Afterward, He lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years. He first lived in a poor carpenter’s family in Nazareth for thirty years. When He was thirty years old, He came out of Nazareth and began to minister. While He was working as a carpenter, He was found in the likeness of a man. Philippians 2 says that He became in the likeness of men and was found in fashion as a man (vv. 7-8). When He was found by people as a man, He had the likeness not of an angel but of a man.
Then He passed through the process of death. The process of the death of the Lord Jesus is special. He did not die on the cross in a common way. His way of passing through death was a very special process. According to the book of Colossians, while He was passing through death, there was a spiritual warfare at the cross (Col. 2:14-15). While His flesh was being put to death there, His Spirit was still working there (1 Pet. 3:18b-19). Then He entered into Hades, passed through Hades, and came out of it. When He was passing through Hades, He remained for a period of time to carry out His work there. Afterward, He came out of Hades and out of the tomb.
When He came out of the tomb, He did not come out hastily. Instead, He came out gracefully, taking off and folding in an orderly way the linen cloths He wore in His burial. In the morning of His resurrection, the disciples went into the tomb and saw that the handkerchief and cloths were lying there in an orderly manner (John 20:6-7). This proves that He went out of the tomb calmly and gently. He came out from death and entered into resurrection.
After He entered into resurrection, He was still in the midst of the disciples and stayed on the earth for forty days and nights. In these forty days and nights He was within them and moved with them, yet they did not realize it. At that time the Lord’s presence with the disciples was sometimes visible and sometimes invisible. It was sometimes manifested and sometimes hidden. When He was manifested, the disciples felt that He had come. When He hid Himself, the disciples said that He had gone. In fact, He had neither come nor gone. He was simply there, allowing them to see Him in one instance and hiding Himself in another. When two sorrowful disciples were talking on their way to Emmaus, the Lord Jesus also joined them and went along with them, asking them what they were talking about. These two disciples condemned Him and said, “Do You alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem and not know the things which have taken place in it in these days?” Jesus said to them, “What things?” They began speaking with one another and enjoyed it very much. However, these two disciples were not able to recognize that this person was the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:13-27).
The Lord put Himself before their eyes but did not manifest who He was. This is marvelous. They continued walking until they drew near to the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther. They constrained Him to stay there. As they were about to eat, they passed the loaf to the Lord Jesus. When the Lord Jesus broke the loaf, the eyes of the two disciples were opened and they recognized that He was the Lord. When they did not recognize the Lord, He was there. As soon as they recognized Him, He disappeared from them. The two disciples were no longer interested in eating but rushed back to Jerusalem where they found the eleven apostles and those with them assembled together. They began to fellowship with the disciples the things which had occurred. In fact, what the disciples saw was even more than what the two disciples had seen. As they were speaking these things, the Lord Jesus appeared again and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace to you” (vv. 28-36). This is the condition of the Lord in resurrection.
Today the Lord and we have the same relationship. Sometimes He is manifested and sometimes He is hidden. Sometimes we feel that the Lord is truly with us, but sometimes we feel that we do not know where He has gone. It seems that although our circumstances are very difficult, He is not with us. Our situations are difficult, yet He does not appear to care. Nevertheless, when we feel that the Lord no longer cares for us, He appears again suddenly. This is the Lord Jesus in resurrection.
Our God is the God who put on humanity so that divinity could be mingled with humanity as one. In addition, He completed the experience of human living, accomplished an all-inclusive death, and entered into resurrection. It is hard to tell whether such a One is physical or spiritual. You may say that He is spiritual, but He could be touched by the disciples. On the other hand, you may say that He is physical, but He was able to enter into a room where the doors were shut. After His resurrection He became such a mysterious One. Now He has put Himself into His words so that the gospel we preach and every sentence we speak is He Himself. He is in the words which we speak. When these words are spoken and when they touch the spirit of a person, this person is enlightened to say, “Lord Jesus,” and He enters into him. Such entering is the entering of the Triune God, the entering of God yet man, who completed human living, passed through death, and entered into resurrection. He enters into man with His human living, death, resurrection, His divinity, and His humanity, to be man’s life.
When we go to lead a home meeting, it is a joyful matter if the new ones are kept and stabilized. However, this is not adequate. If we are not able to bring them into the fellowship of life, what we do is simply a work of human affiliation, a work of dealing with people’s emotion. When we lead them in the home meetings, they enjoy it very much, and when we visit their homes, they welcome us. All this is very good, but it is not adequate. We need to bring them into the Triune God who dwells in them so that they may have the fellowship of life with Him. Merely having contact with us is not enough; they must also contact God. Merely having fellowship with us is not adequate; they must also fellowship directly with God. It is not adequate if we are the only one who fellowships with them. We must bring God along with us so that they know that there is a Triune God in us and on us. Moreover, this God is also in them, so they can fellowship with such a One in life in their daily living not only when we are there but even when we are not.