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The Geographical Journeys of The Lord
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The fact that the Tabernacle was the dwelling place of God as He with
Israel traversed this earth, it becomes the foundation for the
meditation of our Lord and His protracted journey. That journey from
Heaven to earth and back to Heaven was rather a series of smaller
journeys. In His coming to earth, it is important to distinguish
between the two aspects of that event. There was His “condescension”
and then His “incarnation”. Likewise, in considering His going back to
God there are two aspects, His “ascension” and then His “exaltation”.
It could broadly be said that: |
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1) |
The
ascension was Jesus the man going back to Heaven. (Acts 1:9-11) |
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2) |
His
exaltation is the work of God in honoring Him. (Phil. 2:9) |
In this paper, rather than look at every journey (though each was
precious to the heart of God), there will be consideration of His
incarnation, and more specifically, His ascension and exaltation.
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The Tabernacle was not a stationary object but journeyed with the
children of Israel in their movings and stoppages. In the gospel
narratives, while there is a constant emphasis on the movings and
stoppages of the Lord, yet His movings were never rash or uncontrolled,
nor stoppages prolonged, for they were always according to the will of
God (Jn. 8:29; Heb. 10:9), consequently: |
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1) |
“He
went about all the cities.” (Matt. 9:35) |
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2) |
“He
departed thence to preach in their cities.” (Matt. 11:1) |
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3) |
“Set
His face to go to Jerusalem.” (Lk. 9:51) |
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4) |
“And
Jesus stood still.” (Matt. 20:32) |
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5) |
“And
Jesus stood still.” (Mk. 10:49) |
Furthermore, He did not take it that it was the will of God for Him to
stay in a place because the people sought Him to do so. (Jn. 4:40)
There were times when He was moved by others and multiple times when He
moved of His own accord (refer to the document
“His Earthly Journeys”) according to the will of God. There were times
when He left a place because of rejection (Matt. 8:34), or because He
knew it was the will of God for Him to go (Matt. 11:1).
Thoughts on His Incarnation
It is a magnificent truth that by the incarnation God became man, one
Person, yet full deity and perfect humanity, inseparable yet each
distinct. In the ascension, the man who was God entered Heaven, and for
the first time there was a man of flesh and bone in the glory. We must
never lose sight that in the incarnation He did not cease to be God,
neither was His deity modified, for He eternally is the unchangeable God
(Mal. 3:6). In His ascension He did not cease to be man, neither was
that modified to live in Heaven. Having said that, it must be
recognized that the body He had after resurrection was similar to, but
yet different from, that which He had before it.
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1) |
Differences: |
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a) |
Before His death and resurrection His body was a real human body of
blood flesh and bone, but after resurrection it was “flesh and bone”
with no mention of “blood”. (Lk. 24:39) |
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b) |
Before His death and resurrection He walked from place to place, but
apart from Lk. 24:15, there is no mention of how He moved from one place
to another, He is just there. |
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c) |
This
was a body that could transfer between earth and Heaven. |
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d) |
Prior to His death and resurrection, He was “limited” by the human body,
but after resurrection, the closed doors of the room could not hinder
Him from entering. (Jn. 20:19) |
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e) |
He
was recognized (Matt. 8:34; Mk 6:33), yet afterward he appeared to some
and they did not recognize Him for “their eyes were holden” (Lk. 24:16);
Mary failed to recognize Him (Jn. 20:15) as the disciples (Jn. 21:12)
partly because they had not expected to see Him. |
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2) |
Similarities |
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a) |
He
was still a man being the “same Jesus” (Acts 1:11; 9:5) and in His
resurrection body He still had human constitution for He was able to eat
meat (Lk. 24:41-43). |
His Earthly Journeys
The earthly journeys of our Lord can be divided into those in which he
was moved by others and those when He moved of His own accord.
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To the best of my knowledge there are twelve
geographical journeys when our Lord was moved by others.
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1) |
As a
baby He was brought from Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1) to Jerusalem for His
circumcision (Lk. 2:21). |
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2) |
Then
back to Nazareth. (Lk. 2:39) |
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3) |
Some
time (but less than two years) later, due to Herod’s decree, as a child
He was brought into Egypt. (Matt. 2:13-18) |
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4) |
The
family later returned from Egypt to Nazareth. (Matt. 2:19-23)
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5) |
Through the years He was brought to Jerusalem for the Passover, and
particular notice of being taken when He was a child of twelve (Lk.
2:40-50). Now, for the first time, He “moves” in His own consciousness
of God (Lk. 2:43-49) by staying in Jerusalem. |
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6) |
Then
back to Nazareth. (Lk. 2:51) |
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7) |
As a
man, the disciples “took Him even as He was” into the ship (Mk. 4:36), a
geographical journey across the Sea. |
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8) |
He
was “led away” to Annas. (Jn. 18:13) |
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9) |
He
was “led away” to Caiaphas. (Matt. 26:57) |
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10) |
He was
“led away” to Pilate. (Matt. 27:2) |
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11) |
He was
“led away” to be crucified. (Jn. 19:16) |
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12) |
“Sent
him to Herod.” (Lk. 23:7) |
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There are an unknown number of times when the Lord moved in His own
consciousness of God as a man. This is because, at times, it is
only recorded that He “went round about their villages” (Mk. 6:6).
However, quite a few of His journeys were given to us, some of which
are: |
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1) |
To
the Jordan to be baptized. (Matt. 3:13-17; Mk. 1:9-11; Lk. 3:21-23) |
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2) |
Into
the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil (Matt. 4:1; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk.
4:1) |
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3) |
To
Cana of Galilee for the marriage. (Jn. 2:1-11) |
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4) |
Up
to Jerusalem for the Passover. (Jn. 2:13) |
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5) |
To
Judaea (Jn. 3:22) through Galilee (Jn. 4:1-44) |
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6) |
Into
a desert place. (Lk. 4:42) |
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7) |
Into
other cities of Galilee to preach. (Lk. 4:43-44) |
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8) |
By
the Lake Gennesaret. (Lk. 5:1-15) |
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9) |
To
Gethsemane which was the Mount of Olives. (Lk. 22:39)
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10) |
To the
two on the road to Emmaus. (Lk. 24:13-27) |
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11) |
To
Galilee. (Matt. 26:32; Mk. 14:28) |
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Thank God He will make more journeys: |
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1) |
To
the Throne to take the Book. (Rev. 5:2-7) |
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2) |
To
the air. (1 Thess. 4:17) |
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3) |
To
the earth. (Zech. 14:4) |
Why Did He Move?
In looking at this, I understand that the Lord moved geographically but
never for the sake of just going somewhere. There was always a
spiritual reason or personal experience to be learnt. Let us never
forget that: “He learned obedience by the things which He suffered”
(Heb. 5:8). Being God, He knew people were hungry, thirsty, and tired,
but
never experienced it. To be a high priest He had to know these things,
thus the journeys were for His “apprenticeship” to be a High Priest.
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Enrichment: |
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a) |
At
times to heal physically and in so doing, give evidence of who He was.
(Jn. 9:1-38) |
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b) |
At
times to comfort and assure. (Lk. 24:17-27) |
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c) |
At
times to heal spiritually and instruct. (Lk. 5:17) |
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2) |
Rejection: |
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a) |
There were times when the moving was initiated by man’s response, as
when the people of Gadarenes began to “pray Him to depart”. (Mk. 5:17)
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b) |
“And
they did not receive him, because his face was as though He would go to
Jerusalem.”
(Lk. 9:53)
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3) |
Spirit led: |
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a) |
Only
on one occasion was He led by Satan, and that was by the Holy Spirit.
(Matt. 4:1; Mk. 1:12; Lk. 4:1) |
His Journey To Heaven, His Ascension
It is a fact that Satan is strongly opposed to anything that will
glorify God and Christ, therefore, it is not surprising that he has
those who deny every fundamental truth of our glorious Lord. Such has
been his deceptive brilliance that men “professing themselves to be
wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:22) and consequently deny the virgin
birth, His unique person, His deity, and the true significance of His
sacrificial death, burial and resurrection. That being said, it is not
to be wondered at when they also deny His ascension to the Father. When
man rejects the unerring word of God and treats it as fallible, then he
has no absolutes, and all miracles are just symbolic stories and he
rationalizes divine things. Those who deny the ascension fall into two
main lines of thought:
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1) |
They deny that there is a literal place called
Heaven, and because of that Christ could not have gone there, for how
can one go to a place that does not exist. |
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2) |
They
rightly make the observation that a human body is not suitable/capable
of living in a terrestrial spirit world. On this they and Paul agree,
for he wrote: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”
(1 Cor. 15:50)
and that is why there must be a change in the body, which is exactly the
point Paul argues (1 Cor. 15:51-55). Paul writes that there must be a
change in the constitution of the body, being a body like our Lord’s and
thus fit for that other world. Furthermore, there will be a change in
its essential character, for it will be a body without the sin nature. |
Since this is not a paper on apologetics, I stay no longer on that
subject.
May God grant us good understanding as He, by His
Holy Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13
Copyright © 2012 by Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford,
British Columbia
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