Lazarus' Resurrection & Yeshua's Ascension

Introduction

Cake Slide

Just as the slide shows, we have been going covering the foundation of the end-times teachings that is found in the Gospels. Today we will be finishing up a couple of points from the Gospel of John and will be looking at what Yeshua taught His talmidim just before he ascended. Next time, we will begin to look at the end-time teachings in the letters written by the talmidim.

Lazarus’ Resurrection

By writing much later in life, after he had already read the other letters and gospels, John fills in gaps and includes miracles that none of the other talmidim include. One of these miracles is the resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany.

To set the stage, let’s start reading John 11:1-3

John 11:1–3 TLV

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Miriam and her sister Martha. This was the same Miriam who anointed the Master with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a word to Yeshua, saying, “Master, the one you love is sick!”

Then, instead of hurrying up see Lazarus, Yeshua waits around for another 2 days. By the time that Yeshua eventually arrives in the town of Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for 4 days.

After arriving, Yeshua empathizes with the people around him and weeps. Although Yeshua knew what he was about to do, he experienced the pain that everyone felt.

Yeshua then takes everyone to the tomb, has them open the cave, and then in John 11:43b “He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!””

It is an amazing historical narrative, and Yeshua used this miracle to demonstrate that Adonai had sent him. However, since we are looking at end-times teachings, I want to focus on the discussion that Yeshua had with Martha just a little earlier. When Yeshua initially showed up, Miriam continued sitting shiv’ah in their family home, and Martha got up to go and speak with Yeshua. John 11:20-28

John 11:20–28 TLV

When Martha heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet Him; but Miriam sat in the house. Martha said to Yeshua, “Master, if You had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died! But I know, even now, that whatever You may ask of God, He will give You.” Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know, he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Yeshua said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life! Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She says to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, Ben-Elohim who has come into the world.” After she said this, she left and secretly told her sister Miriam, “The Teacher is here, and He’s calling for you.”

From this passage we learn several things.

Resurrection of the Righteous

Firstly, we see that the belief in the Resurrection of the Righteous was normal in Yeshua’s day. Martha’s belief in the resurrection comes from multiple passages in the Tenakh. One such passage is Dan 12:2

Daniel 12:2 TLV

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake—some to everlasting life, and others to shame and everlasting contempt.

The belief in the resurrection also can be found in other ancient writings from the same time period. One of these is the pseudepigraphal book of Enoch which says:

51 1 In those days, Sheol will return all the deposits which she had received and hell will give back all that which it owes. 2 And he shall choose the righteous and the holy ones from among (the risen dead), for the day when they shall be selected and saved has arrived.

James H. Charlesworth, The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (vol. 1; New York; London: Yale University Press, 1983), 36.

Now I certainly do not treat this book as Scripture, and it was not written by Noah’s great-great-grandfather, but it does show some of the thought during Yeshua’s day.

Another example of belief in the resurrection can be found in the Babylonian Talmud. Here the Rabbi’s have an entire tractate, Sanh. 91B, that goes over multiple Scriptures and demonstrates from Scripture that the dead will rise.

In the Babylonian Talmud the Rabbis write:

I.28 Said R. Joshua b. Levi, “How on the basis of Scripture may we prove the resurrection of the dead? “As it is said, ‘Blessed are those who dwell in your house, they shall ever praise you, selah’ (Ps. 84:5). “What is said is not ‘praised you’ but ‘shall praise you,’ on the basis of which there is proof from the Torah of the resurrection of the dead.” .... Said R. Hiyya b. Abba said R. Yohanan, “On what basis do we know about the resurrection of the dead from Scripture.” “As it says, ‘Your watchman shall lift up the voice, with the voice together they shall sing (Is. 52:8).’ ” What is said is not ‘sang’ but ‘will sing’ on the basis of which there is proof from the Torah of the resurrection of the dead.

This argument of the Rabbis is the same as the argument that Yeshua made in Matt. 22:29-33

Matthew 22:29–33 TLV

But answering, Yeshua said to them, “You’ve gone astray, because you don’t understand the Scriptures or the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!” When the crowds heard this, they were astounded at His teaching.

In terms of end-times teaching, we see that not only is resurrection an absolute reality, but also the bodies that we will have will not be exactly the same as what we have today.

Eternal Life for Believers

The second lesson that we can take from Yeshua is found when he said to Martha, John 11:25–26 “... “I am the resurrection and the life! Whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. ...””

Yeshua is explaining to Martha that there are two ways that, as followers of Yeshua, we will exit this life:

If we die, and then we will come back to life again, or

If are still alive when he returns, then we will never die.

I am not certain how quickly the rest of the Biblically prophesied world events will occur, but either way we are going to be fine. This theme will be picked up by Paul and Peter later on.

Yeshua’s Ascension

We will now look at the last conversation that Yeshua had with his talmidim before he ascended back to heaven. Let’s turn to Acts 1:4-8

Acts 1:4–8 TLV

Now while staying with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father promised—which, He said, “you heard from Me. For John immersed with water, but you will be immersed in the Ruach ha-Kodesh not many days from now.” So when they gathered together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not your place to know the times or seasons which the Father has placed under His own control. But you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Restoration of Kingdom

I have heard it said, that the #1 sermon of Yeshua was on the topic of the Kingdom of God. The problem that I usually see is that teachers and commentators rarely mention the connection between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of David. David Pawson, in his book “When Jesus Returns”, points out:

The disciples’ last question to him before his ascension concerned the timing of the restoration of the monarchy to Israel. Instead of rebuking the irrelevance of their thinking (as many Christians would today), he told them that the date already fixed by the Father was not of immediate concern to them - they had a mission to be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, the Gentile nations (Acts 1:6-8). He had already told them that they would one day govern the courts of the twelve tribes (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:30), but this would have to wait. The one thing certain is that ‘this race will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened (Matt. 24:34).

Yeshua was explaining that the restoration of Israel would happen at its appointed time. Also notice something else that David Pawson points out in the last verse of Matt. 24:34? I was asked this question last week, and I truly did not have a great answer. The verse is often translated:

Matthew 24:34 TLV

Amen, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.

But the word for “generation” can also be translated as “race, kind” as in a specific people as shown here.

This translation of “race” actually makes a lot more sense, especially when we look at many other prophesies throughout Scripture, and especially to the establishment of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:30-36:

Jeremiah 31:30–36 TLV

“Behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “I will put My Torah within them. Yes, I will write it on their heart. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “For I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.” Thus says Adonai, who gives the sun as a light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars as a light by night, who stirs up the sea so its waves roar, Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name: “Only if this fixed order departs from before Me” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “then also might Israel’s offspring cease from being a nation before Me—for all time.” Thus says Adonai: “Only if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then also I will cast off the offspring of Israel—for all they have done.” It is a declaration of Adonai.

Now notice how the end of the prophesy given to Jeremiah lines up with exactly what Yeshua says in the next verse Matt. 24:35.

Matthew 24:35 TLV

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Yeshua is telling us, that just as Jeremiah had prophesied, the Jewish people would remain until the end of heaven and earth, and until all these things were fulfilled. Last time I checked, heaven and earth were still here, oh … and so are the Jewish people! And one day the eternal kingdom that was promised to David in 2 Sam. 7 and reiterated to Solomon in 1 Kings 7, will be ultimately fulfilled through Yeshua sitting on the physical throne in Israel, in Jerusalem and in the throne room built on the Temple mount!

Location, Location, Location

We will close out today, by looking at the location that Yeshua is returning to. In Acts 1:9-11 we read:

Acts 1:9–11 TLV

After saying all this—while they were watching—He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. While they were staring into heaven as He went up, suddenly two men stood with them in white clothing. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you keep standing here staring into heaven? This Yeshua, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.”

The angels tell the talmidim, Yeshua is going to come back exactly like you saw him go, and where were the talmidim when this happened? Well what does the next verse say? Acts 1:12

Acts 1:12 TLV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives (which is near Jerusalem, a Shabbat day’s journey).

Now, some might say, “Well maybe the angels only meant that Yeshua would be coming back from the heavenly realm into the physical realm in the same way.” This might make sense, except for another prophesy in Zech 14:1-9

Zechariah 14:1–9 TLV

Behold, a day of Adonai is coming when your plunder will be divided in your midst. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to wage war. The city shall be captured, the houses ransacked and the women ravished. Half of the city will be exiled but the remainder of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then Adonai will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which lies to the east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a huge valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you will flee through My mountain valley because the mountain valley will reach to Azel. Yes, you will flee like you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then Adonai my God will come and all the kedoshim with Him. In that day there will be no light, cold or frost. It will be a day known only to Adonai, neither day nor night—even in the evening time there will be light. Moreover, in that day living waters will flow from Jerusalem, half toward the eastern sea and half toward the western sea, both in the summer and in the winter. Adonai will then be King over all the earth. In that day Adonai will be Echad and His Name Echad.

Adonai tells us that he will stand where? Wait are you telling me that Adonai has feet? and that Adonai will be King over all the earth? Well, that seems to be exactly what the prophet Zechariah is saying.

By the way, can you imagine a day when all the surrounding nations will be waging war against Israel? It seem to be happening every decade, but here Adonai is saying that he will intervene, do some terraforming (split a mountain and create a new river) and bring salvation to Israel. As well as showing the location, this also points out that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of David are one and the same.

Summary

Let us summarize and have another look at the Summary slide and the Timeline.