Disciples Digital Library

The doctrine of the ‘Rapture’ is an interpretation of Paul’s description in 1 Thessalonians of both resurrected saints and those believers still alive at the time “ meeting Jesus in the air ” as he descends from Heaven. According to this view, the church is physically removed from the Earth and transported to Heaven by the Lord, presumably to a nonphysical and timeless reality outside the space-time continuum.

Upon his arrival in the imperial city, Daniel was confronted with a predicament. If he consumed the food and drink of the pagan king, it would violate his ritual purity. While he might have wished to avoid eating “unclean” meats, more likely, his concern was that consuming the royal “delicacies” would mean his participation in the idolatrous rituals of the Babylonian court and religion. Either way, the young man's decision could have dire consequences.

  The   Gospel of Mark   highlights the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Messiah and King of Israel until   AFTER   his crucifixion, and most paradoxically, the first man to identify him as the “ Son of God ” was the Roman centurion on duty at his execution. His roles as the suffering “ Son of Man ” and the “ Servant of Yahweh ” made him unacceptable to his contemporaries. His behavior and method of rulership were (and are) foreign and even alien to the political systems and expectations of the present world order.

To be the disciple of Jesus one must take up the cross and follow in his footsteps, even if it results in rejection, impoverishment, or death . Jesus sent his twelve disciples to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom throughout the region. In the Gospel of Mark , this incident is followed by the execution of John the Baptist. His death serves as a warning to the would-be disciple that rejection will inevitably follow his decision to follow Jesus no matter where he leads. To walk in his footsteps, one must first COUNT THE COST to have any hope of seeing the journey through to the end.

Jesus is the true Sanctuary of God that was foreshadowed in the ancient religious structures and worship rituals of the nation of Israel. He is the place where God’s presence and glory are found and the final High Priest who mediates between Heaven and Earth for his people. The man from Nazareth is the real Tabernacle where Yahweh dwells and he was the Temple “ made-without-hands ” destroyed by evil men but restored when God raised him from the dead.