether it be a literal 40 days or otherwise. These original 40
days could well foreshadow the working of Christ, with & in His glorified body of
manifested sons during a time of great turmoil & final destruction of earthy systems
which the earth will be experiencing. The experiential overcomers, the fully redeemed,
those who have "put on" glorified bodies, will be here ministering during great tribulation
of the last "vial" but will not be harmed or even affected by it. The promises of Psalms
91 shall be fulfilled.
We believe the incorruptible body will be given on the day of both the resurrection &
ascension [the same day!], at a time immediately as the 7th [last] trump sounds
(Rev.10:7; 11:15-19; 1Cor.15:51-54) warning of the 7th & final vial of wrath [=voices,
thunders & lightnings—bodily atoms of saints exploding into glory--time of nuclear
warfare Armageddon?] ...thus causing a world wide earthquake [ spiritual & natural ] & a
final destruction of Babylon's carnal death dwelling orders.
Mary Magdelene who first saw Jesus risen from the dead & believed, typifies the elect
overcomers. She was formerly a wretched sinner but now chosen to confound the wise.
She had deliverance from devils. She had sat at Jesus feet & was not a part of the
Martha ministry. Saying it in another type, Mary was of the ministry of Ezk.44:15.
Martha typified those of Ezk.44:11. Mary gave of her costly anointing perfume unto the
Lord, solely out of her love for Jesus. So must be the ways & motives of those who are
to soon ascend to a ministry in the likeness of Christ & His glory.
"Because I go to the Father"
We will leave you with something more to ponder for awhile; or maybe this will help
turn on a brighter light? In Jn. 7:39, from what Jesus said, the reason the holy Ghost [in
His New Covt. salvation power] was not yet. imparted to the disciples, was BECAUSE
JESUS WAS NOT YET GLORIFIED. He had not yet ascended to the Father to be given
a name [nature, authority] which is above every name - Phil.2:9-11. But over in
Jn.20:21,22, on the first day of His resurrection Jesus "breathed on them" [signif. the
imparting of His new nature & life], saying, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost", even the
promise of the indwelling Spirit which imparted to them power & assurance that His
Spirit would be with them always to enable them to preach & teach (Matt.28:18-20;
16:15-18) forgiveness of sins etc.
But they were to be in Jerusalem 50 days hence to receive a further empowerment from
on high (Lk.24:49) even the anointing & gifts of holy Ghost baptism. Jesus, according to
His own words, could not have given the disciples the H.G. at that time [the 1st day of the
resurr. Jn.20:21,22] unless He had ascended & received His new nature [name] ...His
glorified body, soul & spirit. Christ ascended "that He might FILL all things." Eph. 4:10.
Here again we see He must have ascended that resurrection room, for the disciples to
begin receiving an infilling of His Spirit. This was the gift of salvation "wherefore He
saith, WHEN HE ASCENDED UP ON HIGH He…gave gifts unto men." Eph.4:8. So
we see, that it was on this very first day that God had exalted Christ "to be a Prince & a
Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel, & forgiveness of sin." Ac.5:31.
Jesus had promised His disciples earlier.."I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to
you. Yet a little while & the world seeth me no more; hut ye see me: because I live, ye
shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, & ye in me, & l in you -
Jn.4:20. They would know & experience of His salvation life just as we can today.
They would truly believe He came from God. Jesus spoke of this again in Jn.l6:16.."a
little while, & ye. shall see me, BECAUSE I GO TO THE FATHER [to be glorified].." to
vs. 28. They wept for HIM when He died, but were glad & joyful on seeing it was really
Him come again inmediately after His resurrection & ascension to the glory of the Father
- Jn 20:20; Lk 24:52.
Jesus also said, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, & come again unto
you…I go unto the Father... I have told you before it come to pass, that when it comes to
pass might believe." Jn. 14:28,29. Well, this did come to pass just as He said. The
morning that He rose from the grave He also ascended unseen of man] to the right hand
of the Father, receiving through the promised H.S. (Ac.2:33) all power & glory in heaven
& in earth. He secretly descended shortly thereafter, coming again unto His disciples
(Lk.chptr.24) bringing them His New Covenant salvation. Jn.20:21,22 records this first
time that humanity received this salvation for they were the first to see Him glorified, &
believe.
Tradition says we are presently awaiting the 2nd coming of Christ but we do not hesitate
to declare that He has already come the 2nd time after His resurrection & ascension for a
period of 40 days, & we are soon about to experience His 3rd coming—the 3rd feast, the
Feast of Tabernacles—a marriage supper, shared first with a remnant of the church who
make themselves ready to be found without spot or wrinkle. Christ died once to put
away sin after His resurrection,& came again at that time to show Himself to witnesses
that were chosen of God. He is to appear a 2nd time SINCE he offered His body to bear
men's sins—this time to bring their salvation to perfection & completeness - Heb.9:26-28
"The 3rd day"
One more thing. Christ speaks of suffering condemnation even unto death by crucifixion
& on the 3rd day entering into "His glory".- Lk.24:20-26. In Lk.13:32 Jesus said, "the
3rd day I shall be perfected." Was He not speaking parabolically of that 3rd day, the
actual day on which He was to be resurrected & raised in ascension to the perfected
glory, which also included a perfected body of glory? We have formerly always
futurized this 3rd day, taking this to mean the day of resurrection beginning a 1,000 year
kingdom relgn - Hos.6:2. But it is really speaking of OUR resurrection & perfection.
Luke was speaking of HIS perfection which was fulfilled on that 3rd day. Shortly,
"when that which is perfect [the Head] is come, then that which is in part [His earthly
body] shall be done away [swallowd up in His perfection]" (1Cor .13:10) and the
perfected body of Christ shall be made visibly evident in a glorious "manifestation of the
sons of God." Ro. 8:19.
K.Ross McKay
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