Jesus Post-Resurrection Appearances

“To these He also presented Himself alive,

after His suffering, by many convincing proofs,

appearing to them over a period of forty days,

and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God”

Acts 1:3

One of the facts about Jesus and Christianity that many today still doubt, debate and deny is that Jesus was resurrected. In His infinite wisdom Jesus knew this would be an issue so He appeared many times before He was caught up into heaven so that there could be no doubt about His resurrection.

The first appearance was to several women who came to the tomb and were told by an angel that He had risen (Matt. 28). They took hold of His feet and worshipped Him and Jesus told them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee where He would meet them. It is interesting to me that Jesus chose to appear first to those who had been so intent on serving Him before His death.

We are also told of His appearance to the two men who were on the road to Emmaus. Jesus walked with them and “explained to them the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures” (Luke 24:13-30). Later in that same chapter in Luke we learn that He appeared to the disciples and offered to let them touch Him to prove that he was alive. He also ate with them. It was during this time that “He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45).

John 20:19ff tells us He appeared to the disciples and showed them both His hands and His side where the nails had been driven during His crucifixion. At that time He also gave them the Holy Spirit.

Thomas, the one known as the doubting disciple was not with the other disciples at that time and when they told him, he refused to believe without seeing the Lord Jesus himself. Eight days later Jesus appeared to Thomas and the rest of the disciples and Thomas believed.

Jesus also appeared later to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee and provided breakfast for them. He wanted them to understand He would provide for them.

Paul tells us in I Cor. 15:6 that Jesus also appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time and in v. 8 shares that Jesus appeared to Him also.

Finally, He gathered His disciples together and led them to Bethany where he blessed them and ascended to heaven (Luke 24:50). These men then returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple giving praise to God.

Never doubt the resurrection of Jesus. It is a well-proven fact.

New Series - Acts

A couple of years ago I shared with you some thoughts from the book of Luke. It is natural to move from Luke to the book of Acts because Acts is a continuation of Luke’s faithful recording the orderly and sovereignly directed progress of the Christian message from Jews to Gentiles, and from Jerusalem to Rome. Acts gives us great insights into the early church and clearly reveals the faith, the joy, the commitment, and the obedience of the early church saints as an example to us. God’s sovereignty is an important theme of the book.
The key verse is Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

It is interesting to observe Luke’s transition from the book of Luke to the book of Acts. He begins by mentioning the book of Luke in Acts 1:1 “The first account I composed…” Then he ties the two books together by repeating facts at the end of Luke as he begins the book of Acts.

Luke 24:51 and Acts 1:2 both mention the Lord being taken up into heaven. They both also mention two commandments given by the Lord just before His ascension. In Acts 1:4 and Luke 24:49 the Apostles were commanded to remain in Jerusalem until they received the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 and Luke 24:47 they were given their commission to proclaim Jesus name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.

Luke is one of my favorite writers of Scripture. I hope you will enjoy this study as much as I have.

Joe

Forever

Contemplate on this word “forever” for a few minutes. It is one we cannot fathom with our own minds. It is an important word in the Bible, however, for it is used 339 times. Another similar word is eternal and it is used 97 times in the Bible. These words give a different perspective to our existence. The physical aspect of our lives that we live here on earth is an extremely small part of our existence.

Of much greater importance is our spiritual nature because it exists forever. When we live with eternity in view our priorities become aligned with God’s priorities. First we should consider that God gives every one of us the choice of spending eternity with Him in heaven or away from him in Hell. Since we are born as sinful creatures we are bound to spend eternity in Hell unless we personally choose to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Once we have done that we are eternally secure in Him. God will never go back on His promise or His acceptance of us. Jesus says in John 10:28-29 “I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Once we accept Jesus as our Savior and begin to study His Word we begin to realize the importance of eternality. We learn that because God is eternal, everything about Him is everlasting, including His love (Psalm 103:17; Jeremiah 31:3), kindness (54:8), power (Romans 1:20), and purposes (Ephesians 3:11). We, as believers have an “eternal house in heaven” ( II Corinthians 5:1), where we will enjoy “eternal glory” with Christ forever (II Timothy 2:10). We also experience eternal joy (Isaiah 61:7).
I pray that you will learn to live consistently with eternity in view.

Dwelling In God’s House

The word dwelling means taking up permanent residence. It strongly implies that our relationship with God is more than just a visit or something temporary or part-time. I’m also reminded of the word "home" when I think of dwelling. A home is much more than a house. It is not only a physical place, but a location where your life is centered. Betty and I have lived in our current home for over 35 years. Our daughter was only six years old when we moved here and our son was only two. They both consider this to be their home. It is where they grew up and contains many memories for them. It is where much was learned as they matured to be adults. It is a place where they have always felt very secure.

The Christian’s relationship with God is also permanent and secure. The phrase, "Dwelling in God’s house" doesn’t mean we live in a physical church building, but that we enjoy full and permanent communion with God. He is a safe haven and we can trust Him in all situations. We are secure in that we know that His love for us is always faithful and unchanging and He will not ever leave us or forsake us even though we might stray in our relationship with Him. We are always welcome back into true fellowship with Him.

A home is where we are with family, those we love. We can be very transparent with them because they know us better than anyone else. Our relationship with God is also that way. We are always completely transparent before Him. He is the perfect Father, always desiring the very best for us, and if we follow His will we will be completely satisfied in Him. We can bring Him our problems and concerns because He loves us. As we seek His counsel through His Word and prayer we receive guidance for our lives. In times of distress His Spirit comforts us and in time of joy He rejoices with us.

Finally, I’m reminded that we, as Christian’s are just visitors here on earth. In John 14:2 Jesus says "In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." Christ is now in heaven preparing a place for us where we will dwell forever. There is an old gospel song that says "This world is not my home, I’m just passing through". We as God’s children can look forward to the permanent, eternal place He is preparing for us.

Lovingkindness Follows Me

The psalmist not only says that God’s goodness will follow him, but also God’s lovingkindness. The Hebrew word that this is translated from is most often translated “mercy”. Mercy may be described as compassion or forbearance. It is because of God’s mercy or compassion that we experience His grace. His forbearance is exhibited in His great patience with us.

Psalm 32:10 says “He who trusts in the Lord, loving-kindenss shall surround him.” That is a good picture. It is comforting to think that we are completely surrounded by God’s mercy. That gives me a feeling of great love and protection.

In Psalm 51:1 David says “Be gracious to me, O God, according to thy lovingkindnesss; according to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out my transgressions.” Another attribute of God’s lovingkindness is graciousness. It is because of His grace that He has forgiven our sins although we were totally undeserving. We enter into a personal relationship, not through anything we have done, but because God forgives us.

In Psalm 59:10 we learn “My God in His lovingkindness will meet me; God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.” Two thoughts come to my mind as I consider this verse. First, God comes down to us. We are not capable of going up to Him, but He condescended to come down to us. Secondly, in Him we are always triumphant. Paul says in II Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ…”

David proclaims in Psalm 63:3 “Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise Thee.” I believe David often began his prayers with thankfulness for God’s mercy and compassion and that is good for us to do also. Often we rush into our prayer life listing all the needs we would like God to meet. God patiently listens to us but I believe He would be much more pleased if we began our intercession with thankfulness and praise for who He is and what He has done for us. Would you consider making this a habit in your prayer life?