Roadmap for the soul - Judaism, the bible and the tabernacle

In the last chapter, we saw that Jesus has come as the true 'Passover lamb'...
As our 'substitute', he has experienced 'death' in our place.

But Jesus knew that the story wouldn't end with his death...
Proof of this can be seen in a comment that he made shortly before his death ---

John 3:14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up". 67

This is certainly an interesting statement...
Here, Jesus (who often used the term "Son of Man" in reference to himself) 68
drew a clear comparison between himself and the story of Israel and the "fiery serpents".

So... why would this be?

The answer to this question can be found by reviewing the symbolism found in that story...

As we saw earlier, in that story, Israel's continued 'sin' (or 'disbelief') led to 'death', in the form of the "fiery serpents".
But more importantly, although that story emphasized that sin leads to death, it also showed that death could be overcome.

In other words, that story demonstrated that ---

	'Death' was inevitable (because of the inward 'leaven of sin')
	A 'resurrection' from death was thus both necessary & possible.

This brings us back to Jesus' statement ---

At the time when Jesus made the statement above, he had already expressed his willingness (through water baptism) to be identified with mankind's sin, and he knew where he was headed next. He knew he would soon go to the 'altar of sacrifice', where he would become the fulfillment of the very thing that the story of the fiery serpents had illustrated the need for, so long before ---

He would soon become the means through which man can experience 'death'...
And more importantly...
'resurrection'.

So... now we should probably look at how this works.
We'll start by looking at the 'death' ---

It begins with the 'bloodline' of Jesus.
Or more precisely, his 'bloodlines' (plural)...

On a physical level, Jesus had the bloodline of mankind...
He became related to the human race through the blood of his mother.

It is important to remember though, that Jesus did not have a 'blood' connection with his earthly father....
(and therefore did not inherit man's 'spiritual bloodline' of sin).

Thus, on a spiritual level, Jesus retained an entirely separate bloodline...
Spiritually, he retained the sinless bloodline of his heavenly Father.

Thus, unlike 'man', Jesus essentially had two separate 'bloodlines' ---

Jesus was physically related to mankind through 'blood'...
But spiritually, he was related to God.

Now... for us, the benefit of Jesus' physical relationship to mankind is that being 'fully man',
he was thus qualified to experience death in our place (as the 'substitute' or more precisely, as our 'Passover sacrifice').
And at the appropriate time, he willingly took on and experienced the 'curse' of man's sin (which is 'death')...

But remember... he didn't inherit that 'curse' directly...
He essentially took it on through 'adoption'.

And guess what?
According to the bible's story,
the 'adoption' works both ways!

So.... because of the (physical) 'blood' relationship between Jesus and mankind,
we can be 'adopted' into his death!
We will be seeing considerably more detail on how this works shortly.

But now, it's time to look at...
the 'resurrection' ---

As just seen, through his mother, Jesus was physically related (by blood) to mankind, and thus became eligible to present himself as the willing (and fully human) 'substitute' who would take man's place when the time came to experience the curse of death.

And through 'adoption' into his earthly father's bloodline,
at the appropriate time, Jesus took on and experienced that curse.

But death only applies to those who are guilty of sin.
And this brings us to Jesus' other bloodline...

Although (through adoption) Jesus willingly took on the 'curse' of his earthly father (and all mankind),
remember... at the same time, he also retained the sinless (spiritual) 'bloodline' of his heavenly Father

Point being that his unique 'dual bloodlines' allowed him to fully and completely experience death in mankind's place,
while still retaining his personal sinlessness (as inherited through his heavenly Father).
The end result of this being that ---

"...death could not hold him..." 69

Luke 24:1-7 "Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. (v.2) But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. (v.3) Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (v.4) And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. (v.5) Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? (v.6) He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, (v.7) saying, "The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again'".

Further accounts of Jesus' resurrection can be seen in ---
Matthew, chapter 28, Mark, chapter 16, and John, chapters 20, 21, & 22.

While the physical 'bloodline' of his mother enabled Jesus to become fully 'man' and pay the price for man's sin,
it was the spiritual 'bloodline' of his Heavenly Father that enabled him to be resurrected.

And here is the really good news for us ---

Just as we are able to be 'adopted' into Jesus' death through our shared bloodline...
Now, we can be 'adopted' into his resurrection as well!

Galatians 4:4-5 "...when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (v.5) to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons".

Through the physical bloodline of Jesus, we can be included in his death.
Through the spiritual bloodline of Jesus, we can be included in his resurrection.

As it says here ---

Romans 5:18 "Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life".

Here, we find that just as through the bloodline of "one man" (Adam) all men became subject to sin & death,
likewise, through the bloodline of "one Man" (Jesus). "life" is now available

Although 'death' is necessary (because of the 'unstoppable leaven of sin'),
mankind is no longer doomed to permanent 'death' (or 'separation from God').

Romans 8:15 "...you recieved the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father"."

2 Corinthians 6:18 "...I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty..."

We are now being given the opportunity to become His "sons and daughters" if we are willing.
This is obviously a major change in mankind's relationship with God.

As we wrap up this chapter,
Jesus' identification with the story of Israel and the "fiery serpents" should now make sense...
He was simply saying that the means of both 'death' & 'resurrection' was finally at hand...

Just as those in the original story could be 'resurrected' from death by looking at the 'serpent on the pole',
now, anyone can be resurrected, if they are just willing to look at the man God has 'raised on a pole'.
In both cases, the process of healing is virtually identical...
To be 'healed', we must ---

	...look at what our sin ('disbelief') has brought upon us (i.e. admit our 'guilt')...
	...recognize that 'death' (or 'separation') is thus inevitable...
	...be willing to accept the 'resurrection' that only God can provide (thus admitting our 'helplessness'),

If we will just do that ---
God can & will provide us with resurrection from what is otherwise a sure (and permanent) death.

It is only through Jesus that ---

This is not the end of our story however...
Some of the tabernacle's most interesting symbolism still lies ahead.....

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