SUPERNATURAL TRANSPORTATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

                                               Hitchhiker (2012, collage)

Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:9-15; Luke 4:1-13 – In two of the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, Satan takes him to another place: a high mountain and the pinnacle of the temple. The question is: Was Jesus actually transported supernaturally by Satan to those places, were they journeys undertaken by land together, or were these visions? The first option seems a possibility since Satan was an angel; the long trips by land seem unlikely in view of Jesus' physical condition at the time; and the problem with the last option is that if it didn't happen in earthly reality, how could the test to throw himself off the building make any sense.

Hendricksen responds in the following way in his commentary on Mathew: “How is it to be understood that in the second temptation, the devil takes Jesus along to the holy city and sets him on the pinnacle of the temple, and now, in the third temptation, Satan takes him along to a very high mountain? Some insist that this must all be taken literally...Just how we are to conceive of this is not explained...This is not at all a question of believing Scripture or not believing it. It is simply a question of how best to interpret what we fully accept...If it was in a vision that the Lord was urged to do these things, we may be sure that what occurred in the vision was as real to his mind as if there had been no vision at all, and everything had taken place with strict literality.”

Luke 16:19-31 – Here we have the story Jesus told regarding the rich man and Lazarus and what happened after they die. As you will recall, Lazarus was taken up into heaven by angels – a prime example of supernatural transportation if there ever was one. But did this actually happen? Regarding the escort Lazarus received, Ellis says that “like the rest of the story, this reflects the current beliefs of many Jews.” And Geldenhuys adds, “Although Luke does not expressly state that this is a parable, and although the Savior has given the beggar a name, it is by no means necessary to assume that we have here the story of something that really happened and not a parable.” Most commentators, liberal or conservative, would agree with this assessment. Billy Graham was one notable exception, as you can read in his book Angels.

Acts 8:26-40 – At the end of this encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, we read that the Spirit of the Lord snatched up the evangelist and took him away. There seems to be no better way to take this story than at its literal face value. It is of note that the longer Western Text of Acts expands on this part of the account in the following way: “The Spirit of the Lord fell upon the eunuch and the angel of the Lord snatched Philip away.” Bruce mentions two possible reasons for this altered text: (1) to make it clear that the eunuch had received the Spirit and (2) to bring back the mention of 'angel' which was found at the beginning of the story.

Tiedtke's comment on v. 39 is, “This should be taken spatially and really.”

I Corinthians 12:1-12 – Then there is this obscure reference that Paul makes to someone who was taken up into the third heaven, most probably talking about his own experience. Ralph Martin's view on verse 1 is as follows: “We may note that there is not a great difference between optasia, 'vision,' and apokalypsis, 'revelation.'” And regarding v. 2, “He simply is not sure whether he went to the 'third heaven' in body or in spirit...Because he refrains from giving an opinion one way or the other his opponents cannot totally reject his boasting. By not eliminating the possibility that Paul could have remained in the body, he avoids undercutting the validity of his other visions.” If he did go in the body, we are given no hint as to how that was actually accomplished.

I Thessalonians 4:17 – This is the famous passage describing the 'rapture' of the church into the clouds at Christ's future. The discussions regarding this controversial verse center almost exclusively around the question of whether this describes the Second Coming immediately preceding the Last Judgment or a 'secret' coming preceding the seven years of earthly tribulation for those left behind. What is generally overlooked is the mode of transportation in either case.

Cousins feels that 'caught up in the clouds' is “not as a vehicle but as a sign of glory and divine majesty.”

But Wanamaker disagrees and says that “in such texts as Is. 19:1 and the vision of Ezk. 1:4-28 a cloud becomes the celestial vehicle of God. It was probably owing to this influence that the writer of Dn. 7:13f. employed clouds to transport the 'one like a son of man' into the presence of God...The description of the Son of Man coming to earth at the end of the age on the clouds in Mk. 13:26 9 (par. Mt. 24:30) was based on Dn. 7:13. But the Danielic vision has been interpreted so that 'one like a son of man' becomes 'the Son of Man,' and whereas the clouds originally took the figure to God, the movement is reversed in that they now bring him to earth.”

As to I Thessalonians, harpazein ['caught up'] in the Septuagint version of Gen. 5:24 and II Corinthians 12:2,4 implies “that the ascent is brought about by a force outside the individual.” (Wanamaker) And Malherbe points out that Paul does not “provide any details about how they will be snatched up except that it will be 'in the clouds.'”

Elias notes that the Greek verb harpazo, meaning to seize or snatch away, “normally describes a sudden forceful intervention...an abrupt transfer, either physical or spiritual.”

In commenting on this obscure verse, Morris says, “There are many things that our curiosity would like to know, but the Bible is not there to satisfy our curiosity. Rather, it is to help our Christian lives, and for that the important thing is that we should be ready whenever the Lord comes.”

Revelation 6:1-8 – Harkening back to the heavenly horses in Zechariah's vision, we now come to the conclusion of that series in which God's judgment on the earth is actually carried out by the four angelic horsemen. Ruiz provides one common interpretation of the symbolism behind each of these riders and their actions: The white horse symbolizes a conquering power that none can resist...The red horse symbolizes war and bloodshed...The black horse symbolizes famine, which follows upon war...The pale green horse symbolizes pestilence and devastation.”

Revelation 12:13-14 – As with much of Revelation, there are myriads of opinion on how to interpret it. For the sake of simplicity, I will first quote Beale's comments as an example of one reading of this escape of the woman from harm. “The woman in Revelation 12 should not be identified primarily with Mary because the chapter never explicitly identifies the woman, whereas there is a clear secondary identification of the dragon as 'the ancient serpent...the devil and Satan,' and because the mariological identification did not arise until about the sixth century...That the woman represents the old and new covenant community is apparent from the remainder of the chapter, where the 'seed' is not only Christ but also the community of his followers (so vv 6,11-17)...the image of the woman flying with the two wings of a great eagle...into the wilderness...reflects the picture of God as an eagle protecting Israel in the wilderness, probably alluding to three specific OT passages together.” These are Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 1:31-33 and Deuteronomy 32:10-12.

Mounce points out that “Exodus typology is woven throughout this entire episode...The two wings of the great eagle which made possible her escape echo the words of God from Sinai, 'I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself' (Ex 19:4)...It is important to note that the antagonism directed against the church has its origin in the hatred of Satan for Christ.”