Secrets from Beyond The Grave

made His appearance in the heavenly temple, then returned the same day, for we read that He later appeared to His disciples on the same day "at evening" (John 20:19). The Jewish day begins at six in the morning and concludes at six in the evening, a total of twelve hours. Mary saw Him early in the morning, and the disciples saw Him later in the evening. Between those two appearances, Christ journeyed to the heavenly temple and back. He would have about ten hours between the morning and evening appearances. Later, Christ is on the road to Emmaus, and in the evening He broke bread with His followers. While sitting in a chair at the table, He suddenly vanished out of their sight (Luke 24:31). Years ago I was thinking about this amazing feat and began laughing when I thought to myself, "What would it be like for some children to be playing hide-and-seek in heaven? Every time you thought you had found them, they could just zap themselves to a new location!" Then I thought, "I'm glad there will be no anger and frustration in heaven. Imagine looking for a child who just got mad and ran away for a while. You wouldn't know what planet in the universe that child had slipped away to." (Trust me--your mind thinks this way when you have kids of your own, as I have, who ask imaginative questions all the time!) In His new body, Christ was not limited to time and space and was able to travel to and from distant locations without hindrances. If an angel can be in heaven one moment, the next moment be ministering on Earth, and then, minutes later, be back in heaven . . . and if Christ ascended to heaven and weeks later Stephen saw Him "standing on the right hand of God in heaven" (Acts 7:56, KJV) . . . then clearly Christ was able to travel in the same manner as angels--without limitations. I believe Christ was transported from the earthly dimension to the heavenly and back through mind travel or thought travel. This may explain why people who have experienced a visitation in heaven always mention that the conversations were not with words but with thoughts. 3. He could eat food with His disciples (John 21:13). This is one of the most amazing events after Christ's resurrection. He ate fish with His disciples at the Sea of Galilee (John 21:12-13). For some reason, we think of a spirit being (such as an angel) never needing food. However, the manna that fed Israel for forty years in the wilderness was called "angels' food" (Ps. 78:25); it arrived from out of heaven each morning and was laid on the ground, where the Israelites could gather up the small white wafers and prepare their meal (Num. 11:6-9). If manna came from heaven and is the food eaten by angels, then we ourselves will eat in our resurrected bodies. There is food in heaven. The Scriptures tell us there is a tree of life with twelve types of fruit in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:2). Believers will also enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (Rev. 19:7-9). Christ mentioned that He would not break bread and drink from the cup again until He did so with His followers in the future kingdom (Matt. 26:29). Considering that a resurrected body can eat, we should have no difficulty comprehending Christ eating with His disciples. The eating-in-heaven concept presents interesting questions from children. I had a child ask me a question that I had pondered but would never publicly address because of the mental impression people received if it were asked. The child asked, "When we go to heaven and eat, will we need to go to the bathroom the way we do now, and will the commodes be made of gold?" Oh boy, talk about putting a minister on the spot! The child assumed that if the streets we walk on are made of transparent gold (Rev. 21:21), then why wouldn't the porcelain seat on Earth be created into gold in heaven?