This morning I was speaking about the Gospel from the resurrection from John’s point of view and one of the things we saw is that Jesus rose from the dead and that He was seen first of all by the women who were much more faithful and zealous to seek the Lord at this time in the morning.
And I suggested that the men, the disciples, had actually fled, most likely to Bethany, when Jesus was arrested, though Peter and John had gone into Jerusalem. And, during the day, Mary Magdalene and the women had gone to assemble the disciples and to bring them together in Jerusalem where they met with the risen Lord.
We’re going to read about the meeting with the Lord in Luke 24.33 and then I’m going to speak on the theme of the resurrection in Judaism and in Christianity remembering of course that Jesus and the disciples were all Jewish.
Let’s just have a word of prayer as we come to the Lord.
Lord, we thank you for your Word. We pray that you bless the reading and the speaking of your Word and help us to understand this subject. We pray in the name of Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah.
Let’s start at verse 33. This is actually the people on the Emmaus road as they go back to Jerusalem.
33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. 36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” 40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marvelled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He took it and ate in their presence.
Luke 24.33-49
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
Luke 24.44
45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Luke 24.45-49
Of course there are a lot of Jewish atheists and humanists and agnostics who deny the existence of God and of life after death as well.
There’s also a very curious belief which you might be surprised about in reincarnation. There’s a group called Chabad which is Lubovic. I remember having a long conversation about reincarnation with a man who was into the Lubovic movement.
I was quite surprised that he did believe in reincarnation and I found an article on the Chabad.org website which says that reincarnation is a belief of Judaism. It says there are many aspects of what they call gilgul (גלגול הנשמות), that harness the reincarnation of the soul, and it goes on to say there are some sins for which the cleansing in the spiritual realm alone does not suffice.
Thus souls who ascend and have not properly repented whilst alive are sometimes forced to undergo a ‘second round of life in this world’ as rehabilitation for sins previously committed.
So, if you haven’t done well enough in this life, you come back and try again. It also says that a reincarnation provides an opportunity for souls to perform those commandments they were unable to do in a previous incarnation.
Talmudic Judaism teaches that there are 613 commandments which a are found in the Torah, all of which should be kept. It says usually a soul does not manage to fulfil all the commandments in one go and must repeatedly be reincarnated until it has fulfilled them all.
So, if you don’t manage to do it first time around, you come back again and try again.
And it goes on say that there are some souls who do not descend for their own growth or perfection, rather, the only reason they return to this earth, is to benefit others. This can be to help out an individual or the entire generation spiritually or materially.
The article says that reincarnation happens as many times as is necessary to fulfil the perfection of the soul but that, if you fail to make any rectification in your second or third reincarnation, after three strikes, you’re out.
You have three goes at it. If you don’t make any improvement after the third strike, too bad! You lost. It says that a soul that has reincarnated three times without having rectified anything at all is not reincarnated again, which would imply that they’re forever doomed.
However, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן) who is a great authority on this subject explained that only reincarnations to human beings are limited to three strikes and you’re out. These souls will continue to be reincarnated first as kosher animals, then, in decreasing order, as non-kosher animals, plants, and even as inanimate objects as long as the need exists.
So that’s teaching of Chabad Judaism and it hopes that eventually, through this process, you’ll be reunited to the source and get back to God.
When I read this article, I put a comment on it (which I do sometimes – I like to communicate with them) and I said that there’s nothing in the Bible that says anything about reincarnation. It does say that these are eastern ideas which are forbidden.
Naturally, in the Book of Isaiah, which says ‘you the people the House of Jacob are filled with eastern ways, they are soothsayers like the philistines, they’re pleased with the children of foreigners.‘ In other words, God doesn’t approve of this idea (that’s Isaiah 2.6). And I quoted Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27 which says, ‘it is appointed unto man to die once and after this the judgment‘.
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the Lord.6 For You have forsaken Your people, the house of Jacob,
Isaiah 2.5-9
Because they are filled with eastern ways;
They are soothsayers like the Philistines,
And they are pleased with the children of foreigners.
7 Their land is also full of silver and gold,
And there is no end to their treasures;
Their land is also full of horses,
And there is no end to their chariots.
8 Their land is also full of idols;
They worship the work of their own hands,
That which their own fingers have made.
9 People bow down,
And each man humbles himself;
Therefore do not forgive them.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
Hebrews 9:27
Messiah was offered once to bear the sins of many. In other words, you get one crack at this life not many. And if you don’t make it through the first time, that’s it. That’s why it’s important to know that ‘now is the day of salvation’ and to believe in Yeshua.
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says:
“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6.1-2
Unfortunately, my comment has not been put on the Chabad website. But somebody must have read it, so praise God, we hope so.
All these scriptures are telling you that there will be a resurrection, and they’re implying also that it is a literal resurrection and a bodily resurrection.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection Romans 6:5
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Revelation 20.4-6
Therefore, Daniel will be resurrected as Daniel, he will be recognizable as the prophet Daniel, and others from the Old Testament period will be resurrected as well.
For more articles and videos about the Resurrection click below:
I volunteer for a Jewish organisation ( I myself am a Jewish believer in Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah). They have wholeheartedly embraced Eastern ways such as Yoga ( hindhu) and mindfulness ( buddhist) just as much of the western world has. These things are practiced and lauded with the approval of the rabbi (as is LGBT pride). When I challenged them with this they said they had adapted it to Jewish sensitivity. No mention of Hashem ( G -d) and what His thoughts and commands are.
“For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jermiah 2: 13
A fellow volunteer, a pillar of the local synagogue, intended to show a video of a Jewish lady who had had a reincarnation experience. When a couple of us objected the criteria for showing it was not biblical authority but whether the potential viewers wanted to see it. As no one objected it was shown.
I filled in a volunteer survey and was given the opportunity to make a ‘ bold statement’. I asked ‘ Why is it acceptable within the organisation to be any kind of a jew, secular, orthodox, pick and mix etc. But NOT to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah?
It was an anonymous survey but I dare say they knew who was responsible.
I have to be very careful and prayerful in what I say and do. I got reprimanded for leaving a booklet on a bookshelf about Yeshua, full of Tenakh quotes and had to remove it. I objected as no other literature is barred and no one HAS to read anything. There are magazines always full of articles of debauchery etc. I was told someone had complained about mine.
I have been there 14 years and have, and do have, many opportunities to share about Messiah.
Please pray for me. And for these dear elderly folk who need the Truth…. Yeshua, the ONLY Way, Truth and Life
Thank you Carolyn for your testimony and the depth of love you show for the Jewish people you have come in contact with over the years. As I read your account, I can feel the strain in your voice, crying out for simple fairness and honesty yet, time and again, being hushed down into silence. This is the same struggle we’re all going to go through (if we don’t already experience it) in the defence of our beliefs, in being honest with others about our faith.
What we believe, Whom we believe in is not fashionable, it cannot be sold, it cannot be disproved, it is simple and good, but we often want the opposite, our bodies and our minds have now been reset to desire and even require (an addiction of sorts) the excitement of new trends, foreign ways, eastern ways that may give some sense of relaxation or calm, that may make us busy with ‘learning’ and ‘acquiring’ but which cannot provide, as the idols they really are, any respite to our spirit, or any workable solution for the world.
I pray that God will give you the strength to persevere, the wisdom to prevail in difficult situations, and the awareness to remember Yeshua our Lord and Saviour ever more often in your daily walk. I trust that whatever you encounter will draw you closer to Jesus, and that His Spirit in you will discriminate and produce the fitting words to communicate with those who will surely appreciate your testimony and reliance on our Saviour God. In Jesus’ name.