What Happens After Easter?
“You will be my witnesses.”
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
Easter was last week, but the front of our church is still adorned with three large crosses. During Lent a purple cloth representing the royalty of Christ was draped on the Center cross. On Good Friday the Purple Drape was replaced with a Black Drape that represented the death and burial of Christ. The Black Drape of Good Friday was then replaced on Easter Sunday with a White Drape to declare the triumph of the resurrected Lord. The White Drape and the Crosses will remain in place until Ascencion Sunday which marks the end of Christ’s 40-day-post resurrection ministry.
This year in preparation for the Easter season I re-read the passion accounts in all four Gospels. After Easter, I found myself wondering what it must have been like for Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. Scripture records several post resurrection appearances during the forty-day period between the resurrection and Jesus’ Ascension.
Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb (John 20:16); to two travelers on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24); to Peter in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 15:5); to the ten disciples in the upper room a week after the resurrection (John 20:19). A week later Jesus appeared again to his eleven disciples in the upper room (John 20:27). One day at daybreak he appeared to seven disciples fishing on the Sea of Galilee (John 21:14). The Apostle Paul provides us with some of the best eyewitness post-resurrection appearances when he writes:
“He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living…then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born (1 Corinthians 15:6-7).
Luke with his opening words in the book of Acts tells us what Jesus was doing during this forty-day period between his resurrection and ascension into heaven. “He showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive…He spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3-4). How much of his teaching did they understand at this point?
We can only imagine what Jesus’ post-resurrection teaching must have included. Luke 24 records his encounter with two discouraged followers on the road to Emmaus. On Resurrection Day Jesus was leading a Bible study! Luke writes, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Following Jesus’ ascension, the disciples returned to Jerusalem, prayed, and waited for what was next. Imagine how hard that waiting and uncertainty must have been. Honestly, I can’t imagine their emotions and the discipline required to obey his command to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit.
For ten days Jesus’ disciples waited in Jerusalem and prayed together with a small group of other believers (Acts 1:15). Suddenly the day of Pentecost arrived and so did the Holy Spirit. All the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and enabled to share the good news of the gospel in many different languages. God was reversing the curse of Babel (Genesis 11:7-9). Peter preached a powerful sermon; three thousand people were added to their number that day (Acts 3:41); and the Church was born.
Author Paige Brown says, “The rest of the book of Acts is not really the acts of the Apostles, but the acts of the risen and ascended Christ by the Spirit of God through the Apostles. Jesus explodes the story of redemption into the world.”
What happened after that first Easter should impact us every Easter. Those who were eyewitnesses and recipients of Christ’s redeeming love shared the good news with others. The Gospel- the good news that Jesus saves sinners- was on the march from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Ethiopia, Rome, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8; 2:26-38; 28:23-31)
The Gospel should affect the way we live. The book of Acts records the spread of the Gospel and the birth of the Church. The epistles explain who we are in Christ and how we should then think and live for God’s glory. If you want to know what happened after that first Easter, read the book of Acts and the letters that follow it.
Who do you know that needs to hear the good news of the Gospel? What do you need to do to better understand how we are to live for God’s glory? How is Christ’s death and the resurrection of Easter impacting the way you live today? In other words, what happens after Easter?