“Yeshua saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:17
For centuries, scholars have understood and taught that Yeshua ascended to be consecrated as our High Priest shortly after He was resurrected two thousand years ago. It is considered as a pillar in the Christian and Messianic/Hebrew Roots understanding. This narrative is based on scriptures concerning what Yeshua said to Mary Magdalene after He rose from the dead and other scriptures that identify and emphasize Yeshua as the High Priest.
Yet, to this day scholars wrestle with the inconsistencies of this narrative. The statement Yeshua made to Mary Magdalene in John 20:17 in which He requested that she not touch Him because He is about to go before Abba (Father) is reasoned by scholars that He is telling her He must remain pure in order to adhere to the priestly purity requirements as outlined in Exodus 29:1-34 / Exodus 40:12, 15 / Leviticus 8. One of these priestly requirements involved being cloistered for eight days in the Sanctuary. However, there are three accounts of Yeshua interacting with and having people touching Him on day one, day two and day eight post resurrection.
So reconciling these two aspects of the scriptures has become quite the conundrum that keeps scholars perplexed about whether Yeshua was consecrated as our High Priest shortly after His resurrection or not.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John diligently record the events that took place with Yeshua after He rose from the dead. Each disciple wrote his gospel based on the information he was privy to. When all four books are combined into a running script, it becomes quite clear how events occurred after Yeshua was resurrected. And this running script of events shows that the events did not adhere to the priestly consecration requirements mentioned above.
For instance, why does it say in Matthew 28:9 that the women who went to the tomb the morning of the third day after His death encounter Him and worship Him by holding onto His feet? According to John 20:17 the event with the women occurred around the same time that Yeshua told Mary Magdalene not to touch Him. Then in Luke 24:13-35, shortly after meeting the women, Yeshua is walking on the road outside Jerusalem with two men who are travelling to a village called Emmaus. He has a serious discussion with them and also ate a meal with them before vanishing. Then later that same evening the two men (who have swiftly returned to Jerusalem) tell the disciples of their experience, when Yeshua appears to the eleven disciples in the room they stayed in for the night. In verse 39, Yeshua actually tells the disciples to ‘handle Him’ (KJV) or to ‘touch Me’ (NASB) or to ‘feel Me’ (other translations). These events occur within a 24 hour period from Yeshua’s resurrection. The priestly consecration process outlined in Exodus and Leviticus involving a period of eight days is not performed here.
Did Yeshua ascend to Abba before His better known ascension on the 40th day?
There are some who do not believe that Yeshua ascended shortly after His resurrection because of these inconsistencies mentioned above. They believe He remained on the earth and only ascended on the 40th day. It’s a valid point to consider since the current narrative is inconsistent and this point must be addressed before we continue. Did Yeshua ascend to go before Abba shortly after He was resurrected? The quick answer is yes, He did ascend to Abba shortly after His resurrection and the clues which prove this involve the change in His manner of speaking.
There are two indicators that reveal to us that Yeshua’s ascension shortly after His resurrection is true and did take place. It involves the change in His authority and status quo. The first indicator is when Yeshua breathed on them and said to them “Receive you the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). This is when Luke 24:45 states that He caused their minds to be open to the scriptures. Does this remind us of another account? It reminds us of the account where YHVH breathes into the nostrils of Adam and he became a living soul. ONLY YHVH can perform something of this magnitude which clearly indicates that when Yeshua did this with the disciples, He had been restored with that same level of power and authority He had before He divested Himself and became human. He was/is once again YHVH.
Secondly, Yeshua gave the disciples the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20 / Mark 16:14-29 / Luke 24:36-49 / John 20:19-23 / Acts 1:6-8). He employed them to “go into all the world…”.
It was during this time of commissioning the disciples, that Yeshua gave the most poignant evidence of His restored glory and power. He said to them, “And Yeshua came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18). This is the only time that Yeshua stated He was given all power. This is rulership language. There is a cross-reference scripture found in Matthew 11:27. Even though the words are similar, that verse is speaking about another aspect of Yeshua’s duties which will be explained further along.
He could only authorize the disciples to be His representatives and do the Commission if He were in a position of power and authority – which He clearly stated He had. This commission is much like being an ambassador. On the diplomatic scene we know that a person can only become an ambassador on behalf of a country they represent when a person in authority over him/her makes the appointment. And the ambassador can only follow the mandate given him/her by the one in authority. This is what Yeshua did with the disciples. He told them to go into all the world and He told them what the mandate is – preach the good news unto everyone and teach ALL nations to observe all things.
Thus, this means the events that transpired with Abba in heaven was the re-investiture of Yeshua as YHVH, our royal soon-coming King. The role of the Prince of Wales in Great Britain is similar to the position that Yeshua hold. That is why He is known as the Messiah, the Prince in Daniel 9. When you read Daniel 9 there are two princes mentioned in that chapter…one with a capital letter “P” and one with a lower case “p”. They use the same Hebrew word but the context reveals the different need to capitalize the word for “prince” that is attached to the Messiah. Yeshua is the capital letter “P” - Prince. As like the physical example of the Prince of Wales, this position enables the one endowed with the title to have greater powers and glory than all other royalty (except the reigning monarch). It is into this position that Yeshua has been restored to and now His glory and authority are once again His. His title of Messiah means ‘Anointed One’ and coupled with the title of (supreme) Prince explains just how much authority has been returned to Him. That is why He could commission the disciples to go into all the world as well as to breathe on them to “receive the Holy Spirit”.
Being invested as our soon coming King reconciles with the time frame after His resurrection, because the investiture process does not take eight days. Instead it takes mere hours to perform. The best current day example had been the crowning ceremony for King Charles III which is based on the 3000 year old ancient Biblical tradition of crowning royalty[A].
Yeshua consecrated as our High Priest
Now that it is confirmed that Yeshua was re-invested with authority and power at the time He went before Abba shortly after His resurrection, we must now find out whether this ascension was also for the purpose of being consecrated as High Priest. As already discussed above, this aspect for Yeshua does not seem to reconcile with scripture. So, it brings up the question of knowing exactly when Yeshua was consecrated as our High Priest.
There are multiple scriptures that speak about the Messiah at the right hand of Abba. But the scriptures that speak about the Messiah as the High Priest are mainly found in the book of Hebrews, specifically in chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. However, we find that Hebrews 1:13 quotes another scripture that is found in the Old Testament in reference to the eternal High Priest. It is Psalm 110 (which is also quoted in Matthew 22:44, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42, Acts 2:34). As well there are multiple other scriptures that speak of Yeshua doing priestly duties for mankind. For example there is 1 Peter 2:9, Ephesians 2:18, and 1 John 2:1-2 to mention just a few. All of these scriptures are put together to fit the current narrative of the newly resurrected Yeshua ascending to be ordained as High Priest. However, these scriptures do not offer any indication of when Yeshua was consecrated into that position.
To find this out, we begin with the crucial pivot scripture of Psalm 110. We must initially figure out the identities of those spoken about in this chapter so we know we are properly utilizing this scripture. Psalm 110 speaks about the One Who sits at the right hand of the LORD, as described in verse 1: “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” This is a clear description of a royal figure called LORD Who has someone called Lord sitting at His right hand. We can understand quite clearly from John 20 that these two entities are Abba (LORD) and Yeshua (Lord).
Continuing in verses 2 and 3 Abba says that the One at His right hand will also have authority over the ‘footstool’ which He will be given including having an army that is filled with youthful energy as the morning dawn. Then in verse 4 Abba proclaims boldly as to what type of authority ‘my Lord’ (the One at His right hand) has; “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.”
Abba (LORD) has declared that the One known as Lord at His right hand is to be a priest FOREVER after the order of Melchizedek. To sit at Abba’s right hand could only refer to Yeshua (Lord), though in the Old Testament He is not known at Yeshua but as Adonai and YHVH.
Note that this scripture is written centuries before Yeshua’s physical life, death, burial and resurrection on this earth[B].
Since it is legally necessary for there to be two or three witnesses (verses) explaining Who is Who in Psalm 110, we also have Matthew 22:44 (which Yeshua used as proof that the “Lord” spoken of in Psalm 110 is not David but Him) and Acts 2:34-35 (specifically verse 29-36) which Peter explains to the Pharisees that their assumption that Psalm 110:4 is about David is more accurately about “the same Yeshua whom you have crucified, both Lord and Messiah. (v 36)”. Therefore, the One sitting at the right hand of Abba (LORD) is Yeshua (Lord).
Now we know that Psalm 110:4 is about Yeshua ha Mashiach, Whose name incidentally means ‘the salvation by Yahweh’s anointed One’. What Psalm 110:4 is saying is that the One known as “the Lord” is the One we will know as Yeshua ha Mashiach in the New Testament and thus was already anointed as the priest in the order of Melchizadek (during the time of the writing of the book of Psalm).
When was Yeshua consecrated as our High Priest?
None of the scriptures about Yeshua as our High Priest give any indication of when His consecration took place. Instead, we must gather information from the scriptures by seeing beyond the literal words and looking into the background (much like fleshing out the sentences, so-to-speak).
There are some interesting scriptures to check into that use a very unique phrase about time: ‘from the foundation of the world’. What does ‘from the foundation of the world’ mean? The background on this phrase is that it means a time period that is just BEFORE the creation of the physical realm. Thus, any of the scriptures that use this phrase gives us some insight into matters that took place between Abba and Yeshua BEFORE They began creating the physical realm.
Particularly, those verses shed some light revealing that Elohim (Abba and Yeshua) fore-knew what would be required of Yeshua from the very beginning. This aspect of fore-knowing is much like what an architect does for building structures or developments. It begins with an idea that is put onto paper, and then plans are developed for each step of the building process of this idea. It is during the development of each step that can help identify potential problems to which the architect devises a new plan or a work around.
As They developed the plan for mankind (before They actually created the physical realm), Elohim clearly walked through each step to visualize how mankind would proceed through the timeline (They know the end from the beginning Isaiah 46:10). We know this because Acts 2:22-23 and 1 Peter 1:20 explain that it is all fore-known and fore-ordained by Abba. As well, we have Revelation 13:8 which speaks to the plan that Elohim (Abba and Yeshua) established before the foundation of the world in which Yeshua would need to be slain as a Lamb (crucified). This is why He is called ‘the salvation by Yahweh’s anointed One’. Yeshua had to do this, because this creation is for Him. Earth is His kingdom (Exodus 9:29 / Exodus 19:5 / 1 Chronicles 29:11 / Psalm 24:1 / Isaiah 66:1 / 1 Corinthians 10:26, 28) and we are His Bride, it is His duty and His desire to be the salvation of us.
This would make sense when we look at the duties of a High Priest. The role of the High Priest is to minister to the people and to act as the intercessor between the people and Abba[C]. All the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation relate the history of mankind and what Adonai/Yeshua does in a priestly capacity for His people as well as being the Intercessor to Abba. Before mankind was created, Yeshua was performing the duties of the High Priest.
Another confirmation that shows Adonai/Yeshua has been the High Priest of mankind from the foundation of the world comes in the book of Hebrews. Specifically Hebrews 7:26: “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;”. This verse in the King James Version identifies that Yeshua was High Priest BEFORE He “became us”. The English word ‘became’ is G4241 (prepo) which literally does mean ‘became’. Other Bible versions use English words such as ‘fitting’ or ‘truly meets our need’ or ‘the kind of High Priest we need’, but these phrases convey a more Christianized perspective on the meaning of this verse when the true intent is to understand Who He was before He “became us” – He was ‘an high priest’.
There is one more very powerful confirmation which comes from Yeshua Himself at the start of His ministry. In Matthew 11:27 He spoke “All things are delivered unto Me of My Abba: and no man knows the Son, but Abba; neither knows any man Abba, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him”. In this verse Yeshua mentions two components; one, that He is the Son of Abba and two, it is He Who is the conduit from Abba to mankind and from man to Abba. He was describing Himself doing the duties of the High Priest. And we must note that in this verse, He spoke in the present tense. When did He speak these words? He spoke these words a number of years BEFORE His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Therefore, this verse is also evidence that Yeshua has been our High Priest long before His post resurrection ascension.
All this information above provides significant indication that Yeshua was ordained as our High Priest (after the order of Melchizadek) BEFORE He and Abba began creating the physical realm (from the foundation of the world). Knowing this changes the perspective about the interactions of the women and the disciples with Yeshua. Reading these verses from this perspective we can see that since Yeshua was ALREADY the High Priest, there was no need to uphold the consecration and purity requirements for priestly ordination shortly after He was resurrected.
Let’s return to the day of His resurrection and look at the events from the perspective that Yeshua was already our High Priest. He was about to ascend to Abba to be invested and restored with His glory when He encountered Mary Magdalene and told her to not cling to Him or to not touch Him. We can see now that what Yeshua said was not to repel her from desecrating Him, but to state that the physical form of Yeshua and the status quo they had formerly enjoyed was now changing. Yeshua was about to go before Abba, Who is the Highest of All Kings (called the Suzerain) and become His Vassal King.
This aspect of the change of the status quo is understood when we combine the two accounts of the women touching Yeshua. In Matthew 28:9, when the women “held Him by the feet” they were attempting to anchor (be powerful, to hold fast) Him to them for the emotional purpose of having Him remain with them. That is why the Greek word ‘krateo’ (be powerful, to hold fast) was used. They wanted to keep the status quo with Him as they had done before. They wanted Yeshua the man. We can understand this by what Yeshua said to Mary Magdalene and the other women after He told them to ‘touch Me not…’ (John 20:17). He continues by saying “…for I am not yet ascended to My Abba…” He explained to them that the status quo was now changed. Previously, as a man walking among them, Yeshua never ascended to Abba but now He was about to. That was a clear definition of a change in the status quo from which the women were accustomed to.
Yet, He knew that once the women understood what was to transpire, they would repent of their misguided desire and follow Him diligently (Luke 24:6-7). That is why He used the gentler word of ‘haptomai’ (touch/cling) to rebuke them instead of the harsher ‘krateo’(be powerful, to hold fast).
To sum up all this information; Yeshua was ordained and consecrated by Abba as our High Priest at the period of time we know as ‘from the foundation of the world’. This is a position He holds forever (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 6:20). Thus when He was resurrected, it was not necessary for Him to follow the rules of priestly consecration since He was not going before Abba to be consecrated as High Priest, but instead He was being restored and re-invested with His former glory, power and authority. This is why the women and the disciples could touch Him on day one, day two and day eight after He was resurrected.
From this perspective, we are able to reconcile all the post resurrection scriptures. The supposed inconsistencies of the scriptures are now revealed after-all to be in alignment.
[C] https://ia601208.us.archive.org/35/items/ChristianE-booksIi/TheNewUngersBibleDictionary.pdf (page 1398+)
Comments