Can the Resurrected Jesus and the Spirit Exist on the Earth at the Same Time?

WHY DID JESUS LEAVE BEFORE THE HELPER CAME???

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7)

This statement of John puzzled me in the past, as some great cosmic anomaly that prevented the glorified Jesus from existing on the earth after the Spirit had been poured out on mankind.  Otherwise, why say “If I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you”?  I eventually reconciled the apparent dichotomy with the earlier statement of John recalling the words of Jesus spoken during the water pouring ceremony on the last great day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39)

Based on John’s gospel, I concluded that it was not Jesus’ departure, but His glorification that was a prerequisite for the coming of the Helper.  Only through the glorification were believers “made righteous,” (Rom 5:19), and “the righteous made perfect” (Heb 12:23).  “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,” (Heb 10:14).  In other words, the sacrifice of Jesus perfected the believer to a level of righteousness necessary to receive the Spirit.

In a recent Torah group discussion, one person stated that the Spirit and the glorified Jesus could not exist on the earth at the same time.  I challenged this position, which you all know is against my nature (:-)), because the statement was not consistent with my model.  It was the “glorification” of Jesus and not His departure that was necessary for the coming of the Spirit.  This person countered that Jesus walked on the earth forty days after His resurrection, but only left prior to the coming of the Spirit.  In addition, scripture hints to a reverse scenario at the end days when the Spirit will depart prior to the return of Jesus, (2 Thes 2:7). 

As believers, we accept that God is all powerful, able to perform any task, or accomplish any purpose He desires, because “with God all things are possible,” (Matt 19:26).  At the same time, we acknowledge that God has elected to limit Himself in the present creation according to the framework He established in scripture.  So I wondered if scripture offered some self-imposed purpose of the Creator that prevents the Spirit and the glorified Christ from existing on the earth at the same time.

According to the author of Hebrews, Jesus currently ministers as “a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb 2:17), a high priest who can “sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15), and “a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb 5:10).

“Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man,” (Heb 8:1-2).

As high priest, “Christ Jesus…is at the right hand of God…(and) intercedes for us,” (Rom 8:34).  The words of Paul, and the Hebrew author, imply an important ongoing activity by Jesus, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people,” (Heb 2:17).  Even though the offering of Jesus was “once for all” (Heb 7:27), the interceding of Jesus as high priest is seen in scripture as an integral part of the continuing process to sanctify believers in the righteousness necessary to receive, and possibly maintain, the Spirit.  It’s unclear to me if this is a one-time process at the moment of belief or an ongoing process for each believer.

Jesus’ role as high priest continues as long as Jesus sits in the heavenly tabernacle at the right hand of the Father.  When Jesus returns to the earth as King, His role as high priest will conclude and Jesus will cease to intercede for believers in the role of high priest, for “If He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all,” (Heb 8:4).  Therefore, scripture implies that the appearance of Jesus on the earth at the present time is limited by His existing obligation as high priest in the heavenly places.  This understanding offers an answer to one question, but leaves another unanswered, “Why must the Spirit leave the earth before Jesus returns?”

The outpouring of the Spirit on the earth is contingent on the righteousness of believers received through the faithfulness of Jesus, as written, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21).  A believer’s righteous is derived both from the offering of Jesus on the cross, and apparently is also somehow dependent on the continuing intercession of Jesus as high priest before the Father, (Matt 10:32).  But what will happen when Jesus is no longer acting as a high priest?  At that time, can the Spirit no longer be poured out on mankind, as today, because the righteousness of men may be diminished when Jesus no longer ministers as high priest?  Or is the removal of the Spirit just a prerequisite to allow the pouring out of God's wrath on the earth?  What do you think?

This discussion opens up numerous fascinating tangents that are beyond the scope of this thought.  For example, does this explain why the righteous are caught up to be with Jesus at the time of His return, when He no longer is before the Father, “to make propitiation for the sins of the people,” (Heb 2:17)?  Can we also offer an explanation for the return of the Levitical priesthood during the fullness of the kingdom on earth?  Although the offering of Jesus is “once for all”, will the Levitical priesthood and high priest fill the role vacated by Jesus when He reigns as King on the earth?

It may only be in the fullness of the kingdom where we will finally see the resurrected Jesus and Spirit c0-existing on the earth at the same time.  As Jesus reigns on the throne of David, God “will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances,” (Ezek 36:27).  Of the nation, Zechariah prophesied,  

"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication; so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him; as one mourns for an only son," (Zech 12:10)

-- Scott

Year of Jubilee (Conclusion)

THE RETURN OF JESUS AND THE YEAR OF JUBILEE

“The world will endure not less than 85 Jubilees, and on the last Jubilee the Son of David will come” (Sanh. 97b)[1]

According to the  Talmud, the return of the Messiah is expected to coincide with the Year of Jubilee.  The Kabbalah sees a parallel between the 50^th day (Shavuot/Pentecost) that follows the seven weeks after Passover and the 50^th year (Jubilee) following the seven Sabbatical year cycles.  The Feast of Pentecost brought forth the Law and the Spirit.  Jubilee will bring forth the Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David. 

Why is Jubilee a likely time for the return of the Messiah?  First, the Year of Jubilee begins with the Jewish New Year, the Feast of Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets), announced with the blowing of trumpets.  Believers who have studied the Feasts generally hold the Feast of Trumpets as the likely date for the return of Jesus “For the LORD Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God” (1 Thess 4:16), “For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed,” (1 Cor 15:52).  Rosh Hashanah is also the next feast in keeping with the pattern of Jesus’ fulfillment of the earlier springs feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost. 

Further, the Year of Jubilee proclaims a gathering of the nation to Israel, “It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family,” (Lev 25:11).  This gathering of Israelites reflects one of the greatest promises in the Hebrew text given by Moses before the nation entered the land, (Deut 30:2-5).  An allusion to the fulfillment of this promise is seen in the words Jesus proclaimed before His crucifixion, “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven,” (Mark 13:27).  Jesus' words imply the close proximity of Jubilee in the days of His ministry.

The Levitical passage describing the Year of Jubilee continues with the phrase “proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants,” (Lev 25:10, NIV).  This phrase is later referenced in the prophecy of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted…to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners,” (Isa 61:1, NASB).  These words of Isaiah have Messianic implications, especially for the believer since Jesus read the same passage in His hometown synagogue, concluding with the words, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (Luke 4:18-21). 

When John asked Jesus “Are you the Expected One?” (Matt 11:3), some think John was alluding to the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa 61:1) and asking if Jesus was the "anointed" one who was going to set John free.  The response of Jesus to John was filled with attributes of the Kingdom, “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raise up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matt 11:5), but concludes with the cautionary words, “blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”  Noticeably absent from Jesus’ words is the release of the captives, which would have occurred in the Year of Jubilee.

It was not preordained that the nation of Israel would reject the Messiah.  For freewill to function, the offer of national restoration through repentance had to be legitimate.  Even though God’s foreknowledge understood that the nation would reject the Messiah, this does not mean that the outcome was predestined.  In other words, Jesus was not just going through the motions, but must have been calling the nation to repentance around the time of Jubilee, A.D. 30 plus or minus a few years.  Had the nation repented and believed, the fullness of the Kingdom would have been revealed.   

 
Although no man knows the exact day Jesus will return, we can speculate that every 50 years the opportunity arrives with the coming of the Year of Jubilee.  Following a fifty-year sequence, the 40^th Jubilee after the crucifixion will arrive sometime between 2027 to 2033 A.D.  No one knows if Jesus will return on this Jubilee, but it’s difficult to conceive that the world can last another 65 years to the Jubilee that follows.  All this is subject to at least the following qualifications:

(1)   The accuracy of the dating of Jesus’ ministry and the crucifixion by historians,

(2)   The assumption that the Year of Jubilee occurred sometime during the ministry of Jesus or in the year of His crucifixion, and

(3)   The understood fifty-year cycle of Jubilee.  Judah haNasi contended that the Year of Jubilee coincided with the Sabbatical 49^th year.  He argued this position to prevent the burden of having two consecutive Sabbath years for the land.  However, the majority of the Talmudic rabbis believed that the biblical phrase “hallow the fiftieth year” along with the promise of three years worth of fruit indicates that the Jubilee year was the 50^th year.  If the Jubilee cycle was only a 49-cycle, then the next Year of Jubilee would arrive by 2039 A.D. 

We live in interesting and prophetic times.

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[1] Encyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition, Volume 17, page 628