Chapter
2
The
Third Day Revealed in Christ
The miraculous
ministry of Jesus Christ began on a third day and culminated on a
third day. John chapter 2 records the beginning of Christ's
miracle working ministry.
John 2:1
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the
mother of Jesus was there.
John 2:2
Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.
John 2:3
And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him,
"They have no wine."
John 2:4
Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do
with Me? My hour has not yet come."
John 2:5
His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you,
do it."
John 2:6
Now there were set there six water pots of stone, according to
the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or
thirty gallons apiece.
John 2:7
Jesus said to them, "Fill the water pots with water."
And they filled them up to the brim.
John 2:8
And He said to them, "Draw some out now, and take it to the
master of the feast." And they took it.
John 2:9
When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made
wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who
had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the
bridegroom.
John 2:10
And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the
good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior.
You have kept the good wine until now!"
John 2:11
This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
You will
notice that this third day prophetically points to a wedding
feast. We can then expect that the wedding feast of Jesus
and His bride will take place early in the Third Day. We
also notice that verse 6 refers to six water pots of stone.
These represent man (six is the number of man) who was created on
the sixth day. Jesus had these water pots filled with
water, a type of the Holy Spirit, and changed it to wine, which
represents the blood of Jesus. So, by the power of His
blood and Spirit, He would take away the stone heart of man and
give us a new heart of flesh that would love Him.
Ezekiel 11:19
"Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new
spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh,
and give them a heart of flesh,
Ezekiel 11:20
that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do
them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God."
We can also
see that the best wine will be reserved for the end of the Church
Age. New wine will be poured into new wineskins. These
new wine skins will be the temple that the Holy Spirit will
indwell. We are the new wineskins, which are the temple of
the Holy Spirit.
1
Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of
God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Haggai 2:9
"The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the
former", says the LORD of hosts. "And in this place I
will give peace," says the LORD of hosts.
The earthly
ministry of Jesus Christ was also concluded on a third day.
We have come to know that day as Resurrection Day. This was
the day Jesus spoke of in Luke 13:32 when He said, "The
third day I shall be perfected." He was speaking
of the day that He would be glorified and His body of flesh would
be resurrected.
The essence of
the Third Day is depicted by the resurrection. Jesus
Himself gave the prophecy.
John 2:18
So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show
to us, since You do these things?"
John 2:19
Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up."
John 2:20
Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build
this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"
John 2:21
But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
The body of
Jesus was put in a tomb and lay motion-less for two days. Then
came the third day, and Christ Jesus who said, "I am the
resurrection and the life," (John 11:25) conquered
death and the grave. Resurrection power exploded in that
lifeless form in the tomb, and on the third day the Master of
Life forever shouts, "I am He who lives, and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
Hades and of Death." (Revelation 1:18)
Resurrection
power shall be the earmark of the Third Day Church.
In addition to
the Third Day signs with which Jesus began and finished His
ministry, He also gave us several other signs during His ministry
that point to the Third Day. One of the most significant of
these is recorded in Matthew chapter 16 and 17.
These chapters
give us a preview of Jesus coming in the glory of His kingdom.
Matthew 16:27
"For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father
with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his
works.
Matthew 16:28
"Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who
shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His
kingdom."
Matthew 17:1
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother,
led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
The prophetic
word given by the Lord in chapter 6, verse 28, is fulfilled seven
days later (after six days). Remember that the Third Day of
Christ and the Seventh Day of God are the same. The high
mountain in Matthew 17:1 represents Zion, which we will speak of
later.
The glory of
Christ was revealed on the mountain top.
Matthew 17:2
and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun,
and His clothes became as white as the light.
Matthew 17:3
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
Matthew 17:4
Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for
us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles:
one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Matthew 17:5
While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed
them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"
Matthew 17:6
And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and
were greatly afraid.
Matthew 17:7
But Jesus came and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not
be afraid."
Matthew 17:8
When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus
only.
The prophetic
Seventh Day has already been revealed in Matthew 7:1, and there
are two more symbols of the Third Day given in these passages of
scripture.
Jesus took
with Him three disciples--Peter, James and John--who represent
the Third Day Church. These three then saw Jesus with Moses
and Elijah, and these three represent the power that the Third
Day Church will walk in.
Jesus, of
course, represents the ruling authority of the church; He is the
Head of the church. Moses repre-sents the apostles of the
end-time church, and Elijah represents the prophets that will
work with the apostles to restore the foundations (of doctrinal
truth) of the church that have eroded down through the centuries.
Ephesians 2:19
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of
God,
Ephesians 2:20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
Ephesians 2:21
in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a
holy temple in the Lord,
Ephesians 2:22
in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of
God in the Spirit.
This prophetic
vision was such a marvelous thing to behold that Peter,
overwhelmed with joy, said, "Lord, it is good for us to be
here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for
You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
The Third Day
apostles and prophets will begin to restore doctrinal truth, and
the revelation of those truths will release glory and power in
the house of God. The Third Day Church will be those who
see Jesus only, for He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so
easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that
is set before us,
Hebrews 12:2
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Another hidden
passage in the scriptures that reveals the power of the Third Day
is found in the account of what took place before Lazarus was
raised from the dead.
John 11:1
Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary
and her sister Martha.
John 11:2
It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and
wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
John 11:3
Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he
whom You love is sick."
John 11:4
When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto
death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be
glorified through it."
John 11:5
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
John 11:6
So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in
the place where He was.
Verse 6 tells
us that Jesus waited two more days where He was. This
points prophetically to the Third Day from the day that Christ
received the message that Lazarus was dead. The Third
Day of Christ, in our day, is to be one of resurrection power.
This same power with which Jesus raised Lazarus is to be the
earmark of the Third Day Church.
In verse 25
Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life.”
He was telling Martha that the resurrection is not just an event.
He was also telling the present-day church, the Marthas who are
busy with religious exercise, that His ministry is more than
religious busyness. Jesus is also telling us that He wants
to demonstrate resurrection power through His church before the
rapture.
To make His
point, He raises Lazarus from the dead. We don't know what
killed Lazarus, but we do know that the chief religious leaders
wanted to kill him after Jesus raised him from the dead (John 12:10).
Lazarus was
prepared for burial according to tradition, religious tradition.
He was bound hand and foot with strips of cloth soaked in spices.
Jesus spoke with the voice of resurrection power, and Lazarus
came forth from the grave, from religious death, no life in the
Spirit. But, he was still bound.
John 11:43
Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice,
"Lazarus, come forth!"
John 11:44
And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave
clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to
them, "Loose him, and let him go."
This story is
one of resurrection power, which foreshadows the Third Day.
However, Jesus did not raise Lazarus on the third day even though
He went to Bethany in Third Day power.
Lazarus was
raised on the fourth day. This number, four, also
foreshadows the power that God wants to demonstrate through His
church. The number four represents the ministry of God in
and through man. Three is the number of the Trinity (God),
plus one (man).
Even though
Jesus was God, His ministry power was made manifest through the
Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). We are to follow His example (Acts
1:8 and Mark 16:14-18). Now let's go back to John 11:44 and
consider what Jesus commanded. "Loose him, and let him
go," was directed to the Third Day Church.
Lazarus is a
picture of those who have been called out of dead religion.
His name means "without help." The Third Day
Church is called to loose them from their bondages and bring them
into the glorious liberty of the Third Day. Who is Jesus
speaking to? He is speaking to those who were
standing there and saw this glorious event.
How then does
this relate to us? It is like this: Those who are
standing in the revelation of what God has in mind for the Third
Day Church will see. They will have vision for the
resurrection power of the Third Day, and they will loose the
captives and bring them into His glorious light.
The
traditional church will try to put to death those who are raised
from dead works even as the chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus
after he was raised up. Those who are raised up will have
to come out of the old systems, or they will be put to death
again.
These events
are recorded in the written word of God, and the scriptures
cannot be broken. The apostle Peter, who saw Jesus in His
glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, made a most amazing
statement in his second epistle:
2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known
to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of His majesty.
2 Peter 1:17
For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a
voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
2 Peter 1:18
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with
Him on the holy mountain.
2 Peter 1:19
And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do
well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the
day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Peter said
that the prophetic word, which we have received, is more sure
evidence than the eyewitness account of that which he saw on the
Mount of Transfiguration. The revelation of these
scriptures is a light that shines in our hearts, and this light
points to the dawning of a new day, the Third Day, in which the
Morning Star shall reveal the hidden mysteries of His kingdom
which will produce resurrection power.
Let us,
therefore, arise and by faith prepare ourselves for this new day,
the Third Day of His power.
Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD
is risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:2
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness
the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will
be seen upon you.
Eph 5:14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
Faith Tabernacle