The Lord was planning
to give Himself to death for the world. He intended to give us life,
not only to our body, but also to our dead spirit. These are the
spirits that died in sin and the filth of guilt (sins). Therefore, the
Lord has arranged to raise Lazarus from the dead as a guarantee for
everyone's resurrection. When the Lord raised Lazarus, He opened the
gate of hope, for those in the graves. The world is always in need of
witnesses to the resurrection, a proof concerning what's after death.
This is more effective than books, seminars or any teachings…
"And the
apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And
He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10).
The service has its numerous blessings in the life of the Apostles. In it, there is the power
of the word and its authority. Within it, they were assured of Satan's
weakness and the chattering of his imperial power. Through it, they
lived a life of surrender, relying on the arms of the Lord, without
moneybag or knapsack. Also, they felt the precious value of the soul
and its salvation… In general the blessings of the service are more
than words in the Apostles' lives. After the Apostles returned to the
Lord from their service trip, they needed to be in seclusion with the
Lord. And our blessed Jesus knows their needs, so He went into
seclusion with them. During their seclusion with the Lord, they
informed Him with all their deeds. The seclusion session with Jesus,
after the service, meant the following:
At this hour the disciples approached Jesus saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heave?" (Matt. 18:1). Then Jesus brought before Him a young boy and placed him in the center and said, "Assuredly,
I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children,
you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:3). He who is pure and innocent like this child is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others”. (Luke 10:1)
Before these appointments, the Lord was calling on a lot of different persons to spread His word. Through these calls He revealed the obstacles which would hinder them and hold the soul from being released into missionary.
1- One told Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." (Luke 9:57). The Lord told him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head."
(Luke 9:58). Those are the ones that want to follow Jesus to capitalize
either from a position, fame, monetary or temporary profits. Those fail
the call, they are not blessed and they have no share in the kingdom.
This is the dialog the
Lord had with His disciples during the Sunday directly preceding the
Ascension. This is how the church acknowledged - that the Lord has
completed everything on the cross. He paid off the debt; He buried
death with His death and revealed the resurrection from the dead with
His resurrection. He presented Himself, living and rising from the
dead. He gave us Himself as the living bread and living water for the
new life. So, what will His disciple need Him for? The Lord started
raising them to heaven itself. We can hear Him saying in today's Bible,
"In My Father's house are many mansions." (John 14:2).
Therefore, the meaning of the resurrection is to be in the presence of
the Father. It is the living in the upper mansions in the bosom of the
Father. Jesus wants to raise us, with all our bodies, up to sit at the
right hand of the Father. "And raised us together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:6).
