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In the Present & Presence #1

4/25/2015

Hi all,
Earlier this year the Lord visited me, told me something, and suggested I study it out for more revelation. It was His gentle way of redirecting me, a bit short of a reprimand, but clear enough to redirect my focus.

What He said

"I AM. Therefore I am always present. So, to be in my presence you must be in the present." When I asked for more He simply said: "Think about it, study it out, and you'll receive more revelation."

So much of modern church culture is fixated on the future - from prophecy to blood moons to cycles of debt and release, to trying to figure out who the anti-Christ is - we'll gladly spend time and money searching these things out while ignoring the present - Family life, finances, thoughts, emotions and habits in order and more Christ-like. It is SO much more fun to speculate about future events than to deal with the here and now.

And part of the body of Christ is fixated on the past. Looking over their shoulders at events that happened when they were x years old, or what demons have followed the family line to make their lives miserable, or just needing that 1 touch from the Lord for their 'inner healing'. Should we live in the past, present, or future?

The culture of ancient Egypt was like our culture in many ways

Ancient Egypt was obsessed with both the past and the future. From their tombs we see a painted history of that person's life on the walls while also burying them with items needed in the afterlife. Moses and the future nation of Israel was surrounded by a culture that worshipped the past while making sacrifices to appease the gods for blessing on future crops, livestock, business transactions, and life after death.

And around the region at that time various gods and goddesses kept other nations focused on both the past and future as well in a never ending cycle of honoring or worshipping the dead while making sacrifices to the gods and goddesses for a favorable future. No culture was focused on living in the here and now.

This cycle of the gods kept people from being accountable for their lives as they could always blame their behavior or emotional trauma on spirits from dead relatives or their failure in life on the gods not blessing them.

They could excuse why they had done something wrong on the gods - I can't pay my taxes because the gods sent a fire that burned part of my crop, rather than admitting they were asleep at home that night rather than on their watch, so they slept through the fire that was ravaging the fields.

Today a Christian might say they can't enter into healing or their call and destiny in Christ because x spirit from grandpa or grandma went to dad and mom and then to them and has hindered them their whole life. They might also be in constant fear about the future because they feed on web sites with spirits of fear attached or are just plain goofy.

God made Israel live in the present

When the Lord gave Moses the 10 Commandments it was the first time a god (God) had ever issued absolute commands. Other cultures had elements of the 10 Commandments, but no god had ever issued 10 absolute rules before. And consider this; No other god had ever told his subjects to take a day off from work. This was not a merciless god, but one with empathy, the very nature of including a day off in an absolute Command demonstrating He was compassionate and living in the here and now.

The 10 Commandments and law of Moses brought into the open the fact that the past was the past and could not be changed, but could be repented of and forgiven, and the future was in God's hands. Therefore man cannot change the past nor control the future - but the 10 Commandments said man can control his actions in the present. No god had ever treated his people that way before.

The 10 Commandments brought the focus to the here and now, the present, which is where God is at I AM - ever present that we may deal with the issues before us.

If someone stole a sheep from their neighbor, there was no blaming a god like "Baal demanded a sacrifice, but my flocks are grazing far away so I had to steal your sheep to have an animal to offer in order to appease him." God said 'Do not steal' - period. Deal with your character issues right now in the moment!

What God did in the 10 Commandments was make everyone accountable right now, at this place and at this time, for their lives, forcing a person to deal with their heart, their soul, their body - in the NOW.

When He commanded NOT to have sexual relations with the neighbor's wife, it empowered the individual to decide right then, 'Do I go over to her while her husband is in the fields, or not?' He was telling individuals to deal with their lust right now - no blame on a family god, no blame on an unknown future so have fun while you can. By issuing 10 Commands God empowered each Israelite to live in the moment.

His commands made them live in the present. Isn't it amazing how far from living in the present so much of church culture has become?

Why so vague?

While there are a total of 613 laws in the Law of Moses, most of them had to do with rules relating to the priests and how to make a sacrifice, or dietary and sanitary laws. When talking about 'the law' in the New Testament the authors are usually talking about the relatively few moral laws, which were surprisingly lacking in detail.

For instance, when He said in Exodus 20:8-11 to take the Sabbath off from work, He gave no instructions other than to make it clear that everything from work animals to employees to sons and daughters were not to work on that 1 day each week.

The Pharisee initiated tradition of gathering on Saturday to worship first started in home gatherings* in about 200 BC. Down through the years this vagueness has led to numerous religious laws to the point that today in modern Israel on the Sabbath, elevators stop at every floor because pushing a button to stop at your floor is considered work. *(Hebrew for 'gathering' is synagogue).

By Jesus' time leaders had decided the distance of what became known as a Sabbath's Day Walk, which is mentioned in Acts 1:12 - a distance of roughly 3/4 of a mile (1.2km) - any walking up to that distance was okay, but if you go over that distance, well, that is work and is forbidden!

Why would God be so vague to Israel about these all important 10 Commandments? Because by being vague it required each person to walk with Him in daily life, in the here and now, to understand the spirit behind the command. To remove the relationship from the Commands leaves only rules and regulations resulting in not being able to push an elevator button on the Sabbath for fear of offending God.

What Jesus commanded

And that is why when Jesus said in John 15:12: "This is my commandment: Love one another as I love you."

He didn't tell us how to do that - He just said do it. Why? Because He must be found in the vagueness of the command. He must be found in the intensity of the moment. To be clear: When someone lies about you and you are reminded to love one another as He loves us, the past nor future mean anything. He must be found in that moment in time. Not as a 'now I pick up my relationship with you and run to you for help', but as a continuation of fellowship you've been having together, as a friend who never leaves and is always there to give wise guidance to apply the vague command to love one another.

Jesus told me to be in His presence I had to be present in such a vague way to make the exact point I'm making here - He wanted me to search out the deeper meaning WITH HIM, receiving revelation from Him via the Holy Spirit - not as a command 'to be present' but He was purposely being vague that I might seek Him and find Him...and that's where we'll pick it up next week. Until then, blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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Chronological order of Easter week, #3

4/18/2015

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Hi all,
Just risen Jesus told Mary outside the tomb: "Go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God", using terminology He had never used before. John 20:17

Why was THAT the first thing He said after the resurrection?

Paul explains it in Acts 13:33 as he talks of resurrection day: "God has fulfilled these (promises made to the fathers) in that He raised Jesus from the dead, for as it is written in the second Psalm: "You are my Son; Today I have become your Father (birthed you)."

Paul is making the point that to the Father the day of the resurrection was such a change in their relationship He made the statement: 'This day I have birthed you'. What was the change?

The big change

Jesus was the unlimited Son with the Father from the beginning, with all the authority and rights pertaining to being the only Son of God, but He had emptied Himself of all those rights and privileges to be conceived in Mary as a Man*. He lived as a man, died as a man, and was raised from the dead and returned to His Father as a man - the first man to be born from the dead. God's Son was forever a man. *Philippians 2:5-8

Even the disciples had a hard time comprehending He wasn't raised a spirit, and that is why Jesus ate before them, to prove He was physically raised from the dead and was still a Man - Luke 24:41-43.

Jesus is now known as the first born from the dead

Jesus was first born from the dead and you and I are x number after Him born from the dead - spiritually now but one day literally in a raised or changed from the dead (glorified) body.

Romans 8:29: "Those He knew before would know Him, He also determined they would become conformed to the image of His Son that He might be the first born among many brethren."

Colossians 1:18: "And He is the head of the body the church, who is the beginning, the first born from the dead that in all things He might have the preeminence."

Hebrews 12:22-23: "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, and to the general assembly and church of the first born which are all in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect."

Revelation 1:5: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first born from the dead, and the Prince over the kings of the earth."

What this means to us

Being the first born from the dead is proof there are others to follow otherwise He would be called the Only born form the dead - but He is instead the Firstborn from the dead - His resurrection is proof and assurance for all who believe in Him. As witness to the truth of His resurrection and status as first born from the dead, we have been given the Holy Spirit, and eye-witness to the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord.

Ephesians 1:13 says after we believed "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption by God of His own possession..."

The word 'seal' is 'sphragizo' and was used in ancient times for such normal things as sealing a bag of grain, the seal assuring the full content of the bag, the owner, the destination, and the confidentiality of the contents. We might also remember the old time sealing of envelopes with melted wax with the seal of the sender pressed into it.

The seal was guarantee of who it was sent from, where it was going, and the security and confidentiality of the contents within. We have been sealed by God Himself, His Spirit, showing who owns us, where we are going, our security and confidentiality of our hearts protected by Him who sealed us.

The word 'earnest' is the Greek word 'arrabon' and was originally 'earnest money', deposited by the buyer as a pledge to follow through with the transaction. Today a person might put down earnest money to take the property off the market with the promise they will follow through with the full purchase.

We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and all we have in this life is actually merely the promise, the earnest money so to speak, of the promise God will fulfill the rest of the deal - that the first born from the dead will indeed cause the rest of us to also be born from the dead - the spiritual rebirth the token of that promise.

Ephesians 1:13 says we have been sealed and have received the earnest of our salvation until the time when God who possesses us will complete the transaction - bring full redemption. As Paul said in Romans 8:23, "not only creation, but we groan within ourselves waiting for our adoption, that is to say, the redemption of our bodies." Our spirit man yearns for the day of completion, when like the Firstborn we might also have a glorified body, one capable of functioning in the Spirit and natural realms with equal ease.

What assurance, what peace!

This mystery of Jesus being the Firstborn from the dead, the amazing truth of us being sealed by the Father by His own Spirit showing the enemy cannot touch us, this earnest payment of the Holy Spirit in our lives, should give us great peace of mind, assurance, and joy.

The Bible describes hope as being a ' favorable and confident expectation' in the soul (emotions, mind, thoughts) rather than a spiritual force as faith is. But hope and faith go together, for faith is the evidence of things hoped for - destroy hope and faith dissolves away.

Hope has an amazing ability though it is of the mental and emotional realm, for when combined with faith its affect is felt by the assurance in our spirits that we are the Father's and He will redeem us completely one day. In Hebrews 6:13-20 the writer tells of Abraham and how hope affected him.

He says that Abraham was confident in 2 things: God gave a promise, and God cannot lie. He says therefore "we have strong encouragement who have fled (to the Lord) for refuge that we may lay hold of the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, where the forerunner Jesus entered for us, behind the veil..."

He says hope is the anchor of our soul - our emotions, thoughts, feelings - must be brought under control of the hope, that confident expectation of a favorable outcome, for it is found in Jesus who has gone ahead and entered behind the veil - into the holy of holies in heaven for us.

The word forerunner is the word 'prodromos' which means to 'run forward in advance', used at times of military scouts sent far ahead to scout the territory, and also of one sent before a king to make sure all was prepared for his coming. It was also used in ancient navies when a ship was coming into port but there were reefs and rocks to avoid - they would have a swimmer with a rope attached swim ahead of the ship to guide it in. - Our Jesus who has gone ahead of us to our mutual Father's home, and our thoughts, feelings, and emotions must keep this fact before us at all times - and we have the Spirit within bearing witness to this truth.

We have the fact the Father has promised and confirmed His actions and plans in many ways, and we know the Father cannot lie. He has given us His Firstborn from the dead, He has sealed us with His own Spirit, we have the Spirit in our lives as the earnest of the completed transaction.

Jesus is amazing as the Firstborn from the dead - we each are born from the dead, now in spirit, one day in flesh as well - as Paul said, we yearn to be clothed upon from on high. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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Chronological order of Easter week #2

4/11/2015

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Hi all,
After Jesus stated 'It is finished' and died, we are told He descended into the "lower parts of the earth."*

What happened to Jesus' spirit & soul

Jesus had told the repentant thief 'Today you will be with me in Paradise.*" Paradise, also known as Abraham's bosom, was the place of the righteous dead in the heart of the earth where they were held 'captive' until their sins could be paid for by Messiah, and was believed to be a park like place of peace and rest. *Ephesians 4:8-9, Luke 23:43

Ephesians 4:9 tells us Jesus first descended into the lower parts of the earth. At that time Paradise and what we call hell were 2 separate compartments in the spirit realm in the earth - hell for the unrighteous dead and Paradise for the righteous dead. The best description is from Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 where He speaks of a beggar named Lazarus laid at the gate of an unnamed rich man, hoping to at least be fed from the garbage thrown out by the rich man's household.

Jesus said in the process of time each man died, the rich man went to hell and the beggar to Abraham's bosom. As the rich man pleads with Abraham to give him water, Abraham notes there is a huge canyon between the two places and those from hell who would want to come over cannot, and he from Paradise could not go over to hell to bring him water. The rich man said he was tormented by the heat, but note it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't carry on a conversation.

An interesting thought is by the law the rich man was no doubt righteous - he would have had the means to fulfill the Law with gifts of money and sacrifices at the proper times, while the beggar Lazarus had skin sores and was therefore unclean by the Law, unable to make sacrifices or give money - yet he ended up in Paradise while the rich man went to hell. The condition of their hearts not outward appearances their 'ticket' to their respective places.

Preached in hell?

In I Peter 3:19-20 it says Jesus went and 'preached' to the spirits in prison who had been disobedient in the days of Noah. The word translated 'preached' in the King James Version is not 'preached' like we would think (Greek, euangelizo), that is to preach the gospel, but rather merely to 'announce' (Greek, kerusso) with no expectation of repentance. The word 'prison' denotes a condition of imprisonment rather than a place of imprisonment. In other words, Peter, who calls Noah a preacher of righteousness*, shows the people in hell who didn't believe Noah are in hell as a condition of their unbelief. Some commentators have stated it wasn't so much that Jesus singled out the generation of Noah, but rather proclaimed Himself Lord to all in hell.

There is no evidence in the Word that Jesus fought a battle with Satan, for His work on the cross was a legal transaction, not an act of war. When Jesus said 'It is finished', as noted last week, He was saying all that remained was the mopping up, the taking of spoils, and that's what He did in the heart of the earth.

For after proclaiming Himself in hell, Jesus went to the other part of the lower parts of the earth, Paradise, crossing over the chasm as no other could do, to be greeted by the righteous dead. Why did the righteous dead have to go to a waiting place like Paradise? Because their sins had been only temporarily covered by Old Testament sacrifices, but not obliterated. They had to wait for Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, that precious blood as the final sacrifice before they could go to heaven.

Resurrection morning

And so it was that Sunday morning John records Mary Magdalene came to the tomb to discover the stone rolled away. Without pausing to look inside she runs back to Peter and John and tells them someone has removed the body. They 3 ran to the tomb and John 20:8-9 tells us they all believed someone had taken His body:
"Then Peter came into the tomb and saw the head cloth laying separately from the grave clothes, and (John) went into the tomb as well and he believed (what Mary had said about someone had stolen the body) for as yet they didn't know the scripture that He must rise from the dead."

I need to make 2 points here - the first is about the 'napkin' or head cloth. Some 7-10 years ago someone made up a story about a napkin folded at a table meant the master of the house was going to return to the table, and then they said this is what the 'napkin' laid separately from the grave cloths meant. NOT. First, 'napkins' weren't used like that in the 1st century and 'napkin' isn't the Greek word used. Secondly, to stay with the analogy it would mean Jesus was making the statement He was going to return to the tomb.

In fact the word 'head cloth' (not napkin) was used to wipe sweat from the brow - it has no relation to food at all. And it wasn't folded but the Greek indicates it lay twisted up aside. The real point as to why it was separate is very simple - John makes the point to show Jesus was physically raised from the dead. It wasn't as the Gnostics and others said at the time he wrote the gospel of John, that it was some sort of 'spiritual resurrection', nor was His body stolen away which would have meant all burial cloths would have remained intact on the body. John was saying Jesus was literally, physically, raised from the dead and took the head cloth off Himself and laid it aside as He arose.

The second point is to correct the idea (made popular by a Don Francisco song years ago) that when John and Peter went into the tomb they believe Jesus had been raised. Versus 1-9 make it clear they believed what Mary had told them - someone had stolen the body. OK, end of rabbit trail, getting off my soap box.

What DID Jesus do?

While John 20:10 tells us Peter and John left the tomb to return to their respective homes, Mary lingered, mourning at the tomb. It was there the Lord graciously came up behind her and asked, "Woman, why are you crying?" She thought he was the gardener and continued with her thought that someone had taken the body: "Sir, if you have taken Him from here tell me where you put Him and I will take Him away."

With that, the Lord simply spoke her name: "Mary" She recognized His voice and turned and exclaimed "Rabbi!" And then Jesus said something unique: "Don't touch me for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren (brethren is a term including men and women) and say to them I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." v17

Later that day He would invite them to touch His wounds, but why is He telling her she is interrupting His ascension to the Father and for her not to touch Him?

What Jesus did

The answer comes in Hebrews 9:11-24 and Ephesians 4:8. Paul said in 4:8 "When He ascended up on high He led captivity captive..." Captivity, a reference to the people of Paradise, was being led now captive by the Lord, ascending to heaven no longer held captive by their sins. Paradise was wholly taken to heaven by the just risen Lord.

Hebrews 9:11-24 tells us what Jesus did once there: "For Christ being a high priest...neither by the blood of bulls and goats but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us....For Christ did not enter into the holy place made with hands, which are mere figures of the true, but into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God for us..."

The cross was a legal transaction as I said. Colossians 2:14-16 says of the cross: "...blotting out the handwriting of ordinances (Law, sin) that was against us and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."

Jesus had spoiled the devil the same way Exodus 12:36 speaks of Israel when the Egyptians gave them everything they had just to get rid of them, "...they spoiled the Egyptians." Jesus openly triumphed over the enemy in hell, which explains why He announced and didn't 'preach' there. And we also see Him taking the people of Paradise up to heaven at His resurrection. and why He also appeared to many over a span of 40 days after His resurrection. Paul says at one point He was seen by over 500 people at once time* - Jesus was openly showing His triumph during those 40 days, 1 day for each day of temptation at the start of His ministry, among other meanings. *I Cor 15:6

Now there is but 1 compartment in the earth, that holding place called hell. But Paradise and all who believe in the Lord when they die now ascend to heaven, which is why Paul when speaking of his trip to heaven said, "I know a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body or out I don't know, who was caught up to Paradise..." He also said '...absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." II Corinthians 12:3-4, 5:8

But something changed that affects you and I today. Jesus used terminology He had never used before when He spoke to Mary by the tomb: "Go to my brethren and tell them I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Why did He speak like that? Because something had changed for all eternity between Him and the Father - and that is next week. Until then, blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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Chronological order Easter week #1

4/4/2015

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Hi all,
I once asked a pastor of a mega-church noted for its illustrated Easter Sermons why he continued to dramatize Jesus being crucified on Friday when he knew He was crucified Thursday, and he said, "It's easier to do than to go into the detail needed to present the truth."

In the 6 presentations of the illustrated sermon that year about 24,000 people attended, so all 24,000 were taught medieval church error, which I thought sad. Here is how the error happened and the week in order:

Foundation for Easter week - Passover

In His death, burial, and resurrection Jesus fulfilled 3 spring feasts which foreshadowed His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection. They are: Unleavened Bread, Passover, and First fruits, first seen as Israel was about to leave Egypt and detailed in Exodus 12:1-19 and Leviticus 23:4-14.

Unleavened Bread uses yeast as a type of sin, so they were not to eat yeast for the 7 day feast, showing Jesus' sinless life. They ate unleavened bread for 7 days, 7 representing completion, but on the last day of the feast, which was a Sabbath just for that feast, they ate lamb with their bread. Jesus lived a sinless life, and this sinless Bread from heaven, is consumed by believers as one act of eating both the sinless Bread and Passover Lamb for our sins.

Passover which was within the Feast of Unleavened Bread, refers to the practice of painting the doorway of their homes with the sacrificial lamb's blood so when judgement came on Egypt, Israelites who had the blood on their homes would be 'passed over' and not hurt. Of course our 'house' is ourselves, the living homes of Christ within, who have the blood of the Lamb upon us. (I Corinthians 6:19)

First fruits was celebrated on "the day after the Sabbath" after Passover, and was when the priest would take a sheaf of the first harvest of barley and wave it to the Lord as a type of the greater harvest to come. Israel came out of the Sea after leaving Egypt on the morning of First fruits as a type of Jesus who was resurrected on First fruits in fulfillment of the Red Sea crossing.

Jesus' Passover week

As stated in Exodus 12:3, on the 10th of the month the lamb would be brought into the house to be examined to see if it was worthy of being sacrificed, until it was killed "between the evenings" which was 3pm (15:00) on the 14th. Can you imagine bringing a little lamb into your home for 4 days, how you would get to know it, become attached to it - Jesus' ministry was over 3 1/2 years during which He was examined in the house of Israel, and finally pronounced blameless by Pilate, the highest authority of the day.

The day of the sacrifice was called 'the day of preparation', as once the lamb was killed at 3pm it had to be prepared for eating at the evening meal which began at sundown. Remember the Jewish day begins at sundown because in creation God went from darkness to light for the first day, so for discussion purposes I'm going to use 6pm (18:00) as sundown and the start of the next day.

A VERY IMPORTANT POINT - Here is where we got Friday as crucifixion day

All 4 gospels say Jesus died on 'the day of preparation', when the Passover Lamb was killed at 3pm: "And that day was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was about to start" and "And when evening was come, because it was the day of preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath." (The sacred Sabbath that was the last day of the feast, not Saturday - Mt 27:62, Mk 15:42, Lk 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42)

To Gentile Roman Catholic forefathers ignorant of the fact the Passover mandated a holy Sabbath starting the evening they ate the meal, they thought the Sabbath mentioned was Saturday! We've had 'Good Friday' ever since. They had no clue 2 Sabbaths are mentioned, for there was the ceremonial Sabbath followed by the Saturday Sabbath. Being a double Sabbath the women couldn't attend to the tomb until Sunday.

Put it all together - Palm Sunday the 10th, starts examination time 'in the house'

Not only was Jesus 'examined' for nearly 4 years in the house of Israel as a type of the 4 days the Passover Lamb was examined, but Mark was led to include a 4 day examination by the rulers. In Mark 11:1-11, in what we call Palm Sunday the 10th of Nisan, Jesus comes into the house for His time of examination.

The people lay palm branches before the colt, one never before ridden thus showing Jesus' mastery over creation once again (wind/waves, food multiplied, water into wine) and His voluntary surrendering of His life as the Passover Lamb, they cry out 'Hosanna; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord..."

This word 'hosanna' means 'save us', and the expression comes from Psalm 118 which was sung and read during Passover week (Mt 26:30), the whole passage says this:
"I will not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely but He has not given me over to death...the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. THIS is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! SAVE NOW (hosanna) I beseech you O Lord, SAVE NOW O Lord (hosanna) and send us salvation! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord...Bind now the sacrifice to the altar. You are my God and I wll praise you; You are my God and I will exalt you. O give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever." Psalm 118: 17-29

That was Sunday, the 10th and verse 11 says He and the 12 left town and spent the night in Bethany.

Verse 12 says "And in the morning", Monday the 11th, He commanded a fig tree to die that didn't have fruit on it as it should have, as a type of Israel that week which should have received Him but did not. Then He went into the temple and 'cleansed' the temple of the money changers and those selling animals for sacrifice. Verse 19 says in the evening they left the city.

You can imagine Jesus' emotions, knowing it is His examination time as the Passover Lamb, and there in the temple are the animals being sold for sacrifice in such a carnal display by people having no clue what is taking place. He forces them to leave, preparing the way for the True Sacrifice to be offered that week.

Mark 11: 20 says "In the morning" which is now Tuesday the 12th, which is the longest single day of examination. Mark spends the rest of chapter 11 and all of chapter 12 writing about authorities from each sect examining Him:

11:27: Chief priests, scribes, elders came to Him asking "By what authority do you do these things?"

12:13: "And they sent to him certain Pharisees and Herodians to catch Him in His words."

12:18: "Then came to Him the Sadducees..."

12:28: "And one of the scribes..."

Finally the examination is complete, these unwilling accomplices to the Father's plan to legally prove Jesus worthy of the sacrifice, comes to an end with Mark's announcement in 12:34: "And no man after that dared ask him any question." They cut off the examination time late Tuesday, for Mark 14:1 states:
"In two days time was the festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread..." meaning Thursday.

This agrees with all four gospels stating Jesus died on the day of preparation, Thursday the 14th, and that evening was a Sabbath (15th), followed by the Saturday (16th) Sabbath, followed by the Feast of First fruits on Sunday (17th), the Sunday morning Jesus arose as the first born from the dead.

On the cross Jesus said 'It is finished', which is a Greek word, "tetelestai", first used by Greek and then Roman commanders overseeing a battlefield and pronouncing 'It is finished'. The stating of 'tetelestai' by a general was more than an observation, it was also a pronouncement that the battle had been won and now they could turn their attention to the taking of the spoil - and that is what Jesus was saying as He died - the battle has been won, nothing left now but the taking of the spoil.

Next week - what happened in the lower parts of the earth, and the resurrection. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]

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