Shining Faith (20:11-18) - Part 2 of 2

Shining Faith (20:11-18) - Part 2 of 2
​
Some students feel that Jesus did return to the Father that morning, and that was the ascension He was referring to. No other passage in the New Testament supports this interpretation. I think it stretches the type too far to say He was fulfilling the symbolism of the Day of Atonement and presenting the blood to the Father. (Lev. 16). He had no blood to show; He had presented it on the cross when He became sin for us. In His resurrection glory, Jesus was “flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39), not “flesh and blood." The resurrection itself was proof that the work of redemption had been accomplished (raised because of our justification—Rom. 4:24-25). What more could He have done? Absolutely nothing, praise His holy name.

Our Lord never spoke of “our Father" or “our God." He rightly made a distinction between His relationship with the Father and that of the disciples. We say “our Father” and “our God” because all believers are part of one family and stand equally before God. He told Mary and the other followers that God was their Father and that He would be with the Father in Heaven after His ascension. In His Upper Room message, He had told them that He was going back to the Father and that the Spirit would come to them.

It was the same Jesus, only with a glorified body, but it wasn’t quite the same relationship. We must be careful not to relate to Christ “after the flesh” (1 Cor. 5:16), i.e., relate to Him as if He were still in His state of humiliation. He is now the glorious Son of God, and we must worship Him as such. When John was with Jesus at the table, he leant against His bosom (John 13:23), but when John saw Jesus on the Isle of Patmos, he fell at His feet as dead (Rev. 1:17)!

If Mary had kept Jesus to herself and had been selfish and disobedient, she would have lost Him. She stood up and ran to the disciples and told them the wonderful news that she had seen the Lord alive. “I have seen Him!” (see John 20:14, 18, 20, 25, 29). Mark tells us that these believers were mourning and weeping—and they would not believe her (Mark 16:9-11)! Mary had been crying too, and Jesus had turned her sorrow into joy. Their grief would have been turned to joy too, if they had believed. Unbelief is terribly deadening to a person. No wonder God warns us against "an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. 3:12).

Mary told of His resurrection and that she had seen Him personally, but she also spoke of the words that He had spoken to her. We see once again the importance of the Word of God. Mary could not transfer her experience over to them, but she could share the Word, and it is the Word that produces faith (Rom. 10:17). The living Christ gave us His living Word (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Faith based on solid evidence is a valuable thing, but the evidence should lead us to the Word, and the Word should lead us to the Savior. It is one thing to accept a doctrine and defend it; it is quite another to have a personal relationship to the living Lord. Peter and John were convinced Jesus was alive, but it wasn’t until that evening that they met the risen Christ in person with the other disciples. Jesus appeared to Peter sometime that afternoon (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5). Proof that does not issue in experience is only dead dogma. The key is believing God’s Word.