As the Sabbath dawns, the women come to Christ’s tomb to prepare the body with spices. To their astonishment, the bolder that covered the tomb has been rolled away. They look inside and see that the Lord’s body is not there, and they are greatly perplexed. Two angels standing by in their shining garments ask, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again’ ” (Luke 24:1-7). The women run to tell the others.
     You know the story. We can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of the disciples. Yes, Jesus had told them what would transpire, but it is doubtful that they understood all the implications. No wonder they were hunkered down in the upper room in prayer, trying to figure out what to do next.
       Luke goes on to record that two of them head back to the village of Emmaus, about a journey of seven miles from Jerusalem. They’re talking together about all the things that have happened. We can only imagine that they’re confused, disappointed, and discouraged. Have you ever found yourself in such a place in your journey of faith? I know I have.
      Seemingly out of nowhere, a man joins them who they do not know. Actually, they do, but they don’t recognize Jesus because, well, He is out of “context,” to say it nicely. The Stranger asks them what they are talking about and why they are so sad. One of the two, Cleopas, can’t believe his ears. This man is totally out of the loop if he isn’t aware of the events of the last few days. The whole city is abuzz with the news of the latest crucifixion and the missing body. The stranger asks, “What things?” So Cleopas clues Him in, as if the Stranger didn’t know!
     The Stranger responds, “ ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’  And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25-27). After having dinner together, the eyes of the two travelers are opened and they finally realize they have been with Jesus. Immediately, they return to the upper room to tell the others. And Jesus does a repeat performance for them all.
     The Chronos Lesson: Notice that when the two disciples were feeling so low, Jesus showed up. But He didn’t reveal Himself to the disciples. To me that would have been the sensible thing to do to put them out of their misery. But instead of giving them a quick emotional fix by revealing that He is indeed alive and well, Jesus took the opportunity to give them something even better--how to take heed and take heart through the Word of God.
     For the next few hours, Jesus methodically unveiled to the disciples the revelation of Himself throughout the Scriptures. All the while, He kept His true identity veiled. He knew He would no longer be present with them in the natural. He wanted to give them a way to take heed and fix their eyes on Him as seen in the Scriptures. Our eyes need to be on Him, and not the circumstances around us or even the outcome we think should happen. To understand the times, Jesus knew they needed to see the mystery-plan revealed in God’s Word.
     This is the power of the revealed Word. After hearing what the Scriptures revealed, they were so unburdened of their confusion, disappointment, and discouragement that they got their second wind, turned around, and walked the seven miles back to Jerusalem to share the revelation with their fellow disciples!
     When Jeff received the call of God to teach the Church about Christ’s return, he began his own sort of Emmaus Road journey that so far has lasted just over 40 years. Only this time it has been the Holy Spirit who has led Jeff through all the Scriptures concerning the things of the end. It was the Spirit who helped him put together the pieces of the prophetic puzzle scattered throughout God’s Word. It was the Spirit-inspired connections that enabled him to put together the various scenes of the whole puzzle, using what he calls the keys to understanding the times.
      It is in this vein that we have been traveling through the Scriptures in this series, so that the eyes of our understanding can be enlightened. I hope you are enjoying your own Emmaus Road journey.  1/31/22

         We know from Scripture that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. The religious leaders were eager to get the job done before the Sabbath started at sunset. Jewish days are counted from evening to evening of the next day, which means that from Friday evening to Saturday evening was day two of the crucifixion scenario. The darkness falls again on Saturday evening, only to be dispelled by the morning light of the 3rd day, which was Sunday, the start of the new week on the Jewish calendar.
         This particular day dawned with the Light of the Morning Star. This dawn was unlike any other experienced on the earth so far in history. For this 3rd day dawned with resurrection—also something that had never occurred on the earth so far in history. It shall be seen again on the 3rd Day, the last Day in Christ’s prophetic great Week when counting from Christ.
         The Chronos Lesson: Why did God wait to resurrect Jesus from the dead? Why didn’t He do it immediately? It all had to do with the appointed time. For Christ’s resurrection would foreshadow our own resurrection as members of His Body on the 3rd Day.
         We also know from Scripture that very early on the third day, the Sabbath, the women who had witnessed the crucifixion came to prepare the Lord’s body for burial with spices. His body was gone! Probably fearing that the Romans had taken the body, they were startled by two angels that assured them that Jesus had been raised from the dead, just as He had taught them.
         Still stunned, Mary Magdalene lingered at the tomb, crying in grief. Then she heard a familiar voice. Turning, she recognized the Teacher. She saw the risen Lord! Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17).
         But before Jesus ascends, He descends. Ephesians 4:9 records: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.” We don’t have to guess what this means. We use the Spirit-inspired connections so that Scripture interprets Scripture. I Peter 3:19 tells us that Jesus “went and preached to the spirits in prison.” Who were the spirits in prison?
         The Old Testament saints who followed God’s ways. They could not go to Heaven when they died because Jesus the Seed had not yet been planted in the earth and had not yet overcome death for all mankind. Instead, they went to a separate, protected compartment within Hell preserved for them called Abraham’s Bosom.  Jesus preached the Gospel to those held captive by death.
         Scripture then tells us that Christ ascended on high with all these Old Covenant saints. Hosea prophesied about this event: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes” (Hosea 13:14).  So, too, did Zechariah: “As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit” (Zech. 9:11).
         Hebrews 12:23 reports that these Old Covenant saints are now before the throne of God, “the spirits of just men made perfect.” For the record, these saints will not come with Christ at the rapture. He will only bring the dead in Christ who are part of His Church, those who believed by faith without having seen Him. The Old Testament saints will receive their resurrection at the end of the Day of the Lord, at the final judgment.
       By descending into Hell, Colossians 2:15 affirms that Jesus “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” No wonder in Revelation 1:18 the ascended Lord makes this triumphant declaration to the apostle John, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades [Hell] and of Death.” For believers, death has lost its sting! This triumphant declaration continues to ring throughout the Church Age.
         By overcoming death, Jesus triumphed over Satan’s power to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). So how is it that he is allowed to go about as a roaring lion? Because it is not yet time for Satan and his forces to be incarcerated. That comes in the age to come, the 1,000-year Day of the Lord. For now, he goes about spreading lies and deceptions, seeking who will be lured into his lair or at the very least take his bait.
      This is why knowledge of the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection—His finished work—is what sets people free. Once you know the truth, Satan’s deceptions no long have any power of you. That is, unless you let him deceive you. He may roar his lies at you in an effort to devour your faith in God. Yet all you have to do to drown him out is to submit to God and resist the devil.  

        When Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was and Peter passed the test, Jesus gave them a surprising command. “And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day’ ” (Luke 9:21-22). It was all about the events unfolding according to God’s mystery-plan at the appointed time.
         Before long they are gathered together for the first festival of the Jewish year. It is the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. You may recall that Jesus compared leaven (yeast) to sin. The festival covers seven days, with the first and the last days being high Sabbaths in which no work is done. It starts with the Passover memorial, which celebrated Israel’s deliverance from the last plague of Egypt, when the angel of death passed over every house that had the blood of the sacrificed lamb on the doorpost. This particular Passover meal that Jesus had with His disciples is known today as the Last Supper.
       It’s no coincidence that Jesus introduced the practice of communion at the Last Supper. The Lamb of God told His gathered disciples, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16).
            Jesus informs them that one of their own will betray Him to the religious authorities. That led to a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. Even at this late stage in His ministry, the disciples still don’t get it. As further proof, Peter carries a sword with him when they go the Garden of Gethsemane afterwards to pray. In the heat of the moment, he uses it to cut off the ear of one of the soldiers. In the grace of the moment, Jesus restores the man’s ear.
            The Gospel writers record that Jesus was crucified on Friday at the third hour (9:00 am). From the 6th to the 9th hours (noon to 3:00 pm) the first of four unusual signs occurs. In the Bible, the number four symbolizes the earth. For three hours starting at midday, darkness covers the land. Darkness signifies judgment. “For He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
            Back in the Temple, the thick, heavy curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from sight is rent in two from top to bottom. Given the size of the Ark of the Covenant, the curtain is probably 30 feet tall. Human hands could not have done the deed.
            On the cross, Jesus declares, “It is finished.” And then He cries out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”  He bows His head and gives up His spirit. He breathes His last breath.
            Hebrews 9:12 records, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 10:19-20 describes the veil as His flesh. Through the blood of Jesus, believers can now have boldness to enter the presence of God by a new and living way, which Jesus consecrated for us. For Christ “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
            As the veil is being torn, a huge earthquake shakes the earth (Mt. 27:51). I wonder if the people made the connection to Mount Sinai, when the “Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly” (Exodus 19:18).
            But most astounding of all, Matthew 27:52 also records that “the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Talk about a wake-up call!
            The Chronos Lesson: Jesus taught that the final sign before His return will be total darkness over the whole earth. We are not told how long this darkness will last. Perhaps three hours, three days, or three weeks? Only God knows. But at some point, God will rent the heavens and we will see Jesus coming in the clouds to gather His Body and take us back to Heaven.
           When He comes, He will literally stand on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the same mountain ridge where He was crucified. His presence will cause an earthquake that will split the mountain, providing a way of escape for the Jewish remnant that has finally acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah and Savior. They will go to their prepared place of deliverance from the invading armies of the Antichrist.
         The earth will give up the dust of the bodies of the dead in Christ. Those of us who are alive when He comes, will be instantly changed. All those who are His will be glorified and receive immortal bodies. The Head and His Body will then reenact His ascension to Heaven, finally united as one new Man. Together we will be taken to our prepared place in Heaven, to Father’s House, and before the throne of God. At this point, the six Days allotted for the work of mankind shall be finished.
       Now seated as the Heavenly Court, our previous earthly assignment will be handed over to the revived Jews who will preach the Gospel to all the nations. Our new heavenly assignment will be to rule with Christ from above during the final great Day. Stay tuned for more details on what that looks like. 1/15/24

      From the Genesis Fall to today, people have been trying to reshape the Godhead according to their own ideas. How ignorant and foolish of us! Paul explains that “truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a Day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:29-31).
           The last Day is also called the Day of Judgment. Those who are in Christ shall be judged at the beginning of the Day, when He comes for those who are judged to be “in Christ.” All other people, both past and present at that time, will be judged at the end of the 1,000-year Day.
        The basis of that judgment is if we have the righteousness of Christ, having received that gift by grace through faith. In short, the only criterion for that judgment is if we believe in Jesus as our personal Savior. He holds this position by virtue of having overcome the penalty of sin, which is death. Overcoming death is resurrection—being raised from the dead and living forevermore.
          This resurrection is our blessed hope as well. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).
          This is our inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). It is an incorruptible inheritance in the same way that our reborn spirit is sealed and incorruptible. The fullness of our salvation is guaranteed. This is the hope of our calling as the ekklesia, the called-out Church.
          The Chronos Lesson: It is clear that the foundational disciples and apostles came to understand the appointed times and had seen it as an integral part of the Gospel message within the first century of the Church. Paul wrote in 1 Thess. 5:1 that “concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.”
          Unfortunately, you may have heard someone preach that the rapture and the end-times sequence of events wasn’t really part of the New Testament message. Really? Then why was the first sermon that was preached on the Day of Pentecost by Peter (Acts 2) all about the end-times?
          Peter explained that what the people were witnessing was the outpouring of the Spirit prophesied by Joel. Furthermore, this outpouring came because it was now the last Days. Peter marked the times from the prophets to Jesus’ earthly ministry, to Jesus’ ascension, where He is awaiting the restoration of all things. As we draw nearer to the end of this age, we should expect a similar timely hour of outpouring.
        All of the confusion about the rapture and the end-times comes from teachers and preachers ignoring all the prophetic pieces about the end-times placed in God’s Word. Think about this: they ignore one-third of the Bible! Granted, it is sometimes hard to let go of our preconceived ideas.
       Hebrews 12:5 reminds us: “And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.’ ” The Greek word for chastening actually means correction and being teachable. Just as we need to humble ourselves to receive salvation, we need to humble ourselves to receive God’s Word for time and season.    1/10/24

     The angelic proclamation at Christ’s first coming declared that mankind could be reconciled to God through the shed blood of the Son that was given. Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. The only catch is that people have to open that free gift by grace and receive Christ’s finished work on their behalf. “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool” (Heb. 10:12-13).
     This is what Jesus meant when He stood before His hometown synagogue and declared His ministry according to Is. 61. His declaration stopped short, a third of the way through verse 2. “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” That phrase refers to the year of Jubilee when the people were set free from their debts.
      When Jesus came, He released mankind from the bondage of sin. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-2).
      In Romans 1 the Apostle Paul declared  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek [Gentile]. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” This was the “good news” announced by the angelic host as Jesus’ birth.
      When the Son that was given appears as the Prince of Peace at His second coming—with the government upon His shoulders—those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior have this  assurance, “When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4). Which brings us back to the rest of verse 2 in Isaiah 61—“to proclaim the Day of vengeance of our God.”
      Romans 2:5 explains that this vengeance comes upon those who in accordance with their hardness and impenitent hearts are treasuring up for themselves wrath in the Day of wrath and the revealing of the righteous judgment of God. In other words, those who have refused God’s free gift of reconciliation and salvation through Jesus Christ.
      The bottom line is this. There are still only two choices as in the Garden of Eden. They are the same two choices declared to the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 30:19-20. As always, God wants us to choose life. He doesn’t want mankind to suffer the same consequences of those who know evil. For “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe…” (2 Thess. 1:7-10).
      This is why we cannot ignore God’s appointed timetable that we call the Great Week of 1,000-year Days. When Jesus taught His disciples about His coming and the rapture at the Day of the Lord, He warned that this last Day would come as a snare, for those who are not “in Christ” shall be trapped by their rejection of the Savior and have to face the trumpet judgments of that Day meant for Satan, his evil hierarchy, and all those who follow his rebellious, ungodly ways.  1/2/24