• 11Apr

    Mutiny on the HMS Corinth: Under-rowers for Captain Jesus

    Paul and Places, Uncategorized Comments Off on Mutiny on the HMS Corinth: Under-rowers for Captain Jesus
    MUTINY ON THE HMS CORINTH:
    Under-rowers for Captain Jesus
    Gordon Franz
    Introduction
    On April 28, 1789, eighteen sailors from the crew of the HMS Bounty, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, mutinied against Lieutenant William Bligh because he was allegedly cruel to them, but more than likely the mutineers were smitten by the beauty of the women on the islands of Tahiti and Pitcairn.
    In the First Century AD, the crew of the HMS Corinth (His Majesty’s Ship Corinth) was mutinying to the will of the captain of the ship, Captain Jesus, by following different oarsmen on the ship and not the captain in charge of the ship. The Apostle Paul had to address the issue of division within the church at Corinth.
    The Maritime Setting of Paul’s Ministry in Corinth
    At the end of the Apostle Paul’s second missionary journey, he and his traveling companions, Aquila and Priscilla, embarked on a ship at Cenchrea heading for Ephesus in Asia Minor (Acts 18:18-19). As they sailed east through the Saronic Gulf, with Attica on their port side (left side), they passed through the Bay of Eleusis and perhaps stopped at Eleusis to discharge or pick up passengers at the famous Eleusian shrine to Demeter. As they continued down the Straits of Salamis they observed a shrine to Artemis on the island of Salamis off the starboard side (right side) of the ship. Nearby was a trophy dedicated to the Greek navy and its victory over the Persian fleet on September 25, 480 BC (Pausanius, Descriptions of Greece 1.36.1; LCL 1:193).
    Perhaps Paul had read the account of this naval battle in the works of Herodotus (Persian Wars, Book 8) while at Tarsus University, or maybe, while he was in Athens, he had seen the theatrical production The Persians by Aeschylus in the Theater of Dionysius. Always looking for an opportunity to engage people in conversation, Paul might have asked one of the Greek sailors to recount the battle. This was like asking a new grandmother about her newly born grandchild! (“Want to see my pictures?”!). The Greek sailor might have regaled Paul with stories about the heroics of the victorious Greek fleet of trireme vessels and how they routed the Persians and their allies right under the nose of the Great King, the King of kings, Xerxes.
    The sailor would have had a good laugh when he pointed to the spot on Mount Aegaleos where Xerxes placed his throne to watch the battle. There Xerxes observed a Persian trireme commanded by his ally Queen Artemisia ram what Xerxes mistakenly thought was a Greek trireme in her attempt to escape the Greek forces. Xerxes reportedly exclaimed, “My men have become women, and my women men!” (Herodotus Persian Wars 8.87-88; LCL 4:85-87). Some have paraphrased this statement as: “My men fight like women and my woman fights like a man!”
    The Apostle Paul might have used his knowledge of trireme vessels he had gained in this conversation to drive home a point about the carnal activities of the believers in the church at Corinth. They were mutinying against Captain Jesus on the HMS Corinth!
    The Trireme Vessels
    The apostle would have been interested in the trireme vessels that both the Persian and Greek navies used because they provided him with a spiritual illustration that could be use in his epistle to the Corinthians. This illustration would be very meaningful to the civic-pride of the Corinthians because Thucydides (ca. 460-400 BC) reported that “Corinth was the first place in all Hellas, we are told, where triremes were built” (History of the Peloponnesian War 1.13.2; LCL 1:25).
    The wooden trireme vessels had three banks of oarsmen below deck. The side of the trireme was covered with wood, animal skin, or canvas of some kind, so the rowers could not see what was going on outside. At the stern (back) of the ship and above deck was the captain with a young man who beat the cadence on a drum. The captain would say “Stroke.” The drummer would beat the drum, “Boom.” The rowers would stroke their oars in unison. Again: “Stroke,” “Boom,” and another united stroke of the oars by the rowers. These oarsmen were called uparetas, which is usually translated “under-rowers.”
    Since the Roman navy still employed trireme vessels in their fleet, Paul would have been familiar with them. Thus, he filed away this information about the trireme ships and the “under rowers” for future use.
    The Problem in Corinth
    The Apostle Paul first visited Corinth in AD 50 during his second missionary journey and spent 18 months ministering in the city (Acts 18:11). He, more than anyone else, was responsible for establishing the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 3:10). Yet the Apostle Peter (Cephas) and Apollos from Alexandria had a great influence in the church as well.
    The first issue that Paul addressed when he wrote First Corinthians in AD 56 was the mutiny of the church at Corinth to the sovereign will of the head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ. There was division and contention within the church (1 Cor. 1:10-11). Factions were being formed by followers of Paul, Apollos, Peter, and the real “pious” ones, Christ (1:12)! Paul labeled these divisions and factions as carnality (3:1-4).
    The Apostle Paul stated that he, Apollos, and Peter were fellow-workers laboring together, metaphorically, in agriculture (3:6-9) and building construction (3:9-11). Yet he pointed out that God ultimately gave the increase for the harvest (3:6-7) and the Lord Jesus was the foundation of the church at Corinth (3:11).
    Paul then painted another powerful word-picture that invoked civic pride, issued a call to unity, challenged the saints to work as a team, and encouraged them to follow the Sovereign Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.
    Under Rowers for Admiral Jesus
    Paul wrote: “Let a man so consider us, as servants (uparetas, “under-rowers”) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). The word-picture of an “under-rowers” was well known to the saints in Corinth. When Paul wrote to “consider us,” he was referring to himself, Apollos, and Peter (1 Cor. 3:22), as oarsmen rowing together on the same ship for Captain Jesus!
    There are at least five aspects of “under-rowers” that Paul might have had in mind when he painted this word-picture. First, the under-rowers were not slaves, but they were all volunteers because they were citizens of the city-state. All believers in the Lord Jesus have “heavenly citizenship” (cf. Phil. 3:20-21), so should willingly volunteer for the Lord’s service.
    Second, as a member of an organized team of rowers, they were all on the same footing as each other. The Apostle Peter considered himself a “fellow elder” in the assembly where he was in fellowship and not elevated above the others (1 Pet. 5:1-4; a lesson in humility he learned from the Lord Jesus in the Upper Room, cf. John 13:4-17).
    Third, they rowed together. If all the under-rowers were “rowing to the beat of different drummers” the ship would be stranded in the water and would go nowhere! While there is diversity of spiritual gifts within the assembly, all believers are to work together to edify spiritually, and build up numerically, the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12).
    Fourth, the under-rowers were below deck and could not see the captain, nor could they see outside, so they had to trust him to lead them into battle and finally into port. They were to row by faith, just as believers are to walk by faith, and not by sight! (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7; see also Peter’s take, 1 Pet. 1:7-9).
    Fifth, the under-rowers received no honor because only the captain was visible and he was the one who guided the ship into battle. This instilled humility in the oarsmen because they had to acknowledge that the victory belonged to the captain. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Lord Jesus will graciously reward the believer who labors for Him, in His strength, by His grace, and for His glory (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12-17). But the believer will humbly return those rewards to the feet of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Rev. 4:9-11).
    Bibliography
    LCL = Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.

    by Gordon Franz


    Introduction
    On April 28, 1789, eighteen sailors from the crew of the HMS Bounty, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, mutinied against Lieutenant William Bligh because he was allegedly cruel to them, but more than likely the mutineers were smitten by the beauty of the women on the islands of Tahiti and Pitcairn.

    In the First Century AD, the crew of the HMS Corinth (His Majesty’s Ship Corinth) was mutinying to the will of the captain of the ship, Captain Jesus, by following different oarsmen on the ship and not the captain in charge of the ship. The Apostle Paul had to address the issue of division within the church at Corinth.

    The Maritime Setting of Paul’s Ministry in Corinth
    At the end of the Apostle Paul’s second missionary journey, he and his traveling companions, Aquila and Priscilla, embarked on a ship at Cenchrea heading for Ephesus in Asia Minor (Acts 18:18-19). As they sailed east through the Saronic Gulf, with Attica on their port side (left side), they passed through the Bay of Eleusis and perhaps stopped at Eleusis to discharge or pick up passengers at the famous Eleusian shrine to Demeter. As they continued down the Straits of Salamis they observed a shrine to Artemis on the island of Salamis off the starboard side (right side) of the ship. Nearby was a trophy dedicated to the Greek navy and its victory over the Persian fleet on September 25, 480 BC (Pausanius, Descriptions of Greece 1.36.1; LCL 1:193).

    Perhaps Paul had read the account of this naval battle in the works of Herodotus (Persian Wars, Book 8 ) while at Tarsus University, or maybe, while he was in Athens, he had seen the theatrical production The Persians by Aeschylus in the Theater of Dionysius. Always looking for an opportunity to engage people in conversation, Paul might have asked one of the Greek sailors to recount the battle. This was like asking a new grandmother about her newly born grandchild! (“Want to see my pictures?”!). The Greek sailor might have regaled Paul with stories about the heroics of the victorious Greek fleet of trireme vessels and how they routed the Persians and their allies right under the nose of the Great King, the King of kings, Xerxes.

    The sailor would have had a good laugh when he pointed to the spot on Mount Aegaleos where Xerxes placed his throne to watch the battle. There Xerxes observed a Persian trireme commanded by his ally Queen Artemisia ram what Xerxes mistakenly thought was a Greek trireme in her attempt to escape the Greek forces. Xerxes reportedly exclaimed, “My men have become women, and my women men!” (Herodotus Persian Wars 8.87-88; LCL 4:85-87). Some have paraphrased this statement as: “My men fight like women and my woman fights like a man!”

    The Apostle Paul might have used his knowledge of trireme vessels he had gained in this conversation to drive home a point about the carnal activities of the believers in the church at Corinth. They were mutinying against Captain Jesus on the HMS Corinth!

    The Trireme Vessels
    The apostle would have been interested in the trireme vessels that both the Persian and Greek navies used because they provided him with a spiritual illustration that could be use in his epistle to the Corinthians. This illustration would be very meaningful to the civic-pride of the Corinthians because Thucydides (ca. 460-400 BC) reported that “Corinth was the first place in all Hellas, we are told, where triremes were built” (History of the Peloponnesian War 1.13.2; LCL 1:25).

    The wooden trireme vessels had three banks of oarsmen below deck. The side of the trireme was covered with wood, animal skin, or canvas of some kind, so the rowers could not see what was going on outside. At the stern (back) of the ship and above deck was the captain with a young man who beat the cadence on a drum. The captain would say “Stroke.” The drummer would beat the drum, “Boom.” The rowers would stroke their oars in unison. Again: “Stroke,” “Boom,” and another united stroke of the oars by the rowers. These oarsmen were called uparetas, which is usually translated “under-rowers.”

    Since the Roman navy still employed trireme vessels in their fleet, Paul would have been familiar with them. Thus, he filed away this information about the trireme ships and the “under rowers” for future use.

    The Problem in Corinth
    The Apostle Paul first visited Corinth in AD 50 during his second missionary journey and spent 18 months ministering in the city (Acts 18:11). He, more than anyone else, was responsible for establishing the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 3:10). Yet the Apostle Peter (Cephas) and Apollos from Alexandria had a great influence in the church as well.

    The first issue that Paul addressed when he wrote First Corinthians in AD 56 was the mutiny of the church at Corinth to the sovereign will of the head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ. There was division and contention within the church (1 Cor. 1:10-11). Factions were being formed by followers of Paul, Apollos, Peter, and the real “pious” ones, Christ (1:12)! Paul labeled these divisions and factions as carnality (3:1-4).

    The Apostle Paul stated that he, Apollos, and Peter were fellow-workers laboring together, metaphorically, in agriculture (3:6-9) and building construction (3:9-11). Yet he pointed out that God ultimately gave the increase for the harvest (3:6-7) and the Lord Jesus was the foundation of the church at Corinth (3:11).

    Paul then painted another powerful word-picture that invoked civic pride, issued a call to unity, challenged the saints to work as a team, and encouraged them to follow the Sovereign Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ.

    Under Rowers for Captain Jesus
    Paul wrote: “Let a man so consider us, as servants (uparetas, “under-rowers”) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1). The word-picture of an “under-rowers” was well known to the saints in Corinth. When Paul wrote to “consider us,” he was referring to himself, Apollos, and Peter (1 Cor. 3:22), as oarsmen rowing together on the same ship for Captain Jesus!

    There are at least five aspects of “under-rowers” that Paul might have had in mind when he painted this word-picture. First, the under-rowers were not slaves, but they were all volunteers because they were citizens of the city-state. All believers in the Lord Jesus have “heavenly citizenship” (cf. Phil. 3:20-21), so should willingly volunteer for the Lord’s service.

    Second, as a member of an organized team of rowers, they were all on the same footing as each other. The Apostle Peter considered himself a “fellow elder” in the assembly where he was in fellowship and not elevated above the others (1 Pet. 5:1-4; a lesson in humility he learned from the Lord Jesus in the Upper Room, cf. John 13:4-17).

    Third, they rowed together. If all the under-rowers were “rowing to the beat of different drummers” the ship would be stranded in the water and would go nowhere! While there is diversity of spiritual gifts within the assembly, all believers are to work together to edify spiritually, and build up numerically, the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12).

    Fourth, the under-rowers were below deck and could not see the captain, nor could they see outside, so they had to trust him to lead them into battle and finally into port. They were to row by faith, just as believers are to walk by faith, and not by sight! (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7; see also Peter’s take, 1 Pet. 1:7-9).

    Fifth, the under-rowers received no honor because only the captain was visible and he was the one who guided the ship into battle. This instilled humility in the oarsmen because they had to acknowledge that the victory belonged to the captain. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the Lord Jesus will graciously reward the believer who labors for Him, in His strength, by His grace, and for His glory (cf. 1 Cor. 3:12-17). But the believer will humbly return those rewards to the feet of the Lord Jesus and acknowledge: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Rev. 4:9-11).

    Bibliography

    LCL = Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press.

  • 22Dec

    THE CHRISTMAS MYTH AS DISPLAYED BY THE AMERICAN ATHEISTS

    Uncategorized Comments Off on THE CHRISTMAS MYTH AS DISPLAYED BY THE AMERICAN ATHEISTS

    by Gordon Franz

    Introduction
    At the beginning of this Christmas season (2010), I was going into New York City to do some research at the New York Public Library. As usual, I took public transportation into the city (it’s less stressful than driving and you don’t have to worry about parking). As we were approaching the Palisades in the bus lane to the Lincoln Tunnel, I saw out the left-hand side of the bus a billboard that caught my attention. It had what looked like a scene from a Christmas card. I thought to myself: “That’s nice; somebody is wishing us a joyous Christmas.” As the bus got closer, I saw the three wise men riding their camels in the starlit night toward an open-sided shelter with a gabled thatched roof next to a couple of palm trees; a donkey was tied to the stall, a bight star overhead, and Mary and Joseph watching over the new-born Baby Jesus. Then I saw the words: “You KNOW it’s a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!” It was signed by the American Atheists and said they were “Reasonable since 1963.” Their web address was also given.

    The Unbiblical Christmas Myth
    I had mixed emotions when I saw the sign. Should I laugh or cry? I would laugh because the Lord will have the last laugh with this sign. His Word says: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1). The psalmist’s description perfectly fits the atheists and their sign! They have been foolish, not reasonable, since 1963! I would cry because they were mocking the precious truth of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus.

    But when I looked at the picture and read the words again, I started chuckling. I said to myself: “They are absolutely correct; the picture on the billboard depicts a myth! The American Atheists are the unreasonable ones. They are ignorant of the Scriptures because there are at least three things Biblically wrong with that picture. The foolish atheists were propagating an unbiblical Christmas myth!”

    The Mistakes of the American Atheists Myth
    I wondered to myself: “If somebody had recounted the events of the birth of the Lord Jesus as the Bible actually presented it, would they have become atheists?” It is sad to consider that what is depicted on this billboard is also presented yearly in most Sunday Schools Christmas pageants in America!

    The first mistake the atheists made was to put three wise men on the billboard. The Bible does not say how many wise men there were! We assume that there were three because there were three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. We also sing “We Three Kings of Orient Are” every Christmas and there is a church tradition that says there were three wise men and even gives their names, but the Bible never records how many wise men there were.

    The second mistake they made was to put the birth of the Lord Jesus in a shelter outside under the starlit sky. Dr. Luke says the Lord Jesus was born in a stable that was in a cave under a house because the guest chamber of that house was already taken by other relatives (2:7, 12; see Bailey 2008: 25-37 for a proper understanding of the cultural background to this passage).

    http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2008/11/08/The-Manger-and-the-Inn.aspx

    The final, and most glaring, mistake they made was having the wise men come to Jesus at His birth. The Gospel of Matthew says that the wise men appeared “after Jesus was born” and they inquired: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (2:1-2). When they find Jesus in Bethlehem, He is a “young child,” not a “babe wrapped in swaddling cloth” (Matt. 2: 8-14; cf. Luke 2:12, 16). Dr. Luke recounts the birth of the Lord Jesus and Matthew records the event of the wise men’s visit a year to a year and a half after the birth of the Lord Jesus. Unfortunately, the American Atheists billboard (and the Sunday School Christmas play), fuses the two events together. That is unbiblical.

    “Come now, and let us REASON together,” says the LORD
    The atheists want us to celebrate REASON this season. The prophet Isaiah set forth God’s challenge to His wayward people Israel when he proclaimed: “’Come now, and let us REASON together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool’” (1:18). Just as God wanted to reason with His wayward people in the 8th century BC, so today, God welcomes the opportunity to reason with foolish atheists in the 21st century AD. The Lord has not changed and He is still long-suffering and is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). That includes every member of the American Atheists!

    One of the ways God reasoned with His people was by predictive prophecy. Over 70 times the prophet Ezekiel, at the beginning of the 6th century BC, says that God gave predictive prophecy so that when the prophecies were fulfilled, the people, both Jews and Gentiles, may “know that I am the LORD.” Predictive prophecy was given because it demonstrates that the Lord Jesus is God who knows and reveals the future and is sovereignly acting in history. This might deflate the atheist’s ego because there is Someone greater than the human centered atheist. It would also show that they would have to be accountable to Someone greater than themselves. Humbling thought!

    The events surrounding the birth of the Lord Jesus were foretold by the holy Hebrew prophets as they were borne along by the Holy Spirit hundreds of years before the Lord Jesus was born (2 Peter 1:19-21). The prophet Isaiah, who recorded that God wanted to reason with His people, gave some of the most powerful and profound prophecies about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.

    King David was also a prophet and the Spirit of God took him beyond himself and his own experience when he composed Psalm 40 (Cf. Acts 2:29, 30; cf. Matt. 22:41-46). In verses 6-8, David sang: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart’.” The Divine commentary on this passage, written a thousand years later, is found in Hebrews 10:1-18. The Spirit of God changed the 6th verse of the psalm and said: “But a body You have prepared for Me” (Heb. 10:5). Thus the Son, not David, is speaking to God the Father and said He would do the Father’s will. The Father prepared a body for His Son in the womb of Mary. Her conception was by the Holy Spirit.

    During the reign of King Ahaz, the prophet Isaiah challenged the king to test the Lord by asking for a sign. The king, with false piety, refused. Isaiah then turned to those in the royal court, including Prince Hezekiah, and announced a profound sign to the House of David: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Immanuel. Curds and honey He shall eat [=  His humanity], that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good [= His divinity]” (7:14). Matthew records the fulfillment of this sign when an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him that Mary will conceive the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit while she was a virgin. When he quotes Isaiah 7:14 from the Septuagint, he uses the Greek word parthenos which can only mean a virgin (1:20-23).

    There are actually three aspects to the nature of this Child in these verses. First, He would be virgin born. Second, He would have a humble beginning. And third, He would have a sinless nature, thus divine. The first part of verse 15 states: “Curds and honey He shall eat.” These are the foods of the poor, not a symbol of a royal diet (contra Young 1992:I:291). The sign to shepherds was that He would be born in poor circumstances (Luke 2:10-12), not royal surroundings. When Mary dedicated her first-born in the Temple, she offered two turtle doves, the offering of the poor (Luke 2:22-24; cf. Lev. 12:8). The wise men did not arrive until a year, to a year and a half after the birth of the Lord Jesus, before they presented Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh.

    Verse 15 goes on to say, “that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.” In this passage Isaiah is pointing out the sinless nature of the Child. Unlike us (and Hezekiah and Isaiah’s children), who by nature are sinful human beings that choose evil and refuse the good (Rom. 1-3), this Child will have a sinless nature as demonstrated by the fact that He chooses good and refuses evil.

    Later, Isaiah would prophesy the dual nature of the Lord Jesus and His names. He would be fully God and fully Man. “For unto us a Child is born [= His humanity], Unto us a Son is given [= His divinity]; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6).

    J. A. Alexander so eloquently summarizes this verse: “These words are strikingly appropriate to Jesus Christ, as the promised child, emphatically born for us and given to us, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, as being wonderful in His person, work and sufferings; a counselor, prophet, authoritative teacher of the truth, a wise administrator of the church, and confidential adviser of the individual believer – a real man, and yet the Mighty God; eternal in His own existence, and the giver of eternal life to others; the great peace-maker between God and man, between Jew and gentile, the umpire between nations, the abolisher of war, and the giver of internal peace to all who being justified by faith have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1)” (1981:134).

    A contemporary of Isaiah, the prophet Micah, would predict the place of the birth of the eternal Messiah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (5:2 [5:1 Heb.]). There were three Bethlehems in the Land of Israel during the time of the prophet Micah. One was in the tribal territory of Zebulun (Josh. 19:15); another one was in Benjamin (Neh. 7:26); and the last in Judah (Josh. 15: 60 LXX). Micah singled out the tribal territory of Judah as the place where Messiah was to be born.

    When the wise men visited Jerusalem after the birth of the Lord Jesus they inquired “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him” (Matt. 2:2). The paranoid schizophrenic King Herod heard this and was afraid, so inquired of the chief priests and scribes where the Messiah was to be born (2:3-4). They gave Herod the correct answer, Bethlehem of Judah, and even quoted the prophecy of Micah 5:2, yet they were oblivious to the Messiah because they did not act on their knowledge of Micah’s prediction in the Word of God!

    The reason the Messiah, the everlasting Ruler in Israel, was to be born in Bethlehem was because He was to be from the House and lineage of King David (Luke 2:4).

    The Attack on the Davidic Covenant
    Ironically, in this year’s December issue of National Geographic there is an article about King David. It is a very subtle, and probably deliberately timed for the Christmas season, attack on the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is entitled “Kings of Controversy,” and casts doubts on the historicity of King David and his son Solomon. It begins by asking the question: “Was the Kingdom of David and Solomon a glorious empire – or just a little cow town?” The answer that is given is: “that despite decades of searching, archaeologists had found no solid evidence that David or Solomon ever built anything” (Draper 2010: 73). In other words, they did not have a glorious empire or magnificent buildings. They did not exist!

    The article depicts those who take the Bible seriously and believe the historicity of King David as having an agenda or being politically motivated; they are engaged in an unscientific case of circular reasoning, and naïve. The story of David and Goliath is a metaphor made up around a campfire (2010: 75), and the accounts of David and Solomon were “probably written at least 300 years after the fact, by not-so-objective authors” (2010: 79). David and Solomon are “fictitious characters” (2010: 79), and Solomon’s existence “remains wholly unverified” (2010: 83).

    If King David was a fictitious character and not a historical person, then God did not give the Davidic Covenant to a real person. In fact, the Davidic Covenant would be null and void. This covenant, however, promised a real King David that one of his descendents would sit upon a real throne of David forever and ever (2 Sam. 7:12-16). In fact, this covenant is the basis for the angel Gabriel’s promise to Mary: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).

    If King David was a fictitious character, then the covenant was also. The angel Gabriel, if he existed, would have lied to Mary. There would have been no virgin birth and Jesus would have been a mere sinful man, just like the rest of us. He would have had no divine purpose in life and no throne or a kingdom to rule.

    The Son said, “Behold, I have come … to do Your will, O God”
    The Holy Spirit gives a divine commentary on Psalm 40 in the Book of Hebrews and explains the purpose that the Lord Jesus came to earth (10:1-18). He was to do the will of the Father and replace the sacrificial system instituted by Moses, which could only atone for (or cover) sins, but could never take away sins or make the sinner perfect.

    The Lord Jesus was a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, thus His death on the cross was an infinitely perfect sacrifice that paid for all the sins of all humanity, once and for all and it was never to be repeated. There was no more need for any sacrifices after that. After His bodily resurrection from the dead, He sat down at the right hand of the Father and is waiting till His enemies are made His footstool (10:9-13; cf. Ps. 110).

    The prophet Isaiah, looking down the corridors of time, saw the cross work of the Lord Jesus as well (Isa. 52:13-53:12). What this work would accomplish was the salvation of any or all who would put their trust in the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Isaiah writes: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (53:6). Isaiah elsewhere tells us that all our righteousness, all the best we can do, is as filthy rags in God’s sight (64:6).

    After David’s sin with Bathsheba, he confessed his sins before the Lord (Ps. 51), and trusted Him to forgive his sins. When David realizes that God had forgiven him, he rejoiced by singing: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Ps. 32:1-2).

    The way of salvation, a home in Heaven, the forgiveness of sins, and peace with God is open to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. This invitation is as broad as “whosoever will may come” (even the American Atheists can come to Jesus), but narrow as Jesus’ statement: “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? (Acts 4:12; 16:30).

    Jesus is the REASON for the Season!
    On the New York City side of the Lincoln Tunnel there was another billboard. This time it had a picture of Joseph and Mary looking at the Baby Jesus and the sign said: “You Know it’s Real. This Season, Celebrate Jesus.”

    That was a good response, but I think a more powerful and pointed response should have been: “You KNOW He’s the Truth. This Season Celebrate the REASON for the Season – the LORD JESUS CHRIST!”

    Bibliography

    Alexander, Joseph
    1981    Isaiah. Translated and Explained.  Vol. 1.  Minneapolis, MN: Klock and Klock.  Reprint of 1861 edition.

    Bailey, Kenneth
    2008    Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity.

    Draper, Robert
    2010    Kings of Controversy. National Geographic 218/6: 66-91.

    Young, Edward
    1965    The Book of Isaiah.  Vol. 1.  Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.  Reprinted 1992.

  • 19Jan

    THE RESURRECTION OF THE JERUSALEM SAINTS AT THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS (Matthew 27:51-54)

    The Life and Land of the Lord Jesus, Uncategorized Comments Off on THE RESURRECTION OF THE JERUSALEM SAINTS AT THE FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS (Matthew 27:51-54)

    by Gordon Franz

    Introduction
    In my younger days in Jerusalem, I enjoyed exploring the ancient burial caves throughout the city.  I also had the privilege of working with, and learning from, Dr. Gabriel Barkay.  In my estimation, he is the world’s expert on the history and archaeology of Jerusalem.  Among other things, we surveyed together a number of burial caves in and around Jerusalem, mostly of the Iron Age (the period of the Judean Monarchy), and even excavated a handful of them.  The most important caves were at Ketef Hinnom (the “Shoulder of Hinnom”), below the St. Andrew’s Scottish Church, on the edge of the Hinnom Valley.  This is where the two oldest Biblical texts found to date were discovered (Franz 2005).

    In my studies of the funerary practices and burials in Jerusalem, one passage of Scripture especially interested me as I visited ancient tombs in Jerusalem.  It is Matt. 27:51-54: “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and 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.  So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, ‘Truly this was the Son of God’!”

    I would like to examine this passage in light of what we know of Jewish burial practices in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period, and then ask two questions, “What happened to these resurrected saints?”  “What is the prophetic significance of the veil of the Temple being torn in two from top to bottom and the saints being resurrected?”

    Second Temple Burial Practices
    A Jewish person who died in Jerusalem during the Second Temple period was usually buried before sundown, or at least within 24 hours of death.  The body was taken to the family’s rock-cut tomb where it was washed and wrapped in burial shrouds and placed in a burial niche called a kok (kokim plural) that was in the tomb, or on a bench in the tomb called an arcosolia.  The body was left to decay.

    The family would return to their home and have a seven day period of intense mourning called shiva.  They would turn over the bed of the dead person, smash any pottery vessels that were in the house because they were ritually defiled by the dead, and the men would not shave for the week.  The extended family and friends would visit and consol the bereaved family on the loss of their loved one.  After the week was over, the immediate family had a less intense period of mourning for thirty days, called sholshim.  On the one year anniversary of the death of the individual, the family returned to the burial cave and gathered the bones of the dead, anointed them with olive oil and wine, and then placed them in a bone box called an ossuary.  The ossuary was then placed elsewhere in the tomb.

    The rock-cut tombs where the dead were buried were located outside the city walls of Jerusalem.  More than a thousand burial caves from the Second Temple period have been surveyed and / or excavated in the area of Jerusalem.  Archaeologists have determined that these tombs are located within three rings, or circles, surrounding the city (Kloner and Zissu 2007).  The inner circle consisted of tombs in the Hinnom Valley to the west and south of the city and the Kidron Valley and the range of the Mount of Olives to the east of the city.  The middle ring included the Valley of Rephaim and the back side of the Mount of Olives.  The outer ring consisted of tombs that were 4 or 5 miles away from Jerusalem, but still within Jerusalem’s environs.  It was from these tombs that the resurrected saints came forth.

    The Gospel of Matthew and the Resurrection of the Saints
    The gospel of Matthew the only gospel to record the account of the opening of the tombs and the saints being resurrected.

    Matthew, also called Levi, was a scribe and a tax collector (Mark 2:14; 3:18; Matt. 9:9; 10:3).  He was also the author of the gospel that bears his name.  This book was written primarily to the Jewish people to demonstrate that the Lord Jesus was the fulfillment of all that the Hebrew prophets wrote about, and spoke, concerning their Messiah, the Son of God.  The key word that is used over and over in the book is the word “fulfilled.”  Usually, “that which was fulfilled that was spoken by the prophets, or written by the prophets.”  Verses of the Hebrew Scriptures are quoted over and over again in this gospel.  Matthew assumes his readers have a Jewish mindset, that they know the Torah, and they are familiar with rabbinic theology, and therefore does not explain some things.  Christian readers need to know this material as well, in order to fully appreciate the words of this gospel because it is a Jewish book.

    It should be observed that the resurrection of the Hebrew saints occurred when Jesus rose from the dead.  Chronologically, that would have occurred by Sunday morning.  What was going on in Jerusalem on Sunday morning of Passover week?  For this we need to turn to the Hebrew Scriptures.

    The Omer of the Firstfruits of the Barley Harvest
    The LORD has a divinely ordained agriculture / religious calendar that began in the month    of Aviv, also known as Nisan.  Moses, being a prophet (Deut. 18:15), wrote of this divinely given calendar in what is known as the “Feasts of the LORD” found in Leviticus 23.  This calendar could also be seen as God’s prophetic program of redemption for individuals as well as nationally, for all Israel.  The Sunday morning after the Shabbat that followed the Passover was the harvesting of the omer of the first fruits of the barley harvest (Lev. 23:9-14).

    Concerning this harvest, Moses wrote:  “And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf [omer] of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. [the barley harvest is in view, the wheat harvest is not for almost two months].  He shall wave the sheaf [omer] before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.  And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf [omer] a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.  Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.  You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.”

    There was a debate in the First century BC and early First century AD between the Pharisees and the Sadducees concerning the timing of this event.  The Sadducees, rejecting the oral law and traditions of the Pharisees, understood the phrase in verse 11, “the morrow after the Sabbath”, in a literal sense, i.e. the day following the first Shabbat after the Passover (Sunday morning).  The Pharisees, on the other hand, understood Shabbat in verse 11 as being a Festival Day, the first Day of Passover (Danby 1985:506, footnote 1).  In AD 30, the year that the Lord Jesus was crucified, the Pharisees would have gathered the omer on Friday night after sundown.  I suspect that there were two separate events that year.  The Pharisees would have conducted their gathering of the omer on Friday night and the Sadducees would have gathered their omer on Sunday morning.  The Mishnah, the rabbinic interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, devotes one chapter of Tractate Menahoth to the gathering of the omer in the fields and its processing in the Temple (Danby 1985:505-507).

    The Lord gave Moses the instructions concerning the Feasts of the LORD.  These feasts had an agricultural and religious purpose to teach the people to trust the Lord, and Him only, in their daily lives throughout the year.  But they also had a prophetic purpose concerning God’s program of redemption.  The first two feasts are Passover (Pasach) and Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:4-8).

    The Apostle Paul referenced Passover and Unleavened Bread in a discussion on church issues, saying: “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.  For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.  Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).  Also the Apostle Peter alludes to the Passover Lamb when he describes the redemption purchased by the Lord Jesus as being “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:19; cf. Ex. 12:5; Lev. 22:18-20).  This is the Lamb that John the Baptizer pointed to when he saw the Lord Jesus coming toward him at Bethany beyond the Jordan when he said: “Behold!  The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).  The Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread.

    But what of the omer (sheaf) of the first fruits of the barley harvest?  The Apostle Paul gives us a hint as to its meaning when he wrote to the Church at Corinth about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  He stated: “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep” and he went on to say, “But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterwards those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:20, 23).

    Let us use our sanctified imaginations for a minute.  Jesus was crucified on Friday afternoon; Saturday was Shabbat, a day of rest.  Most people in Jerusalem probably stayed home that day and reflected on the monumental events that transpired that week in Jerusalem.  On the first day of the week, Sunday morning, there was a group of women who went out the Gennath Gate (Garden Gate) to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in order to anoint the body of Jesus.

    There were also other groups of people leaving the city of Jerusalem early that morning as well.  These people followed the Sadducean tradition concerning the cutting of the omer of barley.  They were heading toward the barley fields in the Valley of Rephaim, just to the west of Jerusalem (cf. Isa. 17:5).  Can you imagine them leaving the gates of the city with sickle in hand and baskets on their shoulders, and having a festive attitude as they went forth to harvest the omer?  As they walked on the paths to the barley fields, they saw some people approaching them, heading toward the Holy City.  One was their previously dead Uncle Eliyahu, another was Grandpa Akiva, as well as cousins Yonah, Elisheva and Batya, all dressed in tattered burial shrouds!  Imagine their shock.  “Hey, Gramp, what are you doing here?  We buried you twenty years ago!”  And the same question was asked of the others also.  This was an experience that went against their theology because the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body (Acts 23:8)!

    In 1973 there was a Jewish burial cave that was excavated on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.  It consisted of seven kokhim with five articulated skeletons and nine ossuaries in them (Rahmani 1980:49-54).  On the lid of ossuary no. 2 there was an Aramaic inscription that was translated by Prof. Frank Moore Cross as followed: “No man can go up (from the grave), nor (can) ‘El’azar or Sappirah.”  Cross attributed the denial of the resurrection to either Hellenized Jews or Sadducees (1983:245-246).

    What Happened to these Resurrected Saints?
    There are three possibilities as to what happened to these resurrected saints.  First, they are still alive today.  I have lived in Jerusalem, on and off, for more than thirty years.  I’ve met a lot of people in that city.  I even met some people who thought they were Jesus, or Elijah, or John the Baptist, but I have never met anybody that was 2,000 years old.  So I think we can safely assume that they are not alive today.

    The second possibility is that they died again.  We have no Scriptural warrant for this claim, nor are there any Jewish or Church traditions that states they died again.  So I think we can dismiss this idea.

    The third possibility, and the one I believe is correct, is that they ascended into Heaven with the Lord Jesus forty days after His, and their, resurrection (Cambron 1973:57, 146-147, 334).  Let’s examine the account of the ascension of the Lord Jesus to Heaven.  After the Lord Jesus gives another commission to His disciples for world evangelism (Acts 1:8), Luke records:  “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also 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’” (Acts 1:9-11).

    There are several things to notice in this passage.  First, “a cloud” received Him out of their sight.  Most commentators would state that when Jesus ascended, He disappeared into a cloud, a vaporous mass.  But Dr. Luke may be using this word in another way.  When the Apostle Paul describes the return of the Lord Jesus in the air for His saints, what has been called the Rapture of the Church, he states: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17).  It is important to note that in the Greek text, there is no definite article before “clouds.”  So the text should state that the living saints shall be caught up “in clouds” to meet the Lord Jesus in the air.  At the Rapture there would be a cloud of saints over North America, a cloud over Europe, a cloud over South America, Asia and Africa.

    I believe that Dr. Luke is using the words “cloud” in this manner, as a collection of saints. Thus, the cloud that received the Lord Jesus above the Mount of Olives was a cloud of the saints that were resurrected in Jerusalem when the Lord Jesus was resurrected.  This was the first fruits of a greater harvest to come and the prophetic point of the Feast of the LORD.  The Israelites were to bring the first fruits of the barley harvest to the Temple and the priest would wave the omer (sheaf) before the LORD and acknowledge His provision for the harvest and trust Him for the full harvest in the months to come.  In the prophetic analogy, the priest would not wave one stalk [Jesus] before the LORD, but rather, a sheaf [Jesus and the Jerusalem saints that were resurrected at the same time that He was].  Thus, this fulfilled the prophetic aspect of the Feast of Firstfruits and what Paul wrote, “Christ, risen from the dead, has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

    Notice also the words of the two men in white apparel, most likely angelic beings.  They said: “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into Heaven.”  When the Lord Jesus returns to earth with His saints at His revelation as the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Apostle John states that “He is coming with clouds [of saints], and every eye shall see Him, even they who pierced Him.  And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.  Even so, Amen” (Rev. 1:9; cf. Rev. 19:11-16).

    The prophet Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would return to the Mount of Olives with all His saints (Zech. 14:4-5).  The words of the two angels were that the Lord Jesus would return the same way He left.  He will one day visibly return to the Mount of Olive with His saints.  If he returns with saints, then He must have left with saints as well!  The saints that He left with were those resurrected from the graves around Jerusalem at His resurrection, but one day He will return to earth with more than just these resurrected Jerusalem saints.  He will have all His Church saints, those who have trusted Him as their Savior, from Pentecost to the Rapture, with Him as well (cf. John 5:25-29).

    The Significance of the Rent Veil and the Raised Saints
    Remember those Sadducean Jerusalemites who were amazed at seeing their resurrected relatives?  They were perplexed about what was going on.  The last question that needs to be addressed: “What is the significance of the veil of the Temple being torn in two and the saints being resurrected?”  In order to answer this question, the larger context of the crucifixion in Matthew’s gospel needs to be examined (Senior 1976; Witherup 1987).  In verses 39-44, there are two groups of people that mock the Lord Jesus because of His claim to be the Son of God.

    “And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!  If You are the Son of God come down from the cross’” (27:39-40).

    This first group of people invoked the testimony of the false witnesses at Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin.  The false witnesses said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days’” (Matt. 26:61). They misconstrued the words of the Lord Jesus because He was speaking of the temple of his body (John 2:19-21).  Nevertheless, the high priest put Jesus under oath and said, “Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”  Jesus acknowledged, “It is as you said” (Matt. 26:63-64).  The people in the first group used satanically inspired words when they said, “If You are the Son of God.”  These are the same words Satan used when he tested the Lord Jesus from the pinnacle of the Temple (Matt. 4:6).

    The second group of people, the chief priests, scribes and elders, mocked Him.  They said: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.  If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God’” (27:42-43).

    This second group, predominately Sadducean, mocked His claim to be the Son of God.  They also invoked Psalm 22:8: “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him.”  Unwittingly, and possibly, unknowingly, they fulfilled the words of verse 7 as well, “All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lips, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the LORD.’”

    With the death of Christ, the tables are turned on the mockers.  God the Father had said of His Son at His baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).  And again at the Transfiguration, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him” (Matt. 17:5).

    The Lord Jesus was suspended between Heaven and earth while there was darkness over the face of the earth for three hours.  At the ninth hour, He cried out with a loud voice, in Hebrew, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Ps. 22:1).  This was the opening lines of Psalm 22, the same psalm the chief priests, scribes and elders invoked.  Now the Lord Jesus invokes it.

    A Jewish person in the Second Temple period would have most, if not all, of the psalms memorized.  When this passage was read in Matthew’s gospel, the answer to that question was obvious.  Psalm 22:3 states, “But You are holy!”  Because of the holiness of God, the Father could not look upon His Son as He became sin for us, and took all the sins of all humanity upon Himself (II Cor. 5:21; I John 2:2), so darkness covered the earth.  Matthew records that: “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit” (27:50).  John reveals those words: “It is finished!” (19:30).  After paying the full price for all sin, the Lord Jesus voluntarily gave up His life (John 10:11-18).

    In a Jewish court of law, a fact is established by two or more witnesses (Deut. 17:6-7; 19:15).  God the Father gave two signs to the nation of Israel in order to vindicate His Son.  The first, at His death, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom.  Only God could do this, thus it was a divine sign.  The message of the torn veil was two-fold.  The negative aspect was that God was finished with the corrupt priesthood, mostly controlled by the Sadducees.  But on the positive side, it showed that all sin had been paid for and there was no more need for sacrifices because the way to God was open to all, both Jews and Gentiles.  This message was not lost on the centurion and his men who were guarding the tomb of Jesus.  They saw all that transpired – the darkness and the earthquake – and feared greatly.  The centurion said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (27:54).

    This was the beginning of the fulfillment of Psalm 22:27-28: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.  For the kingdom is the LORD’s, and He rules over the nations.”  It also affirms the creed that the Apostle Paul began the book of Romans with: “Concerning His Son, who was born of the Seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.  Jesus Christ our Lord” (1:3-4).

    Matthew recorded the Gentiles expression of faith in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God.  This was to provoke Israel to jealousy (cf. Rom. 11:11-14).  Interestingly, a few years later, Dr. Luke recorded that “a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7).  Had they thought through the theological implications of the veil being rent?

    The second sign, at the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, was that many saints from Jerusalem were raised from the dead.  This showed the Sadducees that there was a bodily resurrection.  Perhaps their minds would go to the prophet Ezekiel and his vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14).  The Lord prophesied through Ezekiel that these dry bones were the whole House of Israel (37:11), and said of them: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the Land of Israel.  Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.  I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.  Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it” (37:12-14).

    The Jerusalem saints that were raised were just the firstfruits of a greater harvest / resurrection to come.  Ezekiel described the resurrection of those in the House of Israel who died outside the Land of Israel (contra Grassi 1964-1965).  At the end of days, those outside the Land of Israel will be resurrected and brought back to Jerusalem.

    Applications for Us
    There are at least three applications for us today.  First, even though people mock the Lord Jesus Christ and deny He is the Son of God, God has already vindicated His Person and work.  This was done by rending the veil from top to bottom to show the mockers their words are empty.  It also showed that the Lord Jesus had paid for all sin and the way to God was open to any and all who would put their trust in Him.

    This leads to the second application that is seen in the rent veil.  Now the way into the Holy of Holies is open because of the death of Christ.  He offers the free gift of salvation, a home in heaven, the forgiveness of sins, and Christ’s righteousness, to any and all, both Jew and Gentile, who would put their trust in Him as their Savior.  Have you trusted the Lord Jesus to forgive all your sins?

    The final application is seen in the resurrection of the saints from Jerusalem.  This gives every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ the assurance that one day there will be a resurrection and believers in the Lord Jesus will live eternally with Him.  These Jerusalemite saints were the first fruits and guarantees that there will be a greater resurrection to follow.  For those who have trusted Christ, there is no fear of death.  One day we will either be taken in the Rapture, or raised from the dead if we have already died.

    Bibliography

    Abodah Zarah
    1982    The Talmud of the Land of Israel.  Vol. 33.  Trans. by J. Neusner.  Chicago: University of Chicago.

    Cambron, Mark
    1973    The New Testament.  A Book-By-Book Survey.  Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

    Cross, Frank M.
    1983    A Note on a Burial Inscription from Mount Scopus.  Israel Exploration Journal 33/3-4: 245-246.

    Danby, Herbert
    1985    The Mishnah.  Oxford: Oxford University.

    Franz, Gordon
    2005    “Remember, Archaeology is NOT a Treasure Hunt!”  Bible and Spade 18/2: 53-59.

    Grassi, J. A.
    1964-1965    Ezekiel 37:1-14 and the New Testament.  New Testament Studies 11:162-164.

    Kloner, Amos; and Zissu, B.
    2007    The Necropolis of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period.  Leuven: Peeters.

    Rahmani, Levi
    1980    A Jewish Rock-cut Tomb on Mt. Scopus.  ‘Atiqot 14: 49-54.

    Senior, Donald
    1976    The Death of Jesus and the Resurrection of the Holy Ones (Mt 27:51-53.  Catholic Biblical Quarterly 38: 312-329.

    Witherup, Ronald D.
    1987    The Death of Jesus and the Raising of the Saints:  Matthew 27:51-54 in Context.  Pp. 574-585 in Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 1987.  Atlanta, GA: Scholars.

   

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