Hour 2: The Resurrection Appearances of Jesus Christ

Hello friends. It's time for the second hour of Open Line with Doctor Michael Redlich. I'm Michael Redlich, professor of Jewish studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute, and I'm coming to you from the Moody Radio Studios at Moody Bible Institute in downtown Chicago. Although normally you call with your questions about the Bible, God, and the spiritual life,

My pleasure. Michael. It's always good to see you and to be able to do this and to talk about the resurrection Easter. That's pretty cool.

Yeah, I think that that's, uh, the most important issue that we have. You know, I've often said this, that there are about 20,000 Jewish men who were crucified by the Romans. If Jesus were not raised from the dead, he'd be just one of them, right? But the resurrection is what makes it all different. And one of my key frustrations here is I often hear people share the gospel, and I'm grateful, by the way, that people share the gospel.

And and it's interesting in the book of acts, there are, I think, five different occasions where Christian evangelists or apostles are witnessing to unbelievers. And if my memory serves me correctly, on every single occasion, those evangelists refer to the resurrection. We don't normally do that, but they did. And I think that's instructive for us.

Yeah, I've noticed, uh, back in the day when I was doing my doctoral dissertation Anyway, I did some research on how the book of acts proclaimed the gospel, and there were two essential methods that they used in the book of acts. One was through using messianic prophecy. That was one evidence that they used the evidence of messianic prophecy. And the second evidence was the fact of the resurrection that Jesus has raised from the dead was most crucial.

Well, it's, um, the the tomb being opened and the body being apparent that it's gone. Mhm.

Yeah. That's I guess you could look at that in a variety of places in Mark 16, Luke 24, I want to look at Matthew 28. And the reason why I think that's interesting in Matthew is he doesn't really put it in chronological order.

Right.

He starts with, uh, verse One, he says, after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb. And then it says, suddenly there was a violent earthquake. Now, I think the earthquake happened just before they got to the tomb, right? But but nevertheless, uh, and the other gospels all show it that way. So that's one of the first contradictions that people often point out, that if

That is exactly how they do it, right?

So how do we justify that verse one and verse two being sort of out of order?

I you know, I'm not quite sure actually, Michael, it is interesting. I think there's some other things as well, um, where you've got people being referred to as being resurrected, brought out of the tombs, um, earthquakes taking place. But that's actually after the resurrection. But it's included in Matthew 27 before, before narrative account. And I think that's being done. So it's a not interrupt the actual, uh, reference to the resurrection of Jesus. They don't. Matthew doesn't want to

I don't think it's a contradiction. I think that's exactly it, the way Matthew's telling it is. This is why they're on their way. They're going to do this. And then the resurrection happens and they get there. Right. And and what do they see there? I think that's so cool. They see, uh, it says there was an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and approached the tomb. He

Yeah, it's it's something to think about. I've heard all the also, by the way, that there are scholars who maintain that the verb rolled away doesn't really mean rolled away. It means moved away, and that the stone may have actually been a fairly large square stone with perhaps a couple of those stuck into the opening. And so rather than have the angels sit on a stone laying almost flat on the ground, which would be sort of awkward, he's actually sitting on the stone as if it's more

Yeah. And his appearance was like lightning and his robe was white as snow. And the guards, these tough Roman guards, they're so frightened that they. They became like dead men. Right? Yeah. So it is. But that's not an appearance of the Messiah. That's just an appearance of an angel. Right. And an empty tomb. And so they visit the tomb and they discover that he is missing. And where do we go from there? What's the next step?

Well, I find it interesting that, um. What what the angel tells them. It's really interesting in in Matthew 28. You've got people being told to tell others about this. Yeah. In verse seven, the angel says, go quickly. Tell his disciples he's risen from the dead. Then look at verse ten. He says, Then Jesus appears. Right. Yeah. Uh, then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and take a word to my brethren to leave for Galilee. And

Well, anyway. Right, right from the beginning, even before the resurrection appearance. Right there from the angel. Right. There's the the announcement or the the command to go tell. Right. Go tell the disciples.

That's I think this is one of the emphases in Matthew is that they need to go. They need to tell. And I think the implication for us is we ought to be doing the same.

Yeah, yeah. That's the I think that that's one of the more interesting things that we are really compelled to proclaim this. Uh, it's my wife's favorite verse. Just so you know, yours is Romans 828. I've heard you say that so many times. Uh, but my wife's favorite verse, interestingly, is second Timothy two eight. And, uh, it's because, uh, she loves that Jesus is the king. Yeah. That he's fully human. And the king. And the resurrection. She loves that because it proves he's God. And, uh. And so

Yeah in in John 20 and verse two it says, uh, she and that's uh, Mary Magdalene Eggeling ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple I'm reading now. She ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, they've taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. That follows from verse one, where she comes to the tomb early, when it was dark and found the stone had already

She didn't wait for the angel to say what he said to Salome and to the other Mary. She just turns around and heads out, I don't know where the body is. I don't know where it is exactly. And but, you know, I think it's interesting that she goes to the one that she thought could help her. So she tells Peter and John. Right. And of course, what do Peter and John do?

Well, um, they run to the tomb. Yeah. Yeah. Um, you know, before that, though, in, in, uh, Matthew 28, 5 to 7, Mary, the mother of James and Salome saw an angel. Yeah.

Inside the tube. Yeah.

Who announced the resurrection? Directed the women to tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. Um, again, Matthew 28 5 to 7, where the angel says, let him go to Galilee. They'll see Jesus there.

Now, here's an interesting question someone asked me last week, they said was the first appearance of the Lord Jesus, because he says he'll meet them in Galilee was the first appearance to the apostles in Galilee. It wasn't. Uh, I think they should have gone right away, but apparently they delayed.

Right.

And so twice he tells them to to meet them. The angel tells them, and the Lord Jesus, uh, announces that he'll meet them in Galilee. But they don't go. They stay in Jerusalem for a few days, and apparently they were planning on going. Uh, what do you. Is that how you resolve that?

Um, it. Yeah, I would say that that's probably the best explanation as to as to why that is the case. Um, because.

He appears to them in Jerusalem before he appears.

To them. He does. And so, um, I don't know that they're being disobedient. There may have been confusion, understandable confusion, but for whatever reason they delay. And he appears to them before Galilee.

Yeah. He does. Uh, so they they make their way, uh, to, uh, to the disciples. They talk about this, uh, and what does it say? Uh, that they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy. This is Matthew 28 A and ran to report to his disciples what the angel had told them that he was risen. Um. And now other women appear. Is that what happens next?

Right? Um. Joanna, um, one of the women from Galilee arrives at the tomb carrying oil, perfumed oil, to anoint the body of Jesus. And, um, a they the other women from Galilee and Joanna meet two men. Apparently they're angels, according to Luke 24, verse four and 23. And then they returned to report the angel's message of the resurrection to the 11 and to all the rest. And we

Yeah. Okay, so here's the question that people ask why do they want to anoint Jesus with perfumed oil?

Yeah, they that's that's not for embalming. The Egyptians did embalming. The Jewish people didn't actually embalm the tombs that that rich people were buried in, because not everybody was buried in a tomb. Tombs were enormously expensive. Most people, when they died, were buried in the ground after being placed inside a shroud. But when the people were buried in

Yeah. And I think that's so interesting to me is that, uh, Mary in John 12, she's mentioned as one who anoints Jesus before his death. And it's in Matthew, I think it's about chapter 26. It talks there about how she anointed him in preparation for his burial. Right. With, with. And so I think it's interesting she's not one of the ones that shows up here. She anticipated this, and she wants to honor him even before he dies in this way. It's really interesting. But they do come and

Could be. Or that maybe they would find others who would gather at the tomb as well, and altogether they would move the stone and then anoint his body. And who knows?

I don't know, I just I just don't know. Uh, but they certainly thought that they could they could get in there and do that. So. Um, okay. Uh, so then the very next event that happens is that, uh, Peter and John run to the tomb, right?

Um, when Mary Magdalene heads back to the city and she finds some of the other disciples, Peter and John here, and maybe some others as well. Hear what she has to say. And they run to the tomb. On the way they do not meet Mary and Salome. They, when they get to the tomb, they see the Graveclothes, and then they head back to the city themselves. It says in in Luke 2424, some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women also had said, but him they did not see.

Yeah, in the John passage that speaks about this, says they saw the linen linen wrappings lying there and there rolled up in a place by itself. And it's sort of tidy, folded, rolled up or folded up. And there's been a lot of speculation about this that I've been hearing on the internet about some a lot of people call with questions. What does the folded face cloth.

The folded napkin.

The folded napkin mean? And, uh, first of all, I think people make a mistake. They say this cultural background because, you know, with the internet, all sorts of wrong things can get out there.

Oh, really?

Oh, yeah. Ever heard of that? Oh, no. Yeah.

I thought everything on the internet is true.

Yeah. Well, no, this one isn't. At least know the cultural background that that people cite. As they say, when you go to a meal in a Jewish cultural home, first century, that if you still were coming back for more, that you folded your napkin. Otherwise you wrinkled it up and tossed it aside.

Have you ever heard of that?

No. It's nowhere in the. It's nowhere in Jewish culture. Nowhere in the Mishna.

I mean, I don't.

I don't know, a 10th of it as you do. But I've never heard anything even remotely like that.

No. And I've read through the mission of trying to see. But the other thing is, even if it were true, this is not a meal that's not a napkin like a napkin that you have at a meal. It's a face cloth that was used for burial. And so it has nothing to do with that. We don't know. It doesn't say why everything is so laid out there orderly, because the Bible doesn't tell us. But I can speculate, since the first word for Mary Magdalene was they've taken

They would go in and just thrash everything around and grab the body and take off, or grab stuff and take off. But they would not be careful about folding things up.

Yeah. So to me, this is that's, I think, crucial. But still. Do you know what I think is interesting at this point? The Lord Jesus has not yet appeared. Right. And it is right after this that there is that the disciples leave. They go back. And Mary Magdalene, who is so heartbroken, she is weeping at the grave. Right. And that's what's next, right?

That's what's next. Uh, Mary Magdalene, um, follows Peter and John when they go back to the when they go to the tomb and they see the grave clothes all folded up. Mary follows them back there. They all see two angels inside. And then Mary meets Jesus. It says in verse 13 of John chapter 20. They said to her, the angels did, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away, my lord. I

Yeah, that's one of my favorite scenes. Uh, this woman is so heartbroken at the death of Jesus. And, uh, and now that pain of loss is made worse because she thinks someone has taken his body. And now some people say, why didn't she recognize him? Did did Jesus look different? I don't think that's the case. You know, she was in the garden. It was early morning. He may have been in the distance. He wasn't standing next to her. And what was she doing? She was weeping.

It's funny too, if you don't expect to see somebody or you see somebody out of the normal context where you know them, that happens to me all the time. Where I'll know a student from a study abroad in Israel from two years ago. And we were close and we had a great time there. And then they show up later at here at Moody in your class, in my class and I go, do I know you? You know, I said, you look kind of familiar to me. And so it's embarrassing, but but I wonder if some of

Yeah. How could he look like this?

And he wouldn't look like this now, in the resurrection.

Yeah. And, uh, now, the other thing that people often ask me about this passage, and I think you and I are agreed on this. People say, well, if the Lord Jesus has not yet ascended to his father, right? Uh, that that he he has just been for three days, three nights in the tomb. But his spirit was in hell. And that's why he says, don't touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the father. Uh, quick answer on that.

Yeah, I would say that that's that's reading really an awful lot of theology in here that I don't think you can actually get from the text. It seems better to me that she's clinging to him and he's saying, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I haven't ascended yet. I'm going to be around here for a while and so we'll have a chance to interact. But right now, don't don't be. Don't be clinging.

She's not just touching him.

She's she's.

Grabbing.

Grabbing him. Don't, don't. This is not a time for clinging. Go and tell. Go tell the disciples I'm. I'm risen. Yeah, that's what's going on here.

Yeah, yeah. When? When the Lord Jesus died, uh, his spirit ascended to the father. He said, father, into your hands I commend my spirit. He said to the the thief on the cross next to him, this day you'll be together with me in Paradise. Uh, his spirit, uh, at his physical body's death, went to the father.

And this body stayed in the tomb.

And then at the resurrection, he's telling her I'm. My ascension is yet 40 days away. Right. That's what.

I'm going to be around for.

A while. I'll be around. And I think that's that's important to understand. When we look at this, there's not something supernatural, mystical happening there, right? You know, which is how people want to do it well or see it well. I can't believe it. We're going to be back to talk more about the resurrection in just a moment. If you have a question, you can always write to us. Go to Open Line radio.org, and that will give you links. So you can send a question. This is Michael Riedel.

Yes.

Yeah. What does she do?

Well, she goes and and and in Luke chapter 20, verse 18 says, Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord now before she saw an empty grave. Yeah. Now she says I've seen him in the resurrection.

Isn't that great? Yeah. What? And now this changed her. Remember what she was like at the start of that passage in John 20? She's weeping. She's hysterically crying, and she has been transformed.

Not anymore.

Yeah. Now she's declaring with joy. I think I've seen the Lord. He's alive.

And if he hadn't actually been raised, she would not have had that kind of change.

No, no. And that's one of the things that over and over we see the resurrection changes people. Right? And that's the transforming power of the resurrection. And right here, Mary Magdalene goes from sorrow to great joy, great sorrow to great joy. And I think that that principle of the resurrection, when we meet Jesus, you know, our life is not going to be all, you know, unicorn and bliss, you know. You know, it's just happiness and joy. But

Right?

Yeah. So okay, then Mary, the mother of James and Salome met Jesus, and they were directed to tell the brethren to go to Galilee. So again, once again, they're going to go tell them to go to Galilee.

Right. And so and so now you know again Mary, the mother of James and Salome. Now they meet Jesus as well.

Mhm. And that's in Matthew 28. They meet Jesus and he tells them, Go to Galilee, which they will do ultimately, but they will also, uh, for now they're going to stay in Jerusalem. Maybe they're delaying, maybe I don't think they're disobeying so much as delaying. But I actually think the Lord Jesus said, and he said, Go to Galilee. I think he wanted them to go to Galilee right then.

And it could be because because of the next point. Yeah. Um, that they may not have believed the reports of these people, that they'd seen the Lord. And so why go to Galilee? Because Jesus tell them to go to Galilee when they still don't. Really.

That's one of those things. You think I want to see that with my own eyes before I start believing that?

It is interesting. The next thing in Luke 24 1011 it says, um, and now they'd had reports from Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and the women from Galilee, Mary and Salome. But the disciples on the whole refused to believe. The report says.

These words appeared to be nonsense.

Yeah, that's exactly right. Luke 24, verse 11. Um, but these words appear to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. Yeah. Understandable.

Yeah, it's understandable. But, you know, I often think about how in the Gospels, uh, it talks about how the Lord Jesus would say, I'm going to Jerusalem, and there the Son of Man will be crucified. And he'll be raised on the third day. And they're like, no, no, no. I remember in Matthew 16 Peter says, no, no, no, no, that's not how it's going to.

That's not going to, that's not how it goes.

Yeah, right. So they didn't even want to believe that he was going to be crucified, let alone raised. They were not. It's it's just so incomprehensible right now. One of my favorite appearances. And again, this is one of the ones where they don't recognize Jesus because probably because they were not expecting him. It's not. This is Cleopas and his friends. Uh, and friend, I should say. Uh, and they are, uh, they're part of the wider group

And it is interesting, though, that there is some suggestion that it was actually hidden from them. They they were not allowed by the Lord to recognize Jesus. In verse 16 it says, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. And then in verse 30 and verse 31 it says, then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. And so I think there was something more going on here as to why they were prevented from recognizing him. I don't know, but.

Maybe it was their lack of faith in the resurrection.

Maybe, maybe there was more that he needed to interact with them about before they would really believe it. I don't, I don't know, hard to say.

I do think it's interesting what they say to this stranger they don't recognize. They say to him, are you the only one in Jerusalem that doesn't know what happened?

Right, right. And he goes and he says to them, um, what events are you talking about? You know, this is one of these these times where on occasion, God asks questions of people. Yeah. And and God knows what's going on. Jesus knows what's happening, but it's to draw them out. It's to include them in an opportunity to learn and grow and make progress and develop and. And I love the fact that he he sort of welcomes them to be able to do that by sharing with him.

Yeah. And what I think is so interesting about it too, is they are asking, are you ignorant? Right. You know, but who is really ignorant?

Yeah. Well they were, they were.

Yeah. They're blinded to the whole thing. And then what does he do? He immediately begins to teach them the scriptures. Yep. Uh, and he says that beginning with, uh, he says to them how unwise and slow of heart you are to believe in your hearts. All the prophets have spoken. Didn't the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into his glory? Then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted them, uh, for them the things concerning himself

I would love to have been a mouse in the corner on that talk. I mean, there is, Michael, you know, there's so much discussion in scholarly circles about how the New Testament writers use the Old Testament and and what they're doing with all of that. And and I it would have been so wonderful to have heard Jesus unpack the Hebrew Scriptures as a proof of pointing toward him in order to convince these two on the road to Emmaus.

Yeah. And it says that they said, were not our hearts on fire as he explained the scriptures to us. Uh, so it must have been a really powerful, powerful, uh, Bible study. Uh, I think that's it's just remarkable that they did that. And so, anyway, they have this meeting with him on the road to Emmaus. I think that is great. And I agree with you, the Lord Jesus.

I know, I know, which is a great book, by the way. It's a great book.

But I care about it that the messianic hope was really there in the Hebrew Bible. Right. Okay. So let's move on, because we're going to run out of time. Right. Uh. Next appearance.

Well, apparently, somehow, somewhere in here. Jesus then appeared to Peter. First Corinthians 15 and verse five. Yeah. Talks about that. He appeared to Cephas and then to the 12. And then in Luke 2434 says, I think the same is referring to the same thing. The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon, that is, to Peter.

So it's mentioned that it happened, but we don't have the narrative of it.

We don't have a narrative of it. And I'm wondering if maybe this is where Jesus and Peter meet for the very first time. For there maybe to be some reproof, but restoration.

Mhm.

Hard to say.

Yeah. Maybe this is the reproof because later on it's the restoration. Right.

That's. That's right.

Yeah. That's it. Uh, because Peter denied the Lord. Or maybe it was just to show him. We don't know that. That it was reproof. Uh, maybe it was just to show him that he was raised right. But they didn't interact long. But at least Peter now knows it's true. And now, in Luke 24, it's almost as if it's just going on right at the same level. Although there's these other things that happened in between. Luke, he's not

That that very night, Sunday night, Resurrection Sunday. Jesus appears to the 11, but Thomas is not there.

So they're called the 11. But there's really only ten.

That's that's true. Yeah. At that point, there's Thomas is not there. Um, but a one week later it says in John 20, starting at verse 26, after eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Now Thomas is there. Jesus came and said, peace be with you, Thomas. You know, he says, Thomas, look, touch my hands. Put your hand in my side. It's me. Thomas says, my Lord and my God. Also in that in the in the week before that, when Jesus appears, he actually eats.

That's a great transformation because people call him Doubting Thomas. But what does Thomas always say? Unless I see him, unless I touch those wounds, I will not believe. He's unbelieving. Thomas, right? And Thomas is transformed from unbelief to faith.

It's amazing.

Yeah. And, you know, once I had a there was a couple in my congregation many, many years ago, she came from a muslim background and her husband was a committed believer. And she would come to services from time to time and say, oh, I could never believe this, because you believe that Jesus is God. Scott, and one day she came with him. On a day when I was speaking about unbelieving, Thomas turned to believing Thomas, and at the end of it just she says, I know

Right there. Peter's out fishing. In fact, Peter just says, I don't know if he's dejected or not, but he says in John 2121 three, I'm going fishing. Yeah. You know, who knows why he says that? And so they go.

Don't you think he was saying, you know what, I'm not very good at being a disciple. I've denied the Lord three times. I think I'll go back to what I was also not good at, but maybe better at.

Yeah, I probably won't be all that good at being a fisher of men. So I'm going to go fish for fish. Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. And then so he meets Peter. And I think that this is a remarkable encounter. And you're the Greek scholar. And so three times the Lord Jesus asks Peter, do you love me? And he uses the verb from agapao. And three times Peter responds by saying with the word, I love you phileo. So what's up?

Well, it's hard to say, actually. Michael. It could be just a stylistic change. It could be that that, um, that Peter is saying, you know, Lord, I don't have the sort of agape love, the sort of deeper kind of love that maybe I should have. But I do have tremendous affection for you. I have the fill for you.

Don't you think by that time it was in the Koine Greek, it was pretty much they were synonymous.

I think they were actually, I really do. So it's very hard to say. But at the very least, one thing that's interesting is that when Jesus comes and he appears to them in verse nine, it says, so when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. The only other place in any of the Gospels where it mentions a charcoal fire. Fire is in John chapter 18, where that happens in the courtyard of the high priest.

Yeah. Feed my sheep. So really, what he's doing is once again transforming Peter through the resurrection from a failure to a shepherd to a faithful servant. And I think that that's remarkable, because now he gives him three times to affirm his love for him after his three denials. Okay. Next very important appearance is on a mountaintop in Galilee. And what happens there? The great commission.

Great commission. All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Very, very important text. Important episode here.

So they were told right from the beginning. Go tell them the Lord is risen. Go tell. Now the disciples are told. Go tell the whole world about this. And you know, some people say, well, that doesn't really apply to us. That's to the 12. What I always look at is he says, I am with you even to the end of the age.

Right?

That means it's not just them.

No it's not. It's. We're to be like them.

Yeah. Uh, to the end of the age, we're supposed to be proclaiming that good news. Uh, of Jesus being dying for us and being raised again. And that's what's going to transform people. Uh, now Jesus appears to 500 brethren. Where does that happen?

Well, best guess is that that happens also in Galilee. Hard to say for sure, but we get a hint of that in Luke 24, verses 44 to 49. He reminds them of the kinds of things that he has taught them. And then in first Corinthians 15 six it says, after that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. I think probably the best idea is that that's in Galilee.

Yeah, and that's what sometime after that, he appears to James, right? That's his brother Jacob, actually. Don't you think? Yep. Uh, English says James. But yeah. Jacobus. In the Greek it is. Uh. And then to all the apostles. Do you think that is. I mean, they obviously have met as a group before, but maybe individually with the apostles. What do you think?

Um, again, could be very hard to say. I think it I think it could be just another meeting with all the apostles to somewhere, probably in Galilee.

And because it says in acts one that he was with them for 40 days teaching them all about the kingdom of God.

He was with them all kinds of times.

Yeah. So now the thing about the 500 brethren, some people have said this is just an hallucination. When people think they saw someone that they've feared dying. Is there such a thing as a 500 person hallucination?

I think that's very unlikely. I you know, I think, um, um, not only is it unlikely, I don't impossible. It's impossible. I don't believe that that happened. The Bible doesn't say that it happened. They saw him.

Yeah, but when you have 500 people to see something, it's amazing.

You know, if somebody's super deep in grief, maybe they're going to be so emotionally distraught. They might see something and see their loved one or whatever. But that's not that's not going to happen with that many people who are level headed and who have been followers of Jesus, and they are probably not going to be prone to such sort of, um, difficulty mental, emotional.

So we've got the 500. We've got James, and then we've got the last resurrection appearance recorded is really, uh, Before his ascension. Is that would you say. Aha.

Yeah. And acts one six through 11 they say, Jesus, are you going to restore the kingdom now to Israel? And he says not. You don't need to know the timing, but which.

By the way, means he will restore the kingdom.

He will.

Oh, yeah. Just not.

Now. He's going to do that. Yeah. And then he says, you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, even to the remotest parts of the earth. And then he ascends from there into heaven, and they watch him go, and two angels show up and say the same way he left. He is coming back. It'll be physical. It'll be to this spot. There will be a literal, physical second coming, not just a spiritual second coming, like some people say.

Just like first Corinthians. Uh, first Corinthians, Zechariah 14 says his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives. Olives, right? Yeah. It's going to be just exactly, literally.

Literally.

To.

That.

Spot. Yeah. So some people say, well, he comes to us sort of spiritually in our hearts.

And he does.

He does. But that's not enough.

That's not.

Enough. We have to be looking for his appearance more. That's the blessed hope. Thank you for joining me. This is a great quick Bible study. I appreciate it so much. Thank you, Mike Vanlandingham, for helping me do this. And thanks Ryan McConaughey for engineering this. Our thanks, Courtney, for making us sound good. And remember, you can keep in touch with Open Line during the week by going to