Behold the King

Old Testament reading – Daniel 12:1-13 – New Testament Reading – 2 Corinthians 5:1-8

Behold the King
“From Golgotha to Glory”
Matthew 28:1-20

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

For a believer to rightly divide the Word of God and be able to comprehend God’s plan of redemption as they study the Scriptures, they must be able to discern truth from tradition regarding the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and imminent return of Jesus; they must understand the timeline of biblical prophecy.

• God’s prophetic calendar is based upon the Seven Jewish Feasts. (Ex. 12:12-17, Lev. 23:4-43)
• The specific date and time of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus was according to the pattern God established with the Hebrews when they were camped at Mount Sinai.
• Therefore, unless Jesus’ death and resurrection were “according to the Scriptures,” we are still lost in our sins and looking for a Savior.

Wednesday, Nisan 13 – Noon to Sunset

• 12: noon – 3:00 pm – Darkness covered the earth
• Earthquake occurred – graves opened – dead resurrected to life
• Roman Solider confessed Jesus as the Christ
• Joseph and Nicodemus bury the body of Jesus
• The women watch the burial then go to their homes for Passover
• The Religious leaders have the tomb sealed and guarded

Thursday, Nisan 14 – (sunset Wednesday – sunset Thursday)

• All the disciples except John forsake Jesus and hide
• The Jews observe Passover – High Sabbath – restricted activity
• At some point during the three days and three nights, in His spirit, Jesus descended into “Hades.” proclaimed the gospel to those who had expressed their faith in God’s promise to send a Savior, and then took them to heaven with Him on the day He ascended. (1 Peter 3:18-20, Ephesians 4:8-10, Luke 16:19-32)

Friday, Nisan 15 – (sunset Thursday – sunset Friday)

• The only WORKDAY between the two Sabbaths.
• The women bought and prepared the spices but did not have time to go to the tomb, anoint the body and be home before sundown.

Saturday, Nisan 16 – (sunset Friday – sunset Saturday)

• Regular Sabbath – restricted activity allowed
• The disciples remain in hiding – the women rest and worship
• Just before sunset on Saturday – 72-hours from sunset on Wednesday, JESUS WAS RESURRECTED from the grave

Sunday, Nisan 17 – (sunset Saturday – sunset Sunday)

• Jesus appeared to Peter, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then to the eleven disciples in the Upper Room w/o Thomas
• Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Jesus, took spices to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus’ body for burial.
• They fully expected Jesus to find Jesus in the tomb.
• Even after seeing the stone rolled away, Jesus’s body absent from the tomb, and the evidence of an earthquake around the tomb, they still did not believe Jesus had been resurrected.
• However, as they left to go and tell the disciples what the Angel had said, Jesus appeared to the women, and they worshipped Him.
• These two women were the first to proclaim, “The Lord is risen indeed!”
• The religious leaders bribed the Roman soldiers to tell the people that Jesus’ followers had taken His body from the tomb while they were asleep.

During the forty days following His resurrection

• Jesus appeared to the disciples, including Thomas.
• Jesus appeared to Peter and the seven other disciples at Galilee.
• Jesus appeared to the 500 followers and then to His brother, James, who confessed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
• Jesus gave His eleven Apostles (now having seen the resurrected Lord) the Great Commission:
  • “Go and make disciples,” – disciples are not made through conversion, but rather through discipleship after conversion.
  • “Of all the nations,” – salvation was to come through the Jews first and then spread throughout the world.
  • “Baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and of the Holy Spirit” – being immersed in water was the sign of one’s submission to the Lordship of Christ.
  • “Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” – Just as Jesus taught the disciples verbally, visually, and visibly, they were to teach others in the same ways.
  • “Lo, I am with you always,” – His presence means constant protection, provision, power, promise, and peace.
  • “Even to the end of the age,” – Jesus’ resurrection ushered in a new era; the “church age,” or the “Age of Grace,” in which we live today and which is soon coming to an end.
• Luke 24:44-53 describes Jesus’ ascension back into heaven.
  • It was exactly 40-days after His resurrection
  • Jesus gathered His disciples (now apostles) and those who were the closest to Him, and He told them how He had fulfilled the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms regarding God’s promised Messiah, and then He opened their minds to understand what He had taught them.
  • Jesus led them to Bethany on the Mount of Olives, lifted His hands, and as He blessed them, He was carried up into the glory of heaven, and they worshipped Him as He ascended into the clouds.
• Acts 1:9-12 describe the final words of that narrative.
  • Two men appeared in white apparel and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” (See Zechariah 14:4)