Good Morning Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I’m sure we’ve all read John 20:17 where Jesus speaks to Mary Magdalene in the garden upon His resurrection. Mary was the woman Jesus cast seven demonic spirits out of, and she became a devoted follower witnessing both Jesus’ crucifixion and His resurrection.
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.
Mary is the only person who had an encounter with Jesus after His resurrection but prior to Jesus ascending to His Father. Other disciples and members of Jesus’ ministry came to His grave and met angels who delivered the wonderful news Jesus was risen and to tell all His disciples He would see them later that day in Galilee. Mary came also with some other women to His grave, as we’re told in Matthew, and she encountered the angels. We can tell from John’s account Mary tarried, after the other women left, weeping for her Lord. Mary believed His body had been moved or stolen. This is when Jesus has the tender encounter with her, just as He always has with us – every day. Why couldn’t Mary touch Jesus? He hadn’t yet presented Himself to God as The Living Sacrifice, The Lamb Without Spot or Blemish. Mary had corrupt flesh. Her dead flesh could not touch Jesus without corrupting The Living Sacrifice.
As students of Scripture, have you ever wondered what happened between Mary’s encounter with Jesus and the time Jesus appeared unto His disciples, later that same day, in Galilee? Jesus tells us in John 20:17 He is going to ascend to The Father. Notice also that Jesus, for the first time, states “…unto My Father and your Father; and to My God and your God.” No longer are we strangers, but we are now of The Family of God. Through Jesus Christ, God is now our Father and our God. Before, Jesus always referred to God as His Father, not our Father. Awesome!!
John 20:19
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
In John 20:19 we see Jesus later in the same day appearing to the disciples who were assembled together in a room hidden away from the Jewish leaders because of the fear of being captured and jailed or executed. So, what happened between Mary’s encounter with Jesus in the garden, where she could not touch Him, to the time Jesus appears to the disciples in Galilee where He is telling the disciples to touch Him?
John 20:27
Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.
The events between Jesus’ encounter with Mary and His encounter with the disciples is recorded in Daniel 7:9-14 and 7:21-22 and the Book of Hebrews. And it is AWESOME!! First, Jesus appears before The Ancient of Days as The Living Sacrifice Without Spot or Blemish. In the Book of Hebrews, it is recorded over two chapters Jesus took His blood and sanctified the Temple and the instruments of the Temple in Heaven. His blood has been left there as an everlasting, once and for all, offering for ALL sin, of all mankind, for all eternity. There is no more blood in Jesus just as we will not have blood in our redeemed bodies – only flesh and bone. Once this is done, a court proceeding was held in Heaven and presided over by The Ancient of Days.
In Daniel 7:9-12, one of the four beasts spoken of by the prophet Daniel is destroyed by the judgment of The Ancient of Days. This beast was death! Jesus’s resurrection from death and from hell took back dominion from death and destroyed it.
Revelation 1:18
I am He [Jesus] that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Dominion over hell and death now belongs to Jesus Christ because of His finished work and the judgment of The Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9-12. AND, the other three remaining beasts (we’ll talk about them at another time) had their dominions taken away and given to Jesus Christ.
Daniel 7:12
As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
Now we see in Daniel 7:13-14 Jesus come before His Father, The Ancient of Days, and bring the Cloud of Witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), which is all the Old Testament Saints who were residing, after their earthly death, in Abraham’s Bosom, also known as Paradise or the Upper Region of Sheol. Jesus, in Luke 16:19-31, gives us an understanding of the two regions in the earth, hell and Abraham’s Bosom. Why did the Old Testament Saints have to reside in Abraham’s Bosom within the earth? While they were concluded righteous by God because of their faith, in other words they were saved, they were not yet born again. To be born again, one must metaphorically die, be buried, and rise again with Jesus Christ through belief and confession. This is what salvation is for the New Covenant Believer. When Jesus resurrected in the pit of hell, His first stop was Abraham’s Bosom to introduce Himself to the Old Covenant Believers who then believed in their heart and confessed with their mouth (Romans 10:9-10) Jesus Christ is The Messiah, The Risen Son of God, The Lord, and The King. Now, they were born again and could be offered by Jesus, to God, as cleansed or redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Daniel 7:13
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to The Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.
Daniel 7:13 shows Jesus Christ, the Son of man, appearing before the Court of The Ancient of Days presenting the Old Testament Saints. What a scene this must have been!! Praise God!
Daniel 7:14
And there was given Him [Jesus] dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
There in the Court of The Ancient of Days, on the very day Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, and later to the disciples in Galilee, The Ancient of Days gives to the Risen Lamb of God and Lion of Judah all dominion, glory, and The Kingdom of God. But we’re not done yet. In the Court, The Ancient of Days gives the saints of God victory over satan.
Daniel 7:21-22
21 I [Daniel] beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22 Until The Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of The Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
satan loses his dominion over the saints, and the saints, through Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We, now, have authority and power over satan through faith in the decreed Word of God. While satan is known as the god of the air and god of this world, this only applies to the unsaved or to the foolish Believer who allows themselves to be placed under satan’s power and manipulation.
Jesus speaks of satan’s judgment in John 16:8 and 11. This is the same judgement spoken of in Daniel 7:21-22.
John 16:8
And when He [Holy Spirit] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
“Reprove” means “to convince, to convict, or to prove or teach.” In this case, it is to teach us satan no longer has ANY dominion or power over us involuntarily. He can only have dominion and power if we voluntarily place ourselves in this position through ignorance or rebellion against God’s Word.
John 16:11
Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Judgment was given to US, the saints of The Most High, the earth was returned to US, and all dominion in, on, and over the earth is given unto US by The Ancient of Days.
This is a glorious Word. satan is a loser at whom we should laugh and ridicule. He is a big, fat nothing. satan has no authority, no power, and no dominion. He can only try to intimidate, deceive, condemn, and tempt. We have been warned by The Word of God satan will come against our minds to try and convince us a physical fact is a Spiritual Truth. But, as we can plainly see, he is an eternal loser condemned to eternal hell fire, torment, punishment, pain, and misery unlike ever known. Jesus urges us in His walk, and now through The Holy Spirit, to submit ourselves to God, to resist satan with Jesus’ faith and strength, and satan will flee (James 4:7) from us.
I pray you all have a wonderful rest of the day and week in The Lord Jesus Christ. We can always triumph in Christ (II Corinthians 2:14) and always come out on the winning end of any situation (Romans 8:28), even if the situation is meant to harm us – IF – we make Jesus the King of our hearts, abide in His Word, and seek His Kingdom and righteousness diligently.
In Christ,
Larry