40 Days Later He Left

We looked at the

number 40

in a previous post and that it has a meaning of:

revealing and testing.

At this point in the calendar, we are just a little over

40 days

since Passover/Pesach.

Luke 24:50 51 tells us

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.

Jesus/Yeshua appeared to them on many occasions in

different forms following His resurrection;

Revealing His Deity to them and

testing their faith in Who He was.

After these 40 days He ascended.

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a]from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

Luke 24:13-16

After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them as they were walking along the way to the country. Mark 16:12 Amp.

After the Transfiguration happened to Yeshua/Jesus, we have no personal life experiences that are equal or similar to the events that Messiah went through from that time forward.

For 30 years He had appeared to be a normal man but He was living a perfect life as a Torah observant Hebrew/Jew/Israelite. The record of His life as written in the four Gospels by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John describes only approximately the last three years of His public ministry apart from His conception, birth, notable events in His early years to age 12.

Luke 2:40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

We must remember all we read in these 4 accounts, did not occur in just a  single 12 month period. Going forward from the time of His transfiguration everything is unfamiliar to us from what we already know of HIs life and ministry.

His transfiguration on the mountain was a marker in time.

Matt. 17:2 Mark 9:2

1Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.  3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, [a]let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

5While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”  6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.  7But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.”  8When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

9Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.” Matt 17

Moses and Elijah were seen with Him and the glory He had laid aside was upon Him brighter than Moses whose face had shone with the Shekinah glory centuries before on another mountain.

and it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. Ex 34:29-35

The Voice of the Father spoke again

at the transfiguration

Matt 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!”  6And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 

just as He had done at Messiahs immersion;

when His Spirit of Holiness was imparted.

Luke 3:21/22

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased.”

Moses and Elijah strengthened and encouraged Him prior to His fulfilling all He had come to do according to the Fathers will.

Matt.17:3

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

He was to set His face toward Jerusalem, Gethsemane, the beating and the cross; the cruel stake of crucifixion, physical death, followed by the resurrection… and we have no experience of such an ordeal.

His execution stake/ tree/ cross is the dalet /door by which every person can enter into the life/chaim of God.

John 10:9

By His resurrection He has the right to give eternal life to anyone

By His ascension Messiah entered heaven/shamayim keeping that dalet/ door open for humanity, for whosoever will. Mark 8:34; Matt. 16:25; Matt. 20:27.

The Transfiguration was completed on the

mount of the Ascension 

see the map below.

Luke 24:50-53
And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.

If Messiah had gone directly to heaven from the Mount of Transfiguration, He would have gone alone. He would have been nothing more to us than an unusual historical figure, but He turned His back on the glory once again and came down from the mountain to identify Himself with fallen humanity and become the sin bearer of the world.

Yeshua HaMashiach/Jesus Christ, God’s One and Only Son, laid aside His majesty to serve humanity. His death on the cross is the ultimate expression of servant leadership, when He obediently fulfilled the will of God.

Amplified Bible  Phil.2:6-8
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man]. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.…

His ascension from the Mount of Olives was the complete fulfillment of the Transfiguration.

Messiah returned to His original glory but not simply as the Son of God. He returned to His Father as the Son of Man as well.

John 17:5 Amplified Bible
Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory and majesty that I had with You before the world existed.

 

Now there is freedom of access for anyone, straight to the very throne of God because of the ascension of the Son of Man.

 

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16.

We can come boldly because Messiah’s Blood satisfied the fullness of the Fathers covenant as payment for sin. As the Son of Man, Jesus/Yeshua deliberately limited His omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. But now and forevermore they are His in absolute full power and authority. As the Son of Man, Jesus/Yeshua now has all the power at the throne of the Father. From His ascension forward He became and is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Many will not understand the value of that until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

Mark 13:26; Matt. 16:28. assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not

taste death

till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

Many people fear and seek to avoid death at any cost, yet when we give our lives for the sake of Messiah Jesus, we see it as a sacrifice. This is because we don’t understand the value of death. Death is the doorway to something so much better and far, far greater.

He understood this…

For the joy set before him he endured the cross … fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith … at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb. 12:2.

In the verse above about tasting death…how do we explain what something tastes like to someone who has never tried or eaten it? For example to describe the taste of a pineapple or a jalapeno pepper is almost impossible, a person would actually have to taste it themselves.

He tasted death for all of us so we don’t have to.

But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while [by taking on the limitations of humanity], crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering of death, so that by the grace of God [extended to sinners] He might experience death for [the sins of] everyone.

Hebrews 2:9. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

There’s no way for us to see the value of death until we actually pass through the death of this physical body into the realm/world beyond time, leaving behind this natural one and see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. His Kingdom which is not of this world/realm.

John 18:36. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Only then will we have a full understanding and we will no doubt wonder why we feared death at all.

In Matthew 16:28

shall not TASTE death

until they see the son of man coming in his glory.

The word taste in Hebrew/Aramaic is taim – טָעִים

טָעַם  verb taste, perceive –

pronounced: taw-am’ 

The first century understanding of this word was that it was used: to express the VALUE of what is eaten

and also

perception as the ability to distinguish between thoughts.

Strong’s #2938 – טָעַם – Old Testament Hebrew Lexical …

[Aramaic only] KJV (43): taste, judgment, behaviour, advice, understanding, commandment, matter, command, account, decree, regarded, wisdom

Strong’s Hebrew: 2940. טָ֫עַם (taam) — taste, judgment

taam: taste, judgment Original Word: טַעַם Part of Speech: Noun Masculine Transliteration: taam Phonetic Spelling: (tah’-am) Definition: taste,

Strong’s Hebrew: 2938 טעם (ta`am) – taste, perceive

Strong’s Definitions. ta`am, taw-am’; a primitive root; to taste; figuratively, to perceive:

Ps.34:8 taste and see that the Lord is good.

Here in this Psalm the word for taste is taamu

also meaning:

to taste, to perceive

encouraging us to:

put the matter to the test of experience ( 1 Peter 2:3).

There is no other way of really knowing how good our Heavenly Father is.

He gives us a little taste here and now, of what lies ahead, what is to come for those who will take up their cross daily and follow Him for the joy that is also, set before us.

The revealing of the 40 days came by way of Messiah who was recorded as appearing 12 times to His disciples in His resurrected body.  John 21:14; Mark 16:14; 1Cor 15:7.

It came also by way of the testing of their faith in that, Who He was revealed in all His Glory. A risen, resurrected savior, their Messiah, Lord and King.

In scripture, specifically the Ten Commandments/sayings, there is very clear instruction that no Hebrew/Israelite or child of God is to worship and bow down to any idol, person or thing, other than our Heavenly Father.

Luke 24:52 And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, Acts 1:9;

Matt. 28:9 and as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.

And some of them were unsure because of this commandment  and so they hesitated..

Matt 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

And Emmaus Luke 24:52
And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:

So when the disciples knelt down and said what they did, it was a very serious decision and confession as they were declaring that they believed He was none other than YHVH /Yaweh/ God Almighty. This is a point to remember when thinking of Jewish people who do not accept Jesus/Yeshua as Messiah; they see Christianity and Christians as bowing down and worshipping Jesus as equal to worshipping a forbidden idol putting Him before God and therefore violating the first of the commandments.

Only when the Father opens their eyes, as He did for Saul/Paul, will they see Him whom they pierced. John 19:37

One day our ascension will occur and only the Father knows when that day will be.

Ps 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written. The days that were appointed for me, When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

Meanwhile we are to work out our salvation soberly and faithfully, looking unto Jesus/Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith and paying close attention to how we walk for the days are evil. Eph. 5:15 16.

Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honor, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people],

making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.

Violence is filling the earth once again, just as it was in Noahs’ day before the flood; and Lots’ day when the cities were destroyed by fire from heaven in the form of sulfurous meteorites.

and God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Gen. 6:13

Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. Gen. 19:24.

We are to walk humbly and circumspectly before the Lord working the works of Him Who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light of (40) revealed knowledge.

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 Amplified Bible
He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you Except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), And to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]

Having remembered His Ascension soon Shavuot/Pentecost will be here. A time to rejoice in the day in which prophecy was fulfilled; and Fathers’ Spirit of Holiness was released into the whole world, enabling Him to never leave nor forsake us and to empower those obedient disciples to fulfill His directive of Mark 16:15-18

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” And verse 19. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

There’s just a few days left of counting from the Omer. (Day 44 this shabbat). It is a good time for us to prepare and test our hearts, if we haven’t already, so that we can be effective vessels, ready to serve our King..

now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28

Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Mark 16:15

Keep looking up family, for our redemption draweth nigh!

שָׁלוֹם עֲלֵיכֶם‎,

Shalom aleikhem

chaverim and mishpachah!

Peace to friends and family.

Shavua Tov, Have a blessed week.

Make certain Messiah Jesus/Yeshua is your Redeemer, Savior, Lord and soon returning King and that you have a personal relationship with Him.

It’s all about Life and Relationship, NOT Religion.

You are very precious in His sight.

Not sure ..you can be…

SIMPLY SAY THE FOLLOWING MEANING IT FROM YOUR HEART..don’t delay one more minute,

SAY IT RIGHT NOW…

Heavenly Father I come to you in the Name of Jesus/Yeshua asking for forgiveness of my sins for which I am truly sorry. I repent of them all and turn away from my past.

I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus/Yeshua is your Son and that He died on the cross at calvary to pay the price for my sin, so that I might be forgiven and have eternal life in the kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe that Jesus/Yeshua rose from the dead and I ask you to come into my life right now and be my personal Savior and Lord and I will worship you all the days of my life. Because your word is truth I say that I am now forgiven and born again and by faith I am washed clean with the blood of Jesus/Yeshua. Thank you that you have accepted me into your family in Jesus’/Yeshua’s name.