God’s Paradigm Shift – Fighting for Real Estate – Part #35

“What Did the Apostles of Our Lord Not Know, And When Did they Figure Things Out?” (Luke 24:21)

By Richard Allen – October 12, 2026

I have long been fascinated by Jesus’ Apostles and their slow response in grasping the profound impact of His doctrine. To be fair, it’s very easy for me – now living almost two millennia since Jesus’ death to make such a statement. The Apostles of our Lord ‘did not have the completed revelation’ of Scripture or 2,000 years of Church history to rely on. They were the ‘trailblazers,’ taking the Gospel into a ‘hostile and unbelieving world’ of godless Gentiles. They proclaimed that a Jewish carpenter, who was also an itinerant Rabbi and Preacher – crucified on a Roman Cross like any other common thief – could save them by believing that He died for their sins!  Could we even imagine proclaiming a similar message to the godless world around us, proclaiming that a ‘Righteous man put to death by lethal injection’ was ‘the Savior for all mankind?’ The Apostles, as well as the First Century Church, had a 'daunting task' to say the least. If not for the 'Power of the God's Holy Spirit' accompanying them, the message of the cross would have come to naught. So, with nothing but admiration, let me humbly ask: “What Did the Apostles and Early Church Not Know? And When Did they Figure Things Out?”  Let’s look at Five Specific Things that should focus our thinking:

1. They didn’t know Jesus, whom they knew to be the Messiah, would be put to death by Roman and Jewish authorities.

2. They didn’t know that after His brutal death, Jesus would powerfully come back to life, changing and dividing all creation.

3. They didn’t know God changed the paradigm from 'stones to spirit.' No longer Jew or Gentile but a New Man In Christ!

4. They didn’t know that the Gentiles could, or even would be saved – apart from keeping the Law (converting to Judaism).

5. They didn’t know the Temporary Jewish Covenant, including: Temple worship, sacrifices, and law would vanish away.

This is an amazing list of ‘things not to know,’ things that all of us in the Church know, and now take for granted as ‘givens’ under the New Covenant. Such was the ‘creation-changing paradigm shift’ created by the Death, Resurrection and Giving of the Spirit through the New Covenant of Our Lord Jesus!  As mentioned in a previous Blog, Jesus rebuked two of the 70 Disciples as they walked with Him on the Road to Emmaus – for their failure in grasping what the Scriptures had foretold about His ministry as the Messiah:

“Jesus said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself”(Luke 24:25-27).

And as the Gospel writer Luke tells us, first on my list above was: 1.) They didn’t know that Jesus, whom they believed to be the Messiah, would be put to death by Roman and Jewish authorities.  When Jesus encountered two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, the rest of His Apostles and Disciples were laying low, trying to fathom their Messiah’s death. They believed the Messiah would ‘triumph over all His enemies’ – Not be put to death. Just prior to Jesus’ death, Peter, the chief among the Apostles was ‘cowering’ in fear of a servant girl who recognized his speech as being Galilean. Then after Christ was killed and buried in a borrowed tomb – initially only ‘female disciples bringing spices’ – dared to attend to His grave and body. Our Passage above from Luke 24 gives us insight into the ‘bewilderment’ of Jesus’ disciples: “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). Many point out that Jesus repeatedly foretold His death and resurrection, plainly telling them what would befall the ‘Son of Man.’ But Jesus’ words didn’t fit into the ‘Apostles’ presuppositions.’ The Messiah was supposed to conquer, triumph and reign over His enemies – He won’t die!  Even Peter rebuked Jesus when he was told of Jesus’ coming betrayal and death:

“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ ” (Matthew 16:21-22).

Jesus’ Jewish followers were steeped in tradition, and confused by two contradictory pictures of the Messiah in the Old Testament. One picture spoke of ‘The Anointed One’ as a ‘Suffering Servant who would atone for sin.’ The other picture foretold of a ‘Conquering Messiah,’ coming to ‘restore the People of God to greatness.’ Jesus had told them repeatedly of His role as the ‘Suffering Servant’ and His coming death:

“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life” (Matthew 20:18-19).

“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31).

“And he said, ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life'” (Luke 9:22).

2.) They didn’t know that Jesus would in fact ‘Rise from the Dead!’ After Calvary, they all knew that He had died. But they were slow to believe that Jesus would come back to life again, walk among them and give them instructions for the future of the Kingdom!  Even more fascinating was the understanding they would come to eventually, regarding the Resurrection of Jesus their Messiah and His new relationship to the world, as a result of His being raised from the dead. Prior to Calvary and Pentecost, Jesus was the God-Man, that is, one who came to earth to accomplish redemption by offering Himself as a ‘sacrifice for sin.’ But after He rose from the dead, Jesus would shortly ascend to the ‘right hand of God the Father,’ reclaiming ‘all power in heaven and in earth’ (Matthew 28:18). Jesus’ Resurrection as ‘The Second Adam,’ coronated and glorified as ‘head over all things to the Church’ (Ephesians 1:22), fundamentally changed the relationship between God and His creation forever! These first two Things the Apostles didn’t know, are the foundation of all the other ‘blind spots’ from which the early Church suffered. God was in Christ, both crucifying and reconciling the world unto Himself.

3.) They didn’t know God changed the paradigm from ‘stones to spirit’ – no longer Jew or Gentile, but a New Man In Christ!  There is a poorly understood passage in 2 Corinthians in which Paul describes God’s relationship to Humanity. Sadly, most people imagine these verses as explaining how ‘once you have believed in Christ, God immediately sanctifies you completely[RA1] !’ But this is not what these verses are saying. In this passage, Paul is explaining to the Corinthian Church that God’s relationship to mankind was irrevocably changed by Jesus work on the cross and the empty tomb:

“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17).

Context is everything in explaining Scripture. I have briefly explained these verses in other Blogs, but for now let me say: ‘Everything doesn’t change over night for those who believe.’ Some argue that Paul is talking about our position in Christ we now enjoy, that “all things become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But if we rationally think this through – it’s just not true. Because of our ‘old human nature,’ we still need daily to “take up our cross and follow Him” (Matthew 16:24). We also need to “cut off right hands, and pluck out right eyes” (Matthew 5:29-30). But what is true, is, that in Christ we are a ‘New Creation.’ This is worth exploring a bit more to see how Paul makes his case. First he says: “From now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Though we once regarded CHrist according to the flesh, we regard him so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Paul is simply telling these Corinthians that we used to ‘know Jesus according to the flesh,’ that is, ‘as a Jew,’ and as a result we considered one another as Jew and Gentile. Paul now proclaims that ‘if anyone is in Christ,’ we no longer consider him to be an ethnic Jew or Gentile, but rather ‘A New Creation!’ This is the genius of the New Covenant! No longer Jew and Gentile – but a New Creation. This is a common theme in the New Testament Scriptures. We are told to ‘give no offense, not to the Jews, the Gentiles or the Church of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:32. Humanity now has three races. Paul explains further to the Church in Ephesus:

“Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands – remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility” (Ephesians 2:11-16).

There are many other Scriptures that teach the same ‘New Man’ concept. What’s important for us as members of the ‘Church of Jesus Christ,’ is to know that the early Church did not know or comprehend any of these truths. At the beginning of the New Testament Age the Apostles only preached to the Jews.  Then, after persecution moved them away from Jerusalem, they reluctantly preached to the Samaritans. Later, after Peter’s vision of the ‘sheets being lowered down from heaven’ recorded in Acts Chapter 10, did Peter reluctantly preach to the household of Cornelius, the first Gentile converts. They believed that creation was still divided into ‘Jew and Gentile,’ and the only way for Gentiles to be accepted, was through the system put in place under the Law:  ‘Make them a part of the Jewish people – proselytes to Judaism – by Circumcision and complete obedience to the law.’  Without an understanding of this initial ‘blind-spot’ by the Leadership of the Church – much of the New Testament will not make sense. More to come in our next Blog.

Soli Deo Gloria!