ESCAPING PERILOUS TIMES

There is much ado about Jesus, Him sealing Christians, but very little about sinners sealing Jesus. Yes, the chief priests and those with them sealed Jesus: 

Pilate said unto them, “You have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as you can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch” (Mat 27:66)

Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth, “Now He which stablishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God; who has also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Cor 21”22).

Now look at how Jesus was sealed; a heavy stone was rolled, blocking egress from the tomb. The adversaries were not so much worried about some getting into the tomb but Jesus getting out, so people might think that He had arisen as He said He would. He had proven Himself to be God by revealing the truth on the Cross. Pilate was satisfied that Jesus was who He said He was.

However, the priests were more worried that Jesus was still not who He said He was but a lying malefactor whose zealots would fake his resurrection.

There was a watch put before the entrance to ensure that nobody would get Him out. That He would not be in the tomb was sufficient evidence for skeptics to believe that He was who He said He was.

Jesus was sealed from the outside, yet only He could remove Himself. The seal had been broken and the chamber was entered; Jesus was not there. How did Jesus get out? He overcame the world. That is what He was noted for; “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

How did Jesus get out of the tomb? He overcame the walls just as God did at Jericho… they fell down. None of them saw fallen walls but indeed they were no longer there, at least for Jesus.

Death glorified Jesus (John 7:29). What happened at the crucifixion? The Holy Ghost left Him for when He died, Jesus gave up the Ghost.

God was glorious in the beginning. The Hebrew word ‘Selem’ was His ‘Image.’ Selem is a ‘shadow’ or ‘phantom.’ God is Spirit and at the crucifixion Jesus showed the world the Spirit of God that was in Him. Hence, Jesus was glorified at death; He revealed the Image of God that was in Himself.

The tomb was sealed and guarded. Nobody fell asleep and neither was the seal broken. Even the tomb remained intact, but still, Jesus was not there.

When Paul was in peril in turbulent waters, he said, “Be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship, for there stood by me this night The Angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve” (Acts 27:22-23).

Jesus had used those same words about overcoming the world. Paul did not see Jesus, the One that he served; he saw “The Angel of God.”

Who did the women at the tomb see when Jesus was in peril?

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher, and, behold, there was a great earthquake: for The Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. (Mat 28:1-3)

Remembering that Jesus would be in Paradise that same day with the repentant thief and that the Body of Jesus was in the tomb; then it was the Ghost of Jesus that was in Paradise in heaven. The Holy Ghost of Jesus was, and still is, The Messenger of God — an angel.

Just as Paul saw “The Angel of God” when he was in peril, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw “The Angel of the Lord.”

I submit that it was the Holy Ghost of Jesus that rolled back the stone barrier. How did Jesus escape? Was He Houdini? No, His Ghost returned to remove Jesus from the tomb to further reveal that His Ghost was as much God as His Person. The Angel of the Lord remained unseen or it would have been recorded.

How did the miracle happen? The Holy Ghost — The Angel of the Lord — simply descended through the rock and voila; The Angel was in. The Holy Spirit is the Power of God. The Holy Ghost simply entered the Body of Jesus, and it was the Divine Hand of Jesus that rolled back the stone from the inside.

As we find out later, Jesus, in Person, just appeared in the locked room with the eleven (Mark 16:14). Jesus was glorified at death. He was no longer material substance, but heavenly. He overcame the world because His flesh was different than before, so different that He would not allow anyone to touch Him (Thomas never did). In addition, as learned from the Emmaus walk, Jesus could not be recognized and could go to and fro as He willed.

With that said, Jesus was of the same substance as Adam before sin. Adam was not confined to the world as the Books of Adam and Eve reveal. Mankind was meant to be as Jesus — both in the Image of God. However, Adam blundered whereas Jesus did not. Even though we blunder, Christians, in heaven, will be like Jesus; not gods but glorified in His Image.

The question is: What does it take to be glorified and impervious to the world? Death! It is at death when your soul shall be saved, just as Jesus was re-erected at His death and glorified.

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