Sabbath During the Days of Unleavened Bread - 2011
Fred R. Coulter—April 23, 2011
Greetings, everyone! Welcome to the Sabbath during the
Feast of Unleavened Bread. There’s a great deal of meaning to this day, because
this is the day that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. We’ve got in
the Bible we’ve got The Three Days and Three Nights in an Appendix J, pg
1,277 of The Holy Bible in Its Original Order. We also have it in A
Harmony of the Gospels, a little
longer commentary and all of those things are necessary to understand it. But
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the whole key for salvation.
It is the whole key for understanding how to count to Pentecost.
Let’s come back
here to Leviticus 23 and let’s see what was to happen in the next day after the
Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. On all occasions, with
the exception of when the Holy Day falls on a Sunday, it follows the Sabbath
during Unleavened Bread. That means it always has to be the first day of the
week within the days of Unleavened Bread. When it falls on Sunday, then
the Sabbath is the seventh day and the day after the seventh Sabbath is outside
the Days of Unleavened Bread and should never be calculated that way.
Let’s come to Leviticus 23 and we will see the count,
because it involves this Sabbath, the resurrection of Christ and then on
tomorrow, the day after the Sabbath, the ascension and acceptance of the first
of the Firstfruits, which then is Jesus Christ the Firstborn from the dead.
Leviticus 23:9: “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel
and say to them, “When you have come into the land which I give to you, and
shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of
the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest”’” (vs 9-10). The very first of
the firstfruits, we will see, pictures Jesus Christ. This is why this is called
the Premiere Sheaf. It was a
special sheaf of barley that was grown right close to the temple area, right up
on the Mt. of Olives. You will read in The Christian Passover and
in A Harmony of the Gospels books that this sheaf was cut right as the
Sabbath was coming to a close. This is symbolic of Christ being raised from the
dead. Then it was brought to the altar and laid there by the altar all night
until the morning and then the Wave
Sheaf Offering was given by the
priest. We will see how that follows along in fulfillment in the New Testament
with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Of course, like everything else to do with the Holy Days, like
everything else to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan is right
there to cause confusion; he is right there with His leaders with their false
interpretations; so we need to understand this thoroughly. God does not want us
to be ignorant. God does not want us to be unknowledgeable so that if someone
comes along and teaches something different, we’re not able to understand the
false doctrine that they are bringing. God wants us to know! We are being
educated for eternal life. We have to be able to discern
- right teaching from false teaching
- right doctrine from false doctrine
- truth from error
- love from authority
- All
of those things we need to understand, brethren.
Verse 11: “‘And
he [the priest] shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you….
[the children of Israel; today, the Church is the Israel of God] …On the
next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.’”
Now, let me
tell you what Michael Heiss told me in looking at the translation of this. In
his experience when he was going to Judaic University, and in going through
this section of the Bible in Hebrew with his instructor. The reason is this:
The word the Sabbath is translated from the Hebrews ‘ha Shabbat’—the Sabbath. That is the weekly Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Let’s
also understand something else. Every Holy Day is called a Sabbath—‘Shabbat’—not ‘ha Shabbat’; you will see that
concerning every one of the Holy Days. Here in Lev. 23 they are Sabbaths.
Verse 24: “Speak
to the children of Israel saying, ‘In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, you shall have a Sabbath…’” What was it called in
John 19 when Christ was on the cross and they wanted to get all of the bodies
off the crosses and into the grave. It was the preparation day and the
Sabbath was coming on, ‘for that Sabbath was a high day’—same
thing in the Greek, exactly.
- In the
Greek it is ‘to Sabbaton’
- In the
Hebrew it is ‘ha Shabbat’
Almost identical!
So the Jews
have it this way: They say that this Sabbath is the first Holy Day during the
Feast of Unleavened Bread, which means that they begin counting with the 16th and then they end up with Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks on the 6th of Sivan, on a fixed day. The counting is meaningless. Only when the first
Holy Day falls on a Sabbath do they have it right. All the rest of the time
they have it wrong.
I want to tell you something very interesting
concerning the problems of the Jews and their false teachings. The Passover,
Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost all relate to the Church and Jesus
Christ, His first coming and the harvest of the firstfruits, and for us to be
called and changed and converted—unleavened—that’s what the Feast
of Unleavened Bread is all about. Since they reject Jesus Christ, it is no
strange thing that even though they have the Scriptures—much like the
Protestants, have the Scriptures, but they don’t understand
them—likewise, because they reject Jesus Christ, they don’t understand
concerning the true meaning of Passover. They have it on the 15th instead of the 14th. They don’t understand the true day to begin to
count toward Pentecost. It is on the next day after the Sabbath,
and that’s during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
You can’t have Christ ascending to heaven as the
Firstfruit, the Firstborn from the dead, outside the Feast of Unleavened
Bread. That will never work. Even some
Churches of God do that. That’s not the way it is in Scripture.
Let’s see
something concerning Jesus Christ and being resurrected from the dead. This Premiere
Sheaf, on the next day after the Sabbath when the priest waves it to be
accepted for the people, is the ritual foretelling the acceptance of Jesus
Christ by God the Father, after He was resurrected from the dead on the weekly
Sabbath, and then, on that day—the first day counting toward Pentecost,
the first day of the weeks—He ascended to heaven and was accepted of God
the Father.
This also
helps us to answer the question concerning Firstborn/Firstfruits, they are
synonymous referring to Christ.
Come to
Matthew, the first chapter, and let’s see something interesting concerning
Jesus Christ. As we will see as we’re going along, this will help us to
understand what does it mean to be born again. Everything in the
Protestant world—and too much of it within some of the Churches of
God—have the opinions of human beings attached to it, the false
interpretations given to it and the wrong translation of the King James
Version of the Bible. That’s why we did The Holy Bible in Its Original
Order, a Faithful Version.
Talking about
Mary and Jesus, and let’s notice what it says about the birth of Jesus, Matthew
1:23: “‘Behold, the virgin… [not a virgin; that’s what it also is in the
Hebrew] …shall be with child and shall give birth to a son, and they
shall call His name Emmanuel’; which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us.’” So,
the first thing this tells us was that even before John wrote the Gospel of
John, which says, ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and
the Word was God’ that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh—God with
us, Emmanuel!
And when
Joseph was awakened from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had
commanded, and took his wife to wed; but he did not have sexual
relations with her until after she had given birth to her son, the
firstborn; and he called His name Jesus” (vs 24-25). That’s what the angel
said to name Him. But I want you to notice the firstborn. The firstborn
is reckoned not from the father, but the mother; the firstborn of the mother.
Of course, the father was the one causing the impregnation so there would be
the birth of a child.
Now let’s see
something very interesting here concerning what we find in Hebrews the first
chapter. What happened when Jesus was born? We’ve covered part of this. He is
called the Firstborn! The King James Version says,
‘first begotten.’ That’s incorrect! Jesus was the ONLY begotten, not the first begotten. They ONLY begotten of God the Father in the manner that
Jesus was born.
Let’s bring it here to Hebrews 1:5: “For to which of the angels
did He ever say, ‘You are My Son; this day I have begotten You’? And again, ‘I
will be a Father to Him, and He will be a Son to Me’?…. [Talking about what? His
physical birth!] …And again, when He brought the Firstborn into the
world, He said, ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him’” (vs 5-6). Isn’t
that what He did when He was an infant? When He was a child? Yes, indeed! Remember the shepherds out in the field? All of a sudden the heavens opened up,
the angels were singing ‘glory to God in the highest!’ then they
were instructed to go into Bethlehem, and that’s where they found Jesus exactly
as the angel had said.
Now, if Jesus was not God before He became human, then
God the Father—in commanding the angels to worship Him—would be
commanding them to worship someone who was just human and was not God. You need
to think of that! So, all of those who say, ‘Well, Jesus did not exist except
in the mind of God until He was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary’ are
totally wrong!
Let’s look at something else. Let’s talk a little bit more about Jesus
Christ as the Firstborn. Come to Colossians, the first chapter, and let’s see
what it says about Jesus, the Firstborn from among the dead. This also answers
the question and tells us what? What does this tell us? This also helps us
answer the question: What do you mean born again? Was Jesus born of the flesh? Yes! Was He born again from the dead? Yes!
Colossians
1:18: “And He is the Head of the body, the Church… [no man is the head
of the Church; you need to understand that] …Who is the Beginning, the Firstborn from among the dead…” What did we find in Rom. 8, that ‘He is the
Firstborn among many brethren.’ So, when you’re resurrected from the dead,
you’re born again. Jesus was born again—was He not? Yes,
indeed!
Let’s come to
Revelation, the first chapter, and let’s see what it says about Jesus
concerning the same thing. So, we find that Jesus was called the Firstborn in
the flesh. We find that He is called the Firstborn from among the dead. He was
born in the flesh, resurrected in the spirit, so being firstborn means that He
was born in the flesh once, He was resurrected from the dead, so He was born
again.
Revelation 1:5: “And from Jesus Christ, the faithful
Witness, the Firstborn from the dead…” How about that! He also says in v 18:
“Even the one Who is living; for I was dead, and behold, I am alive into the
ages of eternity. Amen. And I have the keys of the grave and of death.”
So, there we go!
Jesus
was firstborn in the flesh of the virgin Mary
Jesus
was firstborn from the dead by the power of the Father
And that took place on the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Passover was on the
middle of the week and the first day of Unleavened Bread was on Thursday. Then
we had the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath, which was
Friday. Then we had the regular Sabbath and that completes the three days and
three nights that Jesus was in the tomb.
Let’s look at some other
Scriptures, 1-John 4, and let’s see what it also tells us concerning Jesus
Christ and the resurrection and the fact that He was raised from the dead. And
also what it says concerning God. What it says concerning our behavior ought to
be.
1-John 4:9: “In
this way… [that’s talking about God the Father and Jesus Christ] …the
love of God was manifested toward us: That God sent His only begotten Son into
the world, so that we might live through Him. In this act is the
love—not that we loved God; rather, that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins” (vs 9-10). This is the whole thing, the
resurrection of Christ from the dead. We need to realize that. Everything that
we do, brethren, has to be based on the love of God.
Let’s understand something else. In realizing what
Jesus did in humbling Himself to become a human being, to become that perfect
sacrifice that Jesus really gave up all His glory and power and made
Himself—through the power of God, the Holy Spirit—into just a
pinpoint of life and to be born of the virgin Mary. He took all the weakness of
the human flesh. He took the human nature and overcame it. That’s how we’re
able to overcome it through the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
2-Corinthians 13:4: “For although He was crucified in
weakness, yet He lives by God’s power; and we are indeed weak in Him, but we
shall live with Him by God’s power toward you.” So, God has called us also to
be resurrected from the dead. All of these things are very important for us to
realize; very important for us to grasp. We need to, as the Apostle Paul said,
understand these things ‘in season.’ Now is the season for us to understand it.
John 14—this is part of what we read for the
Passover services. Remember, all the words of the New Covenant are contained in
John 14-17 and it really is a love letter from God the Father and Jesus Christ
to us. Remember what Jesus said at the last Passover: ‘A new commandment I give
you, that you are to love one another as I have loved you. And by this shall
all know that you are My disciples.’ Whenever you have a hierarchy—and
too many Churches of God follow the hierarchy, which takes away from the love
of God—and authority given, it puts a layer between you and God. It’s
very difficult to find the love of God in those organizations.
If you’ve been in those organizations and you’ve come
out of them, I recommend you get our series on the Love of God—21
messages—and then you get the series on Why God Hates Hierarchy.
Then you get the sermons that I did on Invisible Idol/Visible Man and
see what happens whenever human beings get involved in that kind of thing.
Brethren, we need to get that out of our system. Christ died for us. It was His
love for us that He did it. Let’s understand something. In order for us to love
one another
-
we’ve got to know the Spirit of God
-
we’ve got to know how we are to serve
-
we’ve got to know how we are to love each other
That is vital! We’re going to have people coming
from other Churches of God that have been beaten up. You’ve got to let the love
of God heal your wounds. Do not carry the same faults from where you have been
attending before into the Christian Biblical Church of God fellowship. The
truth is, you’ve got to learn the love of God through His Spirit as we have
been learning for years and years.
John 14:19: “Yet
a little while and the world shall see Me no longer; but you shall see Me.
Because I live… [after the resurrection] …you shall live also.” We’ve
been guaranteed—haven’t we?—concerning the resurrection. Yes,
indeed!
Let’s see
where Christ is the Firstfruits, 1-Corinthians 15. We need to realize that the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, which took place on the weekly Sabbath during the
Days of Unleavened Bread, is a profound event that we need to understand and
realize. Why don’t we celebrate the ascension of Christ to heaven in a
particular way, like the Protestants say, ‘Oh well, we celebrate Easter.’ They
don’t even have a clue as to what Easter is. If they really did they would
forsake it. Others would still go ahead and accept it because, after all that’s
what the church teaches. Even in the Church of Corinth there were some that
were saying that the resurrection has passed; that only occurred with Christ.
Let’s see what the Apostle Paul was teaching to those at Corinth and how that
our whole hope of eternal life is based upon the life, the death and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1-Corinthians
15:3: “For in the first place, I delivered to you what I also had
received: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures… [Notice,
he’s preaching exactly what we are saying here.] …and that He was buried; and
that He was raised the third day, according to the Scriptures… [those have to
be a combination of Old Testament and New Testament] …and that He appeared to
Cephas, and then to the twelve” (vs 3-5). Where is that found? In the
New Testament! So this equates New Testament with Scriptures—doesn’t
it?
Verse 6: “Then He appeared to over five hundred
brethren at one time, of whom the greater part are alive until now, but some
have fallen sleep. Next He appeared to James; then to all the apostles; and
last of all He appeared to me also, as one who was born of a miscarriage” (vs
6-8).
Look at Paul! I want you to understand the attitude of
the Apostle Paul. This becomes important, because we’re in the Days of
Unleavened Bread—isn’t that correct? What are we to do for the Days of
Unleavened Bread? We’re to put out sin and we’re to put in righteousness—correct? Yes! Notice how Paul did not teach hierarchy; notice what he says here:
Verse 9: “For I am the least of the apostles, and am not fit even to be called an apostle…” If he wasn’t fit to be called
an apostle:
- Why do we have men running around today claiming
they’re apostles?
- Can’t you be satisfied with just teaching the
brethren and being teachers?
- Can’t you be satisfied with loving the brethren
and teaching the love of God?
- Why do you have to exalt yourself over the
brethren?
That’s all part of Unleavened Bread;
- get rid of the sin
- get rid the human nature
- get rid of the carnality
- get rid of those things that cause
- division
- hatred
- strife
“…because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God
I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been in vain; rather, I have
labored more abundantly than all of them; however, it was not I, but the
grace of God with me” (vs 9-10). That’s how Paul viewed his relationship with
God the Father, Jesus Christ and the brethren.
Verse 11: “Now then, whether I or they, so we
preach, and so you have believed. But if Christ is being preached that He rose
from the dead…” (vs 11-12). Notice this right in a Church of God! Why does God allow those things to happen within a Church of God? To test
us!
- Do we love God?
- Do we love the Word of God?
- Are we willing to submit to it?
- Do we love each other?
- Are we willing to carry out that love of God?
It’s all right there!
“…how is it that some among you are saying that
there is no resurrection of the dead?” (v 12). What an unthinkable thing
to say! No resurrection from the dead! What were they teaching then?
- Immortal soul!
- Going to heaven!
- Greek philosophy!
- Greek religion!
Worming it’s way into the Churches of God!
Verse 13: “For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then
our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. And we
are also found to be false witnesses of God; because we have testified
of God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise, if indeed the dead
are not raised” (vs 13-15). The whole premise of what the Catholics and
Protestants do is wrong! That’s why they don’t follow the Scriptures.
Verse 16: “For if the dead are not raised,
neither has Christ been raised. But if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your
sins… [He died to pay for our sins, and He was raised to justify us through the
mercy, grace and forgiveness of God. If that didn’t happen we’re all still in
our sins.] …and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have then
perished. If in this life only we have hope
in Christ, we are of all people most miserable” (vs 16-19).
Then he clarifies
it and he shows that you can’t bring those beliefs in; you can’t have
compatibility with God the Father, Jesus Christ and the plan of God if you
don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. And then you’re saying that
Christ was not raised from the dead. Think of that! Right in the middle of the
Church of God! I tell you, Paul had a
lot of problems there in Corinth. You might say in this age—the church
age of the Corinthians: sex sins, doctrinal sins, all kinds of other sins!
Verse 20: “But now
Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit… [the
Premiere Wave Sheaf Offering] …of those who have fallen asleep.” Let’s
understand that! That’s what that pictures back in Lev. 23 with the wave
sheaf offering, and that from that day forward there is a continual harvest
of those being called to eternal life and they live their lives, growing and
overcoming—die or are martyred—and they are put into storage until
the resurrection.
The whole 15th chapter of the First Epistle
to the Corinthians is all about the resurrection. I recommend you go and read
through it. But notice what he says here, v 20: “He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die… [we
have the law of sin and death in us; our only salvation is through
Christ] …so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order:
Christ the Firstfruit…” (vs 20-23). There it is again! He is twice
called the Firstborn; He is twice called the Firstfruit—right?
We have the Firstborn in the flesh! We have the
Firstborn from among the dead, which took place on the weekly Sabbath during
the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the year 30A.D.—isn’t that
interesting? You go back and read about When was Jesus Christ Born?
(Appendix E The Holy Bible in Its Original Order) The closest we can
come to when He was born was the Feast of Trumpets and that Feast of Trumpets
was also on the weekly Sabbath. So what do we have here? See the parallel? He
was born on the weekly Sabbath, the Feast of Trumpets! He was resurrected
during the Feast of Unleavened Bread on a weekly Sabbath! Yes! Firstborn
twice on the weekly Sabbath! Once in the flesh and the other in the Spirit.
There it is right there!
Verse 23: “But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit then, those who are Christ’s at His coming.” No one is in heaven. No
one has been raised from the dead to eternal life except Jesus Christ.
Now, let’s look at a couple of Psalms here and let’s
see where this was a prophesied event. Let’s see what happens. Let’s come to
Psalm 16 where it talks about the resurrection; it talks about Christ being in
the tomb; it talks about the same thing that Peter preached on the Day of
Pentecost when they were preaching Christ. That was quite a day when that
happened.
- You can’t have Pentecost until you have the Wave
Sheaf Offering.
- You can’t have the Wave Sheaf Offering until you
have the resurrection on the Sabbath.
- You can’t have the resurrection on the Sabbath
until Christ has been in there three days and three nights.
Never was it on a Friday, absolutely never! Isn’t it
interesting? The greatest lies and the most insane doctrines come from those
who profess to be Christians.
- You can’t have Christ in the grave three days
and three nights unless He was crucified on the Passover Day.
And that’s what the Passover is all about—right?
- You can’t have Him dying until He began His
ministry and His ministry began on the Day of Atonement, an appointed time of
God.
- You can’t have Him with His ministry unless He
was born of the flesh, lived a perfect life as a child, grew up to be a man and
at age 30 was baptized.
Everything has to fit together. You can’t take one part here and separate
it, another part over here and separate it, and likewise with the Feast of
Unleavened Bread. When we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread that is putting
righteousness in us because we are to ‘eat the Unleavened Bread of Sincerity
and Truth.’ Then we are to examine our lives and we are to repent of our
sins and put them under the blood of Christ, and let the love of God help us
and heal us through the grace of God. Love each other and understand how great
Jesus was in doing what He did for us.
- Do we grasp that?
- Do we understand that?
- Do we realize that?
Remember in the Old Testament it is ‘line upon line;
here a little, there a little; precept upon precept.’ We put it together. In
the Psalms and in the Prophets you can read of Christ, His ministry, His death,
His resurrection, His life and all of these things. It will go along and here
will be a verse about His first coming and then BANG! there’s one right after
that about His second coming. Then right after that there’s a verse concerning
the contemporary things that affected the children of Israel and what Isaiah or
Jeremiah or Ezekiel was bringing out as inspired by God at that point.
Psalm 16:5: “The LORD
is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; You shall uphold my lot. The
lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful
inheritance. I will bless the LORD Who has given me counsel;
my heart also instructs me in the nights. I have set the LORD
always before Me. Because He is at My right hand, I shall not be moved” (vs
5-8).
- Prophecy of Christ.
- Prophecy of His ministry.
- Prophecy of the relationship
between God the Father and Jesus Christ.
Verse 9: “Therefore, My heart is
glad and My glory rejoices; My flesh also shall rest in safety, for You
will not abandon My soul to the grave; neither will You allow Your Holy One to
see corruption…. [and He didn’t; He was raised from the dead] …You will make
known to Me the path of life… [the resurrection] …in Your presence is fullness
of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (vs 9-11). We’re going to
see that a little bit later when we talk about Jesus’ ascension into heaven.
What was that like?
Psalm 17:15: “As for me, I will behold Your face
in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Your likeness.” That
applies to Christ directly, and that also applies to us. Are our bodies going
to be transformed from flesh to spirit? Are we going to see God the Father
face-to-face? Yes, indeed!
- He was the Firstfruit, the Premiere
Wave Sheaf Offering!
- He was the Firstborn of Mary in the
flesh!
- The Only Begotten and the Firstborn
of God the Father from the dead!
There we have it all.
(go to the
next track)
Let’s
continue on with the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the events that took
place on the first day of the week. Christ was raised from the dead, and when
He came out of the tomb as a spirit being He could walk right through the
rocks. He didn’t need the stone rolled away. We know that from the fact in
which He appeared later, He walked through the walls to where the disciples were
meeting for fear of the Jews, and He appeared to them.
Being raised
from being in the tomb for three days and three nights, then where did He go
after He was raised? Well, we don’t know, it doesn’t tell us. He
probably went to the Garden of Gethsemane, prayed all night, waiting for
morning to come to fulfill the ritual of the Premiere Wave Sheaf Offering. We’re going to go through the first parts of Matthew 28, Mark 16 and Luke 24,
John 20 and we’ll put the events together and see what happened here.
This is a
fantastic thing that occurred and all of our salvations hinges on the fact that
Jesus was raised from the dead on the weekly Sabbath and then ascended to the
Father on the first day of the week. We know there was the first Holy Day of
the Feast of Unleavened Bread—a Sabbath. Then a Friday was
the preparation day for the Sabbath.
Matthew
28:1—this is the real meaning of it; there are very few translations that
have this correct: “Now late on the Sabbath, as the first day of the weeks… [that is the correct translation; it is plural. The
Wave Sheaf Offering Day is what? The first day of counting full weeks, each
week ending in a Sabbath as you count toward Pentecost! On the day after the seventh Sabbath you have Pentecost. This is what it means right here.] …as
the first day of the week was drawing near… [When does the week begin? At
sunset! So, as it was dusking toward the first day of the week or the first
day of the weeks.] …Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to observe the
sepulcher.” They wanted to see the tomb—why? The Jews came to Pilate;
they’ve got guards to seal the tomb and they were standing there guarding the
tomb—correct?
The women
came down to look at the tomb because they wanted to also put more spices on
Him, finish preparing His body; they wanted to see if it were possible to get
into the tomb and also find out what had happened, if anything had
happened—and nothing had happened.
Verse 2: “And in the morning suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone from the door,
and sat upon it.” That had to be done because
1.
Soldiers
were not going to roll it away, they were there to guard it.
2.
It was
sealed!
They
probably put some sort of plaster around the crack where the rock—it was
a big, round rock—was rolled right across the face of the sepulcher for
the tomb. The women certainly would not have had enough strength to roll the
rock on a slight uphill. They had it sitting on an uphill plane, so when they
took out the stopper at the bottom the roll would roll down and cover over the
tomb. So, an angel had to do it; also there was an earthquake.
Verse 3: “Now
his appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of
him, those who were keeping guard trembled, and became as dead men. But
the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know
that you are seeking Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here…’” (vs
3-6). Let’s understand something very important: The resurrection of
Jesus happened with no witnesses to see it! It happened within the tomb
right as the weekly Sabbath was ending, and when it came time for Him to leave
the tomb He simply walked through the stone as a spirit being and walked away.
When they came in the morning, on the first day of the weeks—counting
toward Pentecost—the angel said:
Verse 6: “‘He
is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord
Himself was lying. And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He has
risen from the dead. And behold, He goes before you into Galilee; there you
shall see Him. Listen! I have told you.’” (vs 6-7). So they ran to tell
them!
There are
some other factors to it and remember what happened then. The Jews persuaded
the soldiers. You go tell them that they stole away the body. To this day that
the same excuse that the Jews say about the body of Jesus Christ. People do not
want to believe the Scriptures because they say, ‘Well, this is not accurate
history and there are no eyewitnesses of it. Well, where did the body go, if He
wasn’t resurrected from the dead? We will see what the apostles saw when they
came into the tomb, which was a witness of itself that Jesus had been raised
from the dead.
Mark 16:2:
“And very early on the first day of the weeks, at the rising of the sun…
[Remember, time is always moving on because the earth is always rotating. Here
the sun was just beginning to rise. What happens when they’re walking to the
tomb? It continues to rise! What happens as it continues to rise? It
gets lighter—isn’t that correct? Yes!] …they were coming to
the tomb; and they were asking themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us
from the entrance to the tomb?’…. [They knew they couldn’t do it. Surely, the
Roman guards wouldn’t let anyone do it.] …For it was a massive stone.
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away” (vs
2-4). That’s an amazing thing! that’s another witness of the resurrection of
Christ. That’s why the angel said, ‘He’s not here; He’s risen, look at the
place.’
Notice what
happened, v 5: “And after entering the tomb, they saw a young man… [that’s how
the angel appeared—as a young man] …sitting on the right, clothed in a
white robe; and they were very frightened. But he said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.
You are seeking Jesus the Nazarene, Who was crucified. He has risen…
[Past tense! What does this tell us? There is absolutely no evidence that He
was raised from the dead on Sunday morning! So the whole doctrine that the
Christian world follows is a complete lie!] …He has risen; He is not here.
Look, there is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples
and Peter that He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as He
said to you.’ And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for trembling
and astonishment had seized them; and they did not say anything to anyone
because they were afraid” (vs 5-8).
Now we come
to a critical verse here. Can you imagine how excited they were? I mean, the
angel said, “…He’s not here…” I’ll bet their hearts were beating! I’ll bet the
adrenalin was squirting as they were running and their emotions and everything
all involved. What did this mean? It’s early in the morning and so forth!
Verse
9—a very key important verse; and this is solved, because the King
James Version has it with a misplaced coma and it’s very interesting what
you can do with a misplaced coma. This is another reason why when you really go
through and examine the King James Version, every critical
misunderstanding and misinterpretation and false doctrine comes from a wrong
translation in the King James Version of the Bible. Yet, people are told
this is the best translation! Really? Why do you get so many things wrong with
it then?
Verse 9 (KJV):
“Now when Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week,…”
That’s the way it reads, but He wasn’t there early in the morning. So you just
simply place the coma at the right place, and we’ve done so:
Verse 9 (FV):
“Now after Jesus had risen, early the first day of
the weeks He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven
demons.” There you have it. After He had risen! When did He rise? Right
before the end of the Sabbath—correct? Yes! If you have A
Harmony of the Gospels you can do another study of this, going through it
with all the parallel columns and see how everything fits together.
Luke
24:1—there have been quite a few things that have been added to it here.
We’ll see the other activities as the proof that Jesus had been raised from the
dead. “Now on the first day of the
weeks, they came to the tomb at early dawn, bringing the spices that
they had prepared; and certain others came with them. But they
found the stone rolled away from the tomb… [the angel rolled it away] …and when
they entered it, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus” (vs 1-3).
Startling event—right? How did the stone get removed? Well, certainly the
guards didn’t do it. An angel did it!
Verse 4: “And
it came to pass that while they were puzzling over this, suddenly two
men… [Two angels! One account give one angel, because he didn’t see the other
angel. But here are two angels.] …in shining garments stood by them. And as they bowed their faces to the ground, being filled with fear, they said to
them, ‘Why are you seeking the living among the dead? He is not here, but
has risen: remember when He spoke to you while He was yet in
Galilee, saying, “It is necessary for the Son of man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and to be crucified, and to arise the third day”?’” (vs
4-7).
Remember,
Jesus told them that. They didn’t believe it! They didn’t understand it!
Because no one had risen from the dead. They should have gotten a clue that
this was possible, because just before the Passover—when Jesus was
crucified and died—what did He do in the account of John 11? He raised
Lazarus from the dead! What stronger evidence do you need that the dead can
be raised than raising Lazarus from the dead as a precursor of what was going
to happen to Christ? But still, they didn’t believe it! Then, after the
angel told them that, v 8: “Then they remembered His words.”
Now, let’s
come to John, the twentieth chapter, there’s quite a bit of information here
for us to understand. It also shows us something very interesting concerning
the ascension of Jesus Christ and then His return back to the earth. We’re
going to go through parts of John 20 and then we will come back and look at
some things in Luke 24 again.
Let’s see how
other elements of the account then give us more details, John 20:1: “Now on the
first day of the weeks, while it was still dark… [In other words,
the sun—the rising of the sun—had really not come up. So, it was
still dark. There may have been just enough light to see where you were going.]
…while it was still dark… [Also remember that there was still about two-thirds
of moon left at this time, so there was some light.] …Mary Magdalene came early
to the tomb; and she saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus
loved [John], and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ As a result, Peter and the other
disciple went out and came to the tomb. Now the two ran together, but the other
disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first” (vs 1-4). A little
bit of competition as to who can run the 440 etc.
Verse 5: “And
he stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did
not enter. Then Simon Peter came following him, and he went into the tomb and
saw the linen cloths lying” (vs 5-6). Interesting! When Jesus was buried, it
wasn’t a shroud like the Catholics believe—that’s another lie! But the
way that the Jews buried people was to have wide suaves of linen. They would start
wrapping the body. They would start with the feet and the legs and work
upwards. They would put spices in as they were wrapping, until they had wrapped
the whole body. Then they put a special covering on the head called a
napkin! So, they saw the cloths lying, or that is in the lying position.
In order for
Jesus to be raised from the dead, did these linen cloths have to be unwound? No! Because as a spirit being, He could rise through material things—correct? Yes! What were they looking at? They were probably looking at the linen
cloths still wrapped, but the body gone! Maybe there was a little dip in the
linen cloths from the wrapping, but He was gone!
What else did
they see that was a proof that He was alive? That they didn’t take the body
away? Let’s also understand something else that’s very important. If someone
came and stole the body away, they would have taken every bit of it so there
would be nothing in the tomb—isn’t that correct? Yes! If you’re
going to go in there and steal the body, you’ve got to get in and get out real
fast. So they “…saw the linen cloths lying.” That’s what Peter saw.
Verse 7: “And
the napkin that had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but
folded up in a place by itself.” What does this tell us? This tells us that:
1.
Jesus
was alive!
2.
He took
it off His face!
3.
He
folded it up!
Clothes don’t fold
themselves—do they? Every woman would love clothes to fold themselves.
Just think how much that would save when you get laundry done. Just say, ‘Fold
yourself!’ Everything is all folded up for you. NO! Doesn’t work that way!
Would the thieves stealing the body of Christ fold the napkin up and put it in
another place. NO! they would leave it right on His head and take the whole
thing out—all of it gone! So, this is a demonstration that, yes,
- He was
raised from the dead
- He was
alive
- He took
off the linen cloth that was on His head, folded it up and placed it by itself
Notice v 8: “Then the other
disciple, who had come to the tomb first, also went in and saw these things;
and he believed.” The Apostle John was the first one to really believe
that, yes, Jesus had been raised from the dead! And just exactly as He had
said, that He would be in the ‘heart of the earth three days and three nights’
and He was!
Now, on the
Wave Sheaf Offering Day, they come in on the first day of the weeks and they
find that He’s gone! Even they didn’t know when He was resurrected. Remember,
there were no eyewitnesses to the resurrection except God the Father and the
angels of God.
Verse 9: “For they did not yet understand the
Scripture which decreed that He must rise from the dead. Then the
disciples went away again to their home. But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping; and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
And she saw two angels in white who were sitting, one at the head and the other
at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid” (vs 9-12). So there you
have it! The cloths were there where the feet were; where the head was, the
napkin folded over here in another place. There’s one angel sitting here,
another angel sitting there.
Verse 13:
“And they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because
they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ And
after saying these things, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but did
not know that it was Jesus” (vs 13-14). Quite a thing! All tears streaming
down, she couldn’t see clearly. Probably couldn’t recognize Him. Also, we will
see that Jesus could make Himself in a form that they could not recognize Him,
because He was a spirit being, but look like He had flesh and bone.
Verse15:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’
Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried
Him off, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’” Notice
this next event that took place, because this is very key and very important
and shows that this happened early in the morning before the Wave Sheaf
Offering at the temple. All of these rituals that were at the temple were a
prophecy of an event to take place in fulfillment concerning Jesus. That’s why
the sheaf that was waved by the priest was called the Premiere Sheaf or the first of the Firstfruits!
Verse 16:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ Turning around, she said to Him, ‘Rabboni’; that is
to say, ‘Teacher.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Do not touch Me, because I have not yet
ascended to My Father. But go to My brethren and tell them that I am ascending
to My Father… [probably right after that] …and your Father, and My God and your
God.’” (vs 16-17). Quite a tremendous thing that happened there—right?
But notice
this; I want you to understand that this is also an indication of the Family of
God and the family relationship that we have with God. Look at how He says
this, v 17: “‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father… [That’s why we pray
our Father Who is in heaven, Holy is Your name.] …and My God and your
God.’” Isn’t that amazing? Think of that, brethren! Notice on what level that elevates
our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Are we not brethren?
Doesn’t the prophecy there in Heb. 2 say he’s ‘not ashamed to call them
brethren’? We need to understand that, and we need to understand:
- the
love of God
- the
Truth of God
- the
mercy of God
- the
kindness of God
That’s why we’re called,
brethren! To be the rest of the firstfruits. Salvation begins with Jesus Christ
and finishes with all the saints at Pentecost and the first resurrection.
That’s why these events happen on the first day of the weeks.
- This is
tremendous!
- This is
fantastic!
- This is
important!
Verse 18: “Mary Magdalene came to the disciples, bringing
word that she had seen the Lord, and that He had said these things to her.”
What
happened?
What
was it like for Christ to ascend into the heavens and how was He received?
Can we put together some
Scriptures which show us this tremendous event? I think we can! Let’s
come back here to Psalm 23—this is called what? The famous Psalm that
everyone quotes, the comforting Psalm! He Lord is my Shepherd! Let’s look
at it from this point of view: Could this be a summary of all the prayers that
Jesus offered up to the Father after He was resurrected from the dead? Being in
the tomb; being a spirit being; He could have stayed there till just before the
sun had set. We don’t know the exact time that He was resurrected from the
dead. Even though it would be pitched black in there for us, it wouldn’t for
Him. Let’s look at this as typified of the prayers that Jesus offered up after
being raised from the dead.
- Thanking
God
- Praising
Him for keeping His Word.
- Thanking
Him for restoring Him to what He was.
Remember the prayer that He gave in John 17, ‘Now, oh Father, give me
the glory that I had with You before the world existed.’ Yes, indeed! Psa. 23
& 24 tell us about the resurrection and then the ascension.
Psalm 23:1: “The
LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to
lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my
soul… [Through the resurrection—isn’t it?] …He leads me in the paths of
righteousness for His name’s sake.” (vs 1-3). Yes, He always loved the Father.
He always obeyed the Father. And what did He say of Himself? ‘Of Myself I
can do nothing. It is the Father IN Me that does the works.’ Doesn’t this
have to be what it is with us, also? Of course!
And here’s the kind of strength and
understanding that we need to have, too, v 4: “Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death… [He sure did—didn’t He? Dead three days
and three nights!] …I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and
Your staff, they comfort me.” Just think that Jesus is praying this Psalm or a
prayer similar to this, after He was raised from the dead.
Notice, this is tremendous here, v 5: “You
prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies….” All the enemies were
confounded; they didn’t know what to do; His body was gone! The Jews paid the
guards to say, ‘They stole His body away; we don’t know where it is.’ Don’t you
think that they scurried everywhere looking for that body and couldn’t find it.
That’s why we have the account given there of what the apostles saw; so that we
would know that this is a true resurrection from the dead.
“…You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs
over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (vs
5-6)—into the ages of eternity!
What was it like when Jesus
ascended to the throne of God? Let’s see what that throne of God is like. Let’s
come to the book of Revelation, chapter four. Let’s see what the throne of God
is like. Let’s see what it was that Jesus saw when He ascended into heaven when
He had come back to God the Father, and to present Himself as
- the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all
mankind
- the perfect sacrifice to take away sin forever
- the perfect sacrifice that now could be applied
for the forgiveness of sin
- for the giving of the grace of God
- for the giving of the Holy Spirit of God
The Apostle John saw this
tremendous vision, and it was really quite a thing to see. Let’s see what it
was like here. He was told:
Revelation
4:1: “…Come up here…’ And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a
throne was set in heaven… [Coming right to the very throne of God. This is the
only place in the Bible which describes in detail what that looks like.] …and One
was sitting on the throne. And He Who was sitting was in appearance
like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the
throne, like an emerald in its appearance” (vs 1-3). What beauty and splendor
that that is.
“And around
the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw
twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their
heads golden crowns” (v 4). Now, notice the power and energy and force that was
coming from this throne where God the Father was sitting. He is the Sovereign
of the Universe. And through the Word of Jesus Christ—that He has
delegated this authority to—He upholds all things in heaven and in earth!
Brethren, when we come before God in our prayers, this is where our prayers are
going. We have in Rev. 8 that also there’s a golden altar where our prayers
came. It’s like incense coming up to God.
Verse 5: “And
proceeding from the throne were lightnings and thunders and voices; and
seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, were burning
before the throne…. [Those are the eyes of God that go to and fro in the earth
seeking those who are seeking Him.] …And before the throne was a sea of
glass, like crystal…. [Yes, it talks about the Sea of Glass, and it also talks
about the Sea of Glass in reference to the first resurrection.] …And around the
throne and over the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes
before and behind” (vs 5-6). Then it describes the creatures and what they did.
At set times
they would say, v 8: “…‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who
is, and Who is to come.’…. [Isn’t that something? We have a hymn based
on that.] …And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving
to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives into the ages of eternity, the
twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne; and they
worship Him Who lives into the ages of eternity, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying, ‘Worthy are You, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power
because You did create all things, and for Your will they were created and
exist’” (vs 8-11).
So here Jesus
is coming up to this throne. How was He met? How did the angels greet Him? We
know over here in Rev. 5 it shows Jesus coming to the throne of God to have the
seven seals and the scroll that seven seals have sealed. It’s given to Him by
God the Father, and notice what happens after He takes the book.
Revelation
5:11: “And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the
throne, and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and
thousands of thousands.” This was a day of celebration. This was a day of
victory! This was a day of:
-
overcoming
death
-
overcoming
sin
-
overcoming
Satan the devil
Now the way was paved for God to
call those that would yield to Him.
Let’s come
back to Psalm 24 and let’s see in the Psalms what I think is the reception
given to Him, that Jesus received as He ascended and then came to the Sea of
Glass and saw the throne of God the Father. God the Father looking at Jesus and
Jesus looking at the Father. Quite a thing! First time they would be personally
together since He was begotten in the womb of the virgin Mary.
Psalm 24:1: “The
earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness of it, the
world, and those who dwell in it… [Think about Jesus as He was coming up and
looking down upon the earth—the earth that He had created—and all
the human beings that were on it.] …for He has founded it upon the seas and
established it upon the waters. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who shall stand in His Holy place?” (vs 1-3).
Then it describes this. A perfect description
of Christ Who never sinned, always obeyed God, always loved God the Father, laid
down His life in love for us and all that He would call. Brethren, we need to
understand how marvelous and great that this is.
Verse 4: “He who has clean hands and a pure
heart, who has not lifted up his soul to vanity and has not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation…. [Yes, that’s
something—isn’t it? That applies to us. We are that generation.] …This is
the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah.
Lift up your heads, O you gates… [The gates to enter in to see God the Father
and all the angel around the throne with the rainbow around it and God the
Father sitting on it and the four living creatures and the 24 elders and the
great Sea of Glass.] …and be lifted up, O you everlasting doors; that the King
of glory may come in” (vs 4-7).
Christ is that King of Glory! He was glorified
through His death and His resurrection! His life and everything that He did!
Jesus said in His final prayer: ‘And that glory that You have given to Me,
Father, I have given to them’—that means us!
- Think about that, brethren!
- Think about how great our calling
is!
- Think about how absolutely
fantastic that the Bible is to teach us these things so we can understand them!
Verse 8: “Who is this King of glory? The LORD
strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.” Did He
not overcome? Yes! He tells us, ‘to the one who overcomes, as I have
overcome, will I grant to sit with Me in My throne.’ Think of that, brethren!
- We’re going to see that throne!
- We’re going to see God the Father!
- We’re going to see Jesus Christ!
- We’re going to see the four living
creatures!
- We’re going to see the 24 elders!
And thousands and
thousands—ten thousand times ten thousand—angels! Here they
are praising God! Declaring who’s coming now to God the Father, to present
Himself resurrected from the dead, bringing Himself as that perfect sacrifice.
Verse 9: “Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift
them up, you everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in. Who is this
King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory.
Selah” (vs 9-10). We’re to think on that!
Let’s come
back to Revelation 5; let’s see what happened; lets see what happened when
Jesus came in to be received of God the Father. I imagine when Jesus came to
the Father there were tears coming down out of both of their eyes, joy and
happiness, and they embraced each other. The Father probably said, ‘It is done!
It is perfect!’ And Jesus said, ‘Thank you, Father, for being with Me, watching
over Me, teaching Me as I was growing up, giving Me the strength and power to
do the things as witness that I am:
- the
Messiah
- the
Savior
- the
King of hosts
- the
Lord of Glory
Embraced each other and turned
and faced the 24 elders, the four living creatures over the throne and the
thousands and thousands of angels, and here is what they probably sang:
Revelation
5:11: “And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the
throne, and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands
of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and
blessing.’…. [Tremendous, brethren! Think of that!] …And every creature that is
in heaven… [this affected all of heaven and earth] …and on the earth, and under
the earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard
saying, ‘To Him Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing,
and honor, and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of eternity.’” (vs
11-13).
That’s why
this Sabbath is so important! That’s why the first day to the count of
Pentecost, the first day of the weeks—that’s when Jesus was accepted of
God the Father as that perfect sacrifice. We know the accounts in Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John that He came back to the earth that same day and showed
Himself. But this is the meaning of this day and this is the Word that we are
to hear in season.
Brethren, I hope you continue
to have a wonderful Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Scriptural References:
1)
Leviticus
23:9-11, 24
2)
Matthew
1:23-25
3)
Hebrews
1:5
4)
Colossians
1:18
5)
Revelation
1:5, 18
6)
1 John
4:9-10
7)
1
Corinthians 13:4
8)
John
14:19
9)
2
Corinthians 15:3-23
10)
Psalm
16:5-11
11)
Psalm
17:15
12)
Matthew
28:1-7
13)
Mark
16:2-9
14)
Luke
24:1-8
15)
John 20:1-18
16)
Psalm
23:1-6
17)
Revelation
4:1-6, 8-11
18)
Revelation
5:11
19)
Psalm
24:1-10
20)
Revelation
5:11-13
Scriptures referenced, not
quoted:
John 19
Romans
8
John
14-17
Hebrews
2
Revelation
8
Also referenced:
Books:
A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred
R. Coulter
The Christian Passover by Fred
R. Coulter
Sermon Series:
Love
of God
Why
God Hates Hierarchy
Invisible
Idol/Invisible Man
Articles:
Appendix
J—Jesus’ Three Days and Three Nights of Entombment and His
Resurrection (from The Holy Bible in Its
Original Order by Fred R. Coulter)
Appendix
E—When was Jesus Christ Born? (from The
Holy Bible in Its Original Order by Fred R. Coulter)
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3-27-11
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