Did Yeshua ascend to His Abba (and Who is our Abba) shortly after He was resurrected? And did He return (descend) to Earth later that day to eat with the disciples? The accounts of Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20 record the events that immediately happened after Yeshua was resurrected. A lot of activity happened but the text appears to not provide clear defining language to show that He did in fact ascend to Abba 40 days before He finally ascended in front of witnesses. This article will look at the clues that can tell us whether or not this transpired.
Each one of the four Gospels records that Mary Magdalene and other women who accompanied her went to Yeshua’s tomb. Mark adds information that the women were going to anoint Yeshua with spices, while Luke records that this took place early in the morning on the first day of the week. John’s account is far more detailed about what happened before Mary Magdalene encountered Yeshua.
How can we know that Yeshua did ascend and then later that evening descend back to Earth? There is a telling piece of information which may seem unrelated but upon closer inspection; it becomes the clue we need to answer that question. It’s the small segments in these accounts involving Mary Magdalene and the other women touching Yeshua and being rebuked for it, while later that evening on the same day, the disciples were able to touch Him without issue.
Of the four accounts, only Matthew and John mention anything about the women’s physical contact with Yeshua. In Matthew 28:9, the women “…held Him by the feet”, while John 20:17 records the same moment but highlighting that Yeshua said to Mary Magdalene “…touch Me not:…”.
So, what’s going on here? Mary Magdalene and the other women ‘held’ Him by the feet to which Yeshua responds (as per John 20:17), to ‘touch Me not’. Why?
In Matthew 28:9, the Greek word used for the English word ‘held’ is G2902 “krateo” which means:
To have power, be powerful
To get possession of, to obtain
To hold, to hold fast
In John 20:17 the Greek word used (by Yeshua) for ‘touch’/’cling’ is Greek, G680 “haptomai” which means:
To fasten one’s self to, adhere to, cling to
Before we answer the above questions, we must fast forward to the events later in the evening which will provide us with the comparison we need to show the differences between Yeshua’s encounter with the women and His encounter with the disciples.
Yeshua simply appears in the midst of the eleven disciples who were cloistered into a room for the night out of fear of the Jews. What did they do? They saw Yeshua and were temporarily frightened until He showed the proof He was Yeshua, which made them glad (John 20:20). The word ‘glad’ can also mean to rejoice…which would indicate that the disciples were having physical contact with Yeshua. Luke 24:41 confirms this when the disciples give Yeshua a piece of fish and some honeycomb to eat.
So…Yeshua allowed the disciples to touch Him, but He rebuked the women for touching Him. So again we ask, what’s going on here, why the apparent contradiction?
When the women “held Him by the feet” they were attempting to anchor (be powerful, to hold fast) Him to them for the subconscious purpose of having Him remain with them. That is why the Greek word ‘krateo’ 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…’. By His continued statement “…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.
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).
Furthermore, the encounter with the disciples was different. Firstly, the men did not believe the report that Mary Magdalene and the other women gave to the disciples about their Master Yeshua being resurrected. Yes, according to Luke 24, the women at first believed someone had stolen or removed Yeshua’s body and reported that to the disciples. In turn two of the men ran to the tomb to check this out only to find it empty. They left while the women remained behind weeping. It is at that moment that the angels appeared to them in the tomb and told them that Yeshua had risen and required them to tell the disciples about this. And then Yeshua appears to them with the same message.
When the women come to the disciples again (though this time they are bringing the news that Yeshua had risen), it is recorded that the disciples considered what the women said as nonsense (Mark 16:9-11) and would not believe the information (Luke 24:10-11). So, when Yeshua did appear in their midst later that evening, the disciples were still in the mindset that what the women had said regarding Yeshua having risen was utter nonsense. In Luke 24:39, Yeshua questions their doubt and actually tells the disciples to touch/feel/handle Him. From this, their reaction changed to gladness and rejoicing. The words of the women made sense. And they remembered Psalm 22 that foretold these very events that they were in the midst of experiencing.
But what is important to note as we read between the lines is the disciples did not ‘krateo’ (cling) or ‘haptomai’ (hold fast) Him. The Greek word for ‘touch’ used in Luke 24:39 is G5584 ‘pselaphao‘ has a joyful, welcoming connotation. Again, the words from the women (which Yeshua told them to go and say to the disciples) were effective in enabling them to respond as they did.
Now this is where we can make the determination that Yeshua did in fact rise up into heaven to Abba on that particular day – 40 days BEFORE His well documented ascension (which occurred 40 days later or 10 days before Shavuot). The status quo had changed. Yeshua did things that only could be done if He had risen to heaven to His (and our) Abba. He performed many miracles which were not recorded in the scriptures (John 21:25). However, there are two events recorded that give us the evidence that He in fact did go before Abba in heaven. Eleven of the disciples knew on the first night they saw Him that Yeshua was different because He breathed the Ruach haKodesh** upon them (John 20:22) which opened their minds to the scriptures (Luke 24:45). Eight days later, He appears again and Thomas is convinced of Yeshua’s status. Then it was soon after that eighth day that this new sense of authority which they noticed was confirmed when He gave them the Commission.
When Yeshua gave them the Commission (Matthew 28:16-20 / Mark 16:14-29 / Luke 24:44-49 / Acts 1:6-8) He employed His disciples to “go into all the world…”. He could only authorize the disciples to be His representatives and do the Commission if He were in a position of power and authority. 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.
Secondly, He breathed on them and said to them “Receive you the Holy Spirit (Ruach haKodesh)”. Again, only in a position of power and authority could He make a declaration such as that.
Thus, this means that what transpired with Abba in heaven was the investiture of Yeshua as King in waiting (like the title of Prince of Wales). That is why He is known as the Messiah, the Prince in Daniel 9. Note there are two princes mentioned in that chapter…one with a capital letter “P” and one with a lower case “p”. Yeshua is the capital letter “P”. As like the physical example of the Prince of Wales, this position enables the one endowed with the title to have greater powers. His title of Messiah means ‘Anointed One’ and coupled with Prince adds confirmation that He has been invested with authority and power. That is why He could commission the disciples and breathe on them to “receive the Ruach haKodesh”. 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 that same level of power and authority invested upon Him. He was/is once again YHVH.
To summarize: the account of the women touching Yeshua after His resurrection and His rebuke to ‘touch Me not’ was to highlight that the status quo which they enjoyed before His death was no longer. And it was contrasted by the way the disciples acted around Yeshua, as they initially were afraid of this Being that showed up in their midst but then upon seeing His evidences of Who He is, they accepted Him with gladness. Yet, instead of holding on to Him and clinging to Him, they did something else, they gave Him something to eat, which implies they understood that the status quo which they had known before was now changed.
Quite clearly, they were recalling the words which Mary Magdalene and the other women spoke to them earlier in the day when they said (paraphrased) “He ascends to His Abba, Who is also our Abba and Who is His Elohim and our Elohim”. This helped them to understand that the status quo was now different and thus their reaction to Yeshua was different. It should be pointed out that the women’s attitude changed once they were enlightened about the change in status quo. They too remembered Psalm 22.
So, in many ways, the acts of touching Yeshua that were done by the women and the disciples shows us that Yeshua did in fact ascend to Abba (Who is in heaven) and then descend to join the disciples later that evening. If that had not happened, the status quo would remain the same.
When Yeshua was invested with power and authority by Abba, He immediately began to implement this new status quo.
It began with the commissioning of the disciples to preach the good news to the world whereas previously, they only preached to the Jews. They were now representatives of Yeshua to the whole world. And by breathing on them, it evoked the remembrance of the act of YHVH breathing life into the man (Genesis 2:7). That is a huge indicator that Yeshua had risen to Abba in heaven and had been restored to His role as YHVH within the Elohim (Godhead) and as the Prince of the Earth (Exodus 9:29; 19:5 / Psalm 24:1 / 1 Corinthians 10:26, 28).
**I believe that what Yeshua did when He breathed on the disciples and then said, “Receive ye the Ruach haKodesh”, He was not necessarily giving them the Ruach haKodesh at that moment. Instead, this was a marker of sorts so that when the Ruach haKodesh descends 50 days later as the tongues of fire on Shavuot It will find the rightful recipients.
Let this mind be in you that is in Messiah, Yeshua - Philippians 2:5.
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