Turning the page…
Turning the page…
Glory · Grief & Loss
Believers before the cross died in faith, consciously kept by God while awaiting something better: Abraham's bosom in Jesus' parable, the heavenly country Hebrews says they longed for. They were saved by the same cross you were, credited ahead of time, and when Christ ascended He led captivity captive. Calvary reaches backward as well as forward.
https://glorystudy.com/questions/did-anyone-enter-heaven-before-jesus-rose · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
Hebrews 11:13-16
As you read: How the faithful died: seeing and greeting promises from afar, desiring a better country than any on earth.
13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
14For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
15If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
16But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Luke 16:19-31
As you read: Where the beggar goes, who carries him, and what Abraham says changed for each man at death.
19“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
20A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
23In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom.
24He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
26Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’
27“He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house;
28for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’
29“But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
30“He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
31“He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
Ephesians 4:7-10
As you read: The ascent Paul describes, and what it implies about everything that came before it.
7But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
8Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
9Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Hebrews sums up Abel through the prophets: 'These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar'. Their salvation was real but pending completion, so much so that God provided 'some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect'. They were with God, awaiting fullness.
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”Hebrews 11:13
“These all, having had testimony given to them through their faith, didn’t receive the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”Hebrews 11:39-40
Jesus paints the unseen world in colors rather than abstractions: the beggar dies and 'was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom', where he is 'comforted', while the rich man suffers across 'a great gulf fixed'. Whatever else the parable teaches, before the cross the righteous dead were conscious, at rest, and held in Abraham's embrace rather than cast off.
“The beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that no one may cross over from there to us.’”Luke 16:22-26
Hebrews insists this rest was no consolation prize: they confessed themselves strangers on earth because 'they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.' The bosom was the waiting room for the city, not the substitute for it.
“For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”Hebrews 11:14-16
Paul quotes the triumph: 'When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.' One long-standing reading takes the captives as the redeemed dead, led out when their Liberator rose; others hear the defeated powers led behind Him in victory. Either way the ascent is a triumphal procession through death's own territory, which is the backdrop to the word Jesus spoke on the cross, 'today you will be with me in Paradise': the door opened at Calvary reaches in both directions of history.
“Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.””Ephesians 4:8
“Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.””Luke 23:43