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"Raised Up on the Last Day"By GARRETT PAUL PARRISH
www.BibleProphecyFulfilled.org
John Chapter 6
In John
chapter six, Jesus states, “that everyone
that seeth the Son, and believes on him may have everlasting life: and
I will
raise him up at the last day.”
(Jn.6:40)
The entire context of the chapter is based
upon the blood of the New Covenant, and how its kingdom is not one of a
physical
nature. (6:15) The physical
priorities of flesh first, that
is, the physical fish and barley loaves, was being corrected in the
teaching of
Jesus here. The
focus upon the desire
for physical strength from bread, and the desire for power from an
earthly king,
were continually corrected here by Jesus as well. The disciples had to
be
renewed, in that His is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory
forever. And, that His kingdom was opposite of
those kingdoms of the
Gentiles who sought conquest, rather than service.
(Lk.22:24-27) They
sought His glory for themselves (Is.42:8)
in seeking to perform similar miracles/works of God.
(6:14, 28)
Jesus continues to focus on the New Covenant,
which is not by works, but by faith.
“This
is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.” Jesus presents himself as
the fulfillment of
all life’s longings when He says that “I
am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst.”
(6:35) Next, Jesus begins with everlasting
life from himself
being the life giving bread and water.
(6:40)
At this point He begins using the phrase, “and I
will raise him up at the
last day.” (6:39,40,44,54)
What
is the “last day.” 1 John 2:18 states
that, “it is the last
hour.”
These must be referring
to the same countdown of the same event.
Just one chapter before John 6, in John 5:28 Jesus
says, “for the
hour is coming, in the which all that are in the
graves shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” This last hour
must be also revealed in
Matthew 20:6, when Jesus says, “And about the eleventh
hour he
went out, and found others
standing idle,…”
“But when the first came,…they
murmured…Saying,
These last have wrought but one
hour, and thou has made them equal
to us,…” (Mt.20:10,11,12) The
“others” are the Gentiles.
“The first” are the
Jews who murmured
in the last hour as the Gentiles/others
were being made equal with
themselves/Jews.
The last
hour of the last day is
the last hour and day of exactly what?
What is the context of John six?
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye
eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth
my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
hath eternal life;
and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is
meat indeed, and my blood is
drink indeed.” (Jn.6:53-55)
The blood and
the bread of
the
eternal life giving New Covenant is the clear context of this chapter. Could it be that
on the last day of the Old
Covenant, which was the first day of the New Covenant, was when they
would be
raised up in the everlasting life of the New Covenant?
Were they not dead in their trespasses and
sins (Eph.2:1) until they were given a new birth (Jn.3:3),
in the
New Covenant? The
last day of the Old
Covenant system was fast approaching.
That
system was on the eve of its final destruction.
“A New Covenant, he hath made the first
old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old
is ready to vanish away” (Heb.8:13) It hadn’t yet
officially vanished away. That
is, at the time that Hebrews was
written. When did
it finally become
desolate and removed entirely out of the picture.
“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way
into the holiest of all was not yet made
manifest, while
as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” (Heb.9:8) The New Covenant temple
(Church) could not be
seen clearly by all (made
manifest), until the Old
Covenant temple (first tabernacle) was brought down. The temple in Jerusalem
was yet
standing.
Their was much
murkiness as to who the real sons of God were.
(Romans 8:19)
The sheep
and goats sounded the same. The
wheat
and tares could not be distinguished until the end of the age, when the
tares
would be burned / judged. (Mt.13:39,
40) This
event would transpire at
the harvest and the end of the age.
Jesus and the first believers were the first fruits of the
resurrection. The
harvest was very soon
to follow at the end of the age. What
age? It was the end
of the Old Covenant
age. It technically
ended at the cross,
and the first fruits were raised in the New Covenant immediately after
the
cross. The harvest
was seen at the
formal inauguration of the New Covenant in the final desolation and
destruction
of the Old Covenant house. (Mt.23:38,
24:2, Heb.9:8) Yes,
the murkiness
and blindness
(Rom.11:25)
was lifted for Jews everywhere at this event.
Things would not continue as they always had. (2 Peter 3:4) Of these tribes, every eye
would “see”
(discern, perceive, and understand) Jesus’ coming in judgment. And they would mourn in
repentance in a death
bed conversion at the destruction of Jerusalem.
(Rev.1:7, Zech. 12:10,11)
Even Caiaphas, the leader of the tribes would “see”
Jesus
coming in clouds of judgment. (Mt.26:64) The Greek
word for “see”
here is “Optomai”, which uniquely differentiates
from mere mechanical seeing,
and conveys discerning, perceiving and understanding. As in, “I
see”.
So, the final day of the Old Covenant
system was approaching at the time of the New Testament writings. You see it everywhere! (1 Cor. 10:11,
Heb.10:25, James 5:8, 9, 1
Pet.4:7, Rev.1:1,3, 22:6, 7,10, 12, 20)
The New Day of the New Covenant’s formal
establishment was fast
approaching. “The
night is far spent,
the day is at
hand: let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.”
(Romans 13:12)
“We have also a more sure word of
prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that
shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn,
and the day star arise
in your hearts.” (2
Pet.1:19)
The fleshly mindset is not able to
interpret these things. In
John
6:48-54, what was brought to mind to the hearers when Jesus
said “eat my
flesh and drink my blood”?
Cannibalism!
They had no clue to
the meaning of the words of Jesus.
This
has not changed for the fleshly minded Bible Prophecy teachers of our
day. They have no
clue! “It
is the Spirit that gives life, the
flesh profited nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are Spirit,
and
they are life.” (Jn.6:63) “But
the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are
foolishness unto him: neither can know them, because they are
spiritually
discerned. But he
that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged (understood) of no man.”
(1
Cor.2:14,15) “What
are you talking
about”, is usually the response of the natural, fleshly
minded person.
In reality, the listeners of Jesus in
John chapter six, were raised corporately from the Old, to the New
Covenant
made through the blood and body sacrifice of Jesus.
Corporate resurrection is very common
throughout the scriptures. Ezekiel
37,
and the dry bones, as well as Isaiah 25 and 26 are clear examples of
this. The passage
in Isaiah 25 and 26 is the
reference which Paul uses in 1 Cor.15, and Eph.5:14,
in regard to resurrection. In
John six, some would be raised to new life
in the new covenant on the actual last day of the Old Covenant (The
time of the
cross.), while others would be so raised on the
“ceremonial” last day of the
Old Covenant at the end of the age.
Once
the old temple and covenant
city
headquarters, the Jerusalem that now is (Now
is, in the first
century) was destroyed, then the New Jerusalem, which is above, could
be
clearly seen to all as the true city of God.
(Gal.4:25,26, Mt.5:14, Heb.12:22, Heb.9:8) The old city had become a harlot
and a
habitation of demons. (Mt.12:45, Rev.18:2,
Mt.23:33) The
New city and bride, as opposed to
a harlot, became the habitation
of God through the Spirit. (Eph.2:22) Today, an abundance of
Christian leaders are
going back to the old habitation.
Come out from among them! (Rev.18:4)
In conclusion, on the last day of the Old
Covenant, the hearers of John chapter six would be raised up in the New
Covenant, if they simply believed on him whom God hath sent. (Jn.6:29, 40,
53-55) Some
would be raised at the first fruits,
while others would be raised at the harvest at the end of the age. (Rev.7:9) The New Day of the New
Covenant’s ceremonial
establishment was at hand. It
finally
came at the destruction of the Old Covenant temple, city, and nation. (Heb.9:8) The last
days countdown
had a last hour
(Mt.20:6,12,
1 Jn.2:18), which ended on the last
day. The last
day, was the last day of the Old Covenant, which was the
first day of the
New Covenant, which is the context of John chapter six.
It was a very difficult transition for those
living in the first century to go from the Old Covenant city,
temple,
and nation into the New Covenant city,
temple, and nation.
It is equally a difficult transition for those living in the twenty
first
century.
By GARRETT PAUL PARRISH
www.BibleProphecyFulfilled.org