The Handbook for the End Times by Don Finto

Author:Don Finto
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Prophecy and End Times;REL012120;REL099000;REL079000
ISBN: 9781493414598
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-05-08T16:00:00+00:00

Heaven’s Exhibit A

We need only to consider Jesus, His death and resurrection. Three days after His death, His body was missing from the tomb, so Jesus’ resurrection body is, in some way, connected to the one He had used while on the earth. And yet this new body is different. In some cases, even His closest friends did not immediately recognize Him.

That happened on Resurrection morning when He began a conversation with Mary Magdalene. “She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus” (John 20:14)—not until He called her name.

Later that day the same thing happened to Cleopas and his friend as they were walking on the road to Emmaus. While discussing the events of the recent crucifixion and their dashed hopes that Jesus was the Messiah, they looked up to see Him, but He “appeared in a different form” (Mark 16:12). The three of them walked for some distance together, their conversation centering around the events of the past days, before they realized to whom they were speaking.

Jesus quoted passages from Moses and the prophets, explaining “to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Not until He went into the house with them, “took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them” (verse 30) were their eyes suddenly opened so that they recognized Him. But just as suddenly, “he disappeared from their sight” (verse 31).

Cleopas and his friend quickly made their way back to Jerusalem to tell the rest of the disciples what had happened. “While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you’” (verse 36).

This so frightened the disciples that they thought they were seeing a ghost (see verse 37). And even though Jesus showed them the scars in His hands and feet, they were still not convinced that this was a real live person in front of them. Not until He asked for something to eat, “they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence” (verse 42–43), were they sure this was really Jesus in a resurrected body who stood before them.

Jesus’ appearance in a room where “the doors [were] locked for fear” (John 20:19) seems to have been repeated several times. Over the next forty days, He appeared and disappeared at will, sometimes to only one or two people. On another occasion He revealed Himself to His disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee while they were fishing (see John 21). And at least once, He showed up before a crowd of as many as five hundred (see 1 Corinthians 15:6).

During these appearances, He continually “spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). He told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem until Holy Spirit power came upon them. They would then begin a proclamation that would ultimately reach “to the ends of the earth” (verse 8).

And then

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