The abandonment of the Son by the Father is made palpable not in the crucifixion of His body, since He willingly laid down His life, but in the darkness which covered the Land for three hours. But perhaps this darkness was a sign of the Father’s nearness rather than His distance.

Matthew, Mark and Luke document the darkness which covered the Land during the last three hours of Jesus’ life, and so do three extra biblical historians, Thallus, Phlegon and Africanus. But what was its purpose? It is wise to look for typological precedents for events in the Gospels, since Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Concerning darkness we have the primeval world before the creation of light (Genesis 1:2), and the darkness which covered Egypt as the ninth plague (Exodus 10:21-23).

The details of this plague are interesting, since this was “a darkness to be felt” and “nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.” Only the land of Goshen where the Israelites dwelt was given light. Thus, the three hours of darkness at noonday were a sign of the coming three days in which Christ would be covered by the darkness of the tomb. But there is another instance of darkness and light as a judgment in Exodus, and that occurred at the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 13:19-20). The pillar of cloud gave light to the Israelites but the Egyptians were left in the dark. Thus the two were kept separate throughout the night.

My assertion here is that the darkness in each case was a visit from the glory cloud, the “mobile tabernacle” which served as God’s chariot until the Day of Pentecost. It was presumably this cloud which is described in Genesis 3:8, which would be better translated as “And they heard the sound/voice of the Lord God coming to the garden in the breath/spirit of the day and they hid themselves…” It is likely that this visitation was similar to the cloud which descended upon Sinai and upon the mount of transfiguration. It is also likely the same cloud which, when opened, provided a glimpse into heaven at the baptism of Jesus (with its allusion to Genesis 1, the Spirit hovering over the deep), at His ascension, and again at the martyrdom of Stephen. The Lord always comes “with” or “in” clouds, and when He does, He comes to judge.

Of course, judgment does not necessarily mean punishment. The Lord came down to judge Babel, Egypt and Sodom, and it each case the result was cursing. In the case of Ezekiel, it seems the prophet was actually taken up in or by the chariot in Spirit that he might witness the sins of Jerusalem, God and a “son of man” serving as two legal witnesses, explaining the phrase “Come, let us go down…” in Genesis 11:7, when God brought confusion. The pillar of cloud also brought confusion upon Pharaoh’s armies, and it was likely present when the armies of Midian were confused under the watch of Gideon. But when the cloud came upon the Tabernacle and Temple, upon the Son, and upon His saints on the Day of Pentecost, as a mighty, rushing wind, the Lord was happy to bless. The arrival of the chariot of God, unlike the chariot of Pharaoh, is a chariot which brings not only vengeance but also redemption. It is the chariot of the almighty ga’al, the one who bears a two-edged sword to slay the wicked and cut the bonds of the righteous.

So, is it beyond possibility that the chariot of God was the cause of the three hours of darkness, recorded across the oikoumene, while Christ was on the cross? After all, the final chapters of Ezekiel present this Jew-Gentile social construct as a temple, with the Land of Israel as its holy altar. The Lord was coming to His temple to inspect it for “leprosy.” According to the Law, the leprosy had to be cut out, but if it returned, the house would be destroyed. Jesus was crucified “outside the camp,” like a leper (see Leviticus 14, and The Leprous House). He was the one being “cut out” that the house might be spared. But as Jesus predicted, the cleaned house would be filled with even worse demons (see Seven Spirits More Wicked), and its response to being cleansed would be a return to corruption in an even greater way. The Veil of the Temple was torn, but when the Lord later returned “in the clouds” the Temple was torn down. Not one stone was left upon another.

And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place (Leviticus 14:45)

This means that the entire Land was under judgment, and Jesus was at the center of the court. He had been condemned by the High Priesthood (Garden), by Herod (Land) and by Pilate (World), the entirety of the oikoumene “Tabernacle.” Now He was being judged by heaven, and for the will of heaven be done on earth required the “bowing of the heavens,” that is, a visit from the heavenly court via the glory cloud, a symbolic reunion of the waters above and below in a prefiguring of final judgment (see “Bowing the Heavens” in my book Inquiétude for more discussion.) God was visiting the Garden, and Adam was exposed in His court. The events that transpired recapitulate those of Psalm 18 – including the earthquake –with one major difference: the Father did not hear, and did not deliver, the Man who cried out to Him.

The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
thick clouds dark with water.

What does this mean for the significance of the three hours of darkness? That the Christ who “became sin for us” was trodden underfoot like an enemy, or a serpent, the blood upon the kapporet, the footstool of God (see Peter Leithart, The Footstool of His Feet.) To conquer sin, He became sin. To make His enemies His footstool (Psalm 110:1; Luke 20:43; Hebrews 10:13), He would first be trampled underfoot, and it would please the Lord to bruise Him (Isaiah 53:10). The holy presence which overshadowed Mary at Jesus’ conception (Luke 1:35) now overshadowed the entire nation at His death.

This abandonment of the Son by the Father was not “spatial” but legal. The Father presided over the Son in the seat of Moses, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. This courtroom “betrayal,” a perjury in the sense that He changed His previous testimonies concerning the blamelessness and authority of the Son, was as close-to-home as the kiss of Judas. In this final act, the Father crossed the floor and stood with Judas, with Ananias, with those who beat, spat upon and ridiculed Jesus, with Pilate, with the crowd, and with the thief who cursed Him on the cross.

The word “sacrifice” connotes the idea of “near bringing” (see James B. Jordan, Leviticus 1:2). It was this reversal of judgment, through substitutionary atonement, that the angels “standing at the four corners of the Land,” those who stood prepared to vindicate the Son by immediately destroying the city and the Land (as predicted in Daniel 9:25-26), were told: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” (Revelation 7:1-3).

At the Day of Pentecost, the brightness of the cloud was visited upon those who believed, and the darkness of strong delusion upon those who refused to believe. In the Gospel, this dividing “sword” was extended right across the empire. This “visitation” by the Spirit, whose indwelling turned every believer into a chariot (epitomised and signified in the miraculous travel of Philip in Acts 8:38-39), explains the inspiration and perseverance of the Jew-Gentile saints and the strong delusion which confused and confounded their Jew-Gentile enemies, who turned on each other, eventuating in their destruction at the coming of Christ with all His martyred sons, including Abel (Matthew 23:35), on white horses as a cloud of “witnesses” (martyrs) against the first century “Babylon.” These saints were God’s chariot.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Half blind, near death, He dragged the wooden beam up the loathsome hill. Through blood-filled eyes He caught His first glimpse of Golgotha, and heard the sound of hammers laying finish to the instrument of execution.

They turned the Carpenter around so that He might see what it was that lay upon the ground before Him.

The cross!

He had not seen it since that day … the day before the birth of eternity.

He raised His bruised head and groped—with eyes nearly blind—to see if all else was in its place. Yes, there the nails, the mallet, the derisive sign, the gall. All were present, having been inseparably linked to Him for unnumbered ages.

Again He cast His eyes down at the cross lying before Him. None on earth nor in the skies could e’er have guessed that beam of wood constituted the single most destructive force in all universal creation. Powerful enough to destroy everything ever created.

But something was missing!

Slowly He looked about, surveying the whole macabre panorama. There it was! In the hands of a Roman soldier. The spear!

Something within Him, a sense of completion, filled His being. A soft smile struggled to the surface of His swollen face.

“On with it. Crucify Him!” someone in the crowd screamed.

“Oh, you have no idea what will be crucified this day,” He whispered. Then, turning His eyes heavenward, He whispered again, as if to universes unseen, “All things are ready.”

And with that simple word the whole habitation of heavenly places emptied, as the angelic host hurled itself into time, there to fill every roof, hill and mountain around about Jerusalem. Ten thousand times ten thousand swords were drawn by outraged and weeping angels. Every sinew in them strained, waiting for a command—any command—that wold allow them to unleash vengeance upon that hill.

Pitilessly the soldiers began to shove Him down upon the beam of wood, only to discover His utter willingness to lie down upon this cross and stretch out His hands and feet. Nor did it escape their eyes that their captive opened His palms to waiting nails.

One of the soldiers, hesitating for only a moment as he contemplated this strange Man before him, reached for one of the long, cold spikes, and the heavy iron mallet. He pressed the nail hard against the wrist and raised his hammer high into the air.

The Carpenter raised His other hand slightly, and time stood still!

Within the very core of the spirits of every angel, bursting like fire, came the unspoken, and quite unbelievable, command of their Lord. For a single instant they hesitated.

“Now!” commanded the Carpenter.

*  *  *  *  *

He had given them not only a command but an ability to do something which, until now, only He had ever done. To accomplish His will He had now allowed His messengers to become masters of time and space. They would know what only I AM had ever known before: for the next few moments they would be able to move to any point in time, space… or eternity. They could roam the corridors of time, breaking into any place in history at will. They would trace across all points of time—and to many places in eternity—moving, if necessary, in both directions of eternity, even to the age before the ages and, if need be, to the final end of all ages.

Hurtling faster than even they could conceive, each went to His appointed place, to perform His Master’s will.

*  *  *  *  *

It was the angel who bore the simple name Messenger who plunged backward through all time, then back through all eternity past—even to that age before all things, save God! Arriving there, he found a lamb—slain—upon a wooden cross. Lifting high this, until now, unknown trophy of endless love, he bore it forward through eternity into time, and finally to Golgotha, there to make that cross—and lamb—one with the cursed tree and the Carpenter who lay outstretched upon it.

Another angel went to that long forgotten place where Eve and Seth had once laid the body of ancient Adam. In the gifts and powers of the spirituals, the angel clutched into his arms the first-born of our race, and bore him forward through time, coming at last to Calvary. You see, within the very bosom of Adam lay all the descendants of the human race, for they were—after all—in Him. Further, in the bosom of that first man lay not only all the species of mankind but even the Adamic fall, the curse, and the self nature which had invaded, plundered and twisted man’s soul.

Adam, and all mankind in him, was carried in angelic hands to the place of the Carpenter’s execution.

One of the archangels rose from off earth’s plane, stood above this planet, and called to time past and time future, commanding all governments, rules, dominions, and principalities from all earth’s ages to come forth. Capturing them in his mighty arms, he swept back into time’s sphere and made flight towards Jerusalem. Standing before the cross, he waited.

But one of the angels did not stir from his place. Golgotha itself was his appointment. On one side of the cross stood a crowd of Hebrews. On the other side, a garrison of Gentile soldiers. Between them, seen only by eyes that belonged to the unseen, was a wall. An insurmountable wall! Wrestling the wall into his powerful arms, the angel lifted that barrier up, paused before the cross, and waited.

Waited for the tick of time to sound once more.

*  *  *  *  *

Arm and hammer began their furious journey downward toward the nail, but not before the returning angels plunged their booty into the bosom of the young Carpenter.

The hammer smashed against the nail, and there were crucified in that instant

The first man, Adam
…..Adam’s race
……….The fallen self
……………All governments
………………..principalities
…………………….powers
…………………………rule … and
……………………………..dominions

Yea! Crucified upon the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

*  *  *  *  *

Once more a nail was pressed deep into the other wrist. Once more the soldier drew his arm in a mighty upward swing, and once more the Lord froze time in its journey.

At that very instant one of the angels arrived at the base of Mt. Sinai and began to furiously hurl stones in all directions. He paused. There they lay, the smashed, long forgotten, tablets of the commandments and the law of Moses. Quickly the angel clutched them to his bosom, turned and darted again for Jerusalem’s holy temple.

Arriving at the temple courtyard, he went straight into the Holy of Holies. Terrified, yet obedient, he lifted the mercy seat, reached inside the box of hammered gold, and brought forth the sacred copy of the law. He then gathered from within the temple every rule, every regulation, every ordinance that ever had been penned, proclaimed, or dreamed of.

He was about to depart when he heard again the Lord’s voice within him. Turning, he called forth all ritual of worship. Once more he would have departed, but turned again at the prodding of his glowing spirit. He now called forth all observance of all holy days. Finally he called forth even the Sabbath.

At last he left the temple, only to be stopped again. He breathed hard, turned and called forth even the temple!

Now he rose high above the earth, and in a voice that reached all ends of all times, he commanded every rule, regulation, ritual, decree and ordinance that had ever been observed by any religion ever practiced upon the face of the earth … to come forth!

Once more the burdened angel plunged downward through the skies, into time. He arrived just in time to lay his profound burden into the bosom of his Lord. He stepped back.

The hammer smashed against the nail, and with it,

All law
…..all rules
……….all ordinances
……………all holy days
………………..and
…………………….all ritual

were crucified upon the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord!

*  *  *  *  *

The soldiers bound the Lord’s legs, pressed them hard against the wood, and nailed His feet to the cross. Ruthlessly they kicked the stake into a waiting hole. There was an awful thud and a pathetic groan.

Overhead the heavens were growing dark with some sick and mysterious cloud. Every moment the sky grew darker and more foreboding. Citizens of earth clutched their garments about them and shook inside at the sight of the foulness gathering in the sky above them.

What they saw were but small drops of vast, unholy things seeping through from unseen realms. For the angels were now on the darkest and most dreadful of their journeys. Across time and space they had flown, into every year, hour and minute of human history. Into every village, town and city. Across plain and desert, down even into the seas, they had plunged. Rising, they brought back their dreadful cargo to Jerusalem, careful to stay in the invisibles, that they not destroy the earth with the very stench of their black wares. Darker and thicker grew the massive thing, as numberless angels endured their burden until the appointed moment.

The Lord of earth grew faint upon His cross. His time was at an end.

With groans and wails and agonising cries, the angels lifted their foul booty and stepped into time, carrying with them every sin of every man and woman who had ever lived!

Bringing together into one place this vile, pulsating, living thing, they cast it all into the Lamb of God—who now became sin incarnate. All sin was now accumulated in one place—in Him. Divinity now experienced that one thing which it had never known. In the flood of that indescribably hideous invasion, the Lord of glory, forsaken by all Holiness, cried out in delirium,

My God, My God
Why hast Thou forsaken Me?

One of the archangels, blinded with rage and consumed with revenge, cried out savagely to his peers,

Now, Now
…..to the ends of eternity,
Vengeance, Vengeance!
Now, now!
…..to the ends of wrath,
Vengeance, vengeance!

Once more, to allow for the greatest of all retributions, time stood still.

*  *  *  *  *

Streaking across time, they flew forward, and having come to time’s end they pressed hard into eternity future. With swords raised and with eyes spewing fire, they broke into the last instant of the history of the kingdom of darkness, crying

Vengeance
…..Vengeance
You—unholy equals—
…..meet your appointed hour.

Without pity, without care, they whirled about the dark citizens of demondom, encircling them in fiery, blinding light… and drove them, screaming, back across eternity, back through the portal separating the invisible from the visibles, back into time—back toward Golgotha.

On they mercilessly drove their gnashing, screaming, unholy prey, back toward the cross.

Time moved, but only for a second, allowing two archangels—with flashing, swirling swords—to hurl these dark fiends into the bosom of the only begotten Son of God.

Now went up a defiant cry from the angelic host as has never before—nor ever since—been heard. The whole host of angels and archangels swarmed again, this time across eternity future, to finish a battle begun long ago in eternity past.

“This time, Victory!” they screamed, half mad with rage.

*  *  *  *  *

Inflamed with revenge, they flooded into the final moment of the last age of the ages. For one instant they paused, elect angels coming in the full brightness of their power and glory. “Now!” screamed Michael as the holy angels of God charged forth against the legions of the angels of damnation, driving them back toward the inevitable cross. And with them, in full retreat before two archangels gone quite mad, was the infernal leader—the angel of light—at last receiving his sure damnation.

Back through time they were hurled. In chaos and disarray they were driven up Calvary’s hill and, by some unutterable means, were drawn inexorably into the very bosom of their enemy.

And so was crucified

the prince of darkness
…..and the
kingdom of darkness
…..upon the cross
of Jesus Christ, your Lord!

*  *  *  *  *

While time continued its rest, yet other elements of creation gave way to the all-destructive cross. While angels watched in amazement, the entire world system began to pour into the bosom of the Crucified One. The whole earth, joined by the visible creation itself, began to melt away and vanish into the young man upon the the cross. Time, eternity and heavenly places soon joined them.

The eyes of of angels, viewing events from outside of time, watched as all things disappeared.

Before them now stood only a cross, hanging in a great void. Truly, He had kept His word. He had put away all enemies.

The cross of Christ had swallowed up and put to death… all things.

Hallelujah!

*  *  *  *  *

A cold chill swept over the angels. They had momentarily forgotten the one last and greatest enemy: That one with whom even they could do no battle.

Death now appeared before the cross and gurgled in an obscene roar.

We meet again,
And this
For the last time!

Death stretched out his cloak and began relentlessly moving toward this, his greatest and final victim. The young Carpenter raised His wounded head, smiled, and said,

Yes, Death
For the last time.

With that the young Carpenter moved once more His blood-soaked, iron-pierced hand. Time began again. Golgotha reappeared. Earthly things once more came into view. The Lord Jesus was now breathing His last breath. The Angel of Death moved inexorably on. He covered the young Carpenter with his seraphic wings and began squeezing the last of life from his prey.

And Mary’s Son cried out with His last breath,

Father,
…..into
……….Your hands
……………I commit
………………..My Spirit.

With that, the Carpenter died, carrying with Him all enemies, save Death!
Death now threw up his defiant fist in final victory and shouted,

I have ended
…..even Life!
I am victor
…..and
Conqueror
…..of
All things.

Death turned to go, darkness radiating from his face in black, triumphant glow.

Out from somewhere, in a mystery beyond all knowledge, some immeasurable power laid hold of Death. The black angel turned and screamed. Marshalling all his strength he brought forth a force to bear upon this unseen power that caused the archangels to drop to their knees in fear.

Angels, who had never dreamed that even one power so great existed, watched two such powers in mortal combat.

For a moment it seems these powers were equal and that Death might wrest himself free. But slowly, relentlessly, the Angel of Death was drawn toward the still, dead figure hanging upon that wondrous tree. At last, his strength drained from him, the Angel of Death screamed in horror, and disappeared into the bosom of the Nazarene.

And Death himself did die!

And so were crucified all things. And such was the death of the Son of God.

 

 

 

 

Oh, yes,
There was one other thing.
Placed upon the cross
…..that day—
You were crucified with Christ.

And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11:17)

The same word is used of the men crucified alongside Jesus in Mark 15:27.

And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.

Is this merely coincidental, or is there something deeper going on? Is there a link between the “white collar” Temple crimes and the “blue collar” criminals?

The word itself derives from booty or plunder, so the connotation is theft from the vulnerable.

The link between the Temple and the thieves at the crucifixion is implicit (not explicit in the text as such) but obvious once we take sacred architecture into account, which is a foreign idea to moderns, but nonetheless a consistent type as far as the Bible is concerned.

The original theft occurred in the Garden of Eden, in the first Sanctuary. It was theft from God, with consequences outside the Garden, that is, in the Land then in the World. The Temple itself replicated these three domains: the Most Holy (Garden), the Holy Place (the Land/Israel) and the Gentile Courts (the Nations/World).

Because the Herodian High Priesthood had usurped the authority of God’s commandments, the outflow corrupted the sacrifices and then Israel’s Covenant witness to the nations. The imaging of Yahweh to the nations by His people (as a kind of corporate “Adam”) was inaccurate, corrupt.

We can see this reflected in the structure of the Ten Commandments, which echo the events of Genesis 1-3. Adam stole from God, and God asked Adam for a legal confession of what he had done, that He might show mercy. Theft and legal witness are consecutive commands, followed by commands concerning “house and contents,” or Israel as a shelter, a “Booth” for the Gentiles. (Remember also the true testimony of Jesus and the false witnesses brought against Him by the priesthood.)

The same architecture is inherent in the crucifixion, where the two robbers are “blessing and cursing,” two Covenant witnesses. Christ is the High Priest and these two men take the roles of  Cain and Abel, sons of thieves (and also of the two goats on the Day of Atonement [1]). The one who humbles himself “unto death” in a priestly fashion is the one who will be exalted in the kingdom. The other, who exalts himself as a usurping “king” against the Son of God is the one who will be humbled and receive nothing. So once again we have theft and legal witness tied together.

Finally, “plunder” is a Covenant concept which is also both positive and negative. Obedience to God’s Laws brings a “multiplication” of the heart of those under Covenant. Obedience brings plunder from God’s hand. Disobedience brings plagues from God’s hand. Plunder and plagues were tied together as “swarms” in Egypt (with Israel herself as a kind of “swarm” which plundered the Egyptians). We see it again in the “multiplication” of the victory of the Ark of the Covenant in Philistia, where the gold they sent with the Ark (as plunder) was actually fashioned in the shape of plagues, (bubonic?) tumors and rats.

The theme of vulnerability in all cases is “bridal,” that is, those who are under the priestly representation (of Adam, or Israel), whose offspring, as the future, are at stake in Adam’s mediation on her behalf before God. In Eden, this was Eve, the great “multiplier,” the mother of all. In Israel, it was the tribes under the mediation of a faithful High Priest. In the world, it was all nations under the ministry and witness of Israel as a corporate Adam, “cut” and bloodied to bring the kings of the nations — and their riches — in willing submission to God.

The flipside of “Adamic” theft is “Christian” generosity. What goes on in the World and the Land (from petty crime right up to theft by the state) is a result of what goes on in the Sanctuary. Cultus inevitably informs culture.

Let the thief no longer steal, (Garden) but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, (Land) so that he may have something to share with anyone in need (World). (Ephesians 4:28)

___________________________________________
[1] See Remember Me.
ART: Bible images created using Google Earth.

W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

A guest post by Luke Welch.

I’ve been reading The Hobbit again, out loud, to our children, and this time through, one phrase in the first chapter caught my attention.

When Bilbo first encounters Gandalf as an adult, he exhales a list of memories of the greatness and fearful unpredictability of the old wizard:

Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows’ sons?  (The Hobbit, Chapter 1).

In the Bible, there are two widows who received their sons from the dead: the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17), and the widow of Nain (Luke 7). In both cases, a visit by a prophet results in the resurrection of the widow’s only son. In both cases, the miracle vindicates the prophet, resulting in a confession, a testimony, that the prophet is God’s man indeed.

A prophet
…..visits
……….the “displaced” widow
……….whose son dies or is dead;
……………The prophet performs a miracle
……….and raises the son to life;
……….which brings a testimony
…..of the vindication
of the prophet. [1]

The importance of the vindication of the prophet is often overlooked. Here are the announcements from both stories:

And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” (1 Kings 17:24)

And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” (Luke 7:15-16)

Resurrection is extraordinary, and therefore entirely unexpected. It is incredible except for those who have witnessed it first-hand. And when it does occur, it reveals that the prophet is under the power of the Spirit of God and confirms his God-given authority to speak for God to the people of God.

Of course, there is another historical resurrection which follows the same pattern.

Jesus was the “only Son” of a widow, Mary. It is likely that Joseph died before Jesus’ baptism. From the beginning of His ministry, at His first miracle (turning water into wine in John 4), Mary treats Jesus as the “man of the house.” While on the cross, Jesus delegates His Covenant responsibility to shelter Mary. He passes it to the next believing man of the family, His younger cousin John, son of Zebedee (John 19.26-27).

Then, her son, her only son, is killed by God (cf. 1 Kings 17:20, Isaiah 53:10).

And so Jesus is resurrected, and Mary receives back her dead.

That leaves us with a question. What does this say about the prophet? Elijah was known to be the Spirit’s mouth because of the resurrection he received through prayer. Jesus was known to be the Great Prophet rising up among the people, because he gave resurrection. But who resurrected Jesus?

It was the Holy Spirit himself (Romans 1:4). Of course, we hear from Paul later on that the resurrection of Jesus was a Trinitarian act (cf. Romans 8:11ff). But even there, the Power of the Holy Spirit is what is emphasized in this life-giving to dead sons.

So, in Mary’s receiving back her dead, we are justified in looking for a testimony, a vindication, of that Prophet. The next great prophetic voice was that of the Spirit in the testimony of Jesus. He was in the apostles, as eyewitnesses to the resurrection. They vindicated Jesus, and history continues to vindicate them. The Spirit is the jar of holy oil that never runs out.

_______________________________
[1] Mike Bull: I’ve expanded a little on Luke’s original outline here, to bring out the echo of the Ten Commandments: Word from God, alienation from the Land, mother and father, knife and fire, theft/gift and true witness, and finally, shelter and sheltered. Concerning the alienation from the Land, “The location of the miracle in Nain is also possibly an allusion to the raising of the Shunamite woman’s son by Elisha because Nain is only a couple of miles north of Shunem (cf. 2Ki 4:). So the event and location are both allusions to Elijah and Elisha.” [bible.org] The prophets ministered to those outside of Israel to provoke Israel to jealousy.

“Cursed is the ground for your sake…
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” (Genesis 3:17-18)

“And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head.” (John 19:2)

Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.’” (Genesis 3:22)

“Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the Man!’” (John 19:5)

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” (Revelation 1:18)

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring usu to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit…” (1 Peter 3:18)

My friend Pastor Albert Garlando has internalized the matrix. He spotted one without even looking for it.

“Found a dominion/chiasm pattern all by myself… Best part was, wasn’t actually looking for one until I started to think about my [sermon] outline.”

I’ve modified the central points slightly, but here’s the one he found in Galatians 5:16-26:

A. Creation – v.16
(command to be Light)

…..B. Division – v.17
…..(firstborn, flesh vs. Spirit)

……….C. Ascension – v.18
……….(the Spirit replaces the Law of Moses)

……………D. Testing – vv. 19-21
……………(harlotry in wilderness: works of the flesh)

……….C’. Maturity – vv.22-23
……….(fruits of the Spirit – the Law of Christ)

…..B’. Conquest – v.24
…..(the flesh crucified – Atonement)

A’. Glorification – v.25
(Shekinah-people)

Albert observes:

“I got all school-kid excited like you know, huh, when you lay it out like this you can see how the crucifixion/atonement is the solution to the war between Spirit and the flesh. Plus the pivot point being a Covenant issue of whether you are in or out of the kingdom determines whether you go on to maturity/fruitful-faithfulness etc. It’s a great tool!”

“Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…” Hebrews 8:1

Conservative Christian people know and understand that we deserve to be brought low. We know and understand the Law of God. We know our own sinfulness. We are very aware of how we fall short in many ways. We know that the holiness of God casts us down. This is all good, as far as it goes. This is healthy, as far as it goes. This is much needed in our day, as far as it goes. But we need to follow God’s purposes all the way out.

We need to understand what God is up to. We need to understand the narrative arc. We need to understand the story, and the story is: death and resurrection; humiliation and exaltation: ascension to the right hand of God the Father.

God humbles us, which we deserve. But He also exalts us, which we do not deserve at all. And this is often the point where we stumble. This is the point where we don’t go along with God’s purposes. This is the point where we often rebel against the Good News, where we kick against the Gospel.

In his great hymn to the obedience of Christ, the apostle Paul urges us to have the same mind in us that Christ had in Him. When this is presented to Christians, many think, “Jesus humbled Himself, so we need to humble ourselves. Jesus was brought low; we must be willing to be brought low.” This is true, but Jesus, as it says in Hebrews, did all this for the joy that was set before Him, for the exaltation that was coming. But we don’t want to have that mind in us, and that’s the problem.

If you don’t understand the process of death, resurrection, ascension and enthronement, you don’t understand the Gospel. When Paul says the mind of Christ should be in us, he is talking about the whole thing. We can’t just take a snapshot of Christ doing one thing and make it a screensaver. You must have the mind of Christ in the whole story.

We do not just follow Christ to Jerusalem to die with Him, as Thomas was willing to do. But Thomas did not yet have the mind to follow Jesus to life. Death is the doorway to life. Thomas did not understand what Jesus was talking about, and many Christians do not understand what Jesus was talking about. We are predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son. God is up to something, and He is taking us all the way through.

Christians tend to say, okay, I admit that I’m a sinner, God has forgiven my sins, I’m cleaned up and now I’m back to square one. We are like the prodigal who wants to be forgiven and restored, but only to the level of a servant in the house. The prodigal son was not expecting the fatted calf to be killed. He was not expecting a party to be thrown. He was not expecting his father to hire a small jazz band… and neither was his older brother. He wasn’t expecting to be exalted. He was expecting to be restored at the bare minimum.

This is where our faith staggers. We expect to be forgiven. That’s God’s job. But even though we read and sing about it, and Christians have done so for two thousand years, we still don’t expect the robe, and the ring still surprises us.

Adapted from Doug Wilson, Christkirk sermon podcast May 18, 2010.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:4-9)

In Jesus’ seven words, He fulfills not only Israel’s feasts and the Tabernacle, but makes all Creation new.

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When Jesus asks His disciples to perform the Lord’s supper as a memorial to Him, it is not for our memory but God’s. He sees the bread and wine, remembers the blood of His son, and we are spared, covered.

One of the thieves crucified with Jesus also requested that he be remembered. Jesus is the High Priest, the blood of the bull on the Day of Atonement, divided under the Ark-scroll above His head. [1] In one sense, these thieves are the goats on the Day of Atonement. One went to heaven and one went to hell. But this request perhaps suggests more.

Although Jesus is the Man-Face, the Table of Showbread in the north facing south, here He is the High Priest, coming from the centre in a cloud of incense. The unrepentant thief is in the place of Satan, the accuser who remained in the heavenly court by virtue of Adam’s failure to be bread and wine at the first temptation. He is the false Lampstand, false light, Law misused.

Adam seized kingdom. The words of the repentant thief include both the memorial and the kingdom. The motion is from Table to Lampstand, from Servanthood to Dominion.

That’s the placement of the participants. The structure of the passage is also interesting. In fact, it gives me the shivers:

……..Sabbath (Divine Word): Then one of the criminals who
……..were hanged blasphemed Him, saying,

…………….Passover (Delegated Human Authority):
…………….“If You are the Christ [chosen], save Yourself and us.”

……………………Firstfruits (Law given):
……………………But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying,

…………………………..Pentecost (Law opened): “Do you not even fear God,
…………………………..seeing you are under the same condemnation?

……………………Trumpets (Law received) “And we indeed justly,
……………………for we receive the due reward of our deeds;

…………….Atonement (Mediator – Day 6):
…………….but this Man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said to Jesus,
…………….“Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”

……..Booths (Ingathering):
……..And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you,
……..today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

At Atonement, the High Priest made two approaches, one for the priesthood and one for the nation. We see that reflected here: the Man and the Kingdom, head and body.

This pattern takes on further significance when aligned with the Tabernacle furniture, the Creation week and the journey from Egypt to Canaan. The use of the word “today” corresponds with the Day of the Lord. Jesus, as Shekinah, gives him rest. “With me” is at the consummation of the Covenant marriage between heaven and earth.

Another factor is that, based upon the Tabernacle structure, the thief on the cross was indeed—although symbolically—baptized. The structure of the New Testament consistently corresponds baptism with both the Laver and the Day of Atonement. The Veil and Laver are the waters “separated” on Day 2 to make a Holy Place for God’s government, the sun, moon and stars.

Jesus was the High Priest between two goats. One “ascended” with Him through the veil as fragrant smoke; the other was sent, like Judas, to destruction. So in effect, yes, he was baptized. He was standing with Jesus in the event the Tabernacle and both Temples strained to explain to us over the centuries. (And we still don’t want to understand the deep glories of it.)

Oh, and we have his baptism speech.

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[1] See In The Air.