Month: March 2018

Who really saw the risen Lord first?

/ M. (Marcia) Evangeline Anderson / Leave a comment

It seems that preachers sometimes feel obliged to put new ‘spins’ on the age-old stories of the Bible. Unfortunately, only divine revelation (confirmed as such by the written Word) and good research can make the Biblical accounts come any more alive or seem any more novel than they do for the average reader. So this week when I heard a radio preacher building a message around the claim that the guards posted outside the tomb were the first ones to see the risen Lord, I thought: “Hold on a minute… I don’t think so… I have to go back and double check that.” So I did.

Matthew 27 ends with the guards being posted at the tomb by the Sanhedrin with Pilate’s permission (27:62-66). Matthew 28 begins with some women coming to the tomb. Mark 16 and Luke 23-24 supplement that part of the account. The women were Miriam of Magdala (‘Mary Magdalene’), Miriam the mother of Jacob (James), Salome (says Mark) and Joanna (suggests Luke 24:10). They were not just visiting a grave; they had come with ‘prepared spices’ (and fragrant oils – Luke 23:56, NKJV) to anoint Yeshua’s body for actual burial, since they could not have done it on the Preparation Day for the High Sabbath (John 19:31) when His body was laid in the tomb, or on the weekly Shabbat – Luke 23:54-56.

Suddenly (Matt. 28:2) the women feel the earth quake as an angel descends from heaven, rolls back the huge, heavy stone that was sealing the tomb, and sits on it. His appearance (how fast he appeared, not how he looked) was ‘like lightning’. (He didn’t look like lightning, because his clothes were as white as snow – no lightning resemblance there.) However, it was an event so sudden and frightening that the women might well have turned and fled; but then comes verse 4: “And THOSE KEEPING WATCH were shaken for fear of him and became like dead men.” The supposedly stalwart guards were the ones who fainted!

So the angel addressed the women – stunned but still there and still conscious. “Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Yeshua who was crucified. He is not here, for HE IS RISEN, just as he said…”

What the radio preacher had done was to fill in the gap between Matthew 27 and 28, with the story that since the guards were the only ones outside the tomb in the night, they must have seen Yeshua when He left the tomb. However, if they fainted at the sight of an angel, how would they have stayed awake and stayed put, at the sight of a ‘dead man’ walking through a solid stone slab?  Then, if their consciousness and courage had survived that, why would they not have immediately run off to report to the Sanhedrin what had happened?  As we read, it was only after recovering from the incident with the women and the angel that the frightened guards went to give their report (Matthew 28:11).

Yes, I felt I had to search the scriptures again to see if I had missed the facts this radio preacher was referencing. Having searched, I blushed because I had actually forgotten about Mark 16:9 that clearly states in Mark’s succinct matter-of-fact style, “After He had risen EARLY ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK (which for the Jews meant soon after sunset on Saturday) HE APPEARED FIRST TO MIRIAM OF MAGDALA.”  That’s it – there was really no need for me to check out any other claim.

Alas, the guards definitely could not claim the distinction of having seen the risen Messsiah first. They were either sleeping on the job when He left the tomb, or they were drunk as one script writer depicted them, or Yeshua just prevented them from seeing Him – which we know He was well able to do!

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!”

/ M. (Marcia) Evangeline Anderson / 1 Comment
When I had the privilege of teaching successive grades of children and youth, there was one girl who would ask from time to time, “When is God coming, eeh?” (‘Eeh’ is perhaps the Jamaican version of the Canadian ‘eh’.) From the intonation of this child’s voice, I realized that as young as she was, she was not just asking a question to seek an answer. She was actually expressing her spirit’s longing for ‘HIS APPEARING’. (2 Timothy 4:8)
This child was generally quite prophetic, and now I realize that she was a just few decades ahead of the millions who are now fervently, desperately longing for ‘His appearing’ – for the return of Yeshua ha Mashiach / Jesus the Saviour. Most of the millions of cells in the Body of His Bride are now calling out, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
Yet, why does He still tarry? As Revelation 22:17 indicates, the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Kodesh) still has to agree with the Bride and say, “Come!” As much as we want ourselves (and indeed the whole earth) to be rescued from present and increasing evils … as much as we long for the day when Habakkuk 2:14 is fulfilled, it is the Ruach’s task to hasten the final countdown to that day.  BY HIS OPERATION THROUGH THE BODY OF MESSSIAH, the Ruach will bring Habakkuk’s prophecy to pass, and the earth will finally be “filled with the KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD as the waters cover the sea.”  Only our Omniscient God will know when His last condition has been met for ‘the end’ to come. Then His Spirit will agree with the unequivocal heart-cry of the Bride, and call out to the Son, “Come!”
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In the meantime, let’s all check-mark the ‘signs of the times’ that we’ve seen and are seeing, and let’s resolve to cooperate wholeheartedly with the Ruach in prayer and obedience to the Great Commission, toward the fulfillment of the final sign. Read again our Lord’s Matthew 24:3-14 list of the signs to be check-marked, paying special attention to the last one, for we all have a part to play in its accomplishment, SO THAT the end can come.
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As (Yeshua) was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Yeshua answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray! For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah (the saviour),’ and will lead many astray. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must happen but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of My name. And then many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one other. Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This Good News of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, AND THEN THE END WILL COME.”