Hello everyone, welcome to today's podcast. Today, we're going to explore the narrative surrounding Jesus post-Resurrection appearances. As you likely know, Jesus rose from the tomb on Sunday, the 16th of Nisan, in AD 30. He appeared to his disciples and several others on that day, but his post crucifixion appearances are spread across 40 days following his resurrection. These appearances are recorded in all four Gospels, the Book of Acts and the first epistle to the Corinthians. Again, to help our understanding in these stories, I'm going to weave them together into a single narrative. Now I might not be perfectly accurate in how I put them together. I just hope to help in your comprehension.
speaker 0 The second chronological note concerns the phrase in the Gospel of John, Chapter 20 which says, and after eight days again, Jesus appeared to his disciples. Jesus appeared to them in a closed room eight days later than what well, it means later than the resurrection eight days after the resurrection. Well, what day was that? This would have been the following Sunday after resurrection Sunday, when John was counting. He includes Resurrection Sunday as part of the count. This is important because it establishes the timetable events after this. Eight days later on Sunday, he appears to the 11 including Thomas. There are a number of other appearances, Then, 40 days after the resurrection, then Jesus leaves the Earth on the ascension. And 50 days after the resurrection comes Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Well, the final chronological note concerns Thomas. We need to remember that Thomas didn't see Jesus on Resurrection Day, John, Chapter 20 tells us. But Thomas, one of the 12 called Did. Imus was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side. I will not believe.
speaker 0 Thus he gets his perpetual title, doubting Thomas. So with those chronological notes, Let's begin the narrative eight days after Resurrection Day and it starts in John, Chapter 20 Verse 26. And after eight days again, his disciples were within, and Thomas with him. His disciples were gathered together in some particular place and don't pass over this so quickly. Thomas was with them, you know, if he had become a complete Doubter regarding the resurrection, I don't think he would have been with them. Those who are true atheists, who have determined that there is no God, don't usually like hanging around true believers in God. It grates on their nerves. On the other hand, those who still feel a tug from heaven on their hearts do like being around believers because something in them wants to believe. So they want to hear. Tell me the story of Jesus as the hymn goes. So they're all together, including Thomas on Sunday. This is the second Sunday church service, if you will. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood in the middle of them and said, Peace be to you. Then he specifically turns to Thomas in verse 27 then said he to Thomas, Reach here your finger and behold my hands, reach here your hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless but believing. Again, Isn't it wonderful how our Lord reaches out to individuals? He doesn't just appear to groups and say, Take me or leave me. He turned to the Doubters and the deniers and calls to their hearts. It says Thomas answered and said to him, My lord and my God, now notice that it doesn't say that Thomas actually put his finger into the nail prints or his hand into Jesus side. He just responded in belief. And what a belief it was. He declares my Kurios, which means Master and my Theos. Which is the Greek word for God. This is a remarkable declaration. He calls Jesus God. Well, then Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. That is our blessing, beloved. If we are among those who have not seen Jesus physically but believe, we received the blessing of Jesus here. So in this story, Jesus has been seen by Cephas. Then by the 12. you say Well, hold on a minute. Aren't there just 11 now? Judas Iscariot betrayed him and then committed suicide. Well, we know that later Judas Iscariot is replaced with Mathias in Acts Chapter one. And part of his qualifications for replacing Judas was that he was a witness to Jesus life from the baptism of John to Jesus Resurrection. So we assumed that when the gospel writers refer to the 12, that Mathias was there along with other witnesses. Now a second appearance to the disciples happens eight days later. Or as we said, the following Sunday. Now we come to his third appearance to the Disciples. We're told that it is his third appearance in the text of the story that happens in John Chapter 21. We're looking at versus 13 25 it says. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberius, that is, This is the Sea of Galilee so frequently mentioned in the Gospels. And it says there were together. Simon, Peter and Thomas called Didymus, formerly known as doubting Thomas, now known as, "you aren't going anywhere without me, Thomas" and Nathaniel of Cana of Galilee and James and John and two other disciples. Well, I imagine this as an event that happened in late afternoon because they're going fishing, and as we learn from the story, they end up fishing all night. Now we don't know when this happened. It was after the eight days later and before the 40 days when Jesus ascended up into heaven. But as many of us have come to realize during this Corona locked down, we probably identify with these disciples. They're sitting around doing nothing and they're bored, and it's kind of interesting, because these men were called away from their professions by Jesus three years earlier, and from that time they were with him as he taught. They were with him as he traveled across the nation of Israel, and then, after three years, they came to the crucifixion. Three days later, he's resurrected and their worldview is blown to pieces. This is a phenomenal change in their lives, for all their lives, they probably as fishermen or whatever other profession. The disciples had worked from sunrise to sunset. Then Jesus calls them away to this circuit preaching ministry. And in those three years they were extremely busy. They're always traveling somewhere or dealing with massive crowds or being taught by Jesus or being sent somewhere or camping out in the open hills or just taking care of daily needs. But now Jesus has risen from the grave. They have seen him twice on the book ends of a week. They've heard the stories of the women and of Cephas and the two disciples on the road, and it's all very exciting. It's all anyone is willing to talk about. But how long can we talk about it before we feel like we need to do something. I mean, the natural inclination would be toe begin spreading the news across Israel. But they had to wait for something. As Jesus says in John, Chapter 14 Verse 16. And I will pray the father and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it sees him not Neither knows him, but you know him for he dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you Comfortless. I will come to you. And as he told them later in acts Chapter one, Verse three through eight it says that he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen by them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. And it says when he's assembled together with them, he commanded them. They should not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the father. That is the coming of the Holy Spirit, which he said you have heard for me. Then he goes on to say, for John, truly baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. So they had to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the problem is, what do we do in the meantime? Well, it would appear that Peter took the initiative to propose what they should do 1verse 3 says Simon. Peter said to them, I go a fishing. They said to him, We'll go with you and they went forth and entered into a ship. Now James and John's father never left the fishing business. So in all likelihood, they probably decided to go grab their father. Ask him if there were some fishing they could do, got a ship and went out. But it says that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples didn't know that it was Jesus. Now, why didn't they know? Well, maybe it was a combination of the distance and also the supernatural blindness that Jesus had earlier placed on the disciples on the road to Emaus. You might remember that they didn't recognize him either. Well, Verse five says Jesus said to them, Children have you any meat? They answered him. No, he said them. Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you will find So he says to them, Have you guys caught anything? They say? No, we haven't got anything. You throw your net on the other side of the boat and you might find some fish. Now, this tells me that in all likelihood, this is a supernatural blindness that caused them to not recognize Jesus. This statement by the stranger on the shore cast your net on the other side of the boat and you will find that should have been a clue. A red flag, a neon sign that said Hey, this is Jesus. Well, why would if it had been that? because Jesus had done the very same thing three years earlier when he called them to become fishers of men. In that earlier story, he had just taught the multitudes. Then he had said to the fisherman let down your nets again, despite the fact that they've been fishing all night and caught nothing the very same circumstance that they were in now. And at that time, Peter was specifically named in the incident, and he said, We've been fishing all night, but hey, we'll do it. And it's probable that Peter, along with his fishing partners, were there. Andrew, his brother, and James and John. So they were told to let down their nets. And then when they did, they caught a great number of fish, and they suddenly realized that this guy that told them to do this is far superior. He is something beyond human, and at that point, Jesus said, You're no longer going to fish for fish. You're going to fish for men. So on this particular occasion, they see this guy on the shore. He says, Do you have any fish? They say, No, we don't have any, He says. Let done your net on the other side of the boat. But nobody, thought anything of it. Nobody thought, Oh, deja vu. Well, back to this story, it says They cast therefore, and when they began to pull the net and they were not able to draw it in for the multitude of fishes. Therefore, that disciple, whom Jesus loved that is, John said to Peter. It is the Lord now, it says when Peter heard that it was the Lord... Well, I've got to stop there for a minute because I'm sorry to cast dispersion's on Peter, but it says that John was the one that realized it was Jesus. Why didn't Peter have that light bulb go off? I mean, he's the only one for sure that is named in the first fishing story. Well, I I got a possible reason why he didn't understand, because I think Peter was a typical male. His brain is divided into boxes, and you can't open a new box until you put everything away in the first box and then put on the lid. And despite the fact that Jesus repeated what he had done three years before by filling Peters net with fish, this doesn't cause any bells to go off for Peter. Why? Because he's still in the fishing box. And when you're in the fishing box, all you think about is fishing. And so you pull up the net and there's lots of fish in the net. So Peter's brain goes into bringing in the fish mode. But John now opens for Peter the Jesus Box. Peter says, Okay, let me close the fishing box and we'll open the Jesus box. And suddenly, when he opens the Jesus box, he remembers the prior incident, and he begins to process everything that's happened and in Rushes The Memory from Three Years Prior and Jesus Previous Miracle of Multiplying Fish. And it says now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord again, he didn't deduce it was the Lord. He heard that it was the Lord he put on his Fisher's coat, for he was naked and cast himself into the sea. Now you got to hand it to Peter. Once he opened the Jesus box. He's all in. He bails out of the boat. He's no longer interested in helping to pull in the fish. He's not even going to patiently wait for them to get the boat to shore. He throws on his outer coat and jumps in the lake to swim to shore. He thinks that's where Jesus is, and that's where I wanna be. So he swims to shore. Verse eight tells us the other disciples came in the little ship, for they were not far from land about 300 feet dragging the net with the fish. And as soon then as they were come to the land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid upon it and bread. This is astounding. Here's what that means, is Jesus didn't need their fish. He already had his own. Jesus said to them, bring the fish that you have caught. Now, my friends, this is a great lesson. This is the entire reason why they're waiting 50 days until Pentecost. at Pentecost they will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit living in them. And though they could have begun preaching Jesus without the Indwelling Holy spirit, it would have been like their fishing that night They caught nothing. They toiled. They worked hard at it. But Jesus wasn't with him. But the minute Jesus arrives now they get a multitude of fish. And the same holds true in the Christian life. with the indwelling spirit our preaching is energized by that spirit and the impossible can happen. The impossible is the fish come to us. Jesus! On another occasion had said I am the vine. You are the branches Without me you can do nothing. So they get the boat to shore. Jesus. already. Had fish on the fire. He gave them the multitude of fish they caught in addition to the multitude they caught, which he gave them. He didn't even need that. He had his own fish and bread. He didn't need them. He didn't need their nets. He didn't need their apparatus to catch fish. So it says in verse 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes. Ah! 153 for all. There were so many, yet was not the net broken. Now what's the lesson here? I think the lesson is I got a job for you. But you can't do it without me. Keep your eyes on me. You're going to receive the spirit. And when you do, you need to walk in the spirit. Now, something particular caught my attention. As I read the previous verses, it says there were ah, 153 fish. You know what that means? That means that somebody decided that they needed to count these fish. I mean, get this. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is sitting beside a campfire on the beach and somebody decided that the important thing to do was to count how many fish they caught. There's an accountant in every crowd. Verse 12 goes on to say Jesus said to them, come and dine. And none of the disciples dared ask him. Who are you knowing that it was the Lord Jesus. then came and took bread and gave it to them and the fish? Likewise, in Verse 14 this is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was risen from the dead. Now comes the point of this story. Jesus confronts Peter with his priorities, 1st 15 So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon, Peter Simon, son of Jonas, Lovest thou me more than these. Now, I think he's talking about fishing. Do you love me more than fishing? Do you love me more than the boats in the nets and the camaraderie of fishermen? Simon Peter said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And so Jesus said to him, feed my lambs. Then Jesus said to him the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest Thou, me and Peter replied by saying, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you and Jesus said, Feed my sheep, he said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, Do you love me? And Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you, Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep just like after Jesus has risen. He made a personal appearance to Peter, and in that personal appearance, he brought him back into the fold. Now he draws Peter into a conversation about his priorities. He wants to know if Peter is ready for what's next and what's next is the good news has to go out into all the world. So Peter's priority can no longer be literal fish but fishing for men. He can't be a shepherd to real sheep. His priority is to spiritual sheep, who will come into the kingdom through the disciples preaching. Now A lot of people have made a point out of this story about Peter going fishing and taking other disciples along with them. They say that Peter was abandoning his calling. He was losing focus, he was going back to the profession he knew before Jesus, and they fault him for that now. I don't agree with that interpretation. I think Peter was fishing because they needed food on the table. And since they had no direct instruction from Jesus about what to do for 40 days, they just got busy. And it happened that Jesus appeared to them on that day. You see, I don't agree with that interpretation because there's nothing wrong with going to work. We can't just sit around and wait for instructions from God. Well, you might say Peter should have been praying. Well, how do you know that he wasn't? There's nothing in this text that says that what Peter and these disciples chose to do was wrong. And we can only guess about where Peter's heart and mind were based on what Jesus says to him. And I take Jesus words not as a reprimand, but as preparation for what's next for Peter. He is to take on the role of leadership among the 12 and Jesus further prepares him by telling him about what he is to do. Feed my sheep, tend my lambs, and then he goes further in preparation by even telling him about the end of his life about the end of Peter's life. I think this is very important preparation for Peter because Peter, before the cross, had declared that he would go with Christ to death. And then he denied him three times during Jesus trial. Now Jesus tells Peter that he will in fact die for Christ. Listen to what Jesus says to Peter, truly, truly. I say to you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you're old, you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you places You don't want to go. This, he said, signifying by what death Peter would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, Follow me. Jesus is predicting Peter's death. In fact, we know about how Peter died. Tradition tells us that in 64 a. D. The Emperor Nero, needed to find someone to blame for the fires that burned up 2/3 of the city of Rome. So Nero chose the Christians as scapegoats, and Peter was caught up in the martyrdom. It is said that he was crucified upside down. Thus, just like Jesus said, his hands were stretched out and he was taken where he did not want to go. Well, the story continues. Peter heard Jesus words. Then Peter turning about, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, this would have been John, Peter said to Jesus Lord. And what shall this man do now? This is kind of funny and strange to me. He's asking Jesus how John's gonna die. Well, how's John going to meet his end? Will he go to martyrdom like I will? Will he be hung on a cross? It's like Peter is saying Okay, you told me how I'm going to die now. Why don't we go around the campfire and tell how everybody else is going to die as well? Well, we don't know if the reason Peter asked. This is just out of curiosity or what it is. But Jesus replies, if I will that he tarry till I come. What is that to you? You follow me. That's Jesus way of saying, none of your business, 1st 23 says. Then went this saying abroad. Among the Brethren that that disciple John would not die. In other words, they began spreading the rumor that Jesus said John's not going to die. He's gonna live forever. Yet Jesus didn't say to him He will not die. But if I will that he, tarry, till I come. What is that to you? The words Jesus said, Whatever is gonna happen to him is what I desire to happen to him. Don't you worry about it. Oh, Verse 24 goes on to say, This is the disciple which testifies of these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. John wrote this gospel. So he's writing about the things that he records here. And there are also many other things which Jesus did the which, if they should be written everyone. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. And then John concludes by saying Amen. So now Jesus has appeared three times to his disciples and before his ascension, there were also other appearances. The Book of Acts, Chapter one, Verse three says "to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them 40 days and speaking the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." So there were appearances across those 40 days. We don't know how many and in first Corinthians, Paul writes in Verse six. After that, Jesus was seen by above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remained to this present, and some have fallen asleep. Paul writes At the time that he wrote First Corinthians, which was maybe 56 or 57 ad. Some 500 witnesses to the Resurrection some had died. Jesus had appeared to 500 people at once. And he says that even though it was 26 to 27 years after the resurrection, many of them were still alive. Now we don't know when this appearance to 500 occurred. We also don't know any details about where or how it happened After this. It says that Jesus appeared to his brother James. First Corinthians, 15 7 gives a record of that now. This appearance is not to the Apostle James. It is to Jesus Brother James. You might remember that before the crucifixion, Jesus own brothers did not believe in him, but We know that later two of his brothers become Christians because two of our New Testament books were written by them. Book of James, The Book of Jude and we know as well that James became the leader of the Jerusalem church. So Jesus chooses to specifically appear to James because he has a role for him to play as well. After this appearance to James, Paul says, he appeared to all of the 11 original disciples. Now the Gospels record that incident. This is the great commission passage in Matthew, Chapter 28 versus 16 through 20 he says. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them, and when they saw him, they worshiped him. But some doubted, and Jesus came and spoke to them. Luke continues in verse 44 of Chapter 24. He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Now this is a Bible study that I would have loved to have been present at. Jesus, opening up the Old Testament in explanation. You want to know what I think many of the 40 days were taken up with. It would have been Bible study with Jesus opening up the scriptures 1st 46 goes on to say he said to them. Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things tells And Matthew also said, All power is given to me in heaven Go you therefore and teach all nations and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the Holy Ghost. And then mark adds that he that believes and is baptized will be saved. But he that believes, not, will be damned. back to Matthew, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world. Amen. Now he also reminded them that before they could go out to preach, they needed to receive the promise from the father. It says in the gospel of Luke and behold, I send the promise of my father on you Stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are imbued with power from on high. Now, at this point in the story, the disciples are in Galilee on a mountain that he instructed them to meet with him here he instructs them that they should go to Jerusalem to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. And when they get to Jerusalem, it says he appears to them again. This is recorded in acts Chapter one, verse 4 and being assembled together with them. This is somewhere in Jerusalem. He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. But wait for the promise of the father, which you have heard of me for John, truly baptized with water. But you will be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days from now. When they therefore were come together. They asked of him saying, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel now, this is amazing. I said before that I would have loved to have been a part of these Bible studies, and I could imagine that the disciples are just peppering Jesus with questions not only concerning the Old Testament scripture, but regarding the future and what will happen with them and in all kinds of, uh, thoughts that come into the brains that they just need to ask Jesus. And I'm sure that he has reiterated to them that he's going to go away so they know that their time is short. So they asked him a question that's probably on the forefront of their minds. They say, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Now this is fascinating. You see, we always think about Jesus Timeline in terms of his first and second coming at his first coming, He's the Lamb of God. In the second, he is the lion of the tribe of Judah. In his first coming, he comes to offer grace and salvation to the world. In a second he comes to rule, but his disciples, I didn't have that kind of dualistic perspective. Jesus was right there in front of them. And they had come to understand that he had to die as the final Passover lamb. They understood that. But now that he had done so, they saw no reason why he shouldn't just finish the mission of the prophecies of Scripture and become the eternal king of Israel that rules the world. The son of David that sits on the throne of David forever. I mean, in terms of their minds, what's to stop it? Jesus has power over death. He has power over the elements. Storms he has power over disease has power over demons. He has power over men. One of most fascinating stories as the book of John that is not given much attention is when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden of gethsemene. It tells us in the book of John that when they ask for Jesus of Nazareth, he said, I am he And then they fell down on their faces before him. I mean, Jesus had complete power. He didn't need to be arrested. He allowed himself to be arrested. It was part of the plan of God and so they could see this extreme power that he had. And so they're wondering, OK, is it time? So they asked him, Lord, what's the plan? What's the timetable here for World Dominion? Well, his reply is in verse seven. It is not for you to know the Times or the seasons which the father has put in his own power. But you will receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me, both in Jerusalem and all Judaea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the Earth. Jesus says, don't worry about the end times, you got work to do, and I could say the same for us. Many of the things that have happened in our country and around the world and in our own talent in their own state and made us begin to wonder about the future. But Jesus still has a job for us to do. We're still here for a reason to be witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now every one of these post resurrection appearances reminds the disciples that they have that job to do. They are to be his witnesses. And I don't know about you, but I can identify with the disciples here. I've felt like Peter. I've failed the Lord, and I've had to be restored in relationship to him. I have been like Thomas sitting back, wallowing in my doubts but still hanging on to a mustard seed of belief. And the Lord takes that seed makes it grow into a great tree so that I can cry, My Lord and my God, I felt like Peter feeling like I'm spinning my wheels doing nothing. So I fall back on the mundane chores of putting food on the table. I've been like James, a late comer to solid faith and needing a personal experience with the Lord , like the disciples who wanted to know why we can't just move to the kingdom phase of God's plan. We're frustrated with this world. We're ready for Jesus to come and sit on the throne, but we all have to wait. We all have to redeem the time because the days are evil. We don't have time for self pity or boredom or laziness or doubt. But you know what? If we're walking in the flesh, that is exactly what we will experience. Boredom, laziness, doubt, self pity But if we're walking in the spirit, we can experience fulfillment, purpose, power and faith. Well, 40 days after the resurrection came the ascension. Thus it still celebrated on Thursday, by the way it tells us about it in Luke. Chapter 24 Verse 53 . They were in Jerusalem, and Luke says he led them out as far as to Bethany. It's about two miles out of Jerusalem, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Now that had to be quite a sight. I mean, I've stood and watched the balloon float up into the sky until I couldn't see it anymore. And if that is captivating, I can't imagine what it would have been like to see Jesus end up in a cloud. And it says that when they look steadfastly toward heaven at him, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, the men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven, this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner. As you have seen him go into heaven again, we're going to see him visibly return from the heavens as we saw him visibly go and Luke concludes with and they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. And then it says amen and John concludes this way. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God, and that believing you may have life through his name. Well, that concludes Jesus post resurrection appearances. And it concludes this series of sermons that began with Passion Week. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, thank you. That you not only called us out of death into life, that you called us to a divine mission to tell the world about you and about salvation. It is such a privilege to bear that message. It is such a privilege that you put the spirit of God In us strengthen us for our task. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.